Why bother getting up when I can lay naked in my bed reading Gravity’s Rainbow, debating whether of not I should buy the companion reader to ensure I get every last reference? For instance: while underlined, ‘the fall of the crystal palace,’ as a reference to the glass-and-iron display in Hyde Park that was destroyed in a 1936 fire totally eluded me.

I love the artwork on the 2006 version of this book (on left), which is the one I own. The artwork is done by artist Frank Miller who is known for his body of work as a comic book artist, graphic novelist and film director; most popularly he is responsible for the graphic novel Sin City and for co-directing the movie of the same name. Particularly in light of the Milton Glaser talk I saw on Wednesday and Glaser’s emphasis of recycling old work into new work, I find Miller’s use of the same rocket from All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder (on right) to be pretty interesting and great.

I suppose I don’t feel like I’m being stimulated enough (no double entendre intended, though it would seem likely given the books I’m reading), because I’m concurrently reading Gravity’s Rainbow and Ulysses, and seeing a lot of parallels. There need to be more filthy intellectuals. Meanwhile, I’m going to continue listening to a song that refers to a book that I’m reading as I look up references in said book.

“Halfway out now from under the covers, she hangs, between the two worlds, a white, athletic tension in this cold room.”-Gravity’s Rainbow, page 54

I’ll get dressed eventually.