"Curiouser and curiouser..."

Nothing made me want an iPad until I saw this app. Sure, the book is entertaining enough on its own, but I really like what they've done with the original 1865 John Tenniel illustrations. The coloring is so rich and wonderful.

Real Surprise

So I see a copy of the May 2010 Real Simple sitting on the table where my neighbors have an impromptu magazine exchange program going and I think, "I must steal this now before someone else takes this treasure!" I abscond with it and then, while reading it, got to wondering who in my building subscribes to Real Simple. I check the label and boom:

It turns out it's me! THANK YOU DANIEL! You're such a thoughtful friend.

Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost

My dear friend Richard Rushfield (of Gawker fame) has just published his latest book, entitled Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost: A Memoir of Hampshire College in the Twilight of the '80s. "That sounds too topical!" you may say. Don't you want to hear the story behind the man below, an actual Hampshire teacher?

Of course you do. It's probably a really great story. His book is available on Amazon or in any self- respecting bookstore.

Congratulations, R.R.!

The Purloined Letter

Over the last few weeks, I finally got around to reading BLINDNESS by José Saramago and 100 YEARS OF SOLITUDE by Gabriel García Márquez. After the weightiness of those novels, I was ready for some more lighthearted bedtime reading, so I grabbed a book of great American short stories off the shelf. The collection included Poe's "The Purloined Letter" which contains the fantastic insult, below.

That is another of your odd notions," said the Prefect, who had the fashion of calling every thing "odd" that was beyond his comprehension, and thus lived amid an absolute legion of "oddities."