Canceled Class, Carmel Coffee, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

So, today was the Ides of March. I come to Latin and we talked about Caesar for quite a while, which was awesome, but then I go to my literature class, expecting some wonderful literary analysis of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (I had even highlighted the passages I wanted to discuss) and to my chagrin, I come to class only to find no professor! Now, of course, we only assume that he is running late, but we waited for fifteen minutes, and he still didn't show up! At that point, we all just left, but I will freely admit that I was disappointed. :'(

So, I've come down to the campus coffee shop, and am attempting to warm my spirits with a cup of coffee (Carmel flavored, of course :P). It it most depressing, since today is a misty, wet, and grey day (which I love) but I only love it because its the perfect day to read a book; and the only thing that could make reading a book any better is reading it with a class and discussing every little nuance of it!

As I'm sure you guessed already, I'm currently reading A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Samuel Clemens. I"m not a huge fan of Mark Twain, but so far, it is rather interesting. I've been highlighting like crazy (something I try very hard not to do in books, but since I have two copies of it, its okay). And, during one of these highlighting sprees, I came across this passage...

"Things ran along, a tournament nearly every week; and now and then the boys used to want me to take a hand-- I mean Sir Launcelot and the rest-- but I said I would by and by; no hurry yet, and too much government machinery to oil up and set to rights and start a-going."

~Samuel Clemens (A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court)

This passage seriously makes me laugh; or gape, my reaction varies every time I look at it. I mean, basically, Hank Morgan, the narrator, makes it seem so commonplace to be able to talk to one of the greatest knights of all time!!! He refers to Launcelot as though he was just "one of the boys," as though he was just a kid from the neighborhood! I can't even imagine that, especially after just having read excerpts (because we don't have enough time in class for the whole book) from Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur, which makes Launcelot out to be this amazing hero!

One does have to give Clemens/Twain points for being original, hehe!