Well, there aren't many Born Again Christians in Trenton, New Jersey

I didn't plan to take the train home, but when I heard that a retaining wall came down on the Henry Hudson Parkway, I figured that traffic would be pretty terrible, so I left my car in Connecticut and jumped on public transportation.

Here are my favorite quotes from the conversation I had with three colleagues:

"I don't think vampires would do very well in space."

Q: "Do you feel like you're chillin' with your harem right now?"
A: "Yeah, my intellectual harem."

"Well, there aren't many Born Again Christians in Trenton, New Jersey."

What a great ride.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

This book was a little strange for me. I liked it, but I sometimes thought the author was taking the easy way out. Some things didn't seem connected, didn't seem relevant . . . seemed like something I could have written myself. I tend to mistrust authors who write things I think I could have written. I worship authors who write things I wish I could have written.

The story is told from the perspective of an autistic boy. Actually he's supposedly writing the story. So the story is in the story. That's a little weird for me too. It is definitely an interesting perspective, and impossible to say if its authentic, but sometimes it really worked for me.

It's amazing though. All it takes to have book is a few threads of plot and a compelling narrator. I think I have it backwards!