Illuminated texts, gothic handwriting, and antique books, as forms of art. We were very engrossed, and I hardly noticed what I ordered or ate. It seemed to me then that behind his facade of idiocy and American-Fraternity style wit and grace there may actually lurk an interesting person.
Then, as an afterthought, when coffee arrived, he interrupted our conversation to apologetically pull a picture out of his bag. It was a sketch he'd done of my face and bust (Oh shoo, you perverted internet scum. Not in that way). Absolutely wonderful, for a sketch from memory. He really is quite talented. I felt very ashamed of myself; He is in a way open and honest and sincerely kind, while pursuing me with a stubborn indignance. I am there, accepting his attentions against my better judgement, while Cal sits unknowing in Melbourne.
I was intent on turning him down outright, taking my book, running; now I feel that I cannot. I came home earlier than I might have otherwise so that I can talk to Cal, think things out, and maybe push this confusing and arrestingly rude world away in favour of a book. Something light and calming, like "Suyemura, an anthropological look at a small Japanese village". I bought it from a secondhand bookstore a few years ago, and have never sat down to read it properly.
EDIT: Updated to correct errors. That man's making me make basic mistakes, now - it's intolerable. Additionally, I've included the picture he gave me.
4 comments:
I can see the night out left you a bit out of it. (Just a note, I'm only teasing.) I have to ask, what did you mean by "indigance"? You missed a d in and, too.
Something light an calming, like "Suyemura, an anthropological look at a small Japanese village".
Seriously though, it sounds as if dinner went quite well.
Glad you had a nice time. Oh, and not to nit-pick but did you mean "Suye Mura, Japan"?
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/2215.ctl
I was curious as well if you had looked into that Reginald Gray book I had asked about earlier. I still can't find anything on it and it is starting to eat away at me.
esteed; You leave me blushing and ashamed. He is indigant in his manner; loud, brusque, and resolutely ignoring all comments concerning my current partner. I would use obnoxious, but he is behaving rather more like a child who cannot have a toy, who asks over and over again despite his parent's rebuffs. Obnoxious seems too strong a word; perhaps obstinate would have served better, I think, in retrospect.
Angba; the Suye Mura book is subtitled "A Japanese Village", and was published initially in 1939 with a subsequent 1964 re-print including an amended introduction. It claims to be a sociological text, but seems to me quite anthropological and categorical (It brings up social practices such as infanticide despite a near complete absence from the village. I was intrigued by the choice of the word "near", and am wondering if the researchers witnessed something interesting or simply could not find conclusive records). It does seem to be based upon the same village as the book that you linked to me. If you ever do get to look at a copy, have a look at page 295 (the 1964 reprint) and have a look at their lunar calendar. I haven't found anything on that book for you yet, but I might be moving on to a new section of books at work, which might give me more leads. Its' recalcitrance is irritating me, too; I hate it when interesting books vanish abruptly like that.
Tanya, I am the one who found your web address for Chase. I am pleased you were reunited with the book you left on the bus.
Honestly, I wonder if your encounter with Chase has interferred with your grammatical abilities! You have again misspelled indignance in your reply to Esteed, and in your response to Angba, you have missued an apostrophe in the word its.
"Its' recalcitrance is irritating me, too; I hate it when interesting books vanish abruptly like that."
I've also noticed in your replies, a habit of using a semicolon after the addressee's name. Perhaps that is acceptable; however, I thought it more correct to use a comma or colon.
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