Encyclopedia Dantica – Intro

From the desk of Dante

Dear reader, it has come to my attention that i don’t write all that much. As to put an end to such malpractice, i have taken it upon myself to do what i’ve always been talking about. Well, have talked about at one point or other. I have burdened (and i use the term lightly) myself with the task of writing something bigger than usual. I’m having to dividide it in chapters even, since i don’t have the means or substances to do it all at once. In any case, it should provide me with enough motivation to keep writing from time to time. The reason for this is that i’m following the age old writing advice “Write what you know.”

As such.

Welcome, to version 0.1 of the Encyclopedia Dantica. What you as reader have stumbled upon here is a work in progress. To the extreme. Most of what you’re about to read here now and in the coming weeks is in fact momentarily improvised. But enough about the way the author works, as his methods are his own, and likely to discredit his works.

So what’s all this about then? I suppose you could call this a manual. A survival guide. To be more specific, this is to be a guide into the nightlife and mind-altering liquids and substances, and their interaction. Past and present. For now, the plan is to divide an evening on the town into 6 main chapters:

-Preparation and optional pre-party
-Entrance
-”getting loaded” (title pending)
-Drunken behavior
-Homeward bound
-The day after

Of course, i’ll be adding minichapters here and there as special attention is needed. Social interaction after the “getting loaded”-phase almost deserves a seperate chapter if you ask me. Maybe i’ll do that.

So that’s the jist of it, check back soon for chapter I.

Woosh! What a title. I know.

Let’s get one thing straight. This will turn out to be one of the least inspired, unoriginal posts ever made. That’s probably because of the origin of it all. You see, this time it’s not creativity, not substances, nor a dash of madness. Sadly. I know, i know. If only it were, dear reader.

It’s cause one of you put something on the forums and, in a moment of goodwill, i offered to make a post. To attract some attention to it; otherwise it would never get read anyway.

So with that put aside, let’s… write. Actually, you know what, just look at the breasts we have to deal with at parties these days. Stare at them. Then wait for the next post.

And the frustranie-award goes to…

Heh, you know, i had this whole big post ready to be published, but i just couldn’t. See, there was a lot going on in my head earlier. But then a sort of calm came over me. This is a short version of a long story: I’ve been sick since last wednesday. During the peak of the illness i was required to go to the city, pick up my school grades despite it being optional, do network tech support, survive without internet for 5 days, and thus have barely any contact with the Moldovan girl, design invitation cards for the parentals, somehow keep them from freaking out cause of my grades, deal with my grades myself (4 courses again, combined with 6 from next year), arrange which courses i’ll be taking next year, and every now and then when i had an hour to spare: sleep. Remember when i said it was the shortened version? The original list was 5 times as long.

So here i was, ready to explode. Too much weight on my shoulders, of myself and everyone around me, and cracks started to appear. Completely out of any kind of power, yet boiling with pressure. Everything was colliding in my head, like an imploding clock. Now that’s a mental picture if there ever was one.

And then there was nothing. A wave of serenity washed over me. Peace. All was fine and none of these things mean even the slightest thing. Well, maybe a little bit. Just enough to keep me from forgetting them.

So i’m thinking i either ate something funky, or my brain ordered the execution of a fair amount of braincells tonight.

And so we find ourselves again in front of the old thinking box.

The following is a brainchild of the zero award-winning author Dante, who is largely unknown for such other literary works as “Daily Dante – The emo years” as well as his unpublished work “Get rich quick by selling books! All you need is included in this manual!”

For the first time ever, i really must admit that computers have reached the level i’ve been scared of. In terms of possibilities at least (sadly, we’re still quite far away from the kind of operating system i’d really like to see installed on my modest laptop, but i’ll leave that be for now). For you see, software has finally reached that point where almost no effort is needed, at all, to do everything but the most essential parts. This is not good. It scares me for reasons that require no more than basic reading and motor skills to comprehend or even write about, which makes it just about ideal for yours truly.

Now, much fine literature has been written on the subject. It comes down to 4 schools of thought on this matter; philosophies if you will. But not to worry, i’ve decided to blatantly skip all the other viewpoints on this issue and just write my own take on it. That way you’re more likely to believe only me anyway. Feel free to just close that google window you’re sneakily opening there.

Back to the issue at hand. Computers barely need any kind of intelligence to operate no matter what you’re trying to achieve. Yes, we all know there’s exceptions. But you see, on a long enough timeline, the odds of avoiding a frustration-level event drops to 0%. That said, the results in most cases are astonishing. Organised dialogs with over 10 people at the same time is a breeze. Finding anything at all is as simple as being able to spell the word “google”; no www or .whatever needed. Want to buy a ranch in the middle of nowhere so you can raise exotic animals with comically ill-fated names? Google.emu to the rescue! Hell, even software piracy has become such a breeze, even those spastic counterstrike people that everyone avoids were probably playing bioshock before it came out. It takes about 1 typed word and 3 clicks of a mouse. Sometimes that takes even less time than to go out and buy it. I hear. From other not-so-law-abiding people. Unlike me.

Yes, even angsty teenagers can throw emotional garbage online in a matter of minutes for the whole wide world to read. All it takes is knowing your own damn name and managing to type your email adress without any spelling errors. Messing up on that last bit is really an amazing feat if you ask me, since it’s likely composed of… your name! Although at this point, i’d quickly like to state that somebody needs to stop those damn kids and their fancy terms like “blogging” or “spankmobile”. We all know they’re shoving more crap into the decayed, stained lavatory the internet has become these days. It’s pure attention seeking. Instead of WrItInG every letter with alternating caps, or using more than one exclamation mark (which looks like this!), please go outside and stand in the street. People will look in your general direction. Attention.

Yes, i know. We’re all wondering to what kind of point this incoherent mess is leading. After reading the first 2 paragraphs again, i can confidently say: i’ll make one up now and try to keep it short.

I could just say “The internet sucks because of it! The filth to be found online is braindamaging! The moron population makes finding other people with a 3-digit iq online an impossibility!”
But while these things are true to an extent, it’s something else entirely. Something sinister, happening in all aspects of life.

The truth.
They’re making the useful people unnecessary. All my years of computer experience and skills are being rendered obsolete. Yeah, you heard me, these people that somehow manage to squeeze the term “user friendly” in every other sentence are fucking me over. You know who you are. Shoo! Yeah, you! Scram and stop pissing me off, lest i call over some linux users who’d just love to meet your acquaintance!

Moral of the story: power-users beware, and always be prepared to dish out a decent amount of fistshaking should they come for you.

So how about a real post?

“So why are you doing this again?”

That was the first reaction i got after casually mentioning this debacle. And you know what happened? I couldn’t think of a single reason as to why i started writing this thing for the 4th time over (yes, 4. Count ‘em. 1, 2, 3, 4 iterations of daily dante. Blows your mind, don’t it?). After contemplating on it for a while, i realised it. It’s a return to my old life.

Yes, dear readers, Dante’s back. Less emo though, and not nearly as sober as i used to be. But yeah, after a summer of hanging out with my Moldovan Girl, not partying, studying for summer exams, etc. i’ve decided it’s time to get back into that old comfy groove for a little bit. Which means thinking about things that annoy me, and writing about it. It means to party and drink. Sure, with less merriment as before, i am at that age now. But i’m sure the madness will start creeping back into that special little spot it’s got reserved in my mind.

So anyway.
Yes, the forum is back. It’s the old one, so if you’re still using the same password for everything, you can probably still login even. It’s at the bottom. Press ctrl-f and type forum if you’re really smart. Or bookmark it even! Technology. Amazing. If only we knew how to use it properly.
Secondly, i’m still sorting out how this wordpress thingamajigger works, so don’t be surprised if you bump into trouble.
And finally, due to popular demand, i’m trying to get the old (well, old. DD Version 3 old) archives back online. Then we can all have a laugh about it and jest at how far we’ve all come.

That’s it.
-Dante

Zee wave

There was no common enemy to be fought anymore. There was no solar wind to revitalise our dying momentum. No extra hour of sleep for that one little extra dream at the end of a tumultuous night. All was lost, and we had watched it happen. We had let it happen.

And yet sometimes… far into the distance, with the right kind of eyes, you can see the smallest of movements as if a little spark of life is waiting. Waiting for the perfect moment. For a perfect wave to carry it along, once more.

So yeah, hi again. I’m back. Hope i didn’t keep you all waiting.