I Love Books

If there are any material objects I have too much of in my life, the winner hands down, would be books. In the last week (well, maybe the last 10 days, but that's probably just me trying to make myself feel better about it :) I have ordered 5 books from Amazon.

Now in my defense, one of those is a cookbook, but before you start thinking, Ok, well that's not so bad, let me explain that prior to ordering those 5 books, I also ordered at least 4 other books - all real books, none of which I have read yet. And actually, I'm not sure you can really count 2 of those as "real" books because they are makeup/beauty books by Carmindy, which, after I glean the information I need from them, I need to sell or just donate.

Ok, so I'm just trying to rationalize, I know, I know, those books are as "real" as any others and they do count.

On the upside, I did just finish reading 2 of all those books I recently ordered from Amazon, I have started on the 3rd, and will soon be reading a 4th.

I think the point I am trying to make is that I have too many books, and it is because I order too many books (from Amazon, mostly). Now, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Amazon.com and I love ordering books from them even more, because let's face it, if you're going to buy books, they usually have a way better deal than places like Borders, Books-a-million, etc. Plus they have a much better selection too, at least in my experience.

I love books so much and giving them away is really hard for me to do, even when I KNOW I probably won't ever read them. I always think, but I might want to read this someday. And then someday never comes so I am left with many books that I

A) don't really have any interest in reading at all

or

B) might have an interest in reading but know I will most likely never get around to reading them because I have so many other books that are higher priorities

or

C) have read but will never read again, so do I really need to keep all of those? Bite your tongue! While I probably do not need to keep all the books I have read, just my favorites/special ones, for me to say that I will get rid of the vast majority of them is complete heresy! Not to mention absurd. And crazy. Immoral, even.

So, I was thinking the other day that I need to solve this problem of having too many books, which is a two-fold problem. Firstly, my impulsive book buying from Amazon, and secondly, keeping books I do not want or need anymore, which could be enjoyed and used by any number of people if I would just get rid of them!

My solution to the first problem is simple in my mind, I just need to actually DO it! I need to get myself a library card. Don't judge, I love libraries and I used to have a library card a long time ago, but don't anymore. There are many reasons for why I need a library card. One of which being that one of the reasons I have too many books is because instead of previewing the book I am thinking about buying in person, (i.e. at a library), I peruse it on Amazon and usually, hastily decide I want it even though perusing it on Amazon usually tells me next to nothing about whether or not I will really want to buy and have this book forever. A library card would enable me to check out the books I am thinking about buying so I could read them BEFORE I buy them (what a concept!) and then decide, after reading them, whether or not I really need to own them.

I also need to go through my books and give some away or sell them to downsize my collection of books. I also have to get better about evaluating my book purchases, instead of impulsively buying books without assessing whether or not I really need to buy and own every book I want to read.

Just Starting

I am just about to start reading Wuthering Heights. I'm excited! Hopefully it's good. I have never read this book before, so for those of you who have, PLEASE do not give away any spoilers! I want to enjoy and be surprised by whatever this book is about and however it ends. Thank you
:o)

Love this

Love this video of cute kittens.

T.M.Q

Why am I not over you yet? I need to be over you. I know I need to be over you. You are trying to move on and it looks as though you really are. You're happy and I am so happy for you. And yet somehow I can't seem to let go of you completely. What is it that's keeping me from letting you go? And why am I still holding on? What am I still holding onto?

Too many questions to think about so late at night, yet I can't seem to stop thinking about them.

Pilling, you say? What's that?

Just before I left for my trip to Germany I bought some cute argyle sweaters at Target. I just recently washed them and let them dry like usual but was surprised to find that they had these little balls of fabric on them. I didn't really think too much of it or notice it until after I had worn these sweaters for a while. I kept wondering why these little pieces and balls of fabric kept showing up wherever I was in the house: in the bathroom sink, on the couch where I had been sitting, etc. And then one night when I was changing into my p.j.s I noticed that the undershirt I had been wearing underneath the sweater was covered, and I mean covered, in lint and little balls and strings of fabric. The undershirt was green but it was so covered with fabric pieces from my black sweater that it looked more gray than green.

After being super annoyed for a while and asking myself What is the deal here? I realized what was going on. And after a quick google search I discovered the term for this. Apparently it's called pilling, and boy do I feel like an idiot for not knowing what this strange and superbly annoying phenomenon was called and for never having heard of it before.

Did I miss that part of Home Ec. where they go through different types of fabric and how they react to being washed or the best way to wash certain fabrics? Do Home Ec. classes even teach things like that? I don't know about you, but that was never a part of any Home Ec. class I ever took. It would have been nice if it had been. Sometimes I feel so clueless when it comes to fashion and fabrics and Home Ec-type stuff. So ill-prepared for future (I hope) endeavors. Regardless, I now know what pilling is and I have just discovered how to remove this annoying phenomenon which is now plaguing me and my favorite sweaters! Here are two articles about it which I hope will be helpful:

http://www.ehow.com/how_113477_remove-pilling-clothing.html

http://missourifamilies.org/quick/materialqa/material13.htm

I plan on following these tips for removing pilling as soon as I can get the comb they suggest. Sadly, until I can acquire this, I will not be wearing these sweaters anymore.

Secretariat

I just watched the movie, Secretariat, for the first time. It was fabulous! I had no idea what an amazing race horse he really was. I don't know much about horse racing, but this I do know: you rarely see race horses as great as Secretariat. In fact, I'd venture to say that he was one of the greatest and most amazing race horses in horse racing history - ever.

Here are a few pictures of him I found while surfing the web.

Isn't he beautiful?

I love this picture of him in action.

2 different photographic perspectives of Secretariat at the Belmont Stakes race (a mile and a half in length) in 1973, the last of the 3 races composing the Triple Crown. He ended up winning by an incredible 31 lengths, which essentially means that there was enough space for 31 horses between him and the horse in second place. That much of a lead is unheard of in horse racing and it is a record that remains unbroken to this day.

This memorial is located at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. My mom and I were lucky enough to see it in July last year.

This Triple Crown winner is quite a legend in horse racing history. Here's to you, Secretariat.

Coming Attractions...

I'm a little slow, but I will shortly be blogging about my 2011 Goals. This is to remind myself to post them.