Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Stop the hands of time
Monday, October 18, 2010
MondayMonday
So when I pass along books I've finished reading there are always complaints, carefully phrased, of course -- because a newly-read-passed-along-within-a-day hardcover of a favorite mystery author means the giftee doesn't have to buy the hardcover or wait till it gets to the library/in paperback -- of the state of the book, which is always 1. without outer cover 2. pages turned down 3. notes in margins 4. every page crinkled and 5. blotched where water has caused the cloth cover ink to run.
No mystery here. I read in the bath, nearly immersed. One of the great pleasures in life. No deep tub in Oregon, as the folks lived in a 76 doublewide. The tub was 16" deep and molded plastic.
But Brooklyn tubbing. . . perfection. The only question is: When will book publishers learn to make the dyes and inks on the cloth covers waterproof?
On the other hand, dyes that transfer to wet hands (where they become semi-permanent) are proof positive that you CAN tell a book by its cover. If you can't put it down, if you read it all in one sitting, a copious amount of dye stains your fingers.
Thus, in handing off a new but abused book to a friend, they remark (looking at your hands): "So you'd recommend it?"
The Black Hand Syndrome.
No mystery here. I read in the bath, nearly immersed. One of the great pleasures in life. No deep tub in Oregon, as the folks lived in a 76 doublewide. The tub was 16" deep and molded plastic.
But Brooklyn tubbing. . . perfection. The only question is: When will book publishers learn to make the dyes and inks on the cloth covers waterproof?
On the other hand, dyes that transfer to wet hands (where they become semi-permanent) are proof positive that you CAN tell a book by its cover. If you can't put it down, if you read it all in one sitting, a copious amount of dye stains your fingers.
Thus, in handing off a new but abused book to a friend, they remark (looking at your hands): "So you'd recommend it?"
The Black Hand Syndrome.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Long road behind, long road ahead
So someone asks: why no posts for so long? Let me count the ways.1. Broken left leg, then two knee replacements
3. Mom diagnosed on a Friday with Ovarian Cancer, dies at home on Monday of same.
4. Take care of Dad with his Alzheimer's, and his native plant nursery in Salem Oregon. Dad falls down the stairs July 09, breaks back and hip, and dies at home three days later.
5. During funeral, my own appendix rupture. Ignore stomach ache; think: "Stress." Bury Dad, next day end up in ER, septic. Three weeks in hospital ICU, 8 surgeries, kidneys and heart fail, systems shut down.
But somehow I'm not done yet. All systems come back online, slowly. Two more surgeries, last one July 2010. Some other personally disastrous stuff, NTBDP (NotToBeDiscussedPublically).
So - maybe, maybe, the long streak of bad luck has screeched to a halt - and this wreck of human flesh can pull itself back together and write again.
God willing and the creek don't rise, as Grandpa would say, I'll be posting again. And please no OMGIMSOSORRYRUOK txts. Time for tea and sympathy is over. There's a long road behind. I'm not looking over my shoulder NYMORE. I'm looking at a long -- and exciting - road ahead.
