QUAY
so i've been screwing around with this post for over a week now. i had "q" down weeks before that, but i haven't been able to write anything that doesn't sound forced and stupidly encyclopedic to accompany these photographs.

english was never my best subject in school, but that just means that i got A-/B+ instead of A's. my writing is utilitarian, grammatically ok, and just perfect for writing up lab reports, work memos, and scientific papers. a few years back, i took a creative nonfiction writing class at grub street and didn't make a total fool out of myself -- a very brave thing for me. since starting this blog, however, i realize that my writing compared to others really just sucks. like there's some sort of funnel between my wordless thoughts and the part of my brain that puts those thoughts into words through my fingers onto the computer screen. i'm an excellent and very fast typist so it's clearly that part between my emotional thoughts/feelings and forming words based on those thoughts that is all muddled.

of course none of this has anything to do with my post. or these pictures.

see, when i try to get back to this post, i've got "nothing."

even this picture is all out of focus. kind of like my brain. by the way, this is a bouquiniste's (secondhand bookseller's) stall.

they sell old magazines, and newspapers, paintings and prints, photos, gentlemen's publications (cover the children's eyes!). great old stuff from as early as the turn of the last century if you're willing to take the time to browse. i find them to be a little sad, and am amazed that these guys actually manage to make a living especially since most have resisted filling up their space with plastic eiffel towers and cheap t-shirts.