Kimchi, not for me

I've only eaten absolute garbage for the past week or so (remember the pizza-induced nightmare?) and I'm currently trying not to beat myself up too much about it. I've learned an awful lot over the past three months about food as it relates to my emotional and mental states, and they are all excellent lessons to learn, though could be more useful if I implemented them in my life in a consistent manner.

In any case, I decided to reward myself today (for getting out of credit card debt, and getting an exceptional lot done at work this week) by going to the big bookstore sorta near my house. I spent $50 and bought only three books - which I suppose isn't much worse than it might have cost in the States. Anyway, here's what I bought.

• Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk - Wanted to read the book before I saw the movie a few months ago, but couldn't bring myself to spend money on it when I had so little. Got it this afternoon, halfway finished with it now. Lots of quote-worthy lines in there, and I've been surprised at how different it is from the movie.
• Gulag, by Anne Applebaum - I was looking for a book about the history of Russia, and this is the closest I could find. It's actually more recent history than I was looking for, but relevant nonetheless.
• War and Peace, by Tolstoy - I had to work my way up to buying this book (though ironically it was the cheapest of the three). I read Resurrection by Tolstoy last month and enjoyed it immensely. I read Anna Karenina (however you spell it) last summer and likewise enjoyed it. He's very easy to read. And through he and Dostoyevsky, I've developed at least a mild interest in Russian history (hence Gulag, above). I find it (it being the novels by the only two Russian writers I've read) refreshing because of their willingness to see/admit/confront the problems and evils in their society, yet maintaining a genuine love for their homeland. It's actually related to the latest post on Rickie's blog - in a way I'm not entirely sure if I can explain. Anyway, this was intended to be a brief mention about what I bought, so I'll stop here - but culture, heritage, and patriotism are topics that I find interesting and yet somewhat foreign as well.

Anyway, Kylie just called and I'm taking the animals downstairs to see them. What follows is part of a conversation Kylie and I had when we were walking home from the subway station Wednesday night after picking up Claude, inspired by Kylie giving Claude some of her vanilla ice cream (from her finger):

Me: "You do realize that you're like his godmother, right?"

Kylie: "Aww. Does that mean I get him if you die? Or does that just mean if you die I have to make sure he goes to church?"

PS - I graduated from high school six years ago today. That makes me feel old, though I know I'm not.