Thursday, May 28, 2009

Thursday Thirteen #???

13 Reasons I’ve Been OD’ed on Books
Yes, evidently it is possible to od on books, and for the past two weeks, I have not wanted to have anything to do with books. I’m still reading, and have read a couple of really good books, but when reading you are only dealing with one book at a time, which I can handle. But any collection of books larger than what you can carry in one hand and I want nothing to do with it. Why you ask? Let me tell you. 
1) The dayjob- first there was the weeding (the entire library- parts of it more than once), then there was the rearranging (parts of it were moved more than once), and lastly there was the tagging (which involved putting a sticker in every book, cd, and dvd in the collection), which is in preparation for putting in a self checkout system. Which means I have handled, inspected, and stickered a larger percentage of the collection, frequently more than once.
2) Then there are my own books- which are in a constant state of running out of room. So I’m frequently shifting, shuffling, and weeding books from my library, making room for the new books I knew were coming. Such as…
3) Mount RT- the stacks of books that came back from RT with me and are currently camped out on my dining room table while I find homes for them all (make no mistake, I’m very happy to have them all- especially the freebies and the signed ones- I’m just tired of dealing with large collections at the moment, and they definitely qualify as large collections).
4) Then there are the books that were weeded from the dayjob collection that somehow or other made it into the personal collection (all of which were paid for with a donation to the friends of the library- I just went a little overboard and am now looking for homes for them as well- you can stop laughing now).
5) Then there are the friends (not the friends of the library- my friends) the ones who all put out books at the same time, which makes me want to buy, you got it, more books. It’s getting to the point where I can’t afford any new friends. Srsly.
6) And the library books- shelving, weeding, shifting- invariably I find books that I want to read (but thankfully don’t feel the need to own), Library books that I check out still need space, specifically a space where I won’t lose them and find them again months later (don’t laugh- I misplaced a book I’d gotten at a book signing and only found it last week).
7) It got to the point where I didn’t even want to browse the shelves at B&N, not that I didn’t want any new books so much as I didn’t want to have to find a place for them (sad, I know).
8) But. I think I’m getting over my book binge. I can look at the book shelves at work and not feel overwhelmed by all that needs to be done.
9) I haven’t done anything with Mount RT yet, but I’ve got an idea of what I can do. It would even take care of the books I brought home from the library (research sources- honest- okay, stop laughing).
10) It involves cleaning out the closet off the dining room, putting a bookcase (or two) in there, and keeping the research materials in there (as well as my papers and records and stuff). That would free up space in the other book cases.
11) Which would give me enough space to clear off the dining room table, and the computer desk. And once I cleared off the computer desk, I could set up the laptop, and hook it to the printer, and print out stuff (and submit said stuff).
12) And once all of this is done, I would get back to writing more, and getting more done.
13) Which would make me feel better, which I think is part of why I’ve been so wah about all of the books in my life.
14) Did I mention I’m going to Lori Foster’s get together in a week? And no doubt will return from Ohio… with more books.

6 comments:

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

Yeah. Remind me why I'm taking you to Lori Foster's weekend with me?? Am I an enabler?

Well, if your Go Pens was sincere, we may have to put that to the test. They could be playing while we're in Cincy. Gonna watch with me? I promise not to embarrass you.

Much.

Celticlibrarian said...

I hear and understand. Boy howdy.

I send you hugs and the occasional magazine that you can recycle after reading.

Ann said...

I'll watch the penguins with you, just don't expect me to drink beer. :) And I'm going to Lori's to see the peeps, the books are just an extra perk.

Hi Celt- Would you like me to pick up a book or two for you?

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

I probably won't drink beer, either. No worries; it's too hard on my stomach anymore.

As for the Smithsonian, we could make that happen... yep...

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

I know what you mean. It's hard to say goodbye to a very good friend.

btw, I saw some people on the Lori Foster loop talking about how they'd like Larissa to come to the event. Maybe we can work some magic while we're there?

Ann said...

We can try. It won't be that far from where they're moving. So maybe next year. :)