Something new: a title

I am a book snob. I work for Barnes & Noble Booksellers. They have this nifty little perk (one of the few we get) that I take total advantage of: I can borrow hard cover books for up to two weeks. This is a very nice and good perk, however it does have its draw backs. The main one is this: I have to very careful with the book (I am usually careful with them any way, but this added pressure makes it difficult to read said book in, I don't know, a restaraunt for fear of spilling speghetti on the page... that'd be bad). Another one is I can only borrow the book for two weeks; that means I have to read it right away, quickly, and sometimes I just can't get the whole thing. I just start seeing words, but not getting them, if you get my meaning. Here's the big drawback: I have a hard time borrowing books from the library. Library books are dirty. Filthy. They smell like they've been held by hundreds of hands, smoked over, eaten over, thrown into corners, and lost in the backs of cars for days on end. And yet, those library books have a certain mystique. They are the soldiers of the literate set. Thank God for the library book. I'm a snob, though, when it comes to books. Either that, or I'm spoiled. Probably more the latter as opposed to the former.

Books to me are a gift from the gods. Really, I've said it before to many people: I think I could do without the internet and the television, but you take away my books and I'll be dead within a year. Here's the funny thing. I love to read and do so with great regularity. I have pretty good comprehension, but I can't follow written instructions. I have to literally take each line slowly and carefully, almost phonetically. I almost have to parse each word. I'm so thankful for instructions that have diagrams. I can do diagrams. I can usually figure out what needs to be done with diagrams, but if I have to put something together and all I have are written instructions it will take me twice as long, if not longer, to get the thing done. I'm a visual learner. Its even better if someone can SHOW me what to do, let me ask a question or two and then get out of the way and let me to it. I'll get it done, but it will be done the way I can get it done. I was always causing my teachers angst in that regard. Oh, I'd get the answer or to the end of the problem or the project, but it was done (as Ol' Blue Eyes hisself: Frank Sinatra once sang) my way.