Having not been to a library in quite some time, this has been a source of constant sillies for me. First, I forgot that I’d have to order and wait for certain books that I wanted. Writing down titles from my amazon wish list and trying to scoop them up wasn’t working… so I’m on the internet looking at holds lists. Some of these things might not be available in my time here.

Also, I forgot that you can find funny stuff. People leave things in books all the time. I’ve found flattened gum wrappers, receipts, and even a stress brochure used as a bookmark. I’m not sure if they go through the books and these things get missed, or if you could use the public library system to market things to people by stuffing the books with paper, “Read somegosoftly.com” or “Vote for Fred Thompson”… I’ll admit it’s crossed my mind.

Also, I’ve forgotten how to pick out books. What do you like? How do you find it? I wander around the place, not being able to read without my head crooked to the side, trying to find something that would interest me. Half the time you can’t read the title and author’s name because of the stickers on the spine, so I’ll pick it up. I read – I don’t know what you call it. I read books that happened now. Or in the past, but aren’t too dated. Or crazy. No sci fi, no stories of hardship, just stuff. It’s hard to describe. But it really takes me a little while to pick something out. I like the staff picks, they’ve been pretty good so far, even reminding me of things I’d read and forgotten that gave me the warm and fuzzies. So far I’ve only picked out one I couldn’t possibly read.

I have also, believe it or not, been making progress on my book. Things get me thinking, and I apply what I’ve read to how I can develop and improve my story. It’s still going awfully slowly, since it’s hard to force myself to concentrate, but it’s getting there. I’m hoping to get a smaller laptop soon to make my work more portable. I could write in the library.


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