Huffing the book fumes

Ahhh, I love days off.

I tried to go to the Fresh Market this morning, but in my drive to get there before everyone else did, I got there before they even opened up. So I started home and then decided to stop at the Borders - which I knew was open - to pick up this month's book for Readers Anonymous (it's basically an online book club I just joined. Like a support group for book addicts, but with more books. Bill W. might not approve of our "recovery" methods, but, alas). I also had decided on the way there that I'd wander through the cookbooks, because lately I've been feeling like I needed something new to get me out of my rut of pasta and chicken fingers (not together).

I showed amazing restraint today. I managed to get out of the knitting section unladen with bounty, amazingly enough. I did not buy Son of Stitch 'n' Bitch, again, nor did I buy Itty Bitty Nursery (although, with the rate my friends are procreating these days, I'm not sure why I denied myself that one, except that I'm, you know, broke), despite the fierce temptation of both. I did eventually find our December read, The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans, which I was delighted to find was small, short, and cheap. I also did spend a while sitting on the floor (which is my favorite Borders activity) looking at cookbooks, and ultimately decided on World Vegetarian, by Madhur Jaffrey. I have a couple of her smaller cookbooks and love them. It's got piles and piles of (over 650!) good international recipes. I'm excited.

I have to admit, I've been missing my 800-page volume of The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking lately, which I've now forgotten in Chicago twice. And my current medical student is Indian, and he swears there's a good Indian store not far from where I live.

He's also taking his Step One boards today (they never would've let us start our third year without having taken boards, but whatever, Big Hospital coddles their students in a lot of ways), which he's been very freaked out about all week. Seriously, this kid (kid...he's older than I am) knows way more detail than I think I ever knew in my first two years of medical school. He's going to be fine. And so yesterday afternoon, after we'd seen all our patients and before I actually had to start answering the call pager, I made him hand over his flashcards and we spent about an hour doing Q&A. Which was a somewhat humbling experience for me (holy freakin' herd of cows, I think I've already forgotten more information than I know. Of course, what gene codes for an specific tyrosine kinase mutation is not especially relevant information to my practice at the moment. And I know where to look it up if I need it. But still). But his flashcards also smelled a bit like curry (he gave me that exact same look when I glanced at the stack of cards kind of quizzically and then sniffed them that I often get when I start sniffing the yarn at yarn shops. I just don't think this is such a weird behavior!), which just made me start thinking about how long it's been since I had decent Indian food...

I also bought Jaffrey's memoir, Climbing the Mango Trees, which looks, again, like a quick read and full of delicious language and sweet memories. I'll keep you posted. But that's all I bought, those three books, two of which I went in for. And one of which was completely paid for by redeeming the Borders Bucks I've accumulated over the past year. Very cool.

So now all I need to do is find my book stand, so I can read and knit at the same time. Add the open windows and the dog curled up at my feet, and that right there? Is bliss on a sunny Saturday afternoon.