Library Card! and What I'm Reading Now

Guess what? I am now in possession of my very own library card! I haven't had one since moving to Illinois [unless you count my college ID, but we're talking reading for pleasure here, so it doesn't count.] So technically, this is the first library card I've had since I was in high school.

I know, I know. You're thinking, Bethany "bookish" girl didn't have a library card? What's up with that? But the truth is, I've had this really bad habit, like all book addicts do, of buying most of the books that I wanted to read. [Tell me I'm not the only one that does this!] And then I realized I was broke. I'm sick of borrowing books or just going through dry spells of not reading, so I am now the proud owner of a library card, and I checked out The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. 

Ever read it? Seems like everyone is raving about it right now. I'm 50 pages in [since starting last night!] and I understand why!

So what are you reading? And do you have a library card or do you buy or borrow all of your books? 

book·ish : Kansas City Library

This giant bookshelf serves as the facade for Kansas City Library's parking garage. I'm guessing it's probably the only parking garage that is itself a tourist destination. I'd certainly love to visit!

[Images found here.]

book·ish/ˈbo͝okiSH/Adjective

1. (of a person or way of life) Devoted to reading and studying rather than worldly interests.

2. (of language or writing) Literary in style or allusion.

3. (of art and all manner of lovely things) devoted to the written word as a form of art and as a way of seeing the world.

4. (of SheWritesandRights.blogspot.com) anything of the aforementioned characteristics as they are found on the interwebs and reposted by Bethany, because bookish and writerly things always give reason for amusement.

Inspired By.

It's Friday. [And the peasants rejoiced!] I'm feeling a little wilted, unlike the photo above. This week has been out of sorts with an undecided, in-transition, what's-going-on, how-do-we-do-this office move at work, a bee infestation in my apartment bedroom window that forced my husband and I to set up camp in the middle of our living room so as not to find ourselves exterminated, and a car that's on it's last life and my last nerve. To add to it, my mom is still in the hospital [since Tuesday, August 16] and doctors are still trying to figure out the best way to, well... make it possible for her to be healthy outside of it? It's hard and painful to explain. 

Needless to say, I'm tired. I find life exhausting at the moment. Might explain the dream I had Wednesday night and the lack of personal writing and posting around here recently. My head [and my heart] can't decide if now is the best time to write [time? what time?] or if I am understandably excused from adding that to my to-do list [if not now, then when?]. 

My soul is surviving on small increments of rest, grace and joy, wherever I can find them. Tomorrow, a group of my favorite girls and I are going to enjoy a day in Southern Michigan tasting wine at local vineyards, snatching up local produce, and surveying what promises to another beautiful sunset like this one. 

I know that this is another week of the last several where I've complained about "my lot" in life. I'm well aware that I am blessed, that I am healthy, that I am capable, and that many many many other people in the world are not for a variety of reasons. But on the other hand, this space is not an escape for me. It's a place where I can express my thoughts and feelings and opinions and experiences freely like I can't anywhere else. So if you're feeling a little wilted or trampled, or you have been but are now feeling rejuvenated, feel free to share your thoughts. The company is welcome.

Until then, here are a few delightful posts from around the interwebs: 

Mandy wrote an encouraging post for me this week about the importance of traveling and finding a job you're passionate about. That alone is inspiring, but she emailed me today to tell me: she got the job she mentioned in the post writing for a travel magazine! Congrats, Mandy! 

Nothing could ruffle her, and that's why we loved her.

How do you relate? Paintings versus photographs versus blogs versus life. 

I really love this blog. Decadent photos and beautiful words. 

What to do when your work sucks. 

Eight secrets writers won't tell you. 

Image found here. The flowers are gorgeous, but of course, I'm loving the bookshelves behind it, too.

And finally, this girl is going to share her snark, wit and good grammar with us next week. I'm excited! She started a new series this week, Fat Tuesday, that I'm already addicted to. 

What are your plans for the weekend? I hope it's a good one, friends. 

Last Night's Dream : Zoo Animals and A Book That Can Tell Me Everything.

There are a lot of things I don't remember about last night's dream, but I do remember that I was living in a beautiful apartment in the city with some people I don't know. I was walking down the street to my apartment, which was full of taxis and pedestrians. One of the men I lived with was walking behind me, as if we were headed home together. We saw a man whiz past us on a bike, and immediately heard a crash once he was behind us. A car had hit him, and I knew instinctively that it had killed him. Not wanting to see the gore of the accident, I ran away.

Next, as I was running into the safety of my apartment to shut the door behind me, I saw a tiger and a black panther, presumably zoo animals on the loose, run at one another and begin to attack each other in the street. I watched for a few moments, and then found myself in my apartment living room, where I could see through the window that there were two giant phoenixes flying through the sky, and a lion pacing on the balcony of my apartment. I was worried that the animals would attack us, but they never did. The apartment separated us from them, but the separation felt fragile, like it could be broken at any moment and the animals would break through the glass to get us.

Then, an old Hispanic woman, also living in my apartment, gave me money to buy books at a bookstore. I could choose anything I wanted, but I couldn't think of any titles to books I wanted to read, so I looked around the store. A huge book, as long as my arms with thick, brightly covered pages, stood out to me. As I flipped through it I realized it was a reference book that held answers and explanations to all the things that I don't understand in the world: slang terms, differing cultural traditions, why terminal illnesses have killed so many people in the last century. I bought the book with the money I had and took it home. I remember thinking as I pulled it out to read more later that I wish I had chosen something smaller and simpler. One by one the titles of all the other books I've been wanting to read came back to me and I wished I had bought them instead, fictional stories that have a beginning and an end and characters I can relate to, but I didn't have the energy to return the book to the store.

Detour : St. Joseph, MI.

On our way home from a family wedding this weekend [yay Whitney and Jon!] my husband and I took a detour and stopped in St. Joseph, Michigan. We spent our  honeymoon there two years ago and wanted to revisit Silver Beach, which holds a lot of happy memories for us. Sunday was gorgeous : 78 degrees and sunny. The clouds rolled in as the sun was setting, giving us a spectacular lake view that we couldn't help but capture with some snapshots. The first I took with my iPhone, the rest were taken by Matt with his Nikon D80. 

When I was young I didn't appreciate the natural beauty of Michigan. Then again, most of what I new of the state was southwest Michigan, which really isn't that spectacular away from the lake. Now though, I love that on our way home to Chicago we can stop and drink in a late summer evening, complete with Silver Beach Pizza and a GIANT waffle cone of Kilwin's pistachio ice cream :