Let's talk about Saining for a minute. She and I met in grade 10, when I transferred from Netherwood to the ever-feared public high school. I immediately thought she was super cool, most definitely cooler than me. Apparently, she also thought I was super cool. We were then at a stalemate of cool for the next two years, in which neither of us knew how to really approach the other.

And then grade 12 happened. We were in the same English class, and we were in improv together, and we re-discovered our mutual coolness. And then today, I saw her for the first time since Christmas. It was super excellent. There was coffee, awesome sandwiches (oh ma lawdy I've missed Java Moose), visiting old teachers (SQUEE. more on that later) and a thoughtful bookstore perusal. I tend to take forever and ever and ever in bookstores, and she does as well. It worked out quite nicely. I'm $50 poorer and 7 books richer, and it was so worth it. I also talked to the woman who runs the bookstore about James Joyce and Daniel MacIvor and it was awesome.

Inventory of what I bought:

As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner (0.99)
Good Omens, Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett (hardcover, $8.99)
Everything is Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Foer ($7.99)
Blankets, Craig Thompson ($12.99, a nearly-600 page graphic novel I originally read in grade 11)
Little Children, Tom Perrotta ($6.99)
'Tis, Frank McCourt ($6.99. I read Angela's Ashes in grade 12)
Dubliners, James Joyce (FREE. I mentioned off-hand how I hadn't been able to find a copy of Dubliners, and the owner was certain they had a copy. She checked the backroom and they did, and then she gave it to me on the house. This isn't the first time she's done that, actually--last summer ago or so, I brought in a whole slew of books and she gave me $75 for them. I then proceeded to buy a few books, and she ended up giving me D.H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers for free.)

I still need to theatresquee and teachersquee. It will happen, trust me.