Oblivio: Stories and such by Michael Barrish

“I re-read the end of the above.”

Reread the entry you hadn’t written by that point? That is what is “above.” I wonder if we are changing our methods of reading. Sort of like how it once seemed foreign how Hebrew reads right to left, and Asian languages read up to down before left to right.

Now, since so many communicate via non-page blogs, we read from bottom to top, but in stages individually top to bottom, but we don’t yet have the language for it.

So this time last year K climbed a fire escape to break into your apartment, and finally win me over with his machismo. And now he works a few cubes over and we struggle to stay on speaking terms. I don’t have the language for it.

The rule I was taught about the left and right sides of objects (and this was long enough ago I don’t remember the exact context or origin, but it *was* in a book) was something like this:

1) If the object is typically considered stationary, then its left and right side is *your* left and right.

2) If the object is typically considered mobile, and it has a defined orientation when moving ‘forward’ (such as a car, train or ocean liner) then its left and right side is based on that orientation, regardless of whether it is currently stationary or mobile (so in a car, the driver’s left when in the driver’s seat is also the car’s left).

3) If the object is mobile without a defined forward orientation (say, a tornado), then its left and right are *your* left and right if it’s stationary, but when it’s in motion, its *current* forward motion is used to determine left and right as in rule 2.

P.S. Rules 2 & 3 are also applicable to animals (worms and some microscopic organisms falling under rule 3), although I think rule 1 applies to any dead ones.