On Burning and Books

[angharad]

Sunday, after brunch with some labmates of gragathaz (and their partners)1, I went to the Pulp Fiction bookstore to do some stocking up on my waste-of-time fiction reading. My budget was to be $20. First, I surprisedly discovered some fantasy and science fiction novels in the $.25 bin (aka "We're not going to sell these for you, but you don't have to take them home again.") outside. I spent about $2.25 there, and then headed indoors. Discovering the second-hand manga section with Lone Wolf and Cub and the last issue of GTO therein took my spending just about to my limit, so I told myself that I could buy perhaps one paperback mystery novel and then be done (My browsing quota had not nearly been reached yet at this point, but I was sticking to the budget!). On the way to that corner, though, I scanned the Children's end-shelf. The Yellow Fairy Book set me back nearly eight dollars. I went over my spending limit, but I did get thirteen books out of it (most with some truly entertaining back blurbs). Turns out I already own the fifth LW&C, so I get to go back and trade that in tomorrow for the penultimate GTO (which for some reason I didn't gamble on already owning).
Today, I burnt caramel (in the process of intending to make bubble tea). It was a candy failure: disgustingly flavoured, smoky. It was an entertaining success: a hell of a lot of alchemical phase-changing fun. Not a terribly huge point in writing about something so embedded in its physical manifestation, but I'll try:

• taffy
• STICKY
• dark brown
• smells like burning
• thick
• heavy
• stretchy
• stuck to the bottom
• acts like wax when spilt onto the floor
• or onto my pajama pantlegs (which are now in the bathtub: glued together but wet)
• strong
• solid
• thixotropic

I must do this again (s/tapioca/vigilance/)! 1 I can now highly recommend Slickity Jim's Chat-n-Chew on Main, for your amusingly titled breakfasty needs.