Actual phone call today:

CALLER: Hi, is this Agent (unintelligible)?
ME: I'm sorry?
CALLER: Agent (unintelligible), of the Secret Service?
ME: (as if this is normal) I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong number.
CALLER: I most certainly do!

This news has already gone out to many, but it is worth noting that today I was at the Brown special collections library, looking over a book called Hocus Pocus Junior, The Anatomie of Legerdemain Originally printed in 1634, it is considered one of the most influential books in the field of magic. This was a second edition copy ( Read more... )

List 7 songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good but they must be songs you're really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your LJ along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they're listening to in absolute random order.This is a little difficult because I ( Read more... )

Tee hee.

I'm on the PDF schedule. I am both gleeful and frightened.

I have been invited to give a paper (a portion of my purikura paper, which is familiar to some of you) at the American Studies Association of Turkey conference in November!!! I have to make sure that the tickets and travel arrangements will work, but in all likelihood, I'm going. The graduate school at Brown provides reimbursement for conference ( Read more... )

The other day it was Blake's proverbs, today it was Kafka's Zürau Aphorisms, purchased at the Brown bookstore. I have no strong feelings about Kafka, but the aphorisms were contained in a lovely little volume that just begged to be picked up and paged through. Number 90 was among my favorites ( Read more... )

Jim gave me the key to his apartment while he's away during the break. I am holing up here for a few days to do work, watch cable television, and have access to the good coffee in Wayland Square. He even left me a bottle of wine as a Christmas present, and I will enjoy it when the work is finished. I am thanking him by cleaning the place. I came ( Read more... )

I helped an eighty-five year-old woman named Jeannie cross the street today (she asked me to because we were exiting the bus at the same time and she was afraid to deal with the busy intersection on her own) and then I walked her home. Her osteoporosis was so bad that she was shorter than me, which is saying something. Her hearing was bad too, so I ( Read more... )

My cats were sent to me via airplane on Wednesday. I rented a car, bought new cat supplies, and drove to the airport to meet them. I then had the fun of wheeling two carriers marked "LIVE ANIMALS" past the folks waiting at the baggage claim. Several people caught sight of my cargo and exclaimed, "Awww, kitty ( Read more... )

By the way, my upstairs neighbor had a threesome.