The Best Laid Plans of yada yada... It Was Cold!

So instead of painting for many hours today as per my original plans.  I pretty much spent today reading.  I started the day with an exquisitely awful piece of fiction, Atlanta Nights. It was written as a hoax to prove that PublishAmerica would print anything.  It features such great lines as "wept a sorrowing floodlike of tears; "I’ll go sees he now,” he stormed, and stormed out of the room"; and "Fortunately, fast and efficient Emergency Medical Services, based on a program founded by Lyndon Baines Johnson the 36th President of the United States helped y'all survive an otherwise, deadly crash," Isadore chuckled. And that's just the beginning! Chapters 4 and 17 are word for word the same. There are two Chapter 12's. Chapter 21 is missing. Chapter 34 was written by a computer programmed to pick up word patterns in the previous chapters. Characters also randomly change gender without explanation. The text can be found here.

A few chapters into that I realized if I'm not going to work I should probably read something worthwhile. The rest of the day was spent on Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. It's a fictional historical account of early 19th century England from the perspective some one writing from someone within the same century as the events described.  Everything is as it would be during the Napoleonic Wars except that several hundred years ago magic was well practiced in England and now it no longer is.  No longer practiced that is until the appearance of Mr. Norrell (and later Jonathan Strange).  The book is complete with footnotes referencing an elaborate history of magic and the biographies of the characters themselves. It's a good choice.  Unlike this.

...Back to the snow. I just wanted to commend Rutgers facilities. They were shoveling the walk every few hours to make up for the schools unwillingness to close; Though it did cancel classes past 4:30pm. And the sidewalk plows were running all day. So thank you for making it more pleasant for me the few times I was outside today.

I've always thought it'd be fun to drive one of those things.