book day

5/22/26

 today = books 

I'm reorganizing my shelves (again) and at this moment all the books in my room have formed categorical piles on the floor, with Bruckner F symphony and then Brahms 1 on in the room.

Days like today always end in self-discovery. 

There are a couple of piles of books that seem to be waiting for my life to fall apart in some way. They are the ones that helped put me back on my feet in some way in the past. I like to have them in my line of sight in the room I spend most of my time, if not at arms reach. Just because they remind me of how I've evolved somehow. They're useful just sitting there. Instead of tattoos, I have the Principia Discordia, Tom Paine's The Age of Reason, David Graeber's Utopia of Rules and 5 of Dave Sim's Cerebus graphic novels.. all ready for me to reach over and reread. Unlike tattoos, they're not there to start conversations about myself (unless you are among the handful of people to ever have entered my studio/library and looked around), they're there to remind me of my foundations, and that those foundations are still there and are ready for a remedial course at any time.

If I stacked them in 2 huge piles of fiction and nonfiction, the former is dwarfed by the latter by far. But there has been a recent uptick of fiction. 

For example, today I intend to finish Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary. Against my plan, I saw the film before finishing the book bc three friends of mine ganged up on me and dragged me to the cinema one day just after I started reading it. I love those three friends and there is just no saying no to them. It hasn't spoiled the book for me at all. There are lots of differences and I love all the juicy science details of the book. But I kind of wish my imagination could visualize it alone, and though I like Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace, I kind of wish I could imagine him another way. This is why the book should ALWAYS come before the film.

Brahms 1 is over. 

Now I'm going to try not to injure myself stepping over the piles, go do some banking, eat out and find a place to finish PHM with Misun. Today's daily piece will have to wait until later.

-later-

finished PHM.. what a great ending. One of the best things I've read in a long while. Now the question is.. what's next? I think I'll hit some of the shorter things on my TO READ shelf.