Things I Learned Today

1. Novel Pictograms are not as easy as you'd think they'd be.  Especially if you've only ever heard of 5 of the novels in question.

2.  Apparently the New York Review of Books has the power to "break" the story on the alleged person that radicalized the Tsarnaev brothers.  Since when does the New York Review of Books break stories on anything other than, oh I don't know, books?  I thought reporting and tracking down leads was the news outlet's job not a Book Review site's...

3. No offense to Wales and the Welsh people but the Welsh language is quite difficult to decipher.  I'm sure I'm missing years of study but after just a quick glance it looks like Alphabet Soup.

4. Those who injure themselves and use Facebook, have a much higher chance of photographing and sharing body parts with their followers as those who are not injured.  I'm sure your broken toe/leg/nose is sore but why would you want to share your gnarly/ bruised/casted/bloody body parts with the rest of us?

5. Richard II is proving a much more difficult read than Hamlet or A Midsummer Night's Dream.  I'll eventually get through it but I may need a re-read to get the full gist.  Though one thing I did notice is that poor Richard II gets an entire tragedy named for him but not a great deal of lines. 

Hay-on-Wye

I'm sure for any normal person reading this, the words in the title mean nothing.  However, if you are (like me) a un-apologetic book fiend, you may just know that Hay-on-Wye is a county that straddles the border between Wales and England.  You may also know that according to its travel bureau, Hay-on-Wye is "world renowned for books and bookshops."  So obviously it's on my list of dream vacation destinations.  Based on my fascination with all things British AND my love of books, I'm pretty sure I'd be perfectly happy to live out my days there as well (now I just have to uproot the rest of my family and friends too).

You may wonder why I'm choosing to tell you about my love for this quirky little paradise today.  Well, according to my research (when I can't figure out what to blog about, I google this day in history), the Hay Festival began on May 26, 1987 which, if you ask me, really should be a national holiday.  The Hay Festival is a 10 day long celebration of all things Books and Literature.  Authors and writers from around the world come to speak and lecture on subjects ranging from Medicine and Social Sciences to Food and Comedy.  Each year this tiny county attracts about 85,000 booklovers who come to check out 500 different events over the course of the 10 days.  The 25th anniversary of the festival begins on Thursday and just like every year for the last 5 or so, I'll be wishing I was there.  Some people dream of beaches with crystal blue waters.  I dream about lounging with literaries in the English countryside.  One of these days I'm going to get there but for now, I'll have to be content to dream and watch the festival unfold on youtube (yes, we lit-lovers actually do that...)

Click Hay-on-Wye to see just how bookish and beautiful this book-lovers paradise really is!