of books and cheese

April 01, 2004
8.45p

i am in a reading phase again! i should say i am out of my non-reading phase, that being the more unusual mode. brought the book to work with me in my bag which is with me always, greenbrown and messenger style with a few buttons which say somethingorother about me. but anyway i brought the book, and it is big and hardcover, even. read on the bus there and back and waiting at the bus stop, also at the table eating dinner. wanted to read while walking, this is a very good sign.

my favorite part in the book matt made me read (which took me weeks to finish as i was in my non-reading phase) is something that i doubt anyone would notice but i thought it was funny and charming in a soft quaint little way.

..."was it cheese you said he had a fancy for?"
"yes, sir, cheese," i answered.
"well, jim," says he, "just see the good that comes of being dainty in your food. you've seen my snuff-box, haven't you? and you never saw me take snuff, the reason being that in my snuff-box i carry a piece of parmesan cheese--a cheese made in italy, very nutritious. well, that's for ben gunn!"

"dainty in your food." parmesan cheese an un-heard of curiosity. a precise and capable doctor, carrying parmesan cheese around in a snuff-box because it's very nutritious. then using it to bargain with a crazy man for pirate treasure. wonderful.

***

tonight i could not resist the lure of an empty apartment, dinner made at home, time and space loosened up a bit. lying diagonally across my bed on my stomach, reading my book, hearing my laundry rattle around in the dryer. perfect.