I've been doing some spring cleaning, both at home and at the office, and recently took an enormous bag-load of books I no longer wanted* down to Logos Books to sell. I made $50 and took a $20 trade coupon as well, then immediately blew a good amount of it on two new books I scoped out while walking through the store towards the exit. IT'S LIKE LOGOS IS BOOBY-TRAPPED. WITH BOOKS. SPECIFICALLY TAILORED TO PEOPLE JUST LIKE ME.
Uh, did you know that Jules Verne wrote a gothic novel that was serialized in 1892 in a French magazine entitled The Magazine of Education and Recreation? That it was first translated into English as The Castle of the Carpathians in 1894? That it was "the first book to set a gothic horror story, featuring people who may or may not be dead [emphasis mine], in Transylvania"? And that this purple little paperback is the newest translation in over 100 years? Neither did I, and you know what? I was so bewildered and astonished -- by all of these things -- that I had to buy it. It looks like it would be really fun to read aloud (perhaps as originally intended?) and enjoy with an audience.
I also bought this book from semiotext(e), Sergio González Rodriguez's The Femicide Machine, on the various converging socio-historical mise-an-scenes and cultural and political apparatuses that have caused the horrific and ongoing disappearances and murders of tens of thousands of women and girls in Ciudad Juárez. Guess what? Neoliberalism, NAFTA, and the war on drugs have a lot to do with it (DUH), as do a breathtaking lack of infrastructure and blatant governmental corruption. The writing isn't the best (and I hope that's due to the translation, sorry Michael Parker-Stainback**, man with a name that sounds made up), but the analysis is certainly thought-provoking and I always appreciate a book (title) that plays it as it lays: the mass murders in Juárez are femicide, plain and simple, and only an intellectual hop-skip-and-a-jump away from genocide. Let's just call a spade a spade. We'll see how it reads out; the text is something I may want to work with when planning for the course I'll be putting together for the fall.
I've also been messing with a friend's tarot reading. It's private and so I won't go into it -- but don't my cards match the crazy 70's carpeting in my office nicely? Beautiful colors, had to take a photo.
Lastly, I found this sign right outside the entrance to the New Leaf Market in Felton earlier today. HOW NICE AND POLITE AND THOUGHTFUL FOR EVERYONE/BIRD INVOLVED IS THIS SIGN? Mountain people, they're considerate and I like it.
* I'm very serious about books, and tend to covet and then hoard them, but even I have my limits. Unless a book serves a special purpose, is of a particular subject or genre of interest, was a gift, or has special sentimental value, it's up for elimination from the collection. Case in point: The beautiful little hardcover copy of the I Ching that I bought close to ten years ago... THAT I'VE NEVER USED OR ACTUALLY READ. It's finally gone, and I hope it finds a home with someone who will love it and use it every day very soon.
** Check out photos of his swanky 60s-fabulous DF apartment at tarde o temprano's site here. It'll kind of make you feel like a creep, but hey, the profile's title is "Closet Voyeur" and there's a mesmerizing video with family photos and old typewriters and it plays swing music.
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