Sinister: do you remember the first time?

[idleberry]

I was pondering the other day on my relationship with Sinister. I remember 
when I first discovered it, in a cold basement flat in Ipswich, with my 
then-boyfriend, Mark. His flat was always cold, and strange slug trails 
would appear on the carpet in the middle of the night, like someone had 
taken a slimy glitter pen and drawn a random squiggle on the floor. So I 
think I was freezing cold, and his TV was on silent, and we had a few table 
lamps on. His computer sat on a table with a folding leaf, and I sat peering 
over his shoulder, while he gave me a sharp look because he didn't like me 
reading over his shoulder. I think I was feeling restless, and bored, and 
wanted his attention.

 I guess Sinister seemed strange and mysterious. All that pink, all those 
names I never knew, and how they all had this mysterious interaction that I 
wasn't part of, with my boyfriend. Random girls and boys emailing my 
boyfriend out of the blue, with no agenda, except to share something. And as 
the saying goes, if you can't beat it (technically, that could be classified 
as GBH) then join it. So I did.

I never quite got the hold of the sinister mystique. I never discovered what 
it was. It just remained, something a little bit special, and like a good 
Christmas present, it never really aged. It never lost its sparkle, or that 
"smell" of newness. It aged a bit, it faded in places, some bits are 
starting to look doggeared and worn, but it remained the same thing. And I 
guess I still look at it in the same way I did one night, in that basement 
flat in Ipswich. Only, without the shoulder in the way.

I think what I remember most about that period of time, was wandering round 
shops in Norwich in the winter, just as it got dusky at 4pm, and the streets 
were heaving with people. I liked this one shop, which sold things like 
throws for sofas, and cushions, and candle holders, and incense sticks. I 
wanted to buy so much from there, but equally, I didn't want the clutter and 
I couldn't afford it.

Now its around the same time of year as when I first discovered Sinister. I 
think I made a post around Christmas time, after sitting in the nursery for 
a fortnight. That was around 2000.

Four years on, and I'm still here. Some names look familiar, some names even 
have faces now. I was always intregued by Sinister posts. By the level of 
intelligence displayed in most of them. By the knowledge that was given, by 
the words of wisdom. By Ken Chu's ability to always make me laugh or smile, 
because he used his humour with such intelligence, it made me think "I wish 
I'd thought of that".

I don't know why I decided to share this. I just did.

idles
xxx 


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 +-+       "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper           +-+
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