Association Meme (aka, Me, too, me too!)
I guess it takes a real shove to get me to post these days, what with snow, book fairs, and a pile of yarn shaming me to knit faster, faster. But since ljs has thoughtfully provided me with associations, here are some random thoughts.
1) Book-collecting -- I started buying books for myself based on specific edition features when I was 11 or 12 and discovered you could buy Roberts Brothers editions of Louisa May Alcott in lovely fat little brown silky cloth 12mo volumes stamped with red and gilt in matching format, issued around 1888-1899 for about 50 cents each (yes, that was a while back, thanks very much). Not first editions, naturally, but by her original publisher with the period engravings of fussily dressed young ladies and chubby-cheeked children. Since I used to break off the corners of the pages and nibble on the wood pulp, I've had to replace a lot of these over the years, but I have a complete set now, barring two volumes of Lulu's Library.
2) Wine -- Well, really more of a bubbly drinker, and the California versions of champagne have always done me just fine.But I do still remember though a gift of a bottle of german wine a friend of my father's game us for tehy holidays when we were stationed in Korea for one grim year in high school We drank it on new Year's Eve as I recall, and it was my first taste of Auslese. This was q fifty-niner, which I'm told was a legendary year for the late harvest wines and all I can say is that is tasted like sunshine to me as the cold winds blew down on us in Seoul.
3) California -- As an Army brat, I got to choose my home state; although we were also stationed in Washington, Arizona, Texas, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Maryland as well as three tours overseas, I've always been grateful that my parents bought their house in Monterey so I could consider myself a Californian like my mother instead of a Mississippian like my father (even though I was born there between postings). I have only briefly considered relocating since I came back home to go to college and swiftly thought better of it. A peripatetic childhood can make for a firmly rooted adult life.
4) Knitting -- In my early teens, I learned to knit from my mother and gradmother, but once I got out of college, I never seemed to have the time. The urge to knit resurfaced a few years ago after my mother died unexpectedly. The feel of the yarn, the calming rhythm of knitting cables and ribs and lace and the one-of-a-kind pleasures of hand-dyed yarns bring me close to her every day. And the bonus of handmade socks for everyone in my immediate vicinity is not to be overlooked.
6) Reading -- I read quickly and casually and sometimes hypnotically, but mostly I read fiction. A lot of fiction. Fantasy, mystery, the classics, and those books that are supposed to be for children. I like my books to be pretty and best of all to be illustrated so I'm more inclined to pick up a heavy Folio Society edition than a trade paperback just for the sheer heft of the book, pleasure in the texture of the paper and binding, and visual impact of images alongside the text. Oh, and I'm a sucker for type design as well. I've always held by Alice's dictum: "What's the use of a book without pictures or conversation?"
Thanks for asking. Hugs and bubbly all 'round!
1) Book-collecting -- I started buying books for myself based on specific edition features when I was 11 or 12 and discovered you could buy Roberts Brothers editions of Louisa May Alcott in lovely fat little brown silky cloth 12mo volumes stamped with red and gilt in matching format, issued around 1888-1899 for about 50 cents each (yes, that was a while back, thanks very much). Not first editions, naturally, but by her original publisher with the period engravings of fussily dressed young ladies and chubby-cheeked children. Since I used to break off the corners of the pages and nibble on the wood pulp, I've had to replace a lot of these over the years, but I have a complete set now, barring two volumes of Lulu's Library.
2) Wine -- Well, really more of a bubbly drinker, and the California versions of champagne have always done me just fine.But I do still remember though a gift of a bottle of german wine a friend of my father's game us for tehy holidays when we were stationed in Korea for one grim year in high school We drank it on new Year's Eve as I recall, and it was my first taste of Auslese. This was q fifty-niner, which I'm told was a legendary year for the late harvest wines and all I can say is that is tasted like sunshine to me as the cold winds blew down on us in Seoul.
3) California -- As an Army brat, I got to choose my home state; although we were also stationed in Washington, Arizona, Texas, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Maryland as well as three tours overseas, I've always been grateful that my parents bought their house in Monterey so I could consider myself a Californian like my mother instead of a Mississippian like my father (even though I was born there between postings). I have only briefly considered relocating since I came back home to go to college and swiftly thought better of it. A peripatetic childhood can make for a firmly rooted adult life.
4) Knitting -- In my early teens, I learned to knit from my mother and gradmother, but once I got out of college, I never seemed to have the time. The urge to knit resurfaced a few years ago after my mother died unexpectedly. The feel of the yarn, the calming rhythm of knitting cables and ribs and lace and the one-of-a-kind pleasures of hand-dyed yarns bring me close to her every day. And the bonus of handmade socks for everyone in my immediate vicinity is not to be overlooked.
6) Reading -- I read quickly and casually and sometimes hypnotically, but mostly I read fiction. A lot of fiction. Fantasy, mystery, the classics, and those books that are supposed to be for children. I like my books to be pretty and best of all to be illustrated so I'm more inclined to pick up a heavy Folio Society edition than a trade paperback just for the sheer heft of the book, pleasure in the texture of the paper and binding, and visual impact of images alongside the text. Oh, and I'm a sucker for type design as well. I've always held by Alice's dictum: "What's the use of a book without pictures or conversation?"
Thanks for asking. Hugs and bubbly all 'round!