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Sat Oct 10th, 2015
 | 01:38 pm - Thanksgiving again
October long weekend with promised pleasant weather- even if I'm a fan of grey cold and rainy holidays, because of the coziness factor-- and alas my Sei Shonagon Syndrome cuts in and says The Watchmaker of Filigree St would be the perfect focus for this lovely weather, and if I read something else my holiday will be less than perfect. Note that I am 31 out of 32 in line for this book at the library. (The no. of people waiting gradually decreases, but not my ranking as second last. After me, nobody wanted to read the book, it appears.)
Instead the library comes through with Americanah, that I barely remember ordering, so to the library I go to renew my card and withdraw the book. Open my wallet and find my bank card inexplicably missing. Can't recall when I last used it, but vaguely remember mid-week, at the branch a happy block away; and there they automatically cancel and give me a new one. These long work days lead to brainfry by evening, even though I *try* to be mindful at ATMs, as in 'I am taking my money, I am taking my card, I am putting money and card in wallet.' (They order these matters better, I say, at the Royal Bank, where you don't get your money until you've removed your card from the machine. The Royal has few forgotten cards.)
But Nigerians in Princeton are not a patch on whatevers in steampunk London, so I go off to Bakka to see if it might be there so I can have my perfect weekend. It is: $30 plus tax. No, enfin: not for a book I might find a grand disappointment. Adichie it is, I guess, unless I stick to GK Chesterton's essay on Thomas Aquinas. Chesterton writes beautifully. 'Of course, he's all wrong,' as my cousin said of Lewis' take on allegory, 'but such a pleasure to read that it does't matter.'
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I like the idea of Sei Shonagon Syndrome, where one must have the Perfect Completing Element, or nothing else will do. It's aesthetically pleasing (but of course) but a pain to arrange. So many things in this messy life fail to cooperate.
I should bear in mind that Shonagon herself was noting moments that spontaneously came together to form an aesthetically pleasing whole, and that one shouldn't try to arrange for them to happen. Not that that stopped her, or anyone else, from trying. ![[User Picture]](https://l-userpic.livejournal.com/11690011/1379663) | | From: |  mvrdrk |
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| Date: | October 11th, 2015 09:30 pm (UTC) |
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Happy Thanksgiving! |
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