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2006-09-04 - 1:34 p.m. Valerie's Question Why are you buying more books? Valerie, my sister, asked, after I'd made another trip to the local thrift shop. I read maybe 10 books a week, I said, and I keep them, and years later, I read them again. And you have room for these? she asked. We were reminded of our mother. She had a rickety metal 3-shelf place for her books in her living room. "My book shelf is full," she'd say. "Don't send me any more books." We laughed at that. I said, Valerie, it's what I need to do. There's always room for books. Reading now, this week - King, A Street Story, John Berger. Told from the view of a canine narrator, bearing witness to one couple's chronicle of homelessness beside a highway, stealing meat from the discards of a butcher, sharing the warmth of each other's flesh, barely existing in a vagrant community of poverty. Dog on the Cross, collection of short stories, Aaron Gwyn. A man miraculously survives a fall from the eigth floor of a drilling rig and is ever after plagued by an unwillingness to live. A preacher loses his ability to speak in tongues and begins to fake it. Stories of people in Perser, Oklahoma. Exhibitionism For The Shy...Show off, dress up, and talk hot. Erotic role-playing, dirty bedroom talk, fun suggestions. Drunk With Love, short stories by Ellen Gilchrist. City of Boys, short stories, Beth Nugent. Small town girl moves to NYC, brother tries to protect his sister by convincing her never to leave her apartment. A Place to Dream, Lynne Blackman and Kathy Corey. Create a perfect peaceful environment with enchanting gifts for friends, and personal rituals. More Tales of The City, Armistead Maupin. Groups of diverse people live in an apartment complex in San Fransisco. Made into a TV miniseries for PBS American Playhouse. Flash Fiction: 72 Very Short Stories edited by James and Denise Thomas. They also edited Sudden Fiction. Each story is no more than two pages long, and, in that space in time, dramatic! The Bathroom Reader, Vintage publication 1946. Stories to read on the John. Precious! Samuel Goldwyn, Dorothy Parker, Bennet Cerf, O. Henry, with the coolest 1940's line-drawing illustrations. The Best of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader. Publ. 1995. Some entries: Under "Let me write sign, I speak English good."..."You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid" - Japanese hotel. "Salads a firm's own make limpid red beet soup with cheesy dumplings in the form of a finger; roasted duck let loose; beef rashers beaten up in the country people's fashion." - menu at a Polish hotel. "Our wines leave you nothing to hope for." - Swiss restaurant menu. Under "A Wild and Crazy Guy - Observations from Steve Martin"..."Boy, those French, they have a different word for *everything*!" "I gave my cat a bath the other day, and he sat there, he enjoyed it, it was fun for me. The fur would stick to my tongue, but other than that..." "In talking to girls, I could never remember the right sequence of things to say. I'd meet a girl, and say, "Hi, was it good for you?" If a girl spent the night, I'd wake up in the morning and then try to get her drunk." Another entry later today. It's gorgeous outdoors. I'm working with my camera and my sketchbook and watercolors, having a perfect Labor Day off. Hope you are also!