duck-shaped pain

I've been having a hard time finding a place to study. I went to Acceptable Coffee yesterday to do some reading there, which was unsuccessful. There was just too much going on there. Other customers were talking, and then they were playing the radio, so there was music and talking added to that, and then the guys sitting on the couch perpendicular to mine started throwing fries at each other. Fun. I had a decent time, anyway, even though I got no work done. I talked to the owners for awhile about various things, and leafed through a bunch of books in the book-exchange pile.

Today, I've just been studying in the living room, which is not great, but better than most other places. The random assortment of garage-sale furniture in the room means varying levels of comfort. The one chair which is comfortable and roomy enough to sit in for long periods of time is also often used for napping, so I have opposing impulses whenever I'm in it. Reading more about lithification vs. sleep -- there's a clear winner there.

I suppose I could work in my office -- it has decent chairs and lots of light, but it also contains many distractions. If I tried to study in there, I would sit down and get through about a page before I decided I needed to listen to my Dr. Murray Banks Tells You How To Quit Smoking record that I have otherwise ignored for years. Or that I need to straighten up the bookshelf. Or play solitaire. You get the idea.

Other people go and study in the library, which is the reason that I avoid it. Ours is constructed of special sound-amplifying materials, so that even if I sit in the remotest corner possible, the sounds of others shuffling papers, clearing their throats, and clicking their pencils drives me nuts. The internal structure of the library is such that people on the third floor can hear what those down in the first-floor lobby are saying, quite clearly. No wonder people fight over the few private study rooms that are available.

I don't know when I became so sensitive to background noise. I used to be able to study in crowded, noisy coffeehouses or at home with the TV on, but not anymore. I can put up with lots of noise at work without any problem, which is odd. Maybe I'm just thinking too hard about this, though.

I made an experiment for dinner last night, which turned out pretty good. I took some chicken thigh meat and marinaded it in a mixture of chopped garlic and ginger, crushed red pepper, lime juice, orange juice, oyster sauce and a tiny bit of corn oil. I let it sit for about 30 minutes, and then I saut�ed the meat with some onions, peppers and mushrooms. Then I added some more of the marinade (which I had reserved from the original batch), and simmered the whole mess for about 15 minutes. I added some chopped cilantro at the end, and then ate it over rice. It wasn't as tangy as I would have liked, but it was still tasty.

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