I was raised to never write in any book, whatsoever under any circumstance. Well, for a child, a blanket statement is often best, given that I had so many library books at any given moment. Made it a struggle to highlight college texts, and the Anatomy Coloring Book left me feeling very naughty indeed, even seeing it as a coloring book. But I recognize that annotating one's own books is actually a way to share in the process of writing. I've gotten intermittent amusement from notes in textbooks owned by other students, used books with marginalia, often ill informed and incorrect. I remember one science book, absolutely everything, every word, was highlighted in the first chapter, first few pages of the second, and the rest of the book clean, possibly unopened. Tells a story.
Still, never got in the habit of writing in my own books, and I think I missed an element of reading by my silences.
Anyway, mood. So, I remembered we had a gingerbread mix. Put it together, with extra ginger. How much ginger? A good dollop of ginger. Grated in a half carrot, for moisture. As it cooled, suddenly I thought about putting vanilla ice cream, or even whipped cream, on top. Now, this is atypical, since I'm no fan of either as a rule, dairy is no treat. D does like milk, though. We discussed, walked over to the store, found some vanilla gelato in a small amount, for the price of more-than-we'd-ever eat. Together, ginger and vanilla, bread and gelato, made for wonderful.
And I remembered when I'd last tasted that, a local restaurant would do a mince pie with vanilla ice cream, that was so perfectly balanced, so flavorful. Back of my brain, in a drawer I hadn't touched for over 20 years, my inner librarian pulled this out, scurried around for possible substitutions, and hit on this solution.
Maybe I'll get a crayon and scribble in one of my own books.
11 comments:
Oh boy, gingerbread and gelato---that sounds heavenly!
That inspires me: I will make gingerbread, with the residents at work soon. We could make applesauce to go with it too. MMmmmmm.
My mother penciled notes in books, so that was OK, but she put the fear of Naziism in me dare I ever destroy a book.
It took me a long time to get over that and throw a book away. They are not the rare precious objects they used to be, and I do throw away some battered old (but not vintage) books, or awful new books. Still, I admit I shudder a bit when I do it...
Fresca,
Nothing like working at a library to lose reverence for physical books. Having survived book avalanches, moved them across the country repeatedly, and read, or stopped reading, many book-shaped turds, I'm fine seeing some shredded. Yet, I still feel that qualm, too.
Still have my Anatomy Colorbook!
The public library in this town must not check the condition of books when they are returned because so many that I check out are falling apart. I remember when I was a child checking out books there were notations made on the first page inside the cover of books, "spill on pg. 72" or "tear on pg. 96." Here there are no notations, even when the cover is almost falling off the book. And, rather than repairing the books, they offer "used books, as is, $1.00 per book."
For someone who loves books, as I do, this is sacrilege.
Class,
Sadly, I think mine got lost in a move somewhere.
No way to hand check in books in a large urban library. And it's usually cheaper to replace a damaged book, then sell it in a book sale. Very few books are meant to last.
“Words have power, you understand? It is in the nature of our universe. Our library itself distorts time and space on quite a grand scale. Well, when the Post Office started accumulating letters, it was storing words. In fact, what was being created was what we call a 'gevaisa', a tomb of living words.”
― Terry Pratchett, Going Postal
Yes, re library work.
The first time the head librarian told me, a green library worker, that we were going to "weed" the collection, I was shocked, but I quickly saw that indeed, long-unused/unusable books are clutter that chokes the library's free flow.
The weeded books went to a book sale.
Wish I were in a "large urban" area, instead I'm in a very small town in rural Tennessee. I used to joke that I owned more books than the library here, but that was an exaggeration... I have read all my own books so many times that I have to resort back to the library.
Fresca,
I remember saving some photography books when I was 17, and the head librarian of my little branch weeded them. I was very confused.
Class,
Sell 'em on amazon, and buy more!
I doubt I've ever used that sentence before in my life.
I've never tended to write in my books either. I recall in University how I'd see some friends high-lighting words and phrases and sentences and I thought (to myself) that it was idiotic. How could that possibly help?
I couldn't see how it would help me, so back then it didn't occur to me how it could be helpful to anyone.
I would just find the high-lighting a distraction.
Phil,
I found highlighting helped a great deal, just so I could find key passages again, especially when I studied for comprehensive exams.
huh, sounds like me, too - took me a looong time to get over the idea of making notes in a textbook. i still believe books are precious, and it bothers me that most parents of young children aren't teaching them the same sort of respect for books. learned to buy them second hand and then it's less of a heartbreak to see them torn to shreds, but still, whether we live in poverty or wealth, we ought to respect our possessions.
pc,
Oh, I can't respect possessions, can't keep track of 'em even. I really do see stuff as stuff, of no intrinsic importance.
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