Indeed it is stress that often keeps us alive - if not alive then at least alert. I am the sort of a person that, if I were not nervous about something, I would remain standing in the middle of the train station, reading, listening to music, long after the trains have pulled away. For a couple of moments I wouldn't even for the life of me remember why that should probably bother me for some reason. But then I make myself really nervous about stuff like mounting a train and so I make double sure I get there.

There's a column in a train newspaper today about how we are constantly observed and judged and have become obsessed with trying to live up to other people's expectations. It's what makes Asperger's a blessing in disguise. Not that I don't remember what that used to be like, but that was another husband, another lifetime ago. 

   There's another article about love, nay, deitification of Steve Jobs. The journalist talks of his relationship with his first laptop. No idea why we should feel so shamed about being in a passionate symbiosis with an object. Samurais have their swords, kings have their crowns, Christians have their bible, musicians have their instruments... We have our portable typewriters/libraries/movie theaters/ music/portfolios. And maps. Let's not forget maps. Lately maps do save me a lot of anguish :))))))