The budget is still a couple of thousand dollars in the black; I need to eliminate this surplus in the next week or so. I decided to give our German literature collection the once over, with the aid of a Britannica article on the subject, but I don't think I'll be able to blow the wad just on Krauts because we already have most of the big works by the big names. Two notable omissions are Rainer Maria Rilke and Gunter Grass, so I might be able to get rid of a few hundred bucks buying their works in the German. An even more surprising gap for a Baptist library is the absence of a German Bible, so I'll order a copy of Luther's translation.

I've found that foreign language materials are not easily obtained through the usual vendors (Baker and Taylor, amazon.com, Midwest Library Service). The foreign versions of amazon have a lot of stuff, of course, but I don't think they deliver to the U.S. (P.S. I found out that amazon.de will ship for 13 Euros plus 2.50 per item.)

You've probably heard that many of Emily Dickinson's poems can be sung to the tune of "Gilligan's Island" (try especially "Because I could not stop for death"). While at church I discovered to my chagrin that Dylan's "Gates of Eden" (except for the refrain) fits nicely into the tune "St. Columban," the usual setting for the hymn "The King of Love My Shepherd Is." I say "to my chagrin" because now whenever the rest of the congregation is devoutly singing:

In death's dark vale I fear no ill

With Thee, dear Lord, beside me,

Thy rod and staff my comfort still,

Thy cross before to guide me.

I'll be hearing:

The motorcycle black madonna

Two-wheeled gypsy queen

And her silver-studded phantom cause

The gray flannel dwarf to scream.