Preparation for Gaudeamus

Having prepared the ground, which is obviously what you have to do before any building work is undertaken, Coco was dismayed to realise that the short version of a long story could so easily be misunderstood, by those whose minds are of a geometric, not to say rectangular, nature, where the tall version of the short story could be considered to be equal in meaning to the former if one were to think in two dimensional terms of course, and then of course one would have to wonder what the long version of the tall story might be or even the short version of the tall story, not of course forgetting that there would even be the short version of the short story, however thinking in two dimensional terms is alien to story telling whether it is of the long, short or tall kind as story telling can only take place in the one dimension which is of course the fourth, for it is not the space on paper which determines the story otherwise even War and Peace would be considered a short story if only it were printed at 0,1pt, but rather the impression made by it through the eyes or ears upon the neurones and across synapses over time, and with that in mind Coco shall close this post and progress to the presentation of the short version of the long story in the time it shall take for you to wind a piece of string into a neat ball.

Have you noticed, a rant is relatively easy to produce, but have you ever thought that a rant is about as useful for the settling of the thoughts, or the removal of phlegm from the chest as a lump of sugar, which may provide the brief and passing, even less than ephemeral, notion of a greater strength and enthusiasm in the muscles than you know you have on a hot day half way through the marathon when what you really need is a glass of salted water to replace the fluids and salts than have for the past hour been flooding out of your gaping pores as if there were tomorrow?

It is the light of this thought that Coco resolved not to rant today but to prepare for you a short version of a long story* about the first Viennese school. Coco only has a few minutes now, but hope ere the weekend is over to have been able to prepare the said tale for publication to those who may have a small interest in it. In any event, it is not now an opportune moment in view of the affairs of state currently being discussed**. Coco would not want to distract you from consideration of these otherwise important matters by his little tale.

_{^{* The story had been published here before it was elsewhere, hence the inconsequentality of the dates.}}

_{^{** Something to do with a unilateral declaration of independence by an island off the north coast of France.}}