The Nice Thing About Strangers
Creative Non-Fiction Short Stories. :) Travel, Oldsters, Love, and Compassion.
Office Decoration and The Pencil
Pnin purchased for three dollars a faded, once Turkish rug. With the help of the janitor he screwed onto the side of the desk a pencil-sharpener–that highly satisfying, highly philosophical implement that goes ticonderoga-ticonderoga, feeding on the yellow finish and sweet wood, and ends up in a kind of soundlessly spinning ethereal void as we all must.
–Vladimir Nabokov. Pnin.
Austrian graffiti.
The Nice Thing About Strangers 
I like the graffito ( ! ) in a dubious kind of way. But for the life of me, I CANNOT make an association between Nabokov’s Turkish rug and his pencil sharpener. What am I missing, Paige …?
He’s decorating his office. This is before he will later have to share it with an Austrian professor who takes over most of his space.
I liked the Turkish rug line because I do so enjoy Turkish everything. š And once faded, it’s no longer qualified as Turkish here.
I have been reading this book with my jaw open. His writing is remarkable!
Paige
Funny! I live almost next door to austria, yet I’ve never been there!
You should head on over! š
Paige
Yeah, maybe that’s what I am going to do this summer!