Weekend Update

I spent the weekend visiting my family in NJ, which explains the paucity of posting of late. (Hey - alliteration - cool!) I hate doing these condensed multi-day update posts, but there's really no way around it other than simply not writing, which I don't particularly want to do either. So, in order to maintain the timeline, thus follows the very brief update:

Thursday - had interview, went well.
Friday - work was boring. Went to NJ. Almost finished the Atlantic Magazine crossword.
Saturday - slept in, went to Barnes & Noble, went to Taryn's house, watched a movie
Sunday - lunch with Arpi, came back to NY.

Now, on to the things that matter.

For the first time in my life, my sister beat me at chess. And I mean beat me. No, I was not letting her win, and no, I did not help her at all either. She thoroughly beat me with an impressive strategy that I was completely unprepared for. I do not claim to be a good chess player by any stretch, but she literally learned the game 3 months ago. I wouldn't be so concerned if she had won a long game of attrition, or even if we reached a stage in the game where it was pointless to continue. No, she checkmated me in 20 moves. I have already installed K-Chess on my computer, and will be practicing for the next time she's home. Reputations are at stake here.

The Barnes & Noble discount bin was good to me this week. Just this past Wednesday I saw a book I wanted to buy - a biography of Carlo Ponzi. The idea of paying $27 for yet another book to add to my to-read pile was downright repulsive, though, considering it's a minor miracle the shelves in my room haven't yet collapsed under their own weight. Besides, by the time I actually get around to reading it, the book will surely be out in paperback. However, sitting on the bottom of the discount bin at B&N on Saturday night, was the holy grail of the avid reader - the Reviewer's Copy. For the discounted price of just $5 you too can own a copy of today's best-sellers. As long as you don't mind the incredibly ugly cover that says "Random House" all over it in bright blue, and the fact that the index and table of contents refer everything to page 000. A worthy sacrifice in my opinion. I'm already 50 pages in.

Next time I go back to NJ, I think I need to bring some of these books with me. That shelf really does look like it's starting to bow out in the center...