the great mari-times.

i am off to cavort about the maritimes with my favorite siblings for the next two weeks. for those of you not in the know--this means i am in the northland again (3rd time this summer).

the maritimes are comprised of:
- nova scotia
- new brunswick
- prince edward island.

i will be finishing/starting:
- salinger's raise high the roofbeams and seymour: an introduction.
- salinger's nine stories (completing the summer salinger tour).
- nabakov's speak memory.

mwah.

east-coast tour rounds out.

my mother and i greatly enjoyed the philly reading in the rock club.

i am reading edward carey's observatory mansions. more book love!

i got nothing else for today.

pilgrim-ing.

weekend cavorting:
- air-conditioner!
- spades!
- salinger's franny and zooey (love. true book love. i was reading this in a diner by my house while the 19 year-olds sitting behind me engaged in tedious first-date giggling dialogue. i could hear zooey saying something about these inane rituals)!
- more spades!

tonight i am off to a drinking-reading event in philly. could be a mess. we'll see.

in a circus of swans.

let's get drenched.

this is pretty sexy.

strap on your goggles and grab your guitar.

i'm bouncing around today. must be the remnants of the new-apartment-exhilaration and the champagne hangover.

august sights:
- high speed photography.
- google earth.

august wanderlust:
- airfare watchdog.

august sounds:
- oh my rockness (i haven't been this excited since the first day i found pitchfork).

the Personal stuff in terms of listening (some of it's in the mail):
- sufjian stevens' latest.
- sybris.
- clap your hands say yeah.
- dungen.
- ak-momo.

and reading:
- mina loy.
- sophie cabot black.

visiting glee.

boston involved (in no particular order):

- much walking.
- seafood in jamaica plains.
- pizza in the north end.
- home-made scones, pancakes, and dumplings.
- singing (jukebox, no jukebox, etc.).
- more walking.
- pbr.
- a new pair of red earrings.
- ginger ale spillage and the movie training day.
- roof-sitting, drinking.
- coffee quibbles.
- reminiscing (grades 6 - 12).

on the bus, i finished chabon's the mysteries of pittsburgh and a model world. what next?

get out the map.

off to boston to see my favorite girl.

i finished the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay. and i remember that part of the experience of finishing a truly engrossing novel is that let-down at the end, that oh no now whose world am i going to live in? feeling. but i also have trouble disentangling that feeling from my doubts about a particular novel's particular ending.

anyways, i've started an official chabon kick. i'm now reading a model world. you see, i'm super-duper lucky to have a tall angel working in a new literati-type job, and he messengered me books. hoorah!

escaping.

hot damn, have i been enthralled by michael chabon's the amazing adventures of kavalier & clay. i can't put it down. really. i mean, i normally have trouble putting a book down. but i really can't put this one down. this morning, getting on the train, i had a moment of utter panic in which i thought i'd perhaps left the book at home. what to do? go back for it? i fumbled a bit more in my bag and to my great relief, there was its substantial self.

here are related time-killing links:

- the zoomquilt.
- action figure.
- anyone want to have a séance?

the move-in dance.

looks a little bit like this.

i am overjoyed with my new place. i had help (thanks muchly, boys!). my first non-shared apartment, and i can't wait to go home and set up by my little lonely.

new-ish wordly objects that make me hop happily:

- a "ghetto-fab" couch.
- a leather hanging wine rack.
- the kitchen table of my childhood.
- a typewriter (!!!).
- a bottle of Really Really Old scotch.

also, a small plethora of friends have/had birthdays yesterday and today. happy birthday, friends!