2008-08-14 - 10:29 p.m. Unintentional poignancy: I was trying to start a Facebook photo album called "Life" and was having some technical problems, so I canceled it, and Facebook asked me "Life is empty. Delete it?" Remember Fetchin' Bones? I used to like their loosey-goosey, kind of unfocused Southern rock a lot. I have a friend who seems to have conversations with all of Brooklyn Heights' resident or visiting glitterati, who apparently flock to him whenever they see him reading a novel at his local cafe, wanting to ask how it is. This is annoying, because I've only had four casual book encounters, ever (and none with celebrities). These are they, and they all took place on the R train: Book: Motherless Brooklyn Timeframe: Not too soon after 9/11 (because I stopped reading novels for a while), but soon enough that strangers were still talking to each other for no good reason.: Stranger (female, hipster-ish attire): Are you enjoying that book? I was thinking of reading it. Me: Let me put it this way, sometimes I stay on the train past my usual stop, so I can keep reading. Stranger (genuinely excited by my review): Wow! I am going to start reading it tomorrow!! Book: Da Vinci Code Timeframe: Whenever it was that everyone was reading that damn book--2003? Stranger (female, business attire): Excuse me, I've noticed that everyone is reading that book. Is it any good? Me: It's terrible! My in-laws made me read it on vacation, and I'm just finishing it up so I know how it ends. Stranger (slightly baffled): So, you don't like it? Me I hate it....but I can't put it down! Stranger (bafflement deepening): Umm, ok. Thanks. Book: Consilience Timeframe: 1998 Me [Silently reading. Look up and see that guy hanging on same pole is reading the same book! He is cute, too. My heart starts thumping. I have found my soul mate! What are the odds that we�d both be reading this amazing book, in the same subway car, on the same pole. Fate has brought us together! I wait for him to notice. And wait. And wait. And finally, as I'm about to exit the train, I nudge him with my elbow] Good book, huh? Stranger: Yeah! [We smile, our hearts melt together as one, in the air between us. I wait a beat for him to say something else. He doesn't. I exit the train.] Book: Moby Dick Timeframe: 2006, about a year after having read the whole book for the first time. Me (spotting guy with book) Isn't that a great book?! Stranger[Nods uncomfortably, starts backing up...] thoughts? (39 comments so far) previous - next blog archive contact