Social Psychology

Social Psychology by Ellis Freeman
1936
Weight: 1 lb
Method of Disposal: Donating

 

Another 18 years and this book will be 100 years old.  Will it make it that long?  Will I?  There's a lot to love about old books.  Their smell, the printing, the yellowing pages, the information stated with such confidence that in retrospect often seems silly, the basic truths that always seem to hold true.  Some of them are better and more interesting than others, but I love to read social commentary of the times and think about how far we have or have not come.  Sometimes I am sad to realize how much the mistakes of the past have effected our present, and I am scared to think about what the mistakes of now will cause as the damage ripples.

A Handbook of Biblical Difficulties

A Handbook of Biblical Difficulties  Robert Tuck
1836-1911
Weight: 2 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donating

There is something absolutely magical about old books even if you are not into the topic.  It is partly that amazing smell they all carry and partly how they fall open.  It is a little bit that they have no ISBN and are harder to track.  It is also because you cannot begin to imagine how many people held that same book, where the kept it, and what their life was like.  Daydreaming about that is almost better than reading the book.  The first person that held this book, studied the Bible, kept it on a shelf could not have even dreamed up that a young lesbian would be blogging about it on a computer all this time later.  Lesbian. Blog. Computer.

Biblical Difficulties.

Lamplighter

The Lamplighter  by Cummins

Unsure of date.  There is an inscription dated 1896.

Weight: 1 lb

Method of Disposal: Donating

It is almost 3:30 am, and I have been working for hours.  They (being the people) always act like the overtime won't be so bad and ask you not to burn yourself out, but it seems impossible.  I still feel so far behind, and I know I will not be able to get anything crossed off my to do list at work tomorrow because I have to fix my reports, and we will have surgery paperwork.  I am overwhelmed.  It is possible that I have broken down crying in the last 4 days more often than I have eaten.

Back in the day, Lamplighters were the people whose job it was to light the streetlights.  At least, I think that is true.  I felt like the very title of this book made it appropriate for this post.  When I took the trash out to take a break, no one else was lighting up the street with their indoor lights.

This book, initially, was an unexpected treasure for me.  I ordered something else and this came in.  I wrote a nice e-mail and said I was glad to return this one, but I would still like the other one.  He wrote me back to just keep it and sent the other.  No worries, no problems, and two books.  One from the 1800s!   It is over a hundred years old.  Oh my God.  If I keep talking about it I won't let it go...

Emotional Problems in Later Life

Emotional Problems in Later Life: Intervention Strategies for Professional Caregivers
1990
Weight: 1.2 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donating

It is hard to believe how dated some of my books have become.  This is 23 years old.  When does that happen?  It even looks like an old book now.  I swear I so often think I am still in the 90's and am shocked it is over.  Aging is weird.