Monthly Archives: April 2007

Kurt is up in heaven now.

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Well, I’ve composed myself a little more since 8 am this morning.

I’ve been reading a lot of wonderful things about Vonnegut online, and I’m going to compile them here in a humble little attempt at a tribute to one of my greatest heros.

First, a wonderfully appropriate quote from an interview:
VONNEGUT: Well, there were—or maybe there are—a number of dead people out there. (Laughs.) It’s a very crowded place. There is a Beethoven and a Shakespeare and a Hitler and an entire family out there. But, fortunately, you don’t have to go to heaven to talk to some of them. A lot of them have left us amazing things on paper, and so their lives persist here anyway. Wonderful words. Beautiful music. Stunning things that resonate.

Next, some of my favorite Vonnegut quotes:

I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don’t let anybody tell you different.

I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can’t see from the center.

The universe is a big place, perhaps the biggest.

The things other people have put into my head, at any rate, do not fit together nicely, are often useless and ugly, are out of proportion with one another, are out of proportion with life as it really is outside my head.

A great Vonnegut interview.
Another great Vonnegut interview.
Vonnegut’s great Paris Review interview.
An online directory of Bokonon.
Audio file of Vonnegut reading a section of Slaughterhouse Five.

Links to good obits posted today:
NY Times
Yahoo
BBC

Strange but true trivia: In the novel Timequake, Vonnegut writes that his alter-ego, Kilgore Trout, (also) dies at the age of eighty-four. (From Mental Floss)

And almost all of my favorite blogs posted the unhappy news: Gawker, BoingBoing, Mental Floss, Neatorama, Cake + Pie, The Book Maven.

Kurt, I hope that everything was beautiful and that nothing hurt.

“And if I should ever die, God forbid, I hope you will say, ‘Kurt is up in heaven now.’ That’s my favorite joke.”
- Kurt Vonnegut

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Latest Purchases

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Friday I bought Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose. My mom loved this book, and it looks great. It’s also recommended by McSweeney’s.

Today I bought Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson. I’ve been wanting to read more biographies, and this one was just released today. I’ve always been intrigued by Albert Einstein and wanted to learn more about his life, so this seems like a perfect place to start. If I’m up to it I’ll go to the author event tomorrow for Walter in Union Square.

All in all, I have a lot of great things to read on the plane and at the airport this weekend.

But for now, it’s time to dive into The Talented Clementine, which just came in for me from the Library.

Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them
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Easter….and cheese

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Today Ryan and I went back to the East Village Cheese shop and each bought our favorite kinds of cheese. I can’t believe how cheap cheese is there. My Havarti was $2.99 a pound, and Ryan’s Brie was $3.00 for 14 oz. What a huge amount of cheese! I had to take a picture to document this beautiful cheese.

We really like cheese.

Tonight we also put together our Easter baskets for each other. They are all ready for tomorrow morning!

There’s also a picture of one of the baskets being weighed in. (wink wink)

70 pounds!
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Chabon, Rowling, and Clinqiue Happy

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Tonight I finished The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. It was incredibly good. I recommend this book, but must offer a warning: it’s a long, rich, epic book. Make sure you’re in the mood/able to read such a book whenever you decide to start it. That being said, it’s definitely not a drudge to read. It moves quickly and you won’t want to put it down for too long.

Michael Chabon is a gifted writer, and makes every page of this book a pleasure to read. His characters come alive and each win your heart in their own way. The subject matter (comic books, among other things) and the period in history (WWII era) work together for incredibly fascinating read. Even for someone like me, whose love for comics only went so far as Archie before picking up this novel.

Now I’m reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I need to pick up the pace if I’m going to accomplish my goal of re-reading the first six Harry Potter books before July 21. I should try to be done with 3 and 4 before the end of April.

In other news, Clinique has something fun going on right now. You can send a happy video to a friend (it’s like a e-card) and for every e-card you send, Clinique will donate $1 to Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Plus, just for sending a video, you get a coupon to print out and redeem for a free Clinique Happy purse spray. Pretty fun promotion, I think.

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Beautiful Saturday

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Today was a gorgeous spring day. Warm and sunny, with a bright blue, welcoming sky.

Ryan and I walked all over Greenwich Village, Noho, and East Village. We visited 5 bookstores we had never been to. My favorite was St. Marks Bookshop, it was very trendy with great displays. I got the new Paris Review, and a back issue of McSweeney’s – number 17. This was the awesome one that was designed to look like the contents of your mailbox.

The Jefferson Market Library branch in Greenwich Village was incredible. It feels like an old castle. Here’s a picture of the outside, the tower was really cool, and that’s where the staircase is up to the second floor.

I took some pictures of Grace Church as we walked by. I’m always surprised by how many breathtaking churches there are in the city.

When we got over to East Village, Ryan got us fries at Pomme Frites and I got two cheeseburgers at Paul’s. Then we took our haul over to Tompkins Square and ate on a bench in the park.

After coming home we promptly passed out for a few hours, and then woke up and watched some netflix movies.

My idea of a perfect saturday!

Grace ChurchGrace Church
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