Occasionally I have a strange day in which it's obvious that I'm in exactly the right place at the right time. And then there's yesterday, when I was paid to buy books, a whole lot of them. Not for myself, alas; nor did I get to use my own personal taste as any real criterion, but still, if there's any area where I have experience, this is it. In fact, I went from buying books to taking a break in the breakroom, where I, uh, bought some books. (Don the Beachcomber's book on Hawai'i and its rum drinks, and The Bible Against Itself).
In my afternoon of intensive research, I learned that there's a book out about the botany of Middle Earth. There are multiple travel guides to Da Vinci Code locales, some for Paris, some international. There are tons of books about "chick lit" and how to write it. I also learned that some computer programs can't handle the umlauts that may turn up in the names of former Poet Laureates, and thus one might come across the works of Louise GlFuck.
I know that's a cheap shot, but it made me chuckle. After all, this is America. No dignity here! I think I'd just read too many online reviews complaining about the use of the "F-bomb" (kind of an offensive euphemism, if you ever happen to catch the news) in contemporary plays. And yet sometimes you can't stop a random combination of letters from occurring. So maybe people should chill the umlaut out.
(P.S. Quick review of today's movie, Kenny & Co. It's an early, low-budget kids' movie by Mr. Phantasm, Don Coscarelli. Various lighthearted, low-key, but completely irresponsible hijinks take place, and then it develops a darker undercurrent of Kenny's learning about mortality. Includes some Phantasmic dialogue like "Everybody has to die someday. I know you don't understand right now," and co-stars the Ice Cream Man himself, Reggie Bannister, as the mellowest elementary school teacher in history. Definitely a curio, but the only real ineptitude is the syrupy, repetitive light rock score. I wouldn't rush out to watch it, but if it crosses your path, it has some interest).
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