My 'Green' Library?

A few days ago E and I were talking about our currents reads and the books that we have on our ever-growing list of things to read. As I am prone to, I commented on the sheer joy it is hold a book and feel the pages between my fingers and he smiled and we observed a moment of silence, each imagining that irreplaceable feeling. He shook himself out of his reverie by suddenly remarking that he had tried Amazon's Kindle once. He had a sad faraway look in his eyes. And then as if to be fair to it, he added that they'd worked a lot on the interface by making it's look and feel match as closely as possible the real thing. The book. It can come close, but it cannot ever be the real thing, we agreed. The book is decidedly a superior object, grown epic in our minds, and reading it in that form a tradition almost, that is left to us to keep alive. We shook our heads on that.
I added, a little wistfully, that more than a year ago, I had all but given up subscribing to newspapers and magazines in paper and had switched altogether to online reading and borrowing from the library instead. The attempt to 'go green' though, had scrambled my morning ritual completely. I no longer relished reading every section, business and international, sports and editorials, from start to finish. Now that it 'sat' in my inbox, it pretty much did just that. I would catch the headlines until a flurry of emails caught my attention. Scrolling the New York Times to find the same article listed twice in two categories is rather irritating, not to mention a series of links on related articles that appears alongside the one you just clicked on, wickedly tempting you to be distracted. Is a person to read an article in peace or what? Now I don't know about all the rest of you, but somehow doing the crossword online, doesn't quite cut it. I still need paper and pencil to fill up the boxes just right. It wasn't much of a debate, we were clearly agreed on the virtues of paper and the evil-ness of its online counterpart. Truly!
And so it went, until I remembered my long-cherished dream of a library in my own home. And I shuddered. If you've read my feverish excitement for a weekend of reading, you would know what that library means to me. I have promised myself collector's editions and bound copies of precious novels. Shelves upon shelves of painstakingly sorted books of all categories surrounded by coziness itself. God forbid, I should come upon the day that this dream will be shattered by one Kindle sitting 'green'ly atop my table! Horrors!
And with that thought arrived our destination. A little rattled by this very real possibility, we bade one another goodbye, thinking to ourselves, I am sure, that perhaps, if we did everything in our power to save the trees and the environment; take our cloth bags to farmer's markets, sign in to the green utilities program, take the train come rain or shine, turn off the sprinklers and stay vegetarian...perhaps, we'd be entitled to our little library?

The underpinnings of corruption
An interesting read...

A day for raag Desh...:)

the things we do...

My evening drive back home is the time to catch up on news I missed in the morning and get a load of the breaking news- NPR. Headlines from around the world is delivered by BBC World, told crisply with just the right dose of information to last me my ride, so I can read up the full story at leisure. Good stuff.

Here's the kind of thing you might hear at about 4.30 pm: (My recollection of it at any rate).
"The latest from the Illinois State fair's Hog calling competition...." ??!!
"And we have the winner with us on air, who is also, the first female to win this contest."
!
"So tell us Doris, how did you learn to hog call?...."

I was really confused at this point, but I must admit, wide awake and fairly intrigued.

"So can you give a short performance for our listeners? They cannot see you, but I am sure they would love to hear it." Yes, indeed. What the heck's going on here?!

A series of grunts and oinks followed, at which point the anchor said, "That's just amazing! How did you look when you did that?" "Oh, my lips were all curled up and I had my fingers in my mouth, and I must have looked like a pig myself."

"(Laughs) Wow! Now that can't be a compliment." "(Chortles). No, not really."

Right.

I say, the rest of the animal kingdom must find us humans rather strange.

God is in the details. Specifically, the controls.

the sun on my back and the wind on my face....why don't summers last forever?...

Try it!

I must preface it by saying, I am still a great believer in Googl-eshwar. But this is pretty cool.
Scour Search

And a giant passes away...

Solzhenitsyn, Literary Giant Who Defied Soviets, Dies at 89- NY Times

intersections...

5.18:
tick tock tick...
blue square, white square, blue square, white,
blue, white, brick.
shadows to the left, shadows to the right...
i look up and see a 4-year old wobbling along, blond hair flying...one hand holding her mother's index finger tightly and the free one making patterns in the air...and i can't help but smile...that seems to throw her off a bit...she wobbles some more, dangerously to one side until her mother steadies her...and then she grins back! :) yay! and then they walk past...
back to counting bricks...what's that tune in my head?...brick, white, brick, white, brick...black?
i look up this time to see an unfamiliar face, new to the 5.28er's scene...hmm...
blast!!!! screech and hiss!!!!...drat that train!...well at least it's on time...
brick, white, brick, brick, gate...the cherry blossoms have gone...the trees look lovely still...about turn.
ah! 'take me the way i am...' :) how wonderful it is to remember that melody drifting about elusively in your head and pin it to the words that went with it...
bells and whistles...
more screeches and hisses...
there comes the northbound...have a nice evening ya'll...
brick, brick, brick, yellow...and up...
her eyes look steady but she seems to be staring at something far far away...what a lovely embroidered jacket....it must be from india....she turns momentarily, startling me from my half-reverie, half question and we both avert our gazes quickly...it's the song's fault, else i wouldn't have walked staring and grinning...brick, white, blue, blue, blue...ah! the breeze....
there comes K....
running back from Safeway...as she does everyday...
getting a thrill out of making a dash for the stores in her 12-minute wait...watching her huff and puff and then break out in a victorious grin with her thumbs up at me makes me smile again...and i smilingly turn and this time her eyes bore into my face, intense at first and then relaxing to an open, curious and yet somewhat tentative look! i do understand what that little girl felt like now...my smile just widened and directed itself straight at her...
blast!!!! drat...how come it always always gives me a jolt, the silly train!...and just before i turn to walk back a few paces to get my usual coach, she smiles back, with relief, glad to have not been the one to grin (stupidly?) first, a hint of dismay? for the conversation that almost began...
5.55:
finally...cal ave!...i like the blue blue of the fountain...like i like it everyday...the froth and the bubbles, the little ripples that are in constant formation...the hills in the distance...i heave a sigh of satisfaction...doggyyy!!!...wait..let me cross over to the other side...me in peace and you with more wag room...
what a lovely embroidered jacket...wait!! it's the same lady...so she gets off here eh...how funny our paths should cross again... just as she turned to look my way before crossing herself, i had started to walk again...
there's a sale at k&s...wonder what cameras they have on....and by the time i pick up my brisk pace and look around...she's gone and with it the conversation...another time then! another day...
...
5.59:
a little late...
it doesn't matter, cal ave. at last...there's my blue fountain...and the hills in the distance...what a day it has been...two ladies, probably in their late 50s walk by, one talking animatedly and the other nodding vigorously..."it's just that feeling, you know?"... :) yes, i know....i see the flickering man on the traffic lights...but i don't feel like hurrying...not today...i will wait for the next one...apparently the fellow walking in beat to the music in his headphones felt the same way...and we smile...yes, it's not worth it...there's music to be heard and the walk savored...what's that tune?...hmm...it will come to me...the car to my left inches out slowly, creeping out in front of us, lest we decide to walk first?...oh! don't worry, there's music to be heard and the walk unhurried...crossing the road i think..there comes the rotten broccoli junction...an ungodly stench, why won't they do something about it?...but the roses ahead are lovely...freakishly large, but lovely all the same...all these leaves on the street...they will be red soon in fall....shadows of a jogger...ah! it's from 'rhythm'...what imagery the lyrics have...shaking my head at its beauty i look up...and stare right into the face of the jogger...and a smile breaks out! i know this face...have our paths crossed before? i frowned a little in confusion, smiling still...and she smiles back broadly :) yay! why it's the lady of the embroidered jacket!..well, you have a good evening dear...now where did i leave that song?....suddenly her footsteps stop and she turns around "we've met", she says...there is no one else on the road...it must be me...i turn around....and smile again, yes, we have..."at the train station?"..."yes! that's right"....and so begins the conversation...she lived here on college terrace...a wonderful location...i most decidedly agree...they've moved now, not far, but not on c.t.,...they would love to move back..."we wanted to stay close to..."...oh? i wonder...of course it makes sense to me...but why to her...her son needs the therapy...no! why children? my heart goes out to you, it does..."but he's much better now" she says....thank god! :)....now that her family is away briefly she can catch up on her jogging!...what fun! :)..."yes, that must be nice in a way", i comment...hmm...gosh! i could just jog if i so pleased...it must be a stolen pleasure for her, the poor dear...a wonderful melody..."...many children do you have?"...da di dum....what?!...there must be an appropriate response to this...the last time i was asked for my id at a table that was being served with drinks...i have never been asked this...i must've managed an intelligible response, because she smiled...we had been smiling the whole while...it's a most pleasant feeling, i must say....i must listen to that song tonight..." we must meet at the library!"....my eyes grow wide, did i miss more of that sentence again?!!..."yes, that would be lovely, i go there often"...she smiles...apparently not..."yes, it would be nice to meet again"..."yes, it will be P"....and we went on our ways...
:)...
what a smile can do...of strangers friends make....

At the Farmer's market

Some snatches of conversation overheard...

'Why! This is like a festival!...'
'...Ah!...The good life!'
'Ooohh!! Look at the colors!'
'Mommy, these are the sweetest plouts, ever! You have to get them!
'Did you make these yourself? They are so beautiful...'
'...Ave. is transformed every Sunday....All these people, all the sounds...'
'... hand-picked and bottled...they stay fresh for weeks...'
'...a little sunshine, a little water and all your love; that's all they need.'
'A cup of coffee, Miss? Freshly brewed...'
'...and you have a gorgeous day!'...

And you too! :)

Makes my heart sing with joy, it does! Sing Hallelujah for farmer's markets!

This week. A busy week. A good week.

This week has been a furious week of activity at work and outside. And a good many events occurred and topics emerged that I have wanted to think aloud and write about , but haven't had the time to dwell on at length. So, I resorted to posting links about a few of them as a compromise. But that won't do...It isn't quite right...But not to fret! The weekend is upon me and write I shall! See you soon blogger! :)

enc-roche-ment

The Roche-Genentech merger: The ultimate union of diagnostics and therapeutics?