Hyellë

...means "glass" in Quenya.

It is morning. Why is it morning? And why did I wake up at half past eight, and was unable to fall back asleep? Not fun! And when I managed to relax, why, obviously the kids upstairs had to start bouncing balls on their floor, jumping, and getting screamed at by their parents. What is this with me and neighbours?

Oh well.

Beside me lies Katarina's ring, grinning, staring blindly into nowhere. She woke up the other night, when I was listening to whichever song it was. If I could remember, it would be significant. It might have been "Gallery Theme" by Tim Larkin, from one of the Myst games. That one's really too much Anjie, usually, but oh well. I think Thomas is really dead, and Katarina's Humanity have dropped. She does long for that reason to live, create, dominate, indeed to be, that she had, before finally not being able to live with the knowledge of what he had done, and she did, for a while, I suspect. Breaking the Oath, the one thing she thought he would never do. And even if she had no proof, there was so much that the ambitious young one that she loved, truly, had done, and so many small things that could simply not be ignored anymore... the sum of the parts, perhaps.
He was such a good Tremere, but some things, no matter how hard you wipe out the traces, are never truly lost. Out of character, I know several more, than what Katarina did. But I came to think about it, and then had some more revealed to me, and I realised, she was never daft. She just didn't want to put two and two together. And when she did...
You do not teach Thaumaturgy to anyone outside the House and Clan. And a certain lopsided smile on a certain pockmarked face was someone that should never, ever have been allowed to even speak with Thomas. Katarina knew what she was dealing with. Thomas, apparently, did not.
And so it is that the sire sent her childe to the death. Perhaps. But I think it is truth now.


Speaking of Anjie, the new Imperial Guard codex is out tomorrow. I am looking forward to it! I really like it, it's very well written, or so I find. And it is about Guard, after all.
Also, there are tanks and a lot of them!

And now, I have indulged in "Shakespeare in Love" again, and swooned at love that is true and painful but stronger than fate. Welcome back, light and Seelie, welcome, summer, for Beltane or at least it's set date has passed, and so the Bright Court holds sway now.

Bought a pair of sunglasses yesterday, cheap and from a wayside stand, but they look decent. I don't love them as I did those which broke the other day (which has me grumpy to no end; dammith, I've only ever looked good in three pairs of sunglasses [almost wrote singlasses there, heh]: one of them years ago at a petrol station and I couldnae afford them, one that as I said broke, and now these), but they're good enough. And Curly gave me a nice compliment, said it looked very Matrix-stylish and even better so thanks to me actually toting my swordcase around. So I think I can live with them. "This conversation is worthless without pics!" Yes dear, I shall get some soon.

Work was nice, though I had to get physical to get inebriated, or rather bloody drunk, youths, out of the store.
No practice, to my disappointment and also Priest-san's. So we went to a café and talked about budo, and lives, and friends, and geekery (I so want to join their AirSoft troupe... they go for an IG-theme!), and most of all, well, budo. It was such a terribly nice way to spend the evening, I was all refreshed. If a bit skittish because of no practice.

Found a marvellous page yesterday, or rather, had it sent to me by Loriel. At least, I THINK it was yesterday... Living Values, by a man who follows the Warrior's Creed as stated by Robert L. Humphrey:

Wherever I go,
everyone is a little bit safer because I am there.

Wherever I am,
anyone in need has a friend.

Whenever I return home,
everyone is happy I am there.

The webpage is a very nice resource for those who perhaps do not get too much of the philosophy behind budo in their everyday life, or at all - it is so important, but often, all we "have time for" is physical practicing, and not discussing and understanding the mind of budo, the philosophy.

In other news, I'm not too worried of whether I am grading or not, even if my mail apparently has not been receiving certain important reminders for me. I probably will, but if the apparently oh so important paperwork puts a stone in the cogwheels (oooh, have we been through this before, eh, Malk? And yes, it is the same people again.) I'm not shedding any tears whatsoever. It would be an opportunity, nothing more. I am not in a hurry to get my third dan. In fact, I am reluctant to try for it. I would rather Ohara-sensei told me to go for it, than I ask someone if perhaps I am ready. Bleh. Swedish bloody paperwork-fetishist bleargh bleargh...

I had a few insights to add here... but I've got to run off to work. So I'll probably write more another day, or later today.