Thursday, July 1, 2010

Fire

So if anyone is wondering why I haven't sent out my new address, its because I'll probably be moving again because my house caught fire.

Luckily nobody was hurt and the only damage is to the structure of the house and not to any of the things inside.  Still the insurance assessment has labeled the house as potentially unlivable for the next few months.  So... I'm scrambling to find a new place to live.

I wasn't home when it happened, but apparently the cause of the fire was a freak accident involving things in the basement.  Apparently the insurance company called it an "act of god."  I'll update this post if I get any details.

Let the fun that is house-hunting on long island begin again.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The New York Trilogy

I've been reading Phil Auster's The New York Trilogy lately and its a very interesting (and strange) take on detective fiction.  I'm not even really sure how to write about it, so instead just post an image from the graphic novel adaption of City of Glass drawn by the amazing David Mazzuchelli and give a summary.


The stories, as is probably obvious, all take place in New York City.  However, this is not the New York of Raymond Chandler-esque crime fiction.  This is a version of New York where identities are constantly gained, lost, and shifted.  A version of New York where everyone seems just 20 pages away from insanity.

I don't want to give too much away, and I probably wouldn't be able too even if I could, but the stories all seem to intersect.  Characters from the three stories may or may not interact with each other or may or may or may not assume each other's identities (its unclear).  In City of Glass, the narrator (who may or my not be Phil Auster) describes a meeting between the protagonist (who is pretending to be a investigator named Phil Auster) and a writer named Phil Auster (who is different than the actual Phil Auster).  Later, a character in The Locked Room assumes the identity of a fictional character introduced in City of Glass.

All and all, some very interesting reading.  Maybe not recommended for a week where everything conceivable goes haywire though.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

I think its fair to say...

That the current lab playlist has reached new levels of eclectic pretentiousness.







Though not all of it is entirely unrelated to psychology.



Like I said, its a bit eclectic.  When our new student arrives, I'm guessing this insanity will be reigned in a little.