On the up side
Okay, one of the more miserable months of my life. I won’t recap, as it sounds too much like whining. However, I will say that I’m especially glad that August 2010 is over and done with.
On the up side; hey, Kindle! A birthday present from my sister. I piggy-backed on her account for the first month, and have just now liberated my device and downloaded my own choices for the first time. I’ve budgeted a certain amount each month for building up my Kindle library.
One of the things I miss most about my old place in Boston is: books, books, books, books of all sorts, books in every corner of the apartment. When I moved out, 10 big boxes of books went to the neighborhood library, where I hope they are doing all sorts of good, and inspiring people to deep thought and plans for world-spanning adventures.
But I miss being able to just put my hand out and step into alternate world; or curl up with a cup of tea and science book, and seeing how many ideas I can spin out of it; or read something for the second time, and realizing what I missed the first time; or for the third time, and suddenly seeing how its bones work. Or reread something I’ve had since I was a child, and remember the first time, and who I was then, and what the world meant then.
Moving into a much smaller space meant losing about 80% of the books I had. Many of them I don’t miss, not by name, not as individual, specific volumes. Some I do… But what I really most miss the feeling of… I don’t know — wealth? Connection to culture? Security? I’ll have to give this more thought; but there’s something special and wonderful about actually owning books.
Now, owning them in digital form won’t be quite the same thing… but when space is a problem, it’s a nice solution.
Good ol’ 21st century. Gotta love it.
Hand update: Fingertips still numb. Seeing the doc next week. My strength is mostly back, my dexterity is all the way back, but numb fingertips just feel weird. Like zombie fingers, which is not as interesting as it sounds.
