Daily Thoughts 5/22/2009

Society of Illustrators Poster, 1913

Daily Thoughts 5/22/2009

I have been reading reviews from the internet. I took some time to look at Powell's bookstore and The Strand Bookstore online. The Strand was showing Burn This Book Pen Writers Speak Out On The Power of the Word, Edited by Toni Morrison. The book looks very interesting. style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">

I also spent some time going over the patron request sheet for new titles and wrote down some suggested titles for ordering.

Today was another quiet day. I filed some law looseleafs, made a few business calls, and entered some orders into Baker and Taylor. I also reviewed the process of ordering phone books for the library with a part-time librarian. Phone books are increasingly becoming a thing of the past. I usually use Worldpages online to look up phone numbers. Also many of the directories like the Thomas Register of manufacturers have moved online http://www.thomasnet.com/ and are easier to use in the online form.

I have been keeping a diary for the week on what I am eating on the recommendation of the book Emotional Eating. Something I noticed was that I was spending too much time near the snack machine. I started bringing my own snacks to work to replace eating peanuts and chips from the vending machine. I'll have finished tracking my diet for a week by tomorrow. I tend to eat when I get bored or worried.

Daily Thoughts 5/15/2009

I like the idea that it cost 25 cents for the World Almanac in 1903.

Daily Thoughts 5/15/2009

Today is one of those oddly memorable days. The Friends of the Library are having a book sale. Every single time I go in to the book sale, I run into a book dealer I recognize. I am hoping that one of them will be able to help me get me the contact information on someone I lost track of. I used to spend time pricing science fiction titles at a now defunct bookstore.

Before I got married, I used to go out to the flea markets on the weekends to look for old comic books, science fiction books, and collectible paperbacks. I would buy them and trade them in for comic books. A lot of this kind of thing is dead in Manhattan now. I still stop by Rogers Time Tunnel sometimes to look at their collection. It is a very old fashioned comic book store. http://www.yelp.com/biz/rogers-time-machine-new-york . It is one of those hidden gems in New York if you know where to look.

It feels like a long tail end to the death of many of the smaller independent bookstores. Unless a bookstore becomes very focused and trains their staff very well, they cease to exist. It has gotten to the point where many of them are training their staff better at selecting material and customer service than the big chain bookstores in order to survive. I heard that some of the dealers would come in three times today to see what was being put out for sale at different points in the day, in the morning, at noon, and at the end of the day.

There is no generalist bookstore in the city where I work. There is a small christian bookstore. The library is effectively the local source for books. I think this is increasingly becoming true in many cities across the United States. You either travel to a large mall or superstore, buy through the internet, or go to your local library.

The cooperative system was putting in new computers in our computer center today. They are also expanding the wireless access points by September to handle up to 25 people. A lot more people are using Iphones in addition to laptops in the library. Once again, this is an indicator I should probably get an Iphone or a smart phone. It is a matter of spending money to do it. I don't like spending money.

I spent some time also distributing phone books to the staff. A lot of people have stopped using phone books and now use the online yellow pages. I know I do, but some patrons still ask for local phone books in paper. The providers of yellow pages have gotten much tighter about what they will give out. It costs money for us to get phone books outside of the county. Verizon now has a special subsidiary, Idearc to handle the marketing of telephone books. We also have an extra supply of local phone books which we leave out for patrons to take.

I did my usual small tasks, reading the New York Times Book Review, filing law looseleafs, checking the displays to see that they were in order, and took some time to look at the slat walls. We are almost done ordering accessories for the slat walls. They look very nice. A whole set of new books are being processed to go out.

The large print standing order is being gone over by our representative. I reminded them to look at the Essence bestseller list for African American titles to see what was available in large print.

I read some of Emotional Eating A Practical Guide to Taking Control by Edward Abramson. I don't like the idea of dieting. My doctor told me I must lose weight and eat less sugar if I want to maintain my health. I initially tried to change the way I am eating, I have cut out most sweets, soda, and extremely fatty food. I am also trying food substitution, eating low fat foods like low fat milk, low fat cottage cheese, and low fat mayonnaise as well as eating more fruits and vegetables. I am also exercising. Quite frankly, I don't like moving quickly. I am doing floor exercises and walking but don't want to run or swim. I am trying to find ways around the cardiovascular exercise by trying a pedometer to see how I can move during the day.

The next obvious step is trying to find out why I eat too much emotionally. I have always thought diets were useless, but I have to lose weight. This means I have to change my habits and how I think about food.

Starting the Day (Poetry)

An Illustration by Edmund Dulac of the Rubayyat of Omar Khayyam. This was done in 1909.

Here is the verse that goes with it from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam translated by Edward Fitzgerald:

Look to the blowing Rose about us-- "Lo
Laughing," she says, "into the world I blow,
At once the silken tassel of my Purse
Tear, and and its Treasure on the Garden throw."




I've finished reading Apollo's Fire: Igniting America's Clean Energy Economy. The next thing for me to do is go back through it and take notes on a few different points so I can write the review. I usually like writing long hand notes for the review, not on the computer. Then I put it into the computer.

I put Rumi: The Book of Love: Poems of Ecstasy and Longing on reserve. I am more interested in the poetry than the religious writing. I like some religious writings for their poetic content. I'll read the Tao Te Ching for example in a secular sense because I enjoy the poetry. My favorite part of the old testament is The Song of Solomon for the same reason. I really enjoy the poetic quality of the writing. Very philosophical poetry is deeply interesting to me, De Rerum Naturae (The Nature of Things) by Lucretius is one of the books which I have read several times. Right now, I have the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam rendered into english verse by Edward Fitzgerald in front of me. It is appropriately illustrated by Edmund Dulac, one of my favorite illustrators.

I feel as if I am just waking up for the day. I'll write a few more lines as I think of other things.

I've spent quite a bit of time today ordering phone books from Verizon and Yellow Book. Verizon will charge for certain books outside of the county where I work so I have to be careful which books I order. Yellow Book charges if you order more than two different books, $2.50 per additional book past the first two titles. I have a selection list from the last time I ordered phone books. There is a law about how many phone books you can order for a specific location listed in the New York Code of Rules and Regulations. Some people still prefer to use the phone book to look up local numbers. They don't want to use the internet.

I also spent a lot of time requesting annual reports over the internet. I usually first contact the company from their website. If there is no email or standard computer request form for annual reports I'll end up calling them. Requesting annual reports by email is much easier to do than phoning the companies. You don't have to deal with call waiting. Most of the companies are in the New York area. I still have quite a few to contact. In a way it seems to be a waste. Every company has reports online now.

I read a bit more of the Fables graphic novel series. I am going to give some spoilers. Gepetto who made Pinocchio is the adversary. Pinocchio makes a very interesting character, Pinocchio is stuck permanently as a small boy. The art is very colorful. There are a lot of very bright colors used. They are bringing in different settings to the story now. There is the land of the Cloud Giants and the Arabian Nights. You also have some tales set during different historical periods. Hansel is a witchhunter. Bigby Wolf (The Big Bad Wolf) helps the allies in World War II. Fables has won quite a few Eisner awards.