Murakami?

I'm in the tiniest bit of a quandry.

I just don't know what Haruki Murakami book to read next.

Late last year I read (and loved) Sputnik Sweetheart.

I've now collected:

*Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World
*Kafka on the Shore
*The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles

All three are now sitting in one of my many piles of books, waiting to be chosen. Any fans, please advise.

Stuck in my head...

...and I'm not ashamed to say I'm enjoying it.

Ork!

I dig these maps. You might too. From Ork Posters.

People have always taken me to be a clotheshorse. There's something about my looks and/or personality that must suggest a barely curated armoire/closet/museum documenting a history of tastes and whims.

I'll never forget the time a male friend stopped by my college dorm suite and saw my closet. "But....where are all the clothes?" They're right there! But evidently, I was expected to have more.

It's a deadly combination of both frugality (sigh) and plain old pickiness that keeps my closet from bursting at the seams.

This trait has only gotten worse since moving to Baltimore:

1. I have the sort of job that requires little -to- no dressing up.
2. Not a whole lot of shopping temptation in the city.

So when an architecture-benefit event came up, I was woefully unprepared. It took a stressful, last-ditch drive out of the city to try to find something suitable. A sartorial Hail Mary pass, if you will.

The fashion gods smiled upon me this Groundhog day. For on the marked down rack (joy!) there was a perfect frock for the occasion. A black cowlneck dress, half sweaterdress, half constructed of silk. Calvin Klein had saved the day - er, evening to come.

Sharp, but not too dressy. A little interesting. And just what I wanted. Scoring my new dress was the highlight of the weekend. Turned out that the event was forgettable - but I have a great memento, hanging up in my closet.

here we go again.

After a year, do you really think I could stop keeping track?

January 2008 Books:

84, Charing Cross Road, Helene Hanff - so sweet. Really liked this. I think they made it into a movie, too.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark - another to add to my formative-years-in-prep-school pile of books.
Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Jeff Lindsay - read like the TV show it was soon (destined?) to become.
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Dai Sijie - a little tale from the Chinese re-education period.
Eating My Words, Mimi Sheraton - memoir from a former NYT food critic.
Come to Me, Amy Bloom - short stories. Really liked these.
Flights of Love: Stories, Bernhard Schlink - more short stories.