And I’m pet sitting until Sunday afternoon, so I don’t want to take the dog out until it’s not raining quite as hard. It’s also thundering and there’s been some lightning, and while I’m not scared of those in and of themselves, there’s a park and there are trees and I do not wish to die a terrible death under a charred tree and bring the dog along with me.

Earlier this week, I received my copy of a delightful book I’d ordered - a coffee table book of photos of libraries around the world. It’s called “Libraries.” The photographer is Candida Hofer and the foreword is by Umberto Eco; the book was published by Thames and Hudson, and it’s intermittently available from Amazon. I ended up ordering it from a local bookseller via Abebooks. Just because. Local business. I spent about an hour flipping through it and planning an imaginary tour of some of the world’s libraries. Well, imaginary for now, anyway. Maybe some day.

I don’t have the book with me since it’s a bit large and unwieldy to carry along for weekend reading, but I did bring along another item I ordered (though this time, from Amazon): the long-awaited DVD release of Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet.”

242 minutes long. The entire text of Hamlet, in film form. I saw it in high school, and remember the boys getting all loud and obnoxious when Ophelia (played by Kate Winslet) is hosed down while wearing something white and diaphanous. I think the rest of the tragedy that is Ophelia’s story was lost on them.

But I might also just be weird; I actually ENJOY reading and watching “Hamlet.” Maybe I’ve written too many papers about the play. Maybe I sort of relate to some of the things Hamlet himself “says”, specifically about words and the meaningless and useless insufficient nature of words (Polonius: “What do you read my lord? Hamlet: “Words, words, words…”; “…Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words”…), regardless of how many you use. But I’m not someone who’s particularly adept at actions (which, if we’re talking about Hamlet-like actions, is good) so words are sort of my “thing.” Ah, well.

In other news, Wired just posted an article entitled “Space Dust: It’s Alive and It’s… Us?” based on the following findings:

…an international team has discovered that under the right conditions, particles of inorganic dust can become organised into helical structures. These structures can then interact with each other in ways that are usually associated with organic compounds and life itself.

Moby was right. There were probably precursors to that song, too. Research is required.