Books.

I debated for a long time about putting this photo up today. For quite a few reasons. First, I have stuffed animals. I'm 24, I understand this, but they are still cute and sentimental and what am I to do with them? Throw them away? Never. Secondly, I didn't anticipate my movies being in the shot either. Remember the last post where I was laying on the floor with Crackers-the-cat? I took this then - blind - so each shot was a surprise to me. And third, most important, books are special to me and I am quite sensitive of this.

I like buying books. People can scold me, chastise me, or scoff at me for this, but the fact of the matter is I like buying books. I love walking into a bookstore and just wandering. Each book I happen to land my eyes on has about a ten second time span to convince me to pick it up, then 7 seconds to sell me. Rarely do I choose books with poor design, dull colors, or horrible typography. It has to look as delicious as it will read.

Inevitably, I end up with a collection of books in bright colors and fun typography. I wish I could say I read to further my education or spark intelligent pondering (and that's not to say I never do) but I prefer to escape into a world of fictional characters doing silly things and falling in love or picking up the pieces of their lives to find better pathways or laughing their way through ridiculous situations. Books that keep me up all night just because I can't bear to be away from the story are my favorites. Even better than that are the books whose characters become so real that when their story is finished, I feel as though I've lost touch with a friend.

Sigh. Don't judge me.

Also, I take the dust jacket off my hardcovers till I've finished reading them (so they don't crinkle!) I have boxes of books in the basement and in various other locations that didn't make the cut for my super small book shelving space. I hate lending books to people who dog ear pages or bend the corners of the covers. I am attempting to get through that book on actionscript 3.0. I've only read a handful of my books twice and those will probably be read a third time before any of the others a second. I liked the Princess Bride book better than the movie - and that's just crazy.