Every parent in the county was at Staples this afternoon, desperately buying school supplies for their offspring, grabbing for book socks and Justin Timberlake pocket folders as if they were Cabbage Patch dolls in 1989. Rebecca found a generic list for 7th grade that may or may not represent the actual supplies she'll need, but she racked up $75 worht of stuff regardless.

Books: Finished Samaritan. This books violates my theory that only novels with a strong story appeal to me. The story was ordinary, but the author's ear for dialogue was amazing. I started to read what I thought was the latest Harry Potter book, but it was in fact the previous book, which I did not recall at all. Perhaps I should go back to that one and write a book report on it before I'm allowed to proceed to number 5.

Movies: Le Divorce - more enjoyable than I thought I it would be, despite a few fairly good reviews. French men cannot be the complete fucks they are portrayed as in this film, or they would be extinct, unless the theory of natural selection has become survival of the shittiest.
In The Company of Men - Roger Ebert says "Now here is true evil: Cold, unblinking, reptilian." It's difficult to find a more succinct way of summing up this movie. Led by a character who was an embodiment of everything odious about corporate life, this was an astonishingly powerful movie. I've been fortunate in almost 25 years of working in large and small companies to have only rarely been exposed to this revolting side of corporate employees. The despicable behavior has been equally displayed by men and women in those small number of instances.

Dreams: I was being driven to work by someone I knew, although I didn't see their face. I was sitting in the middle of the front seat of the car, and a man who works for me was sitting next to the window. He was treating me in a very affectionate, almost fawning, manner, and I was concerned that the driver would see this. By the time we got to the office he was sick - red, watery eyes, pasty skin, looking nauseated. We arrived at work for a meeting with people from GE who were going to help us with some big project. There was a smoky fire in the building and we all had to evacuate. Apparently the next stop on the itinerary was India (where we actually do have an office that I've visited once), where I was with another group of co-workers having tea. We ordered a meal and I ended up with both a steak and some sort of beef stew. One of the people with whom I was dining mentioned that it was 4:40 and didn't I have to leave for my plane which was leaving at 5:30? I was frantic - I hadn't packed yet and had to race back to the hotel. I packed a selection of gifts I was taking back to my family, but did not have time to pack my clothing, figuring that they would let me go back to the hotel to finish packing once I had checked in at the airport. When I boarded the plane, the man who had originally been in the car with me was seated in first class, and I wound my way back to business class. The flight attendants would not let me off the plane to retrieve my clothing and I shrugged it off, assuming they would be waiting for me when I returned to India. My brain apparently had some serious housecleaning to do last night.