so i got back home last night (saturday) around 8:30. pardo came over around 9, and josh and his girlfriend around 10. of course, first thing i want to do? go to barnes and noble. i don't know what's wrong with me, or rather, i do, but i'll pretend i don't. so we go there, they walk around looking kind of bored, and i pick out:

neuromancer, which various peoples have recommended highly (amanda and maybe austin?), by william gibson. he has a lot of other books too, are those any good? i wrestled with a dilemma of sorts for about 5 minutes, a newer $13.95 edition - you know, those big paperbacks with the covers that are fun to just run your hands over - or the cheaper $6.99 small paperback. i chose the newer one, it was mostly a tie-up until pardo suggested i look at the fonts; the more expensive edition was much larger and more spacious and elegant.

red mars, by kim stanley robertson (i think?). i've been meaning to pick this up for a while, i've heard good things (from online book reviews, i think). i also toyed with the idea of ordering the 3 books in one edition from the science fiction book club (ok, ok, i know, shut up), but i ordered "the chronicles of thomas covenant the unbeliever" (or some weird title like that) based on glowing web reviews and hated it. so i'll read the first book of the trilogy before i buy the other two.

how to be good, by nick hornby. impulse buy, saw the hardcover in the bargain section for $6.99. i really liked about a boy, and high fidelity, so i thought i'd support the author. not high on my reading list, but i'm a sucker for bargain hardcovers.

the short life of the brown oxford, and other stories (not sure about the title), by philip k. dick. bladerunner is awesome, albeit confusing (for me, at least). i liked minority report, and other stories, in the same vein as this collection. and i saw a preview for some other short story by p.k. dick being adapted to a screenplay. i didn't really like minority report (the movie), maybe because i had read the story before, but i was impressed with how the screenplay writer can make a movie out of a piece of literature without cutting anything out, simply because it's only a short story. that's what i hate most about novels turned screenplays, is the cutting. god, michael crichton books get torn to shreds in the adaptation process. anyways, the movie always still comes out inferior, so i like to know what i'm talking about when i disparage this upcoming film (as i undoubtedly will).

ariel picked up something, i forget what. i pointed out an autobiography by joseph heller in the bargain section, which josh bought, along with something else i forget. i felt pride - actual pride!! - letting them use my membership card to save 10%. not only am i a dork, i'm a cheap bastard.

i love books so much. one thing i detested about this summer is i barely read myself to sleep. i think i read one book over the entire summer, which is pitiful, or pitiable, take your pick (stephen king's "the eyes of the dragon"). as soon as i came back home i picked up and reread "shadow of the hegemon." i just finished that tonight; i'm going to start neuromancer next, but i've only read the first few lines. as far as rereading books, that can get me started on a whole nother topic about life being just one long wait until you die, but i don't think i want to get into that now, if ever.

enough for now.