Kicked back to the dark ages

Ugh.  I had a feeling this day would come.  The Internet is broken.  Gideon has been back up the tree twice already trying to fix the connection.  No luck...  so, no Internet for a while.  No Gmail or Facebook, no streaming Netflix, no Internet radio, no Skyping, no nothing.  Back to the days of being disconnected Hill People.


So, I've packed up and headed down the hill to the public library to make use of their free Wifi.


I actually have a lot to work on down here, including applying for jobs, researching small-business start-ups, learning about Nepal, finishing my book for book club this evening, not to mention writing my blog-of-the-day.  I'm not complaining.  I know I've got a cushy existence at the moment and I am reveling in it.  But from time to time, there are things I'm supposed to work on.


You'd think the library would be the perfect place for working.  It's quiet, it has big work tables, it's comfortable.  But, man, for me, it is the most distracting place in the world.  You see, I have a thing for books.  I love to read them, of course, but maybe even more than that, I just love knowing what kind of books I COULD read if I wanted to.  So, as I sit at my big library table and try to get things done, I find my gaze wandering to the book titles surrounding me in this little U-shaped cove.  Pretty much all of these books call to me.  They want me to pick them up, check out their pretty covers, read the synopsis on the back, flip through the pages, and just be with them for a bit.  And I really want to be there for them, rather than checking things off my to do list.


Here is just a small sampling of books, right in this little nook, that I want to take a closer look at right now:


Let's Talk Turkey  (I don't think this is a book about turkeys, although that would be intriguing.  I think it's about language--it's between books called Slang and the NTC Dictionary of American and Colloquial Expressions.)


Earth Science Demystified  (The science teacher in me is longing to take a look.  I bet there are some good photos of rocks and stuff.)


Chasing Spring  (This one made me think of you poor saps on the East Coast buried in snow.  Ha!)


The Joys of Yiddish  (This made me think of my friend Lisa, who played Yente in our high school production of “Fiddler on the Roof”.  I think the two of us could probably sit on our tuches and kvetsh all day long just for fun, even now.)


Weird Nature  (Again, I bet there are some great pictures in that one.)


The Book of U.S. Postal Exams (Just kidding.  I don't really want to read this one at all.  But it is really there, right in front of me.  Who would want to read that anyway?)



The Secret Life of Lobsters  (I really loved The Secret Life of Bees...  Could this be the sequel?)



The Promise of Sleep  (Maybe this book would have some suggestions on how to stop dreaming so vividly every single night that I wake up exhausted.)



The Sonoma Diet  (Who knew Sonoma had its own diet?  Oh yeah, it's probably red wine, white wine, and champagne.  Duh.)



Men are Stupid and They Like Big Boobs  (I saw Joan Rivers at the Air and Space Museum a few years ago and have been wondering about her ever since.  This is her new book and I bet it's pretty darn funny.)


That's just a small taste of the distraction I have to deal with here at the library.  So many wonderful books right here and all free!  Heaven help me!


Okay, enough of this mishegas… back to work for me.  Wish me luck.  Oy vey… I need it.