"Serendipity". noun. 1. an aptitude for making desireable discoveries by accident. 2. good fortune; luck (1754; Serendip = ity; Horace Walpole so named a faculty possessed by the heroes of a fairy tale called THE THREE PRINCES OF SERENDIP)
Location: My garage, with garage door open
Sound: Motown Mix CD created by Lovely Ally and Handsome Chris
Weather: Bright and sunny, clear skies
Setting: relaxed on an old leather coach moved into garage yesterday to sell on Craigslist
Goal: Go through boxes of books to put some in garage sale pile
Time: In the "flow".
My heart is beating faster than normal. My usual ADHD brain is in ADHD heaven as I leaf through one old book after another. This borders on absurd, but I do NOT care. I'm not even going to try to normalize my attachment to books. I pick up one book after another and thumb through to decide - shall it go in the garage sale pile, or back into the box to keep until I get more bookshelfs?
THE EDUCATION OF LITTLE TREE. I remember Elliot and Allison having this book assigned for reading while at Spring Street School, middle school years. I haven't read it yet, probably never will, as non-fiction accomodates my shorter attention span better...but maybe my kids will want their kids to read it someday. Just holding the book brings back a flood of memories. Into the SAVE box it goes.
LIFE STUDIES by David Cavitch. I didn't buy this book. It must of been a textbook of Ally's at Whitworth. Thumbing through it, short stories. "Graduation" by Maya Angelou. Wow! She was an author at the I CAN DO IT conference I just returned from in Las Vegas! I want to read that story! "Boyfriends" by Susan Toth - an interesting topic! Into the SAVE box...
YOU'RE NEVER ALONE by Marie Shropshire. A Christian inspirational. New condition. Oh, Ally wrote me about a hurting friend of hers. I'll mail it to her! I bet it will encourage her! SAVE box.
BAREFOOT ON CORAL CALCIUM by Robert Barefoot. Linda McMAhen's signature inside! She must of loaned it to me long ago! I've been meaning to try coral calcium - besides, I could return this book to Linda someday. SAVE box.
LIVING HIGH by June Burn. Oh yes! AN "unconventional autobiography" (I could write one of those) of homesteading in the San Juan Islands. SAVE box.
POCKET OXFORD LATIN DICTIONARY. I bet it was Ally's at Spring Street School. I took 2 years of Latin in high school. I love Latin. Well, I don't really ever THINK about Latin, but this book reminds me of Latin, of the beauty of language, of the importance of spelling and understanding the nuances of words. I open the Latin dictionary. "cherish, v.t. (nourish) alo, (3) (treat tenderly) foveo (2) fig. colo, (3). Now isn't that interesting! SAVE box.
PRENUP FOR LOVERS: A Romantic Guide to Prenuptial Agreements", Arlene Dubin. Wow! Maybe I'll need this book someday. It retails for $14.95. That's a lot of money for a book! Non-fiction. I like non-fiction. SAVE box.
ON THE BRINK by Benjamin Stein. Yikes! A novel. Hardback. GARAGE SALE BOX. I'm making progress!
Oh my gosh. I can't believe it! LET'S LEARN A LITTLE HAWAIIAN. Where did this book come from? I'm sending to to Mary today! SAVE box.
YOUR BOAT'S ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, Conrad Miller. Man, people write books about everything, don't they? GARAGE SALE box. I don't want a boat!
SAY IT IN SWEDISH. "Give me a receipt for the baggage." Translation: "Kan jag fa ett kvitto pa bagaget?" Well, I don't know any Swedish, but the translation looks more like a question than a command - Can you give me a receipt for the baggage? Maybe the Swedes are just more polite than the English. SAVE box.
ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand. Really old hardback cover. No dustjacket. Musty smelling. Random House. Copyright, 1957. First Printing......WHAT??? FIRST PRINTING OF THE FIRST EDITION!!
I run into my office, Goggle the book, go to http://www.abebooks.com/ A good condition first edition, NOT signed, can go for $4,500!! I yell for Paul, and get him involved in the online search. I call Audrey Kelsey to tell her of my find. I carefully open the book and read the first line of the story I've only heard about from Ginny, and never read.."Who is John Galt?".
I get so excited I get a glass of water and down it. I consider taking out fire insurance on my possessions. My possessions are getting more valuable by the minute!
Serendipity! That's what this is! Serendipity-do-dah. Oh, life is so exciting. I just wish I had more time to READ!!!
Location: My garage, with garage door open
Sound: Motown Mix CD created by Lovely Ally and Handsome Chris
Weather: Bright and sunny, clear skies
Setting: relaxed on an old leather coach moved into garage yesterday to sell on Craigslist
Goal: Go through boxes of books to put some in garage sale pile
Time: In the "flow".
My heart is beating faster than normal. My usual ADHD brain is in ADHD heaven as I leaf through one old book after another. This borders on absurd, but I do NOT care. I'm not even going to try to normalize my attachment to books. I pick up one book after another and thumb through to decide - shall it go in the garage sale pile, or back into the box to keep until I get more bookshelfs?
THE EDUCATION OF LITTLE TREE. I remember Elliot and Allison having this book assigned for reading while at Spring Street School, middle school years. I haven't read it yet, probably never will, as non-fiction accomodates my shorter attention span better...but maybe my kids will want their kids to read it someday. Just holding the book brings back a flood of memories. Into the SAVE box it goes.
LIFE STUDIES by David Cavitch. I didn't buy this book. It must of been a textbook of Ally's at Whitworth. Thumbing through it, short stories. "Graduation" by Maya Angelou. Wow! She was an author at the I CAN DO IT conference I just returned from in Las Vegas! I want to read that story! "Boyfriends" by Susan Toth - an interesting topic! Into the SAVE box...
YOU'RE NEVER ALONE by Marie Shropshire. A Christian inspirational. New condition. Oh, Ally wrote me about a hurting friend of hers. I'll mail it to her! I bet it will encourage her! SAVE box.
BAREFOOT ON CORAL CALCIUM by Robert Barefoot. Linda McMAhen's signature inside! She must of loaned it to me long ago! I've been meaning to try coral calcium - besides, I could return this book to Linda someday. SAVE box.
LIVING HIGH by June Burn. Oh yes! AN "unconventional autobiography" (I could write one of those) of homesteading in the San Juan Islands. SAVE box.
POCKET OXFORD LATIN DICTIONARY. I bet it was Ally's at Spring Street School. I took 2 years of Latin in high school. I love Latin. Well, I don't really ever THINK about Latin, but this book reminds me of Latin, of the beauty of language, of the importance of spelling and understanding the nuances of words. I open the Latin dictionary. "cherish, v.t. (nourish) alo, (3) (treat tenderly) foveo (2) fig. colo, (3). Now isn't that interesting! SAVE box.
PRENUP FOR LOVERS: A Romantic Guide to Prenuptial Agreements", Arlene Dubin. Wow! Maybe I'll need this book someday. It retails for $14.95. That's a lot of money for a book! Non-fiction. I like non-fiction. SAVE box.
ON THE BRINK by Benjamin Stein. Yikes! A novel. Hardback. GARAGE SALE BOX. I'm making progress!
Oh my gosh. I can't believe it! LET'S LEARN A LITTLE HAWAIIAN. Where did this book come from? I'm sending to to Mary today! SAVE box.
YOUR BOAT'S ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, Conrad Miller. Man, people write books about everything, don't they? GARAGE SALE box. I don't want a boat!
SAY IT IN SWEDISH. "Give me a receipt for the baggage." Translation: "Kan jag fa ett kvitto pa bagaget?" Well, I don't know any Swedish, but the translation looks more like a question than a command - Can you give me a receipt for the baggage? Maybe the Swedes are just more polite than the English. SAVE box.
ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand. Really old hardback cover. No dustjacket. Musty smelling. Random House. Copyright, 1957. First Printing......WHAT??? FIRST PRINTING OF THE FIRST EDITION!!
I run into my office, Goggle the book, go to http://www.abebooks.com/ A good condition first edition, NOT signed, can go for $4,500!! I yell for Paul, and get him involved in the online search. I call Audrey Kelsey to tell her of my find. I carefully open the book and read the first line of the story I've only heard about from Ginny, and never read.."Who is John Galt?".
I get so excited I get a glass of water and down it. I consider taking out fire insurance on my possessions. My possessions are getting more valuable by the minute!
Serendipity! That's what this is! Serendipity-do-dah. Oh, life is so exciting. I just wish I had more time to READ!!!
4 comments:
Life is always exciting when you're involved! Who knew going through a box of old books would be so fun! Those sound mostly like my old books, including the hawaiian one. Yea, I think Mary is going to find a Hawaiian lover, so she may need that one soon ;).
Good job at going through these btw... as long as more goes out of that garage than comes in, you're doing well!
=)
Sounds like it is going to be a pretty small garage sale =)
I can't believe you got that atlas shrugged book!!!! is it really worth that much? that's awesome! and well, i got the hawaiian book in the mail but I still haven't found my lover yet lol.
do you really wanna save the swedish book? im gonna go with chris' comment, you might wanna increase your potential sales and make room for a better book in the "save" box.
funny story mom. love ya!
I pulling for you on your garage sale(s), honey.
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