I made an error this morning. I had a workshop on the use of United Streaming in the classroom. The workshop was scheduled for August 1st. I woke up, bright and early, and got ready for the workshop. I was ten minutes late for the workshop, arriving at 9:10... It was only when I was in the tech building, standing at the receptionist's desk, that I was made aware that today is only July 31st. So technically I was 23 hours and 50 minutes early for the workshop. Oops.
I'm home now and for some odd reason, I decided to clean my bookshelves. I guess this is a process that should be completed every few years or so...
Emptying the shelves, and then refilling them, made me realize some of my idiosyncrasies...idiosyncrasies which must have previously been layers and layers beneath me.
1] I have a tendency to have multiple copies of books. I know that this occurrence arises because I like to look for books at flea markets, used bookstores, thrift shops, and other "cheap spots." Case in point: I have 2 copies of Catcher in the Rye. Neither copy is the "cool" original copy that came out long ago--- the maroonish cover with the gold writing. I also have 2 copies of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Both copies are the lame movie tie-in versions, with Jack Nicholson donning a black knit cap. At least I can say I have read Catcher in my life, 2x actually. I haven't even read Cuckoo's Nest, yet I own 2 copies. The book version is tarnished after you have seen the movie. I hate when you see the movie version first, only to later find that the movie was first released as a book. I also have two copies of the same professional book: Discipline with Dignity...guess I thought I needed so much assistance with that area of teaching that I somehow acquired two copies... I have not read it yet.
2] I have a habit of stopping halfway through books. It seems silly- why exert the effort and get halfway through the book, only to stop?? Some of my books had random sheets of paper [pseudo bookmarks] smack-dab in the middle of them: Me Speak Pretty One Day, The Hours, and Tropic of Capricorn. I'm guessing my reasons for stopping are as follows: David Sedaris wasn't AS funny as I hoped; The Hours was depressing; Tropic of Capricorn was not as erotic as people have made it out to be.
3] I have quite a few Hemingway books, even though I have only read Moveable Feast and Sun Also Rises. The Old Man and the Sea has been beckoning me for years but... even though it is a SHORT book about fishing, I just... I can't read it. 1 page of fish-talk is 1 page too much for me.
Going through the shelves is refreshing- I'm finding books I haven't thought about in ages: Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson [I loved that book but have since been unable to find another Winterson book that I like]... Hottest State by Ethan Hawke [yes, the actor Ethan Hawke...it's actually a pretty good book, and rumor has it that Lisa Loeb --yes, the one-hit wonder Lisa Loeb, was the inspiration for the girlfriend in the book]... Seduction Theory by Thomas Beller [read it in high school- it's highlighted and everything--- kind of a memory book of my mind in the past]...
Found a quote online ---isn't too tough to do; I swear that I find the same cheesy Aristotle "true love/souls" quote every time I look up quotations online... Since guns/gun control and consumerism have been topics of discussion in our past classes, I thought this quote was fitting:
“The rules have changed. True power is held by the person who possesses the largest bookshelf, not gun cabinet or wallet.”
----Anthony J. D'Angelo
[If only that were true- us English majors would RULE the world!]
No comments:
Post a Comment