Not-So Day Off

I had today off due to the fact that I work for a bank that observes Martin Luther King Jr. Day. But of course, since I work in the residential lending division, if I voluntarily choose to work...I can. So, its not a forced day off. So, I worked from 12:30-5 pm. I've been very busy recently and needed to catch up on some unfinished work.

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Megan and I did not watch The Namesake last night. I talked to Luke Pingel on the phone. Megan was tired and didn't want to stay up late. So, she watched 30 Rock and ate cheese and crackers while I talked to Luke about football, AWP, poetry, and other stuff. I love talking to Luke. He sent me his thesis/manuscript in process. I'm reading it and enjoying it; its the first new work of Luke's I've read (new stuff meaning stuff that's been written in the last 12-18 months).

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On another note, I've mentioned "The Great Purge of 2006" the other day. This over dramatic title refers to the winter of 2006 when I purged my entire library with the exception of approximately 20 poetry books. At the time I internally justified the purge with the following reasons: (1) I was buying too many books indiscriminately (i.e., lots of impulse purchases at Half Price Books or Barnes and Nobles) which was a waste of money, (2) I wasn't reading any of the books I purchased, (3) I was moving around a lot at the time and hated moving all of the books, and (4) the books weren't aesthetically appealing on my bookshelves (this last one is a little superficial and teeters on obsessive-compulsive). I probably rid myself of 750-1000 books (which may be a very conservative estimate).

From that time on I purchased books based on a couple of factors:

1. To gain greater familiarity with contemporary poets and small presses
• I do this by buying 5-7 books at a time from a specific press. I choose the books based on referrals from poet's blogs, choosing poets from the presses catalog that I'm familiar with, and referrals from friends. For example, I recently purchased a bunch of books from Ahsata's catalog and will probably purchase another slew of them because there are quite a few books that are on my "hit list."
  
• If I find a poet I'm particularly fond of I'll purchase their other books even if they're not with the same press. For example, I really enjoyed Dan Beachy-Quick's True North, South Bright, which led me to purchase his Mulberry which led me to purchase 3-5 Tupelo Press books, which then led me to buy Spell and the aforementioned slew of books from Ahsatha Press.
2. To non poetry and poetry books from publishers I admire
• For example I love Library of America's hardbacks. There a little expensive but they'll last a long time and the publish beautiful books
• New Directions for their affordable publications of marginalized poets, etc. both past and present
• Routledge Classics for their gorgeous philosophy and religious texts. They're mostly British and European philosophers and religious thinkers but I think some of the best 20th Century philosophers and religious thinkers were from Europe: e.g., Simone Weil.
  
• Penguins Classics for their affordable translations of European novelists...of course the more mainstream novelists but I don't give a fuck.
  

Well, this is a rather geeky method of collecting books but I'm kind of nerdy about books. The great thing has been that I read all the books I purchase before I purchase more (most the time). Of course I do regret some of the books I got rid of: I wish that still had Theodore Adorno's Aesthetic Theory and Walter Benjamin's The Arcades Project plus a few other poetry books but oh well.