I have 3 books being delivered to me in the next 2 weeks. Two of them are arriving this weekend by way of my visiting cousins who each asked me what I wanted for my birthday and were both sent off to their local book stores in search of David Sedaris and Tom Robbins.

Even still, that left me with a bookless week unless I made my lazy way down to the library. So I did. I wandered around aimlessly through the aisles … well, not completely aimlessly as I was hoping to find something by either Michael Chabon or Etgar Keret. Both FIC CHA and FIC KER turned up bupkis, so I settled on Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer.

When I got in my car, I thumbed through the pages and a little piece of paper fell out.  It was the receipt from the last person that checked the book out. I couldn’t help but smile.

I know that I’m not the only person that gets excited when they find this kind of stuff (see FOUND Magazine). Somewhere in the office closet, I have a collection of “found items,” mostly greeting cards and some hand-written notes. I’ve been saying for years now that I need to scan them in and submit them to the site, but I’m just too lazy.

I have one card from a college aged boy to a college aged girl (I found it in a used college textbook at the bookstore) on their first Valentine’s Day together. He told her that he was really enjoying the time they’ve spent together so far and that she has a fine ass. For those of you who have been fearing its demise, romance is alive and well.