a brick of books from brick books

A small brown package of books courtesy of Brick Books clunked through my mailbox just in time for some weekend cottage reading. Thin slices of poetry books perfect for tucking into my purse or back pocket.


I read the Elimination Dance out loud on the way out to the lake. The Elimination Dance is a poem written by Michael Ondaatje (of English Patient and In the Skin of a Lion fame) that was eventually turned into a short film by Bruce Mcdonald. The premise of the poem/short film:

"Instructions: An elimination dance begins with a crowded dance floor. At a signal, the band stops playing and the announcer reads an elimination, say, "Any lover who has gone into a flower shop on Valentine's Day and asked for clitoris when he meant clematis." Any dancer answering this description must sit down, and his partner is also disqualified. The process continues (e.g. "Any person who has burst into tears at the Liquor Control Board") until a single couple remains."

A fabulous poem that will inspire laughs and sad chuckles. A beautifully constructed game of 'I have never' (the worst game for weak-livered lovers of dangerous things) full of seemingly far-fetched scenarios rooted in a whole crock-pot of humanity.


sweater- mango $30
turtleneck dress- american apparel $20 (50% off)
spectacles necklace- $4
What to wear to get into the mood to dive into new books? Why a plastic spectacles necklace! I bought this necklace in the old Wudaokou market in Beijing when I studied Mandarin at BLCU last summer. It cost four whole Canadian dollars, which is actually quite a fair sum of money when most other jewelery pieces were going for less than two dollars. But I fell in love with the effortless geek chic of this necklace and didn't have the heart to bargain that hard for it, taking the opening price and dashing off triumphantly. Though they're really only large enough to be a misguided pair of monocles at best, whenever I wear the necklace it never fails that someone gets confused and thinks they are real glasses! For Lilliputians, I assume.