Memories. You gotta love ‘em. Well, you gotta love making them. And then looking back on them fondly, that’s good too. But looking back on them longingly, well, that can be good and bad.

After spending the last weekend and then some with some of the best friends I’ve ever had, you think: hey, that was fun, let’s do it again. But then you realize that those weekends will become more and more spaced, and that the chances of all you guys being together again after this summer will get slimmer and slimmer. After this year, it becomes even slimmer. Soon, the amount of work required to get everyone together again becomes too much. Damn.

Oh well, at least I have good memories to look back on and not horribly depressing ones. That is definitely helps to ease the longing for the times when we all used to live together and entertain each other.

Off that, and on to other things. I was thinking today as I drove to my parent’s house for dinner about how our unconscious reactions influence the way we react to situations. For instance, today some dude was knocking on my door. I took a bit of time getting to the door, so he just opened it and just came in. I had no idea who he was. So I come down and some middle-aged bald guy is in my house. Immediately I felt threatened and was about to less-than-cordially tell him to get the hell out of my house (as I had not invited him in.) However, before I could say that, he told me who he was and what he was doing there. He was a neighbour of my aunt (who lives down the street) and had previously spoken with my father about getting some plants out of our garden.

But that’s not the interesting part. I was most interested in how I reacted. I saw a strange man in my house, analysed the situation quickly and determined that this was not something people generally accepted, and decided I was justified in being curt to him. It made me think about what the Rev and I spoke about when I was driving him to Toronto. He was explaining about how people are influenced by how people gesture. For instance, people feel threatened when pointed at, as it is an agressive motion. Another example is when you’re sitting down and someone is standing. Have you ever noticed that you feel rushed or uneasy? It’s because when people are standing while you are not, it usually means they are moving around or about to go. Moreover, the uneasiness is probably caused by the fact that they have a tactical advantage while standing.

That’s it.