Thursday, September 28, 2017

Elevator ups and downs









Time to go shelve some books!

So I wheel my cart of alphabetically organized fiction to the elevator. Uh oh, the elevator. It has not been acting right for the past, er, six years. But I don't get used to it. I don't remember, and it surprises me every time.

See, I excitedly get in, because I love the elevator, I push the floor two button, and wait. The doors close, the motor engages, and the elevator jolts violently like it's going to plummet to the basement. Like a giant kicked it with malice. Like I'm going to die.

I gasp. Then I pray to gods I barely believe in that everything will be okay. Then everything is very still for a second. Then I hope the elevator is stuck because then I would be deliciously trapped for several paid hours in a small, quiet room with over 100 books, a couple of which are bound to be quite interesting.

Then the elevator slowly rises up to the the second floor.

Ah well. Easy come, easy go.







4 comments:

  1. I know you sometimes fret about how many readers you have. I wonder how many are like me, reading and enjoying but seldom (or never, in some cases) commenting? You might have a huge but silent readership. And I know you say "yes, you should comment," but I often feel intimidated by your erudition and think I have to make an equally erudite or extremely funny comment to merit writing it.

    Also, often I binge read. I neglect your biog for a week or weeks, then come back and read all the posts I missed. That way I can extend my enjoyment.

    Here are some things I think while reading your posts (is this binge commenting?):

    -ha ha, that's so funny! I wish I could tell him, but I don't want to write "ha ha" on every post.
    -I know exactly what he means, but he says it so much better than I could.
    -Love the way he captured that feeling.
    -ha ha, he's so funny!
    -he is a really good writer
    -Seems like you could make a good book using these posts
    -He should write a book
    -ha ha, that's so funny!
    -I love the posts about the library
    -I wonder what he's like in person
    -I wish I could comment on this post, but it's weeks old, so what's the point?
    -I'm just going to skip this "dear publisher" post (see how i tried to sneak this one in by placing it in the middle?)
    -This is the best blog on the internet.
    -ha ha, that's hilarious
    -I'm going to check out his recommended books list again
    -Funny how I read the right column over and over again.
    -Why is there so much space under the post titles?
    -Should I point out that this post is in a different typeface?
    -Wonder where his library is? Don't the people working there know about his blog?
    -I love this blog; it's so funny
    -ha ha!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well I am gobsmacked, nonplussed, and quite moved. This is one seriously kind and thoughtful comment. Thank you so much for it. You might be surprised at how cheering your binge comment is.

      I will now address a few of your comments/questions:

      My library is in the twin cities and many of the people working there know about my blog. To my shock (and sometimes consternation and sometimes even relief) most of them also exhibit an astonishing lack of curiosity about it, I mean, I'm often writing about THEM. But somewhere between one and twenty of them do read it on a rare to occasional to regular basis. Alarmingly I am far most likely to hear from a co-worker positively about my blog when I write something particularly, er, pointed, or, uh, cutting, about a co-worker/manager/policy/well-known patron.

      I put lots of space under the blog title cause I like the post to sort of... float. I always feel the Internet, so thin on real content, is so unbelievably loud and crammed.

      Yes, a book of these would be so nice. I should write some letters to publishers! (I snuck this in the middle too). Your comment about "skipping" makes me cry out in consternation (at my own psychological reaction) "I am like the Princess and the Pea!" More mattresses!

      That's nice to hear about the right side of the blog as it gives me incentive to actually ever do anything with it. The "Paris, France" bit is actually up to date though as I'm going there very soon! Watch for some French further down in this response.

      Two reasons for typeface problems and you can certainly tell me when you spot it. I use Trebuchet and have to change into it each essay so maybe sometimes I forget? But also there are certain email programs I compose in that make the typeface in the post go wonky, and usually it's all I can do merely to make the post presentable.

      Your comment here is so nice and of course don't comment if you don't want to, but for me comments on older posts are particularly enjoyable, so, au contraire to your "what's the point". It's so nice to revisit older ones.

      Thank you again for telling me all this, and I'm so glad you like my blog. I know it's different, but, I do too.

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    2. Oh, I'm glad you were cheered. It felt good for me, too, because I am always so pleasantly entertained and amused and I just wish you knew...and now you do!

      By the way, I put "There's A Boy in the Girl's Bathroom" on hold at the LA Public Library. Their digital collection is truly great--they have almost everything! I'll let you know what I think of it.

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    3. I still cringe slightly at that title. I do hope you like it. It's been several years since I read it and I feel this pull to hedge my bets, but no, I will trust in Louis Sachar and in my warm memories of the book.

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If you were wondering, yes, you should comment. Not only does it remind me that I must write in intelligible English because someone is actually reading what I write, but it is also a pleasure for me since I am interested in anything you have to say.

I respond to pretty much every comment. It's like a free personalized blog post!

One last detail: If you are commenting on a post more than two weeks old I have to go in and approve it. It's sort of a spam protection device. Also, rarely, a comment will go to spam on its own. Give either of those a day or two and your comment will show up on the blog.