Miscellaneous thoughts.

[None of these merit a full entry, but hopefully the sum is greater than its meager parts.]

Acne doesn't take into account gender, race, sexuality, socioeconomic standing, or disability/ability status. It is an equal-opportunity face destroyer.

The Da Vinci Code is Twilight for men.
"I indirectly blame Catholicism for the Da Vinci Code."
"I'm sure Catholicism is more upset about it than you are."
"You underestimate how much The Da Vinci Code upsets me."

In relationships and in shopping, there are such things as dealbreakers.
e.g. The shoe fits, but for one minor detail: toe cleavage. (See #firstworldproblems, below.)
Conversely, certain attributes are also dealmakers.
e.g. These flats were $6.99. Deal? Done.

 The #firstworldproblems Twitter hashtag is the ultimate indulgence of an over-privileged class. It says, "I am worldly enough to acknowledge that my troubles pale in significance next to the deaths of malnourished children and freedom-fighting revolutionaries, et cetera, but I still want to complain about how long this barista is taking to prepare my iced latte! I have internet access, freedom of speech, and the disposable income to purchase a brand-name coffee drink, but it still shouldn't take five minutes to pour espresso over ice in a cup, am I right?!" The kid who made the First World Problems rap knows what's up: "I have to add water to this cupcake mix, then bake it?"

Then again, complaining is essentially a basic human right. Tweet on, all you people with 99 problems (but standard of living ain't one). [Full disclosure: I use that hashtag all the time. Like, ten minutes ago.]
 
Is it possible to speed-read poetry? Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose?

Old books and movies, but she can't stop thinking.

"Here is a procession arriving to honor you with music and torches. Here come the men and women whose names you know. The mountain is awake, the river is awake, over the race-course the sea is awaking those dolphins, and it is all for you. They want you--"

-E.M. Forster, "The Celestial Omnibus"

I haven't been writing because I've been reading and reading and reading, and also I really have nothing to say. I'll post for real the next time I surface for air.

Ch-ch-changes.

Maybe I'm considering using WordPress instead?

http://romabutnotitaly.wordpress.com/

[Update]
I'm leaning towards Blogger at the moment. I'll keep you posted (on both sites) until I decide.

Hard times for dreamers.

The longest, strangest dream of my life occurred mid-afternoon today, after an unplanned nap in the middle of rereading Nine Stories, immediately after finishing "Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes," in particular. It involved my mother, a nunnery, grocery shopping, Meyer lemons, someone I know from my college life, a theatre troupe, someone I know from my home life, a celebrity I've never met, a completely fictional character whose name I definitively "knew" although of course I must have made it up myself, medieval torture, a boarding school of sorts, bike-riding, spirit animals, balloons, flying, someone I just met this weekend, a fictional character, swooning, a medical emergency, and true love.

I'm taking this as a sign that it's time to start this blog.