Hallo-what?

I'm not trying to speak German--I didn't mean "Hallo, what?"--but it was more like "Halloween, what will I be this year to sort of celebrate you?"

I am actually a huge Halloween enthusiast but my emotions are closeted and suppressed each year. Most of the time it is because I don't have any parties to go to [insert Debbie Downer noise or Salem moan here]. And I also have myself to blame--I have never put any effort or extraordinary thought into a costume. My favourite costume to date was a subtle tribute to Casino Royale's Vesper Lynd: I ordered a replica Algerian love knot necklace and wore a slinky red dress. That year I also had three parties to go to, one before Halloween and two on the day of. Thems were some pretty fun times, y'all.

This year I feel uninspired again but--and I don't want to jinx it--I think that my coworkers and I are going dancing. The only thing I have is a mask I bought in Venice, so I run into a problem I had a few years ago of having a costume for my head but not for my body. We'll see how this one plays out if it goes on at all.

In the meantime, I was very excited today to discover that the Vancouver Public Library has a pretty good selection of Italian novels in Italian. I strolled over to Central Branch, which resembles the Roman Colosseum, for the first time since probably the year it opened. I got a library card and was surprised that they had me in the system from when I was a kid living in Chinatown. I went to the Italian row, which really is only one side of a row, and looked for a novel by Italo Calvino. I picked up Lezione americane (American lectures, or as its title is in English, Six Memos for the Next Millennium) and read the introduction during my bus ride. I need to retrain my Italian comprehension because after 1.5 months I have lost a lot of what I learned--mostly the grammar tenses that I had tried so hard to understand and apply.

Before I can get started on that, I have to read a book my mom has been recommending me for the past few weeks: Rich Dad Poor Dad. Leave it to my mom to take the fun of reading from me, though I know she's trying to make sure I have some semblance of financial knowledge.