Friday, August 30, 2013

538 Books, 259.67 LBS

 

 
That's a lot of books.
I don't care who you are.
 
 
 
 
 

Time Life Library of Photography Books

Time Life Library of Photography Books + 1974/1975/1976 Years
Weight: 24 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donating


I woke up this morning and suddenly remembered that someone from American Kidney Services had called the day before, while I was at work, to let me know they would be able to pick up some donations from my house three days early.  Fuck.  I had not put my donations out or even collected them all together.  I darted about the house trying to get everything ready.  Last minute, I threw in these books, a gift from my grandfather that I have kept for that reason alone.  I got everything out on the porch by 9:30 am.  Too late.  They can come as early as 7:30 or as late as...is it 4 or 5 pm.  I feel terrible that I stood them up. I always get my donations out on time!  Now, I have boxes in my living room and am too ashamed to call them back.  I will soon, at least, to apologize.

 

Monday, August 26, 2013

Treasury of Cartoon Classics

Treasury of Cartoon Classics: Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies Edited by Darlene Geis
1995
Weight: 2.8 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donating


This, my friend, was a well loved book.  I received it as a Christmas gift from one of my Uncles when I was a young kid.  I would spend hours drawing the cartoons inside, even in my teenage years.  I was and am really good at drawing exact replicas of other people's cartoons.  Not very creative or helpful, but it passed the time and was almost like meditation.  It calmed me.  It made me feel good without knowing why.

Many of the cartoons in this book I had never heard of or seen when I received it.  I feel like I was disappointed at first but, as I grew older, it was fun to finally see them.  I never sought them out.  I was always just pleasantly surprised when they would show up.  I would flip through the channels and then stop when I saw something I had drawn a hundred times and watch it in awe.

I am not a huge fan of Disney, knowing what I know now.  I am appalled by the little "Indian" boy that is nose to nose with a bear on the dustjacket free cover.  Little Hiawatha.  I had no idea about appropriated cultures, oppression, and racism back then--or at least not like I do now.  I am not proclaiming how wonderful these cartoons are.  I am just acknowledging and enjoying a memory from my youth.
 

More Shakespeare

Hamlet Edited by Barbara A Mowat and Paul Werstine 1992
Othello and The Tragedy of Mariam (Tragedy by Elizabeth Cary) Edited by Clare Carroll 2003
Weight: 1 lb 12 oz
Method of Disposal: Donating


I wonder, on average, how many books the English Major graduate owns upon receiving their degree.  Do they usually keep them or give them away?  I have given away a lot of Shakespeare on this blog.  I will say, though, that I prefer to read the editions I was assigned in school.  They are not clunky and heavy like the complete works.  They often come with helpful and insightful commentary, theory, historical background.  These two editions were well used but are still in great shape and, I know, still being assigned in school.  I am sure they will make their way into loving and/or needful hands.
 

Loves Executioner

Loves Executioner and Other Tales of Psychotherapy  by Irvin D. Yalom, M.D.
1990
Weight: 8 oz
Method of Disposal: Donating


When I first read the prologue to this book I was horrified by some of the things the author said.  The number one thing that sticks out in my mind was when he wrote about being repulsed by a fat woman who was his patient and was not sure he could offer her therapy.  I immediately closed the book and called my mom, who I assumed had read it and possibly passed it on to me.  She encouraged me to keep reading it and told me it would all be worth it.  I did, and I am glad I did.

I valued the author's insight into death and human reactions to death.  It is something I think about far more often than I would like to.  He mentions that death anxiety is often at its greatest when someone does not feel they are living the life they should be.  Amen to that.  I have noticed it.

He also writes about various patients he had, his hang-ups, and how he learned a lot about himself and his style of psychotherapy through working with them.  Some of the people he had the most difficult times with taught him the most, and often he became very close to them by the time their sessions were up.  I have to say, I would still hate to read about myself in one of his books!  It would be horrifying and embarrassing to me, even if my case was useful to him and to those who might learn from this book.  I go back to that fat woman.  Even reading it myself gave me anxieties about my weight and what professionals may be thinking about my body, much less what they might publish later.  He does come around with her, and she does (thank god) call him out by acknowledging how he treated her in the early sessions before she lost weight.  He does have an attitude adjustment while working with her, and her life does seem greatly improved by the end of the chapter.

There is a lot packed into this book, and it is insightful for a variety of reasons.  It is not without its problems, but I appreciate the author being able to lay himself out there in all of his glory, fuck-ups, strengths, and weaknesses.  I do believe I would recommend it to others, even 23 years after this edition was published.

Friday, August 23, 2013

My Alaskan Summer

My Alaskan Summer  by Corinne Mucha
2008
Weight: 8 oz
Method of Disposal: Donating


I bought several, if not all, of this woman's comics/graphic novels.  I was going through a phase where I was really into biographical graphic novels.  I still would be if I knew where to get my hands on some good new ones.

I think I first heard of this woman when reading Bitch Magazine and then bought several without even knowing if I would like them.  I was not let down.
 

Salt in His Shoes

Salt in His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream  by Deloris and Roslyn M. Jordan
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
2003
Weight: 5.6 oz
Method of Disposal: Donating




I remember when I was younger and my father had recently started dating my stepmother.  I went to my first ever basketball game.  It was the Chicago Bulls vs. Atlanta Hawks.  Michael Jordan was there.  My stepmother, who is not really into basketball, was very excited about the Bulls at the time.  I think because of Jordan.  The excitement wore off.  I felt honored to be there.

I mentioned his name tonight and Space Jam was the first thing to come to the other person's mind. I am glad I have something slightly more magical to remember.  That being said, I never did become I big basketball fan.  I like to (sort of) play it (like without all the rules and stuff).  And several years back I went with my then girlfriend to see the Atlanta Dream.  I am always excited about female athletes.

Another Young Adult Bundle...

Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear Lensey Namioka1992
Holes Louis Sachar 1998
Spice World: The Official Book of the Movie  Spice Girls 1997
Maniac Magee Jerry Spinelli 1992


How many copies of Holes and Maniac Magee can one person have?!  I am starting to look like  the guy with the Catcher in the Rye Fascination from Conspiracy Theory. 
And, in that same vein, will I be finding Spice Girls books until the bitter end?  Like The X-Files?  I feel like I get rid of them all and the next think I know I look over and their is a glittery Union Jack and a bunch of woman flashing peace signs.  Heaven help me.  I am just going to chalk it up to the fact that I was destined to love a British Woman and ignore how bad that Spice Girls obsession probably looks to her.
 

Commandos

Commandos by Octavio Diez
2001
Weight: 1 lb
Method of Disposal: Donating


The General George Alexander (featured above) is training himself to be a Commando, despite my attempts to civilianize him.  Yesterday, he took to pouncing on my ankles as I walked by and biting them.  It would shock my, and I would stumble, trying not to crunch him.  However, when you pick him up and hold him he is just a purring machine.

NEVER DRAW BLOOD THOUGH.  He had his first blood test last week and things quickly got out of hand.  He bit me and was off in a frantic, angry, blur of bristled cat fur.  It was embarrassing.  Bottle babies always have such...unique personalities...
 

McSweeney's Issue 42

McSweeney's Issue 42  Eds. Dave Eggers and Adam Thirlwell
2013
Weight: 2 lbs
Method of Disposal: Sold for $10


I was hoping to never get rid of one of my McSweeney's.  I have subscribed since I was in college and was introduced to the journal by Amber Dermont.  I have been in love with it since the twenty minute short stories. 

That being said, I need money real bad right now and my McSweeneys are some of the few books that are worth anything so I am selling some of the ones that were not my favorites.  It still hurts to watch them go but every ten dollars counts...right?  And it is all part of the project.  Cannot just get rid of the ones I hate.
 

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Esio Trot

Esio Trot by Roald Dahl
1990
Weight: 3. 2 oz
Method of Disposal: Recycling


I was going to read to my girlfriend because 1) She asked me to 2) Sometimes it helps people sleep 3) It gets my mind off of how far away she is from me. 

I chose Esio Trot because 1) I had never read it 2) It is incredibly short and contains lots of pictures 3) Who does not love Roal Dahl?

I was crushed when she mentioned that there was some controversy about him.  Was it that he was a Nazi?  or something?

I did a less than satisfactory Google search, which made me very uncomfortable.  According to Wikipedia, He said,  "I am not anti-Semitic. I am anti-Israel." And I was like...okay...okay...that is NOT the same thing, but then it was followed by,  "There’s a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity ... I mean there is always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere; even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason." And, I was more like What. The. Fuck? 

Is it true?  How did I go this long without knowing?

I did read the book.  It was about a man living a story above a woman he is "in love" with despite never really having a conversation with her.  One day she says that she would "be a slave" to anyone who could make her pet turtle bigger.  He thought her being his slave sounded like the most amazing thing ever.  He came up with a plan.  He stole her pet and later gave it away to a pet store.  He replaces it with larger and larger turtles.  He insulted her intelligence, which works in Dahl world.  He told her to speak language backwards to the tortoise and to tell it things like eat and gulp.  She believed his words were magical and, when he asked her to marry him, she said yes.  He hid his deception by turning over 100 turtles over to pet shops around England.  They lived happily ever after.

And I do not need to Google that.  There is no reason for a kid in this day and age to be filling their brain with that bullshit.


Side Note: There is a strange little author's note at the beginning about the cruelty of shipping turtles from Africa to England and how it has since been banned in England simply because it is cruel.  I like that part okay...

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Zen Keys

Zen Keys: A Guide to Zen Practice Thich Nhat Hanh
1995
Weight: 12 oz
Method of Disposal: Donating

I am afraid I was not in the right mindset to get the most possible value out of this book.  I kept finding my mind wandering and my stress seeping in, even while reading a book about the Zen tradition. 

Still, it was a helpful tool for me to try to use to focus on peace, connection, and letting go of my anger.
 

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
1992
Weight: 4.8 oz
Method of Disposal: Donating


A pet penguin (that enjoys being a pet)--a dream come true.  This book is fun for that reason, but it is lacking in creativity and the old-fashioned gendering makes me want to toss it in the recycling bin.  It was written in a different time though.  A time when we could assure the reader several times that Mrs. Popper was a good housekeeper and would rather her husband not be around so she could keep the house cleaner.  We are also very aware of the fact that she will let her silly husband get away with anything, including turning their living room into an ice rink and also jumping on a ship and saying goodbye for 1-2 years on a whim while she raises the children.  Ahhhhhh...role models.  I was allowed to read this crap growing up?  I am pretty sure books like this one should only be read once someone has a crash course in women's studies 101, and I did not have that when I first read this book.
 

Saturday, August 17, 2013

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare 
2000
Weight: 3.2 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donating

 
How is it possible to own so many "Complete Works" of William Shakespeare in various sizes and styles?  I really do not know if I am to blame or if it is because it is a common gift for an English major or what.  I cannot believe I have moved them all from place to place with me.  THAT is my fault.  I really should have narrowed it down to one.

This particular edition is leather with gold-lined pages.  It is a lovely copy.  I wonder if it will be regifted to some other poor student of English or Theater.

 

Pizza

Pizza (Little Guides)  Narelle Walford
2000
Weight: 13 oz
Method of Disposal: Donating

 
I love making and eating pizzas.  Yum.  To this day, the best one I ever had was a small one made by the Mayor of Perkins in 2007.  It had tiny shrimp baked into it.  I was in heaven.  I had never made a pizza before then, and I have never made one as good as the one he made.  Anywho, I am fairly certain that is what inspired the purchase of this book. 

The Longman Anthology of British Literature

The Longman Anthology of British Literature, Volume 1B: The Early Modern Period
David Damrosch (Author), Clare Carroll (Author), Constance Jordan (Author)
2002
Weight: 2.2 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donating


While staying up too late and dreading another day of work, I also began to think about the distance between the United States and Britain AGAIN and grew upset AGAIN.  I kept looking around my messy house and telling myself I needed to get out of bed, stop reading the New Yorker (I had like ten to catch up on), and clean.  Run on the treadmill, at least, I told myself after reading several issues of Runner's Magazine while laying on my back.  On one of my several trips to the kitchen to snack on something or get a glass of water, instead of smoking a cigarette, I saw this book still standing tall on my shelves.  I am not sure why it is still here.  I took it to half.com to see if it was worth anything and, to my renewed frustration, it was not.

That's the thing about text books.  You pay hundreds of dollars for them and they rapidly decrease in value the whole time you have them.  If you do not sell them as soon as class ends they will soon only be worth a fourth of what you paid and, if you stupidly wait years, they will be 75 cents--even if they include "timeless literature."  None of this is new and surprising, but I was looking over my shelves after making this discovery and realizing how very much money I have spent on school books.  I kept them because I loved them or felt like they had more to teach me after I graduated.  With so many of them, I have never even opened them again--as is the case with this one.  I wish I had just written down the titles, sold them then, and bought them back now when they were worth nothing.

On a side note, I kept wondering why none of the books I was listing ever sold and then realized I've had my settings on "on vacation" for ages.  Also annoying.  Nothing like being a million miles away from what I want and being hours away from what I hate to put me in a foul mood.  I apologize to everyone involved.


Thursday, August 15, 2013

Cattitude

Cattitude: Boxed Set Photographs by Kim Levin and Written By Christine Montaquila
2007
Weight: 2.5 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donation

       
Meet Heather!  Heather is living outdoors but would love to be an indoor kitty.  She never leaves my stoop these days and frequently begs to come in.  I am allergic to cats, but I got her vaccinations, testing, and deworming taken care of.  She is also spayed.  She is incredibly sweet and will stand up on her hind legs to get a pet from you.  She is a svelte little girl with beautiful markings.  She is FREE to a good home, and I may be willing to transport her depending on where you live.

                   

This is Crumpet.  She is one of my favorite cats of all time.  She has been at PAWS for two years, and she desperately needs a home.  If you are someone I know well and trust I would be willing to pay her adoption fee and transport her to you.  If I do not know you, I am afraid you will have to go through the regular channels.  She is totally worth it.  She is a smart, serious girl that is very independent but still craves chin scratches and ear ruffles.  She gets along with other cats.

The General is the kitten I have fostered since he was 5 days old.  he is probably around 6 weeks now.  He was bottle fed and is very loved.  He will be available at PAWS Atlanta once he is neutered. 

Cringe

Cringe: Teenage Diaries, Journals, Notes, Letters, Poems, and Abandoned Rock Operas
Ed Sarah Brown
2008
Weight: 1.4 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donating


So much fun!  I loved reading Cringe.  It was hilarious.  I really appreciated the adult responses to the teenage love, angst, excitement.  Some of the authors had me laughing quite loudly, while all alone in my bedroom. 

I could, of course, and unfortunately, relate.  I wrote out wills and testaments.  I wrote love letters and fan letters trying to proclaim how not weird I was being to Gillian Anderson.  Things like, "I just really love you.  Not in a creepy way.  But I have to meet you.  Not to be weird."  So so scary.  SO glad Gillian probably never had to read them, but I feel bad for whoever did.  Or not.  I think I want THAT job.  I could read and respond to fan mail.  Totes!  Imagine the stories you could tell at the bar.



I also quoted Ani Difranco ALL. THE. TIME.  And turned in bizarre, worrisome, self-important bullshit to my teachers.  These pictures all show parts of an autobiography I wrote for class in high school.  Note the psychology appointments, the make-up down my eyes, the huge pants, hair colors, the walls of my bedroom, and the sad/absurd pictures of me dressed for a friend's funeral and me crying over breaking up with my "spiritual affinity."  Who thinks these are good picture taking times?  Who?

 

 
I, of course, am the hunched over girl in the Nine Inch Nails shirt.  I was not at all obsessed with the girl on the left...


Thank God for nice, patient teachers that do not write notes to students that say "Get over yourself!  You have hardly lived yet!"  I thought this teacher was MEAN but, after this note, and a few good book suggestions, I secretly loved her.  I am sure I showed her my appreciation by staring at her like I am looking at the camera in the picture with my dad, stepmother, and brother above.



 

Sunday, August 11, 2013

A Good Man is Hard to Find

A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories  by Flannery O'Connor
1983
Weight: 8 oz
Method of Disposal: Donating

 
This book sits in the pit of my stomach, where I hold my guilt, my shame, my anger, my embarrassment, my frustration, my violence, my pain, and my disgrace.  It feels just as heavy.  I am in awe of O'Connor for delivering a cruel story each time and each time in a different way.  Every time I read her work I stay on the verge of being caught of guard.  I hold my breath in my throat because, in actuality, I guess I always know the characters are terrible and the end will not be good.  To expect O'Connor to save you from your terror or disgust, like other writers, is truly foolish.  And yet...

She is unabashed. The stories expose racism and classism in all of its nastiness.  Might I add, she is excellent at titling her stories.  All of this is to say that I am impressed but also feeling physically ill after finishing this collection of short stories.
 

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Durable Goods

Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg
1994
Weight: 8.8 oz
Method of Disposal: Giving to Tracy


I was smitten with the first half of this book.  I loved the 12 year old girl and, though we were very different at that age and living in entirely different circumstances, I felt I could relate or remember so much through Berg's descriptions.  Katie is an inquisitive little girl with a slightly older best friend who believes herself to be the walking source guide on womanhood and femininity.  Her dad is an abusive military man that keeps her and her older sister moving about the country.  Their mother is dead after having suffered illness.  Berg really captures the agony of pre-teen-dom.  I am so impressed.

The last half is heartbreaking.  It is still good, but it did not have the same magic the first part had.  I do believe I have found a book I recommend.  It is a quick read, and you will care about the main characters.
 

Angus

Angus by Charles Siebert
2001
Weight:5.6 oz
Method of Disposal: Donating

 
It would seem, yet again, that I am one of the very few readers of this book that did not enjoy it.  I thought it was tedious and not convincing.  I did not feel like I was in the head of a Jack Russell Terrier, though I could tell the owner had done their research and/or knew the breed.  The only part I got into was the very end when the owner is describing the death of Angus.  I got a little emotional but only because I always do when dogs struggle.

Aside from all that, the dog rescue side of me wanted to scream, "If he does not come back when you call, then put him on a God Damn leash when he goes out!"  Amongst other things.
 

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Dick: A User's Guide

Dick: A User's Guide  by Dr. Michele Moore and Dr. Caroline de Costa
2003
Weight: 9.6 oz
Method of Disposal: Donating?


Just got done with my Dick book.  I was hoping to learn a lot but, for better or worse, I, apparently (somehow) knew a decent amount already.  One thing that threw me for a loop was the idea that, on average, healthy adult men have 2-5 erections in a night.  They last about 30 minutes and take up about 40% of sleep time.  Young boys of course have this happen more and are far more likely to have theirs end in ejaculation.  As men get older they decrease (pg.22).I knew that men got erect at night, and I had heard about the morning erection many times, despite the fact that I somehow missed noticing it in that year plus I use to fall asleep and wake up next to a teenage boy (for real).  I immediately called my girlfriend.  "5 times?!"  She tried not to act disturbed, "uhh, yeah, maybe.  Not Five times probably..."  I talked to friends, lesbian and heterosexual, "5 times?!"  I considered the possibilities of this.  I maybe got too enthusiastic because my girlfriend actually asked me if I needed to go experiment with a man.  Uhhh, no.  I just get excited about sex, sexuality, and, apparently, hard-ons. 

In other news, I enjoyed the discussion about water tests on condoms in the U.S. and the U.K.  The authors write, "In the United States this means that the condom must withstand one and a quarter cups of water and not leak (the amount in Britain is twelve and a half cups--we're not sure what this implies about English men)(pg70)."  Kinda hilarious.

Overall, it was a decent book, but it felt rushed and often the authors jokes fell flat with me.  Things would be tacked on at the end of certain chapters that did not seem to fit at all.  The authors were aware and noted that the book was geared to heterosexual men and women more than anything, though they mentioned that they hoped gay men would also find it beneficial.  It was fun!

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Common Sense

Common Sense  Thomas Paine
1995
Weight: 8.5 oz
Method of Disposal: Donating

I first purchased/read Common Sense in high school when trying to impress one of my teachers.  You could pick an easy assignment or choose something off a list of more difficult assignments.  I was the only one who chose the second list and the only one who read a book for the assignment.  I suppose it is mostly nerds like me who own their very own copy (and possibly several) of Common Sense.