I have always had a liking for aphorisms, that ancient literary style and educational tool which conveys much meaning in a tight, easily digestible, pertly philosophical and occasionally witty way. And so, as and where I could manage, I have also used this literary template to express my own thoughts and ideas freely here, maybe even clearly; along with adapting and altering other people’s ideas and opinions as I found them lying around, and as I felt was appropriate to my own slightly cynical agenda in scribbling down this notebook. However, on the other hand, for me to indulge unduly in plagiarism while producing this type of introverted writing is not really my intention here, nor much my cup of tea either. As plagiarism is a mean, lowbrow thing to do, and so something any would be literati should only do to his own kind. Anyway, I don’t regard myself as any type of real writer, but merely as a philosophically-minded note taker; but then, to be honest, possibly even an idealistically flawed individual, just casually casting around for some sense of purpose; and then, in the process, taking quick notes on whatever meanings and purposes I ceased to believe in on trust alone. I expect that I’m simply more interested nowadays in finding out how things really work in the world at large, and then using that (hopefully) sharper understanding to best advantage. Or at least, for what it’s worth, for getting what I like and what I want when and where I want it, out of whatever private activity-time I’ve got left to live, before I become an old bag of bones like so many others before me. Which, despite my being a bit of a self-centred cynic at heart, I’m sure everybody else likes to do the same sort of thing just as much as me, only he or she just won’t admit it to anybody except himself or herself; but which, I think, under the circumstances is a very fair way to act after all.