    
Thumper
Veteran Poster
Username: Thumper
Post Number: 651
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 14, 2008 - 04:09 pm: | 
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Hello All,
I am enjoying my "civilian" life again. I must admit that I've become mildly obsessive with the presidential race, especially every time I have to get gas for the truck, or buy food at the grocery store. Even with all of the Sarah Palin talk...that heifa is dumb as all hell, ambition should not be a code word for INTELLIGENCE. The McCain camp accused Obama of calling Palin a pig. I don't see what all the fuss is about, Palin called herself a b_tch, via the pitbull with lipstick comment. Frankly, the presidential race will boil down to the fact of whether white people can get over themselves and vote for a black man. Now, we will truly see if the US is ready to get over its racist past. I'm not holding out much hope.
Anyway...I've become a little grand when it comes to my reading. No, I'm not referring to the subject matter or quality of the writing (don't hate me cause I got standards). I'm talking about reading tools. One, if you don't know, I love bookmarks! I love the big ones. If its big, thin and laminated; I'm all for it. If it is colorful or has an insightful or funny saying on it, all the better.
I love for my books to be in good condition. Especially now that I will reread a book when 10 years ago, I would not. I don't like breaking a books binding, paperbacks, in order to mark my place. I use to turn down the corners of pages. While its not too bad for a paperback, I don't do it when reading hardbacks. A bookmark is almost essential.
I remember years ago when Amazon.com first started, when you placed and received your order, there would be bookmarks with your order. They were flimsy, but I used the hell out of them. When Barnes and Noble came online, they also use to give away bookmarks. Then, Amazon step up their book mark game by having saying and quotes from classic books and novels printed on their bookmarks. And then one day it stopped.
One day, years ago, I commented on the fact that I could not find any good bookmarks on the board. Diane Patrick sent me a goo-gob of them. Loved it.
Then one day, I got a catalog from Levenger. Levenger sells stuff for the "serious reader", aka expensive sh_t that is cheaper buying it from Ikea. Levenger sells pens, stationaries, desks and all kinds of stuff. Some of it is nice, if you have the money. But, to Levenger's credit, they make the ultimate bookmark, the book bungee. The book bungee is a bookmark that is composed of a hard plastic strip (the size of a regular book mark) with an elastic loop that goes through the top of the plastic strip. The plastic strip marks the page and the elastic loop goes around the book (either lengthwise or widthwise) to keep the book closed, so that the pages don't become damaged. I love the hell out it. Here's a picture of it: 
Lately, I've been keeping a reading journal of all the books I've been reading. I'm finding this extremely helpful. I've read so many books, and since I'm getting to be as old as my Ol' Grayhead, my memory isn't as snappy as it once was. I finding it useful to have an instrument where I can just unload all of the baggage that I have about the book I've just finished reading. The problem I'm having is that I can't find one that fits my need. There are a few reading journals on the market but I don't care for them. Now, I'm using a regular plain journal. There has to be a better way of doing this. I'll have to think on it some.
Right now, I am approaching the end of a wonderful book titled Sweetsmoke by David Fuller. I know there was a post on William Styron's The Confession of Nat Turner. Well, David Fuller is a white author who wrote a book about a black slave named Cassius, who goes to find the murderer of his friend Emoline, a free black woman, during the Civil War in Virginia. The books is turning out to be damn good. I'll let you all know when I finish it. |
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