Monday, April 13, 2009

You name it

I have had nothing to write about lately. Considering my tendency to write about things that annoy me, this is probably a good thing.

What has been going on? M lost her first tooth. C learned how to escape the crib. H has been giving me fabulous narrations on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. J has been practicing Beatles songs on the keyboard- a much welcome break from Rush. I hate Rush.

The weather is infuriating. 60 degrees and beautiful one day, a blanket of snow the next. Somehow, my hyacinths have managed to survive thus far.

I have a new obsession with books. H and I took Grandma to her local library's book sale a few weeks ago. I came home with more than 50 books and a belly full of Panera. :)

I ventured back into our local used-book store. I found nothing of interest, and spent $1 on 3 children's books because I couldn't bring myself to walk out empty handed after an hour of browsing.

I finally got my copy of The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had.

These 3 events have given me 2 new goals.

1. I'm going to start reading. Yes, I've always read, but I've never read with any real purpose. For one, I'm not good at purposeful reading. For another, I'm just REALLY not good at purposeful reading. But it's a talent I've been working hard to cultivate in my kids, and I finally realize I should lead by example. We're off to Borders today so I can begin working my way through TWEM's novel list. It's going to be rough, but I'm going to do it!

2. I want to own my own used-book store. This will be a challenge, considering I'm already cringing at the price of buying 31 novels for my reading list (Susan Wise Bauer tells me I'm a grown up now, and I have the right and responsibility to deface my books. The library would disagree, I'm sure. Look out, bank account!)

Ideally, my bookstore will focus on Great Books and history books, and promote homeschooling and self-education, with a wonderful study room set up for my children, who will diligently complete their lessons while I sort and stack.
More realistically, my house will be covered in boxes of various books that are listed online and I will be trekking back and forth to the post office in order to subsidize my own personal book habit and it will be a pain in the butt for everyone.

So I've begun rounding up books, organizing spreadsheets, and taking note of upcoming book sales. It could be ages before I do anything with them, but it certainly isn't the most expensive hobby I've ever had. And it's the first crazy idea I've had in years that the husband has thrown his support behind. In a real way, not that "Sounds nice, dear" way!

Now, if only I could convince him to read Don Quixote with me...

Audience participation time!
If you were to open a bookstore, what would you name it?

In a way, I think Pearls of... Something is an awesome bookstore name. Business-wise, self-deprecation probably isn't the best route.
Dazzle me with your creativity.

6 comments:

kristin said...

"Just one more page"

It's what I would always say to my parents when they wanted to stop reading and go to bed/ set the table/ get dressed for school/etc

kristin said...

Or, "Never enough books"
or

"So many books, so little time..."

PearlsOfSomething said...

Oh,good ones!
If I ever have a store front, I promised dh he could deal in used video games. "Just One More Page" could have a "Just One More Level" department, lol.

Amy said...

I can't share mine, since I own the domain, but have yet to actually obtain a business permit. But, uh, yeah, it greatly resembles your realistic view... lots of books in my house, lots of trips to the post office, and I'm mostly still just financing my own book habit, lol.

PearlsOfSomething said...

Amy, you're kidding! I didn't know that!

I'm jealous of your book clutter and PO runs, lol.

Something Happened Somewhere Turning said...

We have thousands of books. My wife is constantly selling them on E-bay and Amazon and we still have thousands.
I think kwr already picked the best title out there with, "Just One More Page".
I once followed Rush through 3 different states with some friends of mine. I stopped when I got to Portland, Oregon. That was way back when they toured their third album.