Yesterday I spent 4 hours arranging my library in the new house. And I still have books piled everywhere. The problem is that I have one more 5 shelf bookscase left here at the old house that needs to be brought over and I left all the pegs at home for the two that are currently sitting in the living room of the new place because I'm unable to fill them without the shelves. And I can't put the shelves in them without the pegs. Of the two unfilled bookcases at the new house, the big one will stay in the living room and house our DVD collection because I haven't found anything better to hold that monstrosity, and the thinner 5-shelf bookcase will hold my cookbooks and wineglasses. I've filled 4 3-shelfers and 2 2-shelfers (4 shelves are double-packed) with books, and once the last 5-shelf case gets over there I might not have books stacked all over the floors anymore. Maybe. hehehe ...
The day was wonderful, all that book arranging and then my siblings decided to ride their bikes to the new house to hang out and help a little bit -- we built a media case for the cds. Later the Brother and I went to Barnes & Nobles to spend our gift cards (Thank you, L ... I got F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and Damned, Nick Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree -- A hilarious and true account of one man's struggle with the monthly tide of books he's bought and the books he's been meaning to read (sound familiar? yeah, to me too) and an Encyclopedia of Wine, because I really need someone to tell me what the different kinds of wine are and what the flavors are and where it's good from, without giving me a wine guide that tells me that this $50 bottle has a rating of 98 ... What the hell is that? I need a book explaining the ratings to me. And I need a wine guide that focuses solely on bottles of wine $15 and less. Because I will "try" a $10-12 bottle of wine and if it's no good, oh well. But I don't spend more than that ... ever on a bottle. And I never branch out in my wine buying, because I'm scared of what I don't know. I'm a doofus about wine. And I'd like to know more without being one of those wine-os (not to be confused with winos, the ones on the street with the $3 jug of wine). The Brother bought Hunter S. Thompson's Rum Diary and Sarah Vowell's Partly Cloudy Patriot, which I read and is fabulous. I love that boy.
Did I tell you they medicated him? They started him on liquid Paxil, but two-three weeks into it and he's having trouble with it. He says it quashes his creativity and he can't puzzle like he used to. Which is a common complaint with austic kids, I've heard. So mom is going to change his psychiatrist (the school forced her to take him to a psychiatrist because they can't figure out how to deal with him ... stupid school) because the shrink says he's not autistic, just clinically depressed (so evidently he's been depressed since he was in second grade). She hopes a new shrink will understand him better and change his script to a different anti-anxiety ... anyone out there know anything about Asberger's and what's good to treat it? And does it come in liquid form? He can't take pills, even vitamins ...
But I'm able to spend more time with the Sibs, and I missed that. I told them they can come over any time, they just have to call first and make sure I'm not busy and I'm home. Today I'll be going back over to do some more cleaning and to take everything else I possible can. Wish me luck! It'll be a home before you know it!
The day was wonderful, all that book arranging and then my siblings decided to ride their bikes to the new house to hang out and help a little bit -- we built a media case for the cds. Later the Brother and I went to Barnes & Nobles to spend our gift cards (Thank you, L ... I got F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and Damned, Nick Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree -- A hilarious and true account of one man's struggle with the monthly tide of books he's bought and the books he's been meaning to read (sound familiar? yeah, to me too) and an Encyclopedia of Wine, because I really need someone to tell me what the different kinds of wine are and what the flavors are and where it's good from, without giving me a wine guide that tells me that this $50 bottle has a rating of 98 ... What the hell is that? I need a book explaining the ratings to me. And I need a wine guide that focuses solely on bottles of wine $15 and less. Because I will "try" a $10-12 bottle of wine and if it's no good, oh well. But I don't spend more than that ... ever on a bottle. And I never branch out in my wine buying, because I'm scared of what I don't know. I'm a doofus about wine. And I'd like to know more without being one of those wine-os (not to be confused with winos, the ones on the street with the $3 jug of wine). The Brother bought Hunter S. Thompson's Rum Diary and Sarah Vowell's Partly Cloudy Patriot, which I read and is fabulous. I love that boy.
Did I tell you they medicated him? They started him on liquid Paxil, but two-three weeks into it and he's having trouble with it. He says it quashes his creativity and he can't puzzle like he used to. Which is a common complaint with austic kids, I've heard. So mom is going to change his psychiatrist (the school forced her to take him to a psychiatrist because they can't figure out how to deal with him ... stupid school) because the shrink says he's not autistic, just clinically depressed (so evidently he's been depressed since he was in second grade). She hopes a new shrink will understand him better and change his script to a different anti-anxiety ... anyone out there know anything about Asberger's and what's good to treat it? And does it come in liquid form? He can't take pills, even vitamins ...
But I'm able to spend more time with the Sibs, and I missed that. I told them they can come over any time, they just have to call first and make sure I'm not busy and I'm home. Today I'll be going back over to do some more cleaning and to take everything else I possible can. Wish me luck! It'll be a home before you know it!
11 comments:
Michele sent me over to Tampa to visit with you, April.
I've got a similar situation with books, April. Every 6 months or so I have to build a new bookcase. Those books keep accumulating, damn them. But it's nice to be surrounded by them...and it sounds like you feel the same way. Enjoy the new house!
Oh, I have been doing some book arranging too - and have just posted about it on my book blog. Hope you get it all sorted.
PS> Michele sent me
Hello, Michele sent me! It sounds like you have a lot of books. I used to be a bit of a book collector, but moving all those books was such a chore. Ugh.
I have a post about wine on my blog, I'm a bit of a self proclaimed wine-o and belong to a wine club. You can check back on the second weekend of each month to see how the wine club went and what I have to say about the wine we tasted on the previous Friday night. Here is my wine post from Dec. where I summed up all my favorites.
http://outsidemyhead.blogspot.com/2005/12/wine-list.html
It always makes me wonder that schools can force a parent to take a kid to a psychiatrist. In MA, we cannot force a parent to take a child to a doctor; our only recourse is to file with child services if we at school feel that it constitutes neglect.
Wine books are great. Karen McNeil's The Wine Bible has become our bible. Enjoy your learning.
Michele sent me.
Unfortunately, the school technically did not "force" her to take him to a doctor, it was "strongly recommended". If she were forced they would have to pay for it, and that's not going to happen. What they did was back her into a corner so she had to pay for him to go to one. They've upset my mother one numerous occasions by likening my brother to the Columbine children, the Unabomber, and various other nuts. My mother gets upset, but it tickles the Brother because they're scared of him. What's that bad about having no social skills? He said the only way he's different at school from how we know him is that he doesn't talk to people because he doesn't like them. He feels they are inferior.
I love moving into a new place and perfectly organizing everything - and finding room for all my books. It's pathetic - both my husband and I were some sort of reading-heavy liberal arts majors, and we both have insane book collections, and ... combining the two is just ridiculous.
I read the Polysyllabic Spree and really enjoyed it - I just finished his The Long Way Down - and found it interesting, but not his best work. I want to know what you think of The Beautiful and the Damned!
Here from Michele!
Once I thought I wanted an Encyclopedia of Wine and then I did a wine tasting at a winery just a hop-skin-n-jump away. I learned more there than I ever have by reading. This isn't an excuse to skip reading. I just remember how bad I wanted that book before that.
Hi! Michele sent me.
Here from Michele.....Your books sound wonderful...like being surrounded by old friends. Glad you had help moving.
How you describe your sibs and the day you had suggests very strongly that it's already very much a home.
I TOTALLY agree! Arranging books is a very pleasant way to spend time :)
There is actually a book about buying too many books and not having enough time to read them all?
Story of my life! Freaky.
Then you have to ask the obvious question: when are you going to read this one?
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