The Serpent's Books
16/04/2014 11:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaWhile having long ago given up on the ever some ambitious “100 things in 1,000” days ‘to do’ list, still decided that the idea in itself is worth keeping but in some more useful and productive form. The aim would be more on a few big projects all linked to each other rather than a list that is so long that you end up making up stupid stuff just to reach the magical 100 things.
But regardless of form, certain items kept getting moved from one list to the next and on again and never quite managed to get themselves crossed off as finished.
Organizing the Lair with a place for everything and everything in its place is the biggest offender on this front. The best books on decluttering and sorting stuff all say that unless you concentrate on moving towards what you do want rather than obsessing about all the stuff that is wrong then you will never make any real progress.
Countless cleaning and sorting binges always became dead ends due to lack of useable space. Space itself is not a problem but by itself is not really much use. The biggest offender on this front was boxes of books. But without a car, acquiring book shelves is tricky due to the high cost of delivery.
So was it ever a stroke of luck to be walking down the other end of the street the week before the annual verge pick up and finding a big fat book shelf thrown out on the street. So there was no time for dawdling or procrastinating. Dropped the shopping off at the Lair and went straight back to pick up the prize before anyone one else snaffled it. There’s folks who make a living going around with trailers or vans and cruising the streets for dumped stuff to sell at the markets.
It was a bummer trying to drag or carry the thing without damaging it as it was tall as well as wide. One trip took care of the basic frame and another for the four wooden shelves.
It got pride of place in the lounge room near the door. The perfect location if it ever should be necessary to grab any precious possessions when making a quick getaway. The four Douglas Hofstadter books were the first to get dusted off and given pride of place in their new home and Shaun Tan got a big tall shelf all for himself.
The adjustable shelves meant being able to finally find a place for all those very tall and pretty picture books that had been previously stuck gathering dust in old boxes and suitcases. Soon there were books slinking down the stairs and out of boxes and broom cupboards all vying for place in this new bright and shiny abode.
It was quite astonishing just how much stuff could fit in this single book case. It was fun becoming reacquainted with old friends not seen for years and once thought missing in action. Was especially amused to find a collection of classic horror stories including Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Island of Doctor Moreau and others. There I had been running off to libraries to get these books when they’d been lurking in the Lair all that time. That particular tome weighing in at over a kilo was too heavy to lugging around everywhere but little Alice was as light as a feather and most portable indeed.
It was a sort of unofficial stock take for the first time in many years and it was interesting to see how certain themes kept appearing. Most of the books are actually non fiction. The themes of religion, theology, myth and magic were well represented along with mathematics, physics and science in general. Then there’s the dismal science of economics and politics along with lots of Nazi related histories and biographies.
There was lots of botany, gardening and ecological sorts of stuff and a large selection of cook books rarely more than glanced at these days. It was now possible for the first time to put all those recipe books in their rightful place, the small bookshelves in the dining room.
I could not believe what a big difference just one book case could make. It now looks like another two of the same size rather than the five on the original lists would be sufficient to sorting out the rest of the stuff worth keeping.
The serpent’s sister is coming to visit in July so that will be yet another incentive to get the Lair all sparkly and sorted but still suitably spooky. After all there is nothing like an external deadline for getting stuff done.
But regardless of form, certain items kept getting moved from one list to the next and on again and never quite managed to get themselves crossed off as finished.
Organizing the Lair with a place for everything and everything in its place is the biggest offender on this front. The best books on decluttering and sorting stuff all say that unless you concentrate on moving towards what you do want rather than obsessing about all the stuff that is wrong then you will never make any real progress.
Countless cleaning and sorting binges always became dead ends due to lack of useable space. Space itself is not a problem but by itself is not really much use. The biggest offender on this front was boxes of books. But without a car, acquiring book shelves is tricky due to the high cost of delivery.
So was it ever a stroke of luck to be walking down the other end of the street the week before the annual verge pick up and finding a big fat book shelf thrown out on the street. So there was no time for dawdling or procrastinating. Dropped the shopping off at the Lair and went straight back to pick up the prize before anyone one else snaffled it. There’s folks who make a living going around with trailers or vans and cruising the streets for dumped stuff to sell at the markets.
It was a bummer trying to drag or carry the thing without damaging it as it was tall as well as wide. One trip took care of the basic frame and another for the four wooden shelves.
It got pride of place in the lounge room near the door. The perfect location if it ever should be necessary to grab any precious possessions when making a quick getaway. The four Douglas Hofstadter books were the first to get dusted off and given pride of place in their new home and Shaun Tan got a big tall shelf all for himself.
The adjustable shelves meant being able to finally find a place for all those very tall and pretty picture books that had been previously stuck gathering dust in old boxes and suitcases. Soon there were books slinking down the stairs and out of boxes and broom cupboards all vying for place in this new bright and shiny abode.
It was quite astonishing just how much stuff could fit in this single book case. It was fun becoming reacquainted with old friends not seen for years and once thought missing in action. Was especially amused to find a collection of classic horror stories including Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Island of Doctor Moreau and others. There I had been running off to libraries to get these books when they’d been lurking in the Lair all that time. That particular tome weighing in at over a kilo was too heavy to lugging around everywhere but little Alice was as light as a feather and most portable indeed.
It was a sort of unofficial stock take for the first time in many years and it was interesting to see how certain themes kept appearing. Most of the books are actually non fiction. The themes of religion, theology, myth and magic were well represented along with mathematics, physics and science in general. Then there’s the dismal science of economics and politics along with lots of Nazi related histories and biographies.
There was lots of botany, gardening and ecological sorts of stuff and a large selection of cook books rarely more than glanced at these days. It was now possible for the first time to put all those recipe books in their rightful place, the small bookshelves in the dining room.
I could not believe what a big difference just one book case could make. It now looks like another two of the same size rather than the five on the original lists would be sufficient to sorting out the rest of the stuff worth keeping.
The serpent’s sister is coming to visit in July so that will be yet another incentive to get the Lair all sparkly and sorted but still suitably spooky. After all there is nothing like an external deadline for getting stuff done.
