I love slacker prompts...They mean I have permission to do what I usually do anyways.
Anyone that has seen my room knows I have a problem. I'm not sure it's diagnosible, but I'm pretty sure there are others like me.
My problem is books. Now most people wouldn't think books are a problem, but when, like me, you compulsively buy them, books can become a problem. I love Amazon (and I'm pretty sure Amazon loves me too...and my debit card.) I swoon over library book sales. My extended family is prone to just giving me books that they don't want anymore. This problem wasn't so bad a year or two ago. I kept the correlation between books bought and books read basically consistent. This past summer I fell very far behind, and I don't have much time to read for fun right now, but I keep buying books, so I keep falling further and further behind. It drives me crazy. I buy books to read them, but I can always rationalize, *oh, I'd better buy it now; I'll have time to read it sooner or later.* Gah.
Why bring this up? My mom used to point out the joys of libraries to me. She's given up on me, quit chastising my impulsive buying, and now she just asks to borrow my books. Now, I have nothing against libraries. When I was little, before I discovered Amazon, I spent a lot of time at libraries. The librarian and I were on very good terms, and he thought I had very good taste in books and was always willing to recommend a few he though I'd like. (Michelle stops to wonder why she is sharing her nerdy, nerdy stories...ah, well. Press on.)
Here's my problem with libraries. I hate giving books back. Once I've fallen in love with it, I do not want to give it back. I want to keep it, cherish it, return to it again and again.
This results in massive library fines.
Honestly, I'm pretty sure it's just cheaper for me to buy my books on Amazon than it is to keep shelling out money to the librarians. With Amazon, I give them money, and they give me books. I like that system. The librarians always want to take my money AND my books. This does not make sense to me. I now owe Weber State $35, and they just told me I'm not allowed to check out any more books (or graduate, presumably) until I pay them. Granted, this is less because I wanted to keep my books and more just because I've been using them for my senior thesis and completely forgot to renew them. *sigh* Library fines have been a reoccurring problem in my life.
I wonder how much money the library makes each year off of fines. They have a pretty steep rate. I was only three days over for ten books.
Anyways, despite my monetary/book woes, I am happy. I'm looking forward to a few days away from school, even if I will spend a chunk of it finishing up my thesis and starting to write my bib essay. Even though I will just be doing school away from school, not having class is a welcome relief. I'm not going to complain about delicious food either. I'm also excited because one of my best friends is coming home from South Africa tomorrow, and he speaks that Xhosa tongue clicky language, which is just cool. Hopefully I'll get to see him over the break, get some homework done, distract Michael from his homework for a while, eat delicious food, and come back ready to push through the last couple of weeks.
Also: we all talked about grammar issues we struggle with a while back. I have a new one: possessives. I never used to struggle with this, but now I get all confused about ownership and what merits that apostrophe and what doesn't. I blame a few articles I've read on plagiarism and the ownership of words and ideas, and my grammar just getting mixed up in the confusion. Recently I even confused "it's" with "its" which I haven't done in years. I laughed, but I really do need to sort out ownership before I go crazy wondering who owns what, and what can be owned, and what sorts of things can do the owning. Absurd.
My problem is books. Now most people wouldn't think books are a problem, but when, like me, you compulsively buy them, books can become a problem. I love Amazon (and I'm pretty sure Amazon loves me too...and my debit card.) I swoon over library book sales. My extended family is prone to just giving me books that they don't want anymore. This problem wasn't so bad a year or two ago. I kept the correlation between books bought and books read basically consistent. This past summer I fell very far behind, and I don't have much time to read for fun right now, but I keep buying books, so I keep falling further and further behind. It drives me crazy. I buy books to read them, but I can always rationalize, *oh, I'd better buy it now; I'll have time to read it sooner or later.* Gah.
Why bring this up? My mom used to point out the joys of libraries to me. She's given up on me, quit chastising my impulsive buying, and now she just asks to borrow my books. Now, I have nothing against libraries. When I was little, before I discovered Amazon, I spent a lot of time at libraries. The librarian and I were on very good terms, and he thought I had very good taste in books and was always willing to recommend a few he though I'd like. (Michelle stops to wonder why she is sharing her nerdy, nerdy stories...ah, well. Press on.)
Here's my problem with libraries. I hate giving books back. Once I've fallen in love with it, I do not want to give it back. I want to keep it, cherish it, return to it again and again.
This results in massive library fines.
Honestly, I'm pretty sure it's just cheaper for me to buy my books on Amazon than it is to keep shelling out money to the librarians. With Amazon, I give them money, and they give me books. I like that system. The librarians always want to take my money AND my books. This does not make sense to me. I now owe Weber State $35, and they just told me I'm not allowed to check out any more books (or graduate, presumably) until I pay them. Granted, this is less because I wanted to keep my books and more just because I've been using them for my senior thesis and completely forgot to renew them. *sigh* Library fines have been a reoccurring problem in my life.
I wonder how much money the library makes each year off of fines. They have a pretty steep rate. I was only three days over for ten books.
Anyways, despite my monetary/book woes, I am happy. I'm looking forward to a few days away from school, even if I will spend a chunk of it finishing up my thesis and starting to write my bib essay. Even though I will just be doing school away from school, not having class is a welcome relief. I'm not going to complain about delicious food either. I'm also excited because one of my best friends is coming home from South Africa tomorrow, and he speaks that Xhosa tongue clicky language, which is just cool. Hopefully I'll get to see him over the break, get some homework done, distract Michael from his homework for a while, eat delicious food, and come back ready to push through the last couple of weeks.
Also: we all talked about grammar issues we struggle with a while back. I have a new one: possessives. I never used to struggle with this, but now I get all confused about ownership and what merits that apostrophe and what doesn't. I blame a few articles I've read on plagiarism and the ownership of words and ideas, and my grammar just getting mixed up in the confusion. Recently I even confused "it's" with "its" which I haven't done in years. I laughed, but I really do need to sort out ownership before I go crazy wondering who owns what, and what can be owned, and what sorts of things can do the owning. Absurd.
posted by Michelle Jeffs at 10:40 AM
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