“People go on about places like Starbucks being all unpersonal and all that, but what if that’s what you want? I’d be lost if JJ and people like that got their way, and there was nothing unpersonal in the world. I like to know that there are big places without windows where no one gives a s**t. You need confidence to go into small places with regular customers-small bookshops and small music shops and small restaurants and cafes. I’m happiest in the Virgin Megastore and Borders and Starbucks and PizzaExpress, where no one gives a s**t, and no one knows who you are. My mum and dad are always going on about how soulless those places are, and I’m like, Der. That’s the point.” ~nick hornby

This is Nick Hornby week. Which means every day that I post I’ll start with one of his quotes. I love today’s quote. That’s exactly how I feel; I get uncomfortable in those small stores. I love getting lost in a store. There’s no pressure on you when no one notices you. Yes, I’m anti-social and I never quite feel completely comfortable around people (those I like, those I don’t like, those I know, those I don’t know), but at least someone understands. Never mind the fact that those feelings are shared by a character who tries to kill herself. The point is, the novelist wrote that, and even if he doesn’t feel that way and is just giving those ideas to one of his characters, he was able to articulate the feeling and had to think of it in the first place.

Have you ever heard the question, Do you have a different personality when you speak a different language? I’ve thought about it before, and lately I’ve come back to it. As I’ve been getting to know Perrine over the past few months, I’ve discovered that she’s really funny. And I think she must be even funnier in French, her native language. She’s got pretty good English, but she seems somewhat reserved and uncomfortable and worried whether or not she’s saying the correct thing when she speaks in English. Now that she’s been here a while and I’ve spent more time with her, she’s been opening up more. And she’s absolutely hilarious. And I know she must be even funnier when she’s speaking in French because she’s more comfortable with the language. I’ve seen her with French friends and, even though I usually can’t understand everything she says, I can see a difference. She talks a lot, she speaks incredibly quickly, and she laughs more. So I can understand why people have said that you have different personalities in different languages. I would slightly amend that statement, however, to say that your true personality is best expressed in the language with which you’re most comfortable. It’s interesting.

Ooh, guess what? PATTI SMITH IS OPENING FOR U2 IN NOVEMBER! I'm excited to see her. She's much better than some of the other opening acts for this leg of the tour (and needless to say she's also a lot better than the opening act for the first leg of the tour).

The women's final of the U.S. Open is starting now. I want Clijsters to win so badly. But I know not to get my hopes up.