books rule!

I bought a copy of B*tch magazine yesterday after work and I've been enjoying reading it, eschewing all the free copies of Cosmo and Martha Stewart Living that are lying around. One of the "Love it" items in the back is an online comic strip called "Fart Party" (www.fartparty.org) which is a hilarious cartoon record of a young woman living in San Francisco. It's kind of naughty sometimes, but I laughed out loud when I saw this strip:
Because, let's face it, haven't we all fallen asleep face-down on a pile of books at one point? I really need some new reading material. New novels. Reeeeeellly baaaad. Like, Trainspotting bad. I went to the library about four days after I got here, but they wouldn't give me a card, so now I'm back to waiting for something to come in the mail with my name and address on it so I can prove that I live in Chicago. Nothing will say "I have arrived!" like a Chicago Public Library card tucked next to the four other ones I have in my wallet. (seriously. four.) I'm so desperate for new reading material that I might have to actually buckle down and buy a new book one of these days--the only thing preventing me is the three day shipping/waiting period. I must exercise patience!

People find it incredible that I find time to read so much. Usually, I have two or three books going at a time. This week's champions: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince(which has caused more than one look of incredulous disbelief before I explain that this is the British cover and not book 7), and Lives of the Monster Dogs which is also fabulous and everyone should read.

One of the gentlemen waiting for his appointment came over and picked up my mag with the apprehension that comes when anything has the word "feminist" printed on it. He looked a little discomfited when I told him I preferred to read it because the authors were able to look at pop culture objectively and not fall for the marketing. Oops. Since he was probably here to discuss marking something with someone I'm sure he doesn't like hearing that the receptionist doesn't fall for it. I hope I don't get in trouble, although that would be awesome. In other news I'm going to see a show tonight with the director and costumier of "The Castle." Have no idea what show it is, or where it is, or anything about it--it's one of those "friends of friends are doing a show" and, after three fourteen hour days I'd much rather go home and go to bed. But I've got to start meeting people and introducing myself, and of course the only way to do that is to get out there and promote myself. Marketing. But in a good way.