Yeah, I like the library.  I’ve told the Viking that if we move to Chicago he’ll have to become a member/patron of the local library.  Wherever we move.  The Viking thinks books are obsolete, and considering how much book-length material he can fit on his iPad, he may be right.  But he can’t read the iPad during certain portions of a flight since it’s an electronic device, and one can borrow e-books from libraries these days.

I like libraries.  They’re quiet and peaceful.  The people really do want to help, I think because if they weren’t helping patrons they’d be bored out of their skulls.  It was thanks to a book I was able to get at the library that on the eve of timely filing final paperwork for my divorce that I was able to write a settlement agreement.  I’m an attorney, but I’m not a divorce attorney.  The book saved me a lot of money I didn’t have to pay an attorney with expertise.

I like the way libraries smell.  Books smell good.  Even with electronic books, there’s still something nice about the smell of paper and ink, and the feel of paper stock under fingertips.  There’s something about the sleep-inducing qualities of reading a book in bed.  Or on the couch for that matter – today I fell asleep reading a big hardcover diet book.

Said diet book came into my possession purely by accident.  Well, I did check it out, but it wasn’t my intent to do so.  I read mostly fiction.  I like to escape into another world, which is not to say I like science fiction, because I don’t, especially.  But I do like to read very long books and “live” in them.  There are some exceptions.  For instance, I loved Under the Banner of Heaven even if it did creep me the fuck out.  For the most part, I want some escape when I read.

When I went to the library the other day, I wanted to get a couple of nice, light, fun books to read for a bit of absorbing escapism.  Not that I’m escaping anything, because my life right now is damn great, but getting into a good book is a lot of fun.

I looked at the new books at the Mission Branch.  It’s a rather small library, though I could get any of the books at any of the branches delivered to the Mission Branch if I had planned ahead.  I hadn’t; I just wanted to get what struck me.

A lot of the new fiction looked downright depressing.  No thank you.  I was drawn to a book called Video Slut for obvious reasons.  It looked light and fun, and even though it was non-fiction, I grabbed it.  Then I grabbed a Dominick Dunn book, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies because, well, I like zombies.  Er, killing them in Plants vs. Zombies.

When I was looking for books there was the ubiquitous crazy person yelling that his attorney was waiting in a squad car.  Had his attorney been arrested?  No, his attorney was a DA.  To avoid that guy, I walked through some rows of shelves rather than through the main part of the library’s second floor.  Right through the diet books.

I figured it was a sign.  I’m trying to eat less and exercise more an all that shit, so I thought checking out a book on practical ways to diet and so on would be good.  I got You on a Diet.  So far the advice is practical, I’ve not learned much more than I already knew, and there are a lot of soon-to-be-, if not already-dated cultural references that will ensure further editions so people who don’t know what the fuck “Baywatch” is will get it.

I’ve been walking Isis a lot more, too.  She’s old, ten, but she likes her walks and she loves frolicking in the park.  When she’s off-leash she’s downright puppy-like.  I used to take her on epic walks – two hours or more with lots of hills and stairs – but she can’t handle those in her old age without significant recovery time.  Now I take her on one hour walks with a few hills and some stairs.  She really likes ‘em and they can’t be bad for me, either.

I swear.  True story.

Tags: Chicago, SF love

Categories: True Story.

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