Field Trip City

I spent a portion of yesterday reading Native Son by Richard Wright, which is one of the most amazing books I've read in quite awhile. I want to look it up on the Internet to see what other people have thought about it, but I'm only halfway through (it's a long one - 430 pages) and I don't want the ending spoiled. I'm almost glad I'm going to have two copies because I can now give one away as a present and say "this is some fucked up, awesome shit." To put it vaguely and eloquently.

The building's fire alarms went off at around 9 AM and wouldn't stop for another half hour in various parts of the building. It's probably not a good thing that I chose sleep over staying alive. My decision was mostly based on the fact that the building's alarms have gone off before, for whatever reason, and there's never been a problem. One time I looked out the window to check for flames eating away at the side of the structure and stayed put because there were none. Maybe I'm just expecting a firefighter to rescue me if the building ever did go up. They'd probably get to me in time. No sense putting clothes on.

I watched Jurassic Park yesterday, plus a documentary on how it was made. I certainly loved that film when I was a teenager. I read both of the novels. Some of the screenplay is kind of over the top in the second half (Crichton co-wrote it), but it's a great effects film.

Andrea called me first thing in the morning yesterday just to say hi. It was a great way to wake up.