This is not a lending library

In my brain, I have a happy place. This place is permanently recorded in a 1974 Architectural Digest stored in my personal archive, of a nook filled with overflowing bookshelves, more piles of books on a steamer trunk, a soft silk loveseat, Flocati rug, reading lamp and dappled sunlight. Some day when we settle down, I'll have a nook like this.I love books. I love their heft, the way they feel, the way they smell, the various fonts, the flow of a story, fiction or non. Between Lori and I, we have a small fortune tied up in the literary arts. With as often as we've moved since our wedding, it's tough to keep track of everything we own. However, I still know when I'm missing a book. When I arrange them alphabetically, fiction before non-fiction, I know when something isn't where it should be.More recently, I acquired a Sony Reader, allowing me to carry 100 or more books with me whenever I travel. Since I am a voracious channel-surfer, it should come as no surprise that I also read four or five books concurrently. Doing so when traveling was tiresome when I had to carry them with me, buy another when I finished, and cart them all back home. I don't find the reader a poor substitute for the printed word, since I still have other books I read in their traditional form for the rush that musty pages bring. The reader, in addition to solving the issue of transport, of accessing free and reasonably priced digital editions, and gaining some space in our home, also means I can't lend a book to someone once I've finished my first read.

I never want to be one of those 'Indian givers', if you'll forgive the potentially politically incorrect term, but I get nervous any time I loan a book out, knowing the likelihood that I'll ever see the book again is slim to none. I get just as nervous, knowing friends who have loaned me books that still show up in our collection despite having moved 1300 miles from their rightful owner, knowing that they'll likely never be returned at this point.
Lisa, I'm sorry I still have your hardbound edition of 'The Stand'. I never made it past chapter one. I'm pretty sure you have my 'Skinny Legs and All'. Leah, I'm sorry I have your 'Letters from a Nut', or at least I did. I might have a Shel Silverstein of yours, too, I don't know why you left these at my apartment. Holly, you have my 'Me Talk Pretty One Day'. It's probably still on your old desk in the corner of the office. Sarah, I don't know if I ever gave you back your 'Fish Fries of Wisconsin' book. If not, I'll get it to you. Kathy, you have 'Bone in the Throat', I hope you're enjoying the read, it's a fun story, no? I really don't expect to get it back.

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be", spoke Claudius to Hamlet, in Shakespeare's play about the Danish prince. Sadly, I don't have my own copy of this play, it's one we never read in school. Could I, perchance, borrow yours?

Movie Mania Monday - Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains

A big hearty congrats to Mary, for officially identifying last week's quote from Bull Durham.   Of course, Samsmama, despite 'never watching movies', dropped a pretty big hint in the comments to indicate that she knew the film too, but refused to take credit.

I may not agree with her politics, but damn, did Susan Sarandon's legs look nice in this movie.  Oh, and there was some baseball, too.  Either way, if you haven't seen it, you probably should.

The weekend was kind of a bust, weekend-wise.  Worked on a few projects, which meant I spent about 15 hours staring at a computer screen without the benefit of a high score or viral YouTube goodness.  It was 85 and sunny on Saturday, less so on both counts Sunday.  But we're in peak allergy season in Florida, so it's not like I'm craving the great outdoors, anyway.  It has actually rained so much already this past week, the pool is within half an inch of overflowing.  I always wanted a 'negative edge' pool, but not this way.

Faithful readers are used to this by now, but we must always review for anyone just tuning in. Identify the film being quoted below using only your noggin. No Google, Bing, Altavista, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, the like. If you're first, you win the peoples' ovation and fame forever, along with the coveted title of Iron Quote Guesser. Voici la quote de la semaine:

We just clipped a Piper Cub. Pilot's okay, I just saw him parachuting.

Allez guessing!

Fun Fact Friday - An' Ahhhh Hepped!

I know stuff.  Lots of stuff, much of it useless, except when it's not.  

So I've been fighting a compulsion today.  I like to be helpful, even if I wasn't asked.  If I know something, I want to share.  However, it really isn't my place to answer questions posed by others on a third party's blog.  Even if I know the answer.

Because I want to be helpful.  And since nobody asks me questions directly, I have to resist the urge to answer questions that weren't asked of me.

Because I know stuff.

Random Acts of Thursday - A Test in Three Acts

First off, let me just say once again that I was remiss in my posting.  Tuesday would have been Akira Kurosawa's 100th birthday, and I missed the chance to do an appropriate tribute.  TCM was running his films all day, but I only saw a little bit of Nora Inu.  Pity. 


However, if I start quizzing you on Kurosawa films, I will hear blog crickets, as I'm doubtful any of you are quite the fans I am, and I'm horrible.  


However, I do have a brilliant little quizzo for you kids today, and unlike most of these, there are ten questions, a simple 10% for each question.  Some characters are timeless.  Like Urkel.  Some are so timeless, real or fictional, that more than one actor has portrayed the character historically.  I believe the record I found was the one time I researched Santa Claus for last December's quizzes, and found that over 600 actors have played the right jolly old elf in the history of film.  These are hopefully easier.


Three actors, one common role.  To make life a little more difficult, several actors show up more than once.   Because they are, after all, actors.  Identify which character each set of actors has portrayed.


1:  Peter Cushing, John Pertwee, David Tennant


2:  Ethan Embry, Johnny Galecki, Anthony Michael Hall


3:  Dean Cain, Christopher Reeve, George Reeves


4:  Barbara Stanwyk, Elizabeth Berridge, Ethel Merman


5:  Val Kilmer, Robert Lowery, Michael Keaton


6:  Kevin Costner, Robert Stack, Tom Amandes


7:  Kurt Russell, Shaun Weiss, Bruce Campbell


8:  George Lazenby, David Niven, Timothy Dalton


9:  Kirk Douglas, Val Kilmer, Douglas Fowley


10: Burt Lancaster, Kevin Costner, Kurt Russell


Let's see your guesses!

This is just a note to say

 

Akira Kurosawa would have been 100 years old yesterday.  And I spent the day ranting about social stalker sites.

I suck.  

But I would still like this for my birthday:

That's difficult, considering that I won't tell anyone when it is, I know.

You'll get over it.  Maybe if you just buy it for me now, we won't have to go down that painful road.