elephantine

the bigger half

(Nice, paper wishbones! From Reason With Me.)

Today's book excerpt, from Rabbit Redux (John Updike):

"The six o'clock news is all about space, all about emptiness: some bald man plays with little toys to show the docking and undocking maneuvers, and then a panel talks about the significance of this for the next five hundred years. They keep mentioning Columbus but as far as Rabbit can see it's the exact opposite: Columbus flew blind and hit something, these guys see exactly where they're aiming and it's a big round nothing."

by the hair on your chinny chin chin

(Fairytales, photography by Emily Nathan, Inc., via Notcot.)

Today, idling at the intersection, I look over at the neighboring car to see a woman plucking hair off her chin. Her casualness makes me think it's just a routine. I picture the following, upon her arriving at her destination:

Woman's friend: "Great to see you! Was traffic bad?"
Woman: "Oh, I have no clue. I was... you know."
Woman's friend: "Hmm. I don't know, actually. But, my, does your chin look smooth!"

just for fun...

(Kcoline.)

like the hand of a clock

(neology by mina.)

Today's plucked paragraph, from A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers:

"Toph is on his back, his arms splayed. He sweats when he sleeps, regardless of the room's temperature. When he sleeps, he moves and turns around and around, like the hand of a clock. His breathing is audible. His eyelashes are long. His hand hangs over the foldout bed. As I am looking at him, he wakes up. He gets up and comes to me as I am sitting in the chair and I take his hand and we go through the window and fly up and over the quickly sketched trees and then to California."

gimme an E... gimme a L...

(Elroy.)

everything in its right place

(NaoLoop, the ultimate organizer.)

blushed with rage

(Photography by oladios, via Mothersvea.)

Today I stood in front of my bookcase, pulled out a book, read a paragraph, pulled out another book, read another paragraph. And so on. You could say it was the literary equivalent of channel surfing. This rediscovered sentence in particular reminded me why I cherish Steinbeck:

"He turned over the boulders with his crowbar and now and then his hand darted quickly into the standing water and brought out a little angry squirming octopus which blushed with rage and spat ink on his hand."

from denmark

(Mmm. Erfurt scarves, via Simplesong.)

well, when you put it that way...

(New Math by Craig Damrauer.)

let's play pretend

(Paper puppets from Royal Buffet.)

Forever 21 has always been a sort of disappointment for me, simply because I have a tough time finding anything that works out. The three or four times I've gone in there, I've picked out plenty from the racks, but hardly anything actually looks good in the dressing room. It's something about the fit. Everyone else seems to love the place, though, so maybe it's just me.

Anyway. The other day, I went in there searching for a skinny belt – sorry, J. Crew, but I can't bring myself to pay $58 for your version – and found some for only $2.50. Which is ridiculously inexpensive. That's almost comparable to bus fare.

So, if you've been looking for a skinny belt, there's your answer. Forever 21, you now have a saving grace.