Let the great world spin

I neglected my body's need for endorphins via running this week because I spent my nights reading Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann. There are some moments that are just slightly "too" fictional (as in, the characters/thoughts/events were a little too exaggerated) but all in all, I thought it was an excellently woven novel, bringing together an Irish priest, a tightrope walker, a mother-daughter hooker pair, a Guatemalan nurse, a Park Avenue judge's wife mourning the loss of her son to the Vietnam War, a hippie drug-addicted artist and other characters - people from such different walks of life, yet all somehow interconnected. In the end, as sad as parts of it are, to me it was about the beauty (or at least, the potential for beauty) in life and the spectacular ways that human beings sometimes manage to destroy it, and the idea that at core, the things we want are the same (love, family, dignity) and yet the cards that life deals each of us (and how we play those cards) will determine whether...I guess whether you end up living a life full of dignity, love and family, or whether you don't. I was sad (and very tired, at 4 am) when the book ended, sad to say goodbye to the characters I got to know so intimately. It was a great escape each night after dealing with non-stop hectic (yet inane) days at work this week.

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One thing I really dislike about Tokyo is the need for zillions of useless in-person meetings with way too many people (who all need to give their input, which just adds to the time suck and inanity) to discuss inane matters (really, wouldn't an email be more efficient?). ESPECIALLY when such meetings are scheduled last minute for Friday night. Eeww. So unnecessary. I think it's all part of the conspiracy to repress, oppress, suprress.