On Decidedly Odd Library Encounters and Joaquin Phoenix...

So today I had a myriad of errands to run around town and one of those was picking up some books at the university library that I had requested. As some of my dear readers know, our main humanities library has been closed for three years while undergoing massive reconstruction and renovation. Supposedly it is going to reopen in the next few months but I still think they're lying. I've lost the hope y'all. They said it was going to re-open in January 2006 and it never happened. As the months passed my fleeting optimism waned. Now I think I'll be lucky to actually get in there and peruse a stack before I graduate. But I digress...in the meantime, any time students need books formerly housed in the humanities library they have to request them online and wait 24 hours for them to be delivered from a storage facility to the main science library. I avoid this library like the plague because it is downright inhospitable. It reminds me a lot of the movie Office Space. Cubicles, bad flourescent lighting, ugly monochromatic carpeting and matching furniture. In a word...dreary. And entirely too corporate for my liking. But alas, I must go there to pick up books when I request them.
But I had a rather unusual encounter when I went to check out my library books today. Now, I had heard tell from Violet some time ago that there was a lad manning the circulation desk who bore a striking resemblance to Joaquin Phoenix.
I must admit, I took this tale with a dubious grain of salt as Violet also tried to convince me at one time that a very Fabio-esque porn star looked "just like Joaquin Phoenix." When I pointed out that he in fact looked like Fabio (which others concurred with me on), she defensively asserted that said porn star still looked like Joaquin "a little around the eyes." This, of course, is a frequent point of considerable humor for me and I shamelessly tease her about it. :) But through the grapevine, I'd heard from a few other sources in our department that there was indeed a strapping young bloke who looked like Joaquin working at the library. I didn't really pay it much consideration until I went to check out my books today and this mesmerizing guy was right in front of me.

The first thought in my head was, "Hot damn! He does look like Joaquin Phoenix!" Kind of like a younger, lighter haired version of Joaquin circa To Die For. I didn't manage to say much at first aside from "hi," but I quickly discovered that I'd interrupted a conversation that had been going on because the guy working next to him at the circulation desk suddenly says, "Man, I'm telling you. You need to dye your hair black. I mean, walk the line dude. Become Joaquin Phoenix!" This, quite understandly, sent me into gales of sudden laughter. Look-alike boy was very embarrassed and discomfited by this whole conversation and looking for a way out. So, naturally, he looks right at my breasts and says, "Oh...wow, that's...a neat T-shirt." (The front of this T-shirt says "I *heart* boys...") Then he points to the guy beside him and says, "so does he."

Okay, so I'm feeling a tad out of my depth here. Then I realize perhaps I'd interrupted a flirtation from his co-worker that Joaquin look-alike boy felt uncomfortable with. So, being unable to resist toying with him I pointed out, "oh, well you didn't see the back of the shirt." I then turned around to show them the back, which has a great yaoi image of two cute manga guys kissing and the words "with other boys."

Let's just say, I left the two wee laddies flabbergasted and speechless, while my inner she-demon was cackling with amusement. All in a day's work I suppose.

But damn if that boy didn't look uncannily similar to Joaquin Phoenix! I may have to visit that library more often in spite of it's soul killing interior decor....