i stuck my head into curious george after class to see if an english translation of the susie morgenstern's book could be got for rikita. if the translation held up, i thought, i could even buy it in bulk and give them to my non-francophone friends. alas, i did not like the translation, but i saw that indigo's star was now in paperback, so i snatched that from the shelves and bought a few other books beside. then i tripped down to tealuxe and got my strawberry sencha and the lovely creme earl grey, in anticipation of surpana coming for tea the week after next. this, i say unrepentantly, is entirely the fault of the grad school. i may have mentioned before that they are withholding my next stipend cheque until i turn in my incomplete (yes another one. von don't nag.) but truly, trying to starve me out is a terrible bad idea. other people panic and fear eviction and get to work choppity chop. i start spending extravagantly on children's books and orchids and tea and embroidered slips because i think i might as well enjoy myself while i still have the means to. ("how oft when men are at the point of death / have they been merry, etc...") i don't even have the guilt of collecting undeserved wages. that's the trouble with punishing people - you've already done the worst to them, what else can you do? threats are good only as long as you're shaking your moral sticks at people - the fear of what's to come gets them going - but once the threatened event has been carried out, why should they bother being good, since they're already being punished? people should be magnanimous to me, because that makes me guilty and contrite and i hasten to make up for it on top of which i never forget any kindness shown me and they gain a devotee for life. so much better all round, don't you think?