Addendum

Stop whatever you're doing and watch this, this, and this.

Kings of Convenience and Feist. Wonderful. There are also some wonderful Elliott Smith videos on YouTube. I'll link to some of my favorites another time.

I already posted something this morning (just scroll down a bit), but it was a fairly interesting day. I picked up the following books in the library:

Othello
Henry V
The Brothers Karamazov
Flannery O'Connor's "The Artificial Nigger and Other Stories"

I figured I needed some fiction to keep me company these days. I also went on a hunt for Life at the Bottom, as recommended by Gerald. I thought I found it, but then I realized this evening that the ND library has a completely different book with the same name. Bummer.

Finding books at the library is like a treasure hunt. You go online, write down the call number, look at the list of floors to find out where to go (there are thirteen), and then hunt down the book. Sometimes you get it wrong, and you end up in the Russian literature section - proper - and wonder why you have suddenly encountered the Cyrilic alphabet and can't find Dostoyevsky (all the while realizing the irony that his work in its original form is right in front of you) . Other times you discover little gems you didn't know existed, like that French book on Cyprian I found.

It's so much fun. Seriously. Okay, I'm a nerd. Whatever. All I know is that when I pulled The Brothers K off the shelf and sat down to start reading it, I felt at home. The 4th and 9th floors - where I got these works - would, I think, cause Charlie and other likeminded souls to become hermits for the rest of their lives. It's set up so that the works of each author are followed by literary criticism. It's gorgeous. I had no idea there were so many sweet books about Flannery O'Connor.

You'll realize none of this has anything to do with my research or my French. I pretty much took the day off. After all, there's always Saturday.

Also, for those keeping track: so far none of the graffiti I've encountered since that day on the 12th floor has matched the overall wit and "charm" of the other day's "artwork."

And Emily is coming on Thursday. Rock on.

This should be an interesting weekend. My roommate is visiting his girlfriend in Chicago, and apparently there is a possibility that one of his friends is sleeping in this room tomorrow night. Right...

I feel like I had more interesting things to say. Oh well. It's been fun hearing from many of you over the past week. Keep it up; I love knowing what's happening.

Hopefully I'll have more insightful things to say once I've really delved into my research and these books.

Peace,
Sam