'he busied himself with his dream'

Then, he busied himself with his dream. I'm at the center of the world, he thought. And, looking out at the skyscrapers, he sat and waited for the sensations of enthusiasm, of emotion, of fulfillment, of happiness. It became clear that the wait, however, was just a wait, nothing more. A straightforward wait, with no surprises. The more he looked at the skyscrapers in search of a certain kind of intensity, the clearer it became that he wasn't going to feel any special sensation whatsoever. Everything in his life was still the same, nothing was happening that might seem different or intense. He found himself inside his own dream, and at the same time the dream was real. But that was all.

Enrique Vila-Matas, Dublinesque.

monotonize

He'd do well not to forget that it's a wise person who monotonizes existence because then each small incident, if one knows how to read it in a literary way, has a wondrous quality.

Enrique Vila-Matas, Dublinesque.