So much for the rain today. It turned out to be warm and sunny. Do you know what that means? Laziness! Instead of attempting to gather my thoughts on Transit by Anna Seghers, an excellent book by the way, I just feel like being chatty. Do you mind? If so, click elsewhere, it’s ok.
Bookman got to have the day off today which is nice because the summer heat makes his MS fatigue bloom as abundantly as the garden. Too bad I couldn’t be home with him. We do have Monday through Wednesday off together next week though to celebrate his birthday. I’ll be baking a cake. And Bookman mixed up some ice cream, mint chocolate chip, that is getting frosty in the freezer. That will taste good with the chocolate cake he says he wants me to make him.
Bookman did venture out to pick up a book I had on hold at the library. He’s nice like that. The book is Edible Forest Gardens volume two. It’s by the same guys who wrote that book I read earlier in the year, Paradise Lot. Except this one is not a chatty garden “memoir.” It’s a huge book that focuses on permaculture garden design. I suppose I should have gotten volume one first that talks about the ecological principles of permaculture. Now that I have put the cart before the horse though there is no going back. But I think I will be fine.
Earlier in the week I began another book I borrowed from the library, The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. This is the guy I read about in a National Geographic article a few weeks ago. I haven’t gotten far in the book but so far it is pretty good. Like last night I learned about Mycobacterium vaccae, a soil bacteria that is commonly ingested or inhaled when people spend time in nature (read in a park or garden or hiking in the woods). Research suggests this bacterium might play a role in helping mammals learn (people are mammals too remember). In tests, rats that were exposed to the bacterium were able to navigate a maze twice as fast as rats that were not exposed. The effects wear off in a few days. How cool is that? And if it really does boost learning and wears off in a few days, it makes regularly spending time in nature even more important.
While I am hovering on the fringe of the library, I have to remark on something that never ceases to amuse me. See, I don’t have much of a memory for numbers. I sometimes can’t even remember my own phone number and I still don’t remember the number of my desk phone at work and I have been there for four and half years. But you know what number I always remember? My library barcode number. I need it to request books online and my fingers fly across the number keys without me really even thinking about it. And this is a 14-digit number we are talking about. The other number I have no trouble remembering is my food co-op membership number (it’s a paltry 6-digits). That those are the two numbers I never forget probably says something about where my life priorities are.
I am a little over halfway through Tristram Shandy. What a hoot this book is! I am in the middle of the chapter on whiskers, for those of you who have read the book. This is a book written almost entirely in digressions. How Sterne does it and keeps me continually interested, I really can’t say. Only that he does. And he makes me laugh. A lot. This is my commute book and I think this morning while reading it on the train I might have snorted out loud in amusement over a story about a hot chestnut going down someone’s pants. If anybody noticed me snorting I don’t know because I was too busy enjoying my book to look up.
I am so glad tomorrow is Friday. It feels like it has been a long week for some reason. But it won’t last for much longer before the weekend finally arrives. I’m hoping that events will conspire in my favor on Saturday to allow me several long hours of reading time. May events also conspire in your favor for lots of reading time too.
Ha, I definitely have my 14-digit library card number memorized too – it helps that there are strings of repeated digits of it, but yes, also from frequent use.
And oh, I should re-read Tristram Shandy someday – I read it in college (for a class) and remember it being hilarious and great, but don’t remember much detail about it, other than the very beginning and the page that’s all black. Hmm…
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Heather, It does help that there are a few repeat digits but one still has to remember which ones repeat and in what order. It also helps that I’ve had the same number for 13 years and use it at least once a week, often more.
Tristram Shandy must have been fun to read in college with other people. There is so much in it to discuss! I haven’t even finished reading it once and I can see how rereading it would be marvelous.
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Of course, if you were in Australia it would be Friday already! See what you’re missing by living over there?
Of course you can be chatty. I love that you are loving Tristram Shandy. I’d love to read it again. I remember enjoying it at university but I bet I’d enjoy it all over again and get different things out of it with a few decades of life experience under my belt.
And happy birthday to Bookman … I hope the weather is conducive to his MS so you can both have a wonderful time.
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whisperinggums, Friday would arrive sooner but then so would Monday!🙂
Tristram Shandy is so full of details that I am sure it would be just as fun rereading it especially after a long time.
Bookman thanks you for the good wishes!
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Oh, now you’re being logical! That’s not playing the game right!
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I ALSO have my library barcode memorized…clearly, we’ve all found our people here.🙂
You’ve made me want to push Tristram Shandy to the front of my list, and I was planning on checking him out later, as part of an 18th century project…I mean much later as I just found a new (to me) 19th century author I like that wrote 90 books. So much for plans!
But a serious question about Shandy: Is it the sort of book you could put down for long periods of time and not ruin it for yourself?
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Colleen, library geeks galore! I love it.
Tristram Shandy is a hoot and I think it would definitely appeal to your sense of humor. Would your new discovery be Margaret Oliphant? She’s on my list but as yet unread. I think you could squeeze Tristram Shandy in there when you need a break. He’s a breath of fresh air. Can you put him down for long periods and not ruin it. Nope. He must be read regularly or you will lose twisting threads of his digressions. His chapters are short though so you don’t have to read for long stretches but you do need to read a bit almost every day.
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I’m another one who has her library barcode committed to memory. The other one I never forget is my mother’s Co-operative dividend number. You probably have to be British and of a certain age to know what that is. After the war many British housewives tried to save a little money by shopping at the Co-op who returned a proportion of their profits pro-rata to each customer via an account with said number. 116101 is engraved in my mind.
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Tristam Shandy is one of those books on the TBR pile that may have mouldered for a very long time there but you do make it sound a lot of fun to read- so I will try to get to it in 2013. Recent reading includes a slightly mad but impressive piece of fan fiction based on the TV series Ashes To Ashes (it eventually runs to over 2 million words!) and a collection of letters by Graham Greene which was very interesting. I hope you continue to have nice weather in Minneapolis.
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Ian, long time! I hope you’ve been on holiday or otherwise having a pleasant time. It sounds like you’ve been doing some interesting reading as usual. Tristram Shandy is a joy to read. Be sure if/when you get to it you are in the mood for no plot and lots of tangents.
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Alex, I love that so many have their library barcode memorized! My food co-op is a little like your mom’s. When you become a member you also become a part owner and every year we get a dividend check based on what the year’s profits were and how much we spent. Because we are part owners we get to vote on board members every year (they are member-owners themselves) and get to have a say in big decisions. Plus when we ask for certain things to be carried on the shelves our requests are noted and more often than not, filled. My member-owner number is the other number that I never forget.
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Memory is a funny thing. I’d like to read a book that investigates the whys and wherefores about it. Know any good ones? I remember all the telephone numbers from my childhood (1950s up to 1970). Not an easy task for someone who moved four times in 6 years. The first was Rockwell 2-2581. It was a big black phone that you had to pick up and wait for the operator to say, “number, please.” I have no idea why I remember it; I was 7 when we moved. I do not remember my library bar code number, but I know my bank routing number and checking account number by memory! And the birthday of a random girl I knew in high school who lent me her copy of Great Expectations which I never returned. (Sorry, Mary Nathanson, where ever you are. But why do I remember when your birthday is?) Weird. And I remember the jingle for Pamper shampoo, which they stopped making in the 50s, and the one for Babbo “the foaming” Cleanser, Sometimes I forget who I am, but I try not to worry about it. ☺ Have Tristram Shandy on my Kindle and want to get around to it soon. Have a great reading weekend.
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Grad, There’s lots of books about memory out there. I read Moonwalking with Einstein back in 2012 and enjoyed it. It talks about how memory works and why and how little we actually understand about it. That’s funny you remember all the phone numbers from your childhood. I’m bad at phone numbers, had a hard time even remembering my best friend’s! So it’s good that I only lived in one house and my parents still live there!
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Happy early birthday to Bookman. I hope the weather is not too terrible for him in the upcoming days.
Oof, I’m despairing now that you’ve announced you’re halfway through Tristram Shandy. I’ve made it to page 30 or so. I marvel that you can read it in transit to work. I need complete quiet and the OED at my side. What is with the black pages anyhow?
Have a great weekend🙂
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Vanessa, are you still reading Tristram Shandy? I hope so! I’m almost 70% through and it remains great fun. Thank goodness for the built in dictionary on the Kindle, but you know, he makes up lots of words too.
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Sadly Stefanie, I set it aside for an August Graham Greene reading challenge but I will return to it. The built-in dictionary would be a nice feature for TS. Thanks for the encouraging words (that it continues to be great fun).
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I do hope you get to return to it. I am currently wondering how the book can possibly end and what happened that we are suddenly in France. I’ve not read Graham Greene, he’s one on my reading list for someday. Hope he’s good!
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I’ve returned to it this week🙂 I did not want to stray too far from it. Now, if only I can find the notes I made while reading the book in June… Greene is very good too. I have three of his works checked out on my library card but I doubt I’ll get all three read.
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Yay! Glad you are getting back to it. Hope you find your notes and I hope you enjoy it. Glad to hear Greene is good!
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I don’t have my library code memorized, I’m almost hopeless when it comes to numbers. I’m forgetting ones I did know, now. I think it’s because I have to remember so many passwords now!
Nature is good for you in so many ways. I enjoyed the part you quoted about the bacteria that when we ingest from being in nature, it makes us smarter.
I tried Tristram Shandy many years ago for university. I didn’t have time tor read it all, though I do remember enjoying the bit I did read. The digressions bothered me, especially as I had so many books to read for my other courses. I’m glad you are enjoying it so much.
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Susan, I keep a file on my computer with all my various passwords in it otherwise I would not be able to remember half of them. I can see how reading Tristram Shandy at university would be hard to do especially when you have books to read for other classes as well. Hard to keep it all straight!
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Oh send my condolences to the Bookman – extreme temperatures used to do dreadful things to my cfs too, so I know how that goes. As for bacterium in the air in forests that makes you learn quicker… Good Lord! Arthur C Clarke must be kicking himself for not thinking of that one!🙂
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Litlove, condolences send and appreciated. And LOL, I’m sure Arthur C. Clarke is really disappointed he didn’t think up the bacterium himself😀
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That’s me too – I can never remember my cell phone number or office number but I used to know my library number no problem!
Hope you guys enjoy your extended weekend! You’ll have to tell us what kind of cake you bake for Mr. Bookman!
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Iliana, we have our priorities, right?🙂
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I like reading (and writing) book chatty posts–always so interesting to hear what others are in the middle of. I finally got around to writing about Transit over the weekend, so now I really do need to get moving on the next book. I read the intro to Turtle Diary, but was concentrating on other books last week. I didn’t realize that you were reading Tristam Shandy–I have not done well with classics this year….. Hope you and Bookman have a great few days off–and the weather continues to cooperate.
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Danielle, I’m now a little over halfway through Turtle Diary and loving it! I am making my way through Tristram Shandy. My year has been rather devoid of classics too so this will be a boost🙂
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I love Tristram Shandy! As you say, it is laugh-out-loud funny! It is my most frequent metaphor for life, too–if I had time to write it all down, I wouldn’t have time to live it. That is an over-simplification and therefore suitable for satire. Oh well. Part of the point is that everything, in the end, is a sort of over-simplification.
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Jeanne, so glad to hear you love Tristram Shandy! I’m still making my way through. Poor Tristram had a run-in with the window sash. I love how he doesn’t say exactly what happened but it is so obvious he doesn’t have to.
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