Well, I have to say that the various plot lines for this year’s Premier League have gotten a lot less interesting. Plenty can still happen but the results of the last 10 days helped shake things out.

Man Ure is on fire and Ronaldo can’t stop scoring. They’ve got a 5-point lead over Chelski and 6 over the Arse, both of whom look less than convincing. Man Ure’s massive goal difference of +53 is unassailable and therefore is as good as an extra point. You tell me, how does this team that has dropped a total of 18 points over 32 games suddenly contrive to drop 5 in their last 6 games while their rivals remain perfect? Doesn’t seem too likely, does it?

Liverpool’s 1-0 win (Torres!) over Everton puts them 5 points above Everton, who look to be running out of gas. While this is far from foregone conclusion, Liverpool doesn’t need to do much to sew up 4th place and that Champions League spot.

Derby is now officially down and Fulham, based on their dire performances, don’t look capable of rising from the mire. Bolton’s downturn coincided with good results by the others, meaning they’re now closer to Fulham (2 points) than Birmingham City (4 points). Reading and Sunderland have hit form and they’re hard to bet against. But hating Bolton is not nearly as much fun now that Fat Sam’s gone…

And somebody please tell me that this story about Spurs’ interest in Diego Lopez is not based in fact. A goalkeeper might be on the shopping list but if they’ve got £27million laying bout the joint, they’d do well to go after a world-class midfielder or two.

After telling myself that I should stop buying books until I’ve read the ones I have, I bought three yesterday: Sherman Alexie’s Reservation Blues and Flight, as well as a collection of Borges’ fiction. My rationale is that I need to read the Alexie and Borges before my preliminary exams (taking place sometime in the next 18 months) and these were good used copies, so why not?

I’m also pondering the unthinkable: thinning out my library a bit to make more room. I’m always hesitant to do this because few things depreciate in value more than a book, but I’ve got some stuff I just don’t need. A book club version of Lord of the Rings, for example, and some books like The Origin of Satan that I’m never going to read. I’m also considering getting rid of books like my Random House Thesaurus, Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford Companion to English Literature, and Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature. They’re handy enough to have around but they’ve been made almost obsolete by the Internet and take up a lot of shelf space.

I’ve heard that you’re supposed to get rid of anything in your wardrobe that you haven’t worn in a year. I’m wondering if the same might be true for reference and/or non-fiction books that have been gathering dust.

Current Mood: Not Looking Forward to Another Week |