I am...

Eating: Delicious, delicious food. Today I had veggie Indian food at a lunch buffet -- coconut chutney, dal, palak paneer, a creamy cocnut curry, and kheer.

Drinking: Manhattan earl grey. The tea has pretty little blue and yellow dried flowers in it.

Watching: The computer screen. Today I watched "The Commitments," which I didn't love, but I enjoyed it. I thought the story was a little dull, but it was quite entertaining; also, I love Irish accents and Dublin. There was a great scene in it where all these people are auditioning for the band, and one guy sings "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" melodramatically. The band manager responds sarcastically, "Yeah, I know how you feel."

Reading: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and Mysterious Skin. I bought the former at the UNC bookstore, and I like it, but it's really, really different from what I expected. The chapters are short and it's very poetic in this simple way. It's a bit "miracles happen and life is meaningful" for me, honestly, but it's still very beautiful. The style takes some getting used to, but is appealing overall. Although a lot of the narrative in the movie was taken directly from the book, Bauby is much less sarcastic in the book, and he seems almost content where he is, even as he realizes that he's "between life and death." Mysterious Skin is really pretty incredible. Yes, it's upsetting and disturbing, but it's also -- well, the best word I can think to use is emotional. I get so wrapped up in it, and am so concerned for the characters in a way that doesn't happen often with books.

Listening to: Holiday, the Magnetic Fields. It's amazing. Although whenever I hear "I'm sorry, but how can I get to you/Stuck in my 50-pound lead boots/Stuck in my deep sea diving suit?" I always think about Jean-Dominique Bauby.

In other events, I've been in North Carolina since Thursday night, touring colleges, mostly. It's so beautiful here -- the weather is absolutely perfect. Today we walked around the Duke gardens, which was lovely. I don't want to leave!