On the Shelf 10.22.12

Reading:

Baby steps were made with The Fault in Our Stars this week, but I can proudly declare I began a new novel this weekend. After a round of speed-dating with books that mostly left me uninteresting, my curiosity was piqued with Bossypants by Tina Fey.

Fey's frank and sarcastic approach to life at the top of the entertainment industry offers charming insight on the comedic minds behind shows like Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock and illustrates the 'diversification' of comedy groups like Second City. Bossypants made quite an incredibly boring car ride significantly more interesting and I look forward to finishing it.

Watching:

Dirk Gently, a British program about an eccentric detective and his loyal companion. Inspired by the Douglas Adams novels of the same name, this off-beat, not-quite comedy has a delightful mix of deduction, snark and humanity mixed with just a pinch of the ineffable. Despite the surface similarities it shares with Sherlock Holmes, Dirk Gently sets itself apart with the title character's ambiguous crime-solving strategy (almost reminds me of Victorique from Gosick), the stark reality of a failing detective agency and an appropriately quirky secretary.

Listening:

The faceless person who sits across from me in Study Hall greatly appreciates loud music. The subtle nuance of blasting ones eardrums out with music that can be clearly heard from seven feet away is unfortunately lost on this philistine. It is impressive that he seems to have found the exact volume between loud enough to get the monitor to lecture him and not quiet enough that only he can hear it.

Eating:

I have been brought out of my deep-seated distaste for all things tortilla (I blame a period in my developmental years, probably around second grade, when my mother decided that bread had too many carbohydrates and we should only have tortillas for three months - the experiment lasted two weeks) with the discovery that when one is very hungry and very cold cheese quesadillas taste fantastic.