Thursday, December 23, 2010

A reason to celebrate

A frenzy has descended on me these last few weeks.  I'm not even celebrating X-mas this year, not really, and yet I seem to have caught everyone else's insanity like a bad cold.  My poor multi-tasking skills have been put to the test.  The results of that test?  One big "F."

I thought a little trip to Powell's would calm my rattled nerves.  I love looping around the remainder shelves and the employee pic shelves and seeing what catches my eye.  Middle of the week, middle of the day, the place was swarming.  In among the bookshelves, the energy felt celebratory instead of crazy-making, at least to me.  Then, to my delight, I found myself in a long line that ran down the full length of the "E through O" fiction aisle.  I will always celebrate a long line at the bookstore.

I'm liking my new bedside book tower.  Sometimes a Great Notion from my own "been meaning to read" shelf, a collection of essays from the library, Salter's A Sport and a Pastime, Fernando Pessoa's The Book of Disquiet(my Powell's purchases) and Philip Lopate's selection of personal essays that I've been digging through for a while now.

I can't wait to hang the "closed" sign on my office door, curl up under a blanket with a nice glass of wine and slow everything down to the deliciously slow pace of words on the page.

2 comments:

  1. I got an e-reader for my birthday from my brother and sister in law. I didn't ask for it, but I have been curious about them. I sort of want to like it, but it is just not the same as holding a book. And the whole "page turn" page refresh is not great. Still, I have a book loaded and may load one more in advance of our week long trip to Kansas. -- The experience of e-browsing does not compare by any means to being in a good book store. Love that there was a line. Merry, merry!

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  2. I love the idea of an e-reader for travel. Books always take up too much of my suitcase. I also think it would be great for magazines and newspapers. But I will never give up my bedside library or the delicious feel of a paper page balanced along my fingertips.

    Enjoy your trip!

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