On Friday I repeated socks. Really. It's not my fault. I just didn't have enough pairs of dress socks to get me through the week. I had two. I borrowed two. And then on Friday... well... it was Monday all over again. I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I just bought more dress socks. And a gray pair of pants, since I was alternating navy and tan (not the same pairs -- I have a bunch of each) and needed some variety. And a cool-looking wrinkle-free blue shirt on sale that I liked, so I couldn't resist. It was really cheap. I didn't need to resist. I got a paycheck yesterday for the first week of work. My shirt cost about 1.5% of my weekly take-home pay. That's about 45 minutes of work I guess. Actually, that makes it sound like lot. I'd rather go home 45 minutes early one day than have the shirt. Uh oh. Did I mess up? Whatever. I can afford the shirt. Barely. But I can. I also bought a new toothbrush, since I was almost due for one, a magazine, and a smoothie. My shopping spree. Extraordinary, really.

And then I went to the public library for some books for the daily subway commute, since I'd finished what I had lying around. Early in the week I read "Live From New York," the 600-page history of Saturday Night Live that came out about 18 months ago. Solid. Enjoyable. A bit too long. But good reading. And then I read "Count Down," which is like the movie "Spellbound" but about the International Math Olympiad and the 6 kids on the U.S. team. It was a little too quick, actually -- I could have enjoyed another 100 pages or so, and some more depth. Too lightweight. I recommend, but only if you think it sounds like something you'd like even if I didn't recommend. It's not a must-read. Then on Friday I took with me a book of essays about Paris by 1920s journalist Joseph Roth that a relative recommended. It was a little too literary for me. Didn't grab me, at least not on the subway. Just didn't do it.

So, I got 6 books from the library. Nothing I'm really, truly excited about reading, but all things I think will be decent enough for the commute. I need to find a better library. I will report as I complete. Probably up first on Monday will be Ken Auletta's "Backstory" about the business of journalism. We'll see.