I have taken this as a sign: Natsuki has been writing about her attempt to read Don Quixote. Then, two or three days ago while driving home from work, I was listening to a radio talk show which is usually focused on politics; that day, however, the host was interviewing a professor of literature about... Don Quixote! The professor recommended a specific translation, by Cohen, from Penguin Classics (and now out of print).

I was toying with the idea of reading Quixote simultaneously with Natsu. The radio discussion, which also served to remind me that the story was written as a humorous novel, further inspired me toward undertaking the task.

I have been feeling spectacularly uncreative and uninspired for quite a while now.

Here's the best on-line poll I've found for matching individual concerns with the candidates' views.

To my surprise, I found the survey accurately indicated the conclusion to which I had come independently.

Glass Booth

Try it now... before it's too late!

(Of course, if you already voted by mail....)

Natsu might like the Tegaki E web site. Update your blog in your own handwriting and create art directly on the site.

I just learned about it two or three minutes ago, so I haven't checked it out in-depth yet. Interesting concept.

Okay, I'll admit, I hadda google it. Then I laughed. A lot.

via halophoenix @ plurk.com

The summer break is vanishing rapidly, and I have accomplished scarcely anything which I had intended. Or, anything at all, for that matter!

I'm trying not to become discouraged.

I also have a touch of a cold, which is even more discouraging.

Oh well... mustn't mope away the remaining days!

Book Meme from LJ user Ronni aka LilRonGal aka BananaGirl19:

Look at the list and bold those you have read. Italicize those you intend to read. Underline the books you LOVE. Reprint this list in your own LJ or blog.

Lacing up shoes properly is one of those skills which seem to come intuitively to some people. I am not one of those people.

On Writing is the title of Stephen King's book about writing. Instead of King, I actually read (almost read, I have about 20 pages to finish) Ray Bradbury's Zen In the Art of Writing last night. Published in 1990, the book is actually a collection of Forewords Bradbury wrote for his own collections and other works, plus a couple of essays from magazines, which deal with the topic of writing.

Plurk is another one of those mini-blog, or micro-blog, things. Because I am a mindless follower of all things Zannah, I have signed up on Plurk.

You can too. If you're a shallow, vapid follower like me who has no life outside of the internet, that is.

I still haven't finished a letter I'm... finishing. Typing random bits of nothingness every time I pass by an internet-enabled keyboard is absorbing all my spare moments.

That, plus, I'm in an irritable mood as the school year winds, down, and I don't want to write a dull, whiny, irritable letter. Rather, it should be perky and cheerful, as well as dull.

I just received a telephone call from the Apple Store. Or is it The Apple Store? Either way, the guy said my computer has been repaired and is ready for pick-up. Unfortunately, they were not able to recover any of the data from my hard drive.