Morley Walk!

This is what I did last Sunday (August 18th):
http://morleywalk.tumblr.com

Christopher Morley was a novelist, poet, and journalist -- and the founder of the eminent Sherlockian society the Baker Street Irregulars. However, he is perhaps most well-known as a tireless advocate for the book trade. One of his best-beloved novellas, The Haunted Bookshop, is set in a used-bookstore in Brooklyn, and is essentially an ode to bookselling, wrapped in a cute romance and a quaint mystery.

The Morley Walk, organized by Melville House (which publishes what is likely the most recognizable edition of The Haunted Bookshop and its prequel, Parnassus on Wheels), was splendid. It was a reading crossed with a walking tour of independent bookshops around Prospect Park. A small horde of bibliophiles descended upon the streets of Brooklyn, where we attempted not to get run over by passing cars, parents pushing baby strollers, and over-eager dogs as we migrated en masse from shop to shop, taking turns reading aloud from a copy of The Haunted Bookshop.

There were some people who thought we were a cult -- come to think of it, passersby mistaking Morley for Scripture in a mob of bookish people is actually rather fitting. I doubt I shall see most of the other participants again, but for an afternoon, we had found our tribe. And much like a novella, it was over far too soon.

Viennese Ball, Part II (a.k.a. The Adventure of the Dress)

The second Viennese post, with a picture, as promised:

From left to right: Melanie, myself, Caroline, Julie, Caitlin (yes, the chromatic arrangement was intentional)

So, the Adventure of the Dress (sounds like a Sherlock Holmes story, doesn't it?):

I stayed at Julie's place for a few days at the beginning of Winter Break. (She lives very close to Stanford.) We decided, the day I went over to crash at my uncle's place, to go exploring in San Francisco. We also decided to be extremely girly, and go thrift shopping. Our last stop was at a Salvation Army store. I found a nice sweater, she found a pair of jeans, and then I wandered by the section with ballgowns and out of the corner of my eye, spotted something made of purple brocade.

See, Julie makes no secret of her love of the color purple. So, I pulled out this pretty ballgown and decided that she absolutely had to try it on. So I barge into her dressing room with gown in hand, and proclaim, "I have found you a dress for Viennese!"

She tries it on, but it's just a little too tight and a little too short, which is very sad news indeed. So she decides that I should try it on, and lo and behold, it fits like a glove. The conversation went something like this:

Julie: It fits like a glove! And it's eight bucks! You should get it!
Me: I don't know if I'm going to Viennese; I might not ever wear it.
Julie: You should go to Viennese! Everyone should go to Viennese at least once.
Me: I don't even have a date!
Julie: If I didn't already have a boyfriend, I'd go with you!
Me: Hmm... I could crossdress. I have 1800s black tie menswear in my closet somewhere. But I can't lead.
Julie: I can lead.
Me: It would be interesting and optically confusing for the other participants if you wore a dress and led, and I wore pants and followed.
Julie: But what about this dress? *holds up purple gown*
Me: Oh, right. That.

So I bought the dress. Then I showed it to my sister on Skype, and she said it looked like an apron. Which, given the neckline, was not a completely inaccurate assessment. It really looked a bit like a floor-length qipao mated with a painter's smock (smock top, qipao bottom). So I decided to alter the neckline into something that looked a bit more gown-like. The end result is shown above.

And then I found a date. I asked my friend Remington (or well, I asked him, rather indirectly, if he was planning on attending), and he said no, but then Caitlin and friends pestered him into going, and so he came and asked me, and I said yes. And so I went to Viennese Ball.

Blog Hiatus

My family and I are going to Italy for about ten days, leaving tomorrow, so the Miscellany is temporarily going dark. We'll be back towards the end of next week. The itinerary includes Rome and Florence, with a tentative day-trip to Siena. I'll post pictures and/or a travelogue when we return.

The earlier, very brief dearth of posts (last weekend) was due to my friend Lucas visiting New York, and because I got a new computer, which needed setting up and so forth. Here we are:


(That's me, Lucas, and Mycroft. (See, Brett, here's a picture of me!))

He's 13" (if it isn't evident from the picture), and he's named for Mycroft Holmes, of Whitehall and the Diogenes Club, the lesser-known but more important of the Holmes brothers. Sherlock Holmes was (and still is) one of my favorite action heroes from my childhood (yes, he's a mostly cerebral detective, but he's also well-versed in boxing, fencing, single-stick, and "Baritsu" (see "The Final Problem"), all of which qualify him as an action hero). I thought Mycroft's personality and function were more suited to that of a computer.

Anyhow, see you all in about two weeks!