Book Treasures:Vaya Con Dios, Dona

It just wouldn’t be FatHoundDog.com without extended periods of radio silence. I know, I know. The two people that look at this site with anything resembling regularity (hi Mom, hi Dad) give me no end of trouble for it, but…I’m a full-time student, full-time Warehouse Inventory Executive (doesn’t that sound nicer than temporary book counter and used-sticker-putter-onner?) and part-time sleeper. Poor FHD, as usual, gets the short end of the stick.

My time at the warehouse is drawing to a close, but never fear – there are plenty more treasures to showcase. Here’s one that I think is particularly interesting, especially given my love of the Spanish language and my recent trip to Ecuador. (Hey, remember that time…)

Los Haikus Ecuadorianos: Primero

Little known fact: I wrote almost one haiku a day for the entire three weeks I was in Ecuador. (Hey, remember that time I went to Ecuador? And you didn’t?) The other day, I was ordered to “do more” with my Ecuador photos so I thought, why not post some of my terrible haikus? With photos?

Plus it’s Friday and the last thing I want to do is think about work. I’d so much rather remember that time I went to Ecuador and you didn’t…

Day One

Foot asleep, butt sore,
Skimming the clouds way up here.
So: are we there yet?

We’d been on various planes for hours and hours by this point. I could barely feel my lower limbs, I was writing in my required journal, trying my best to have interesting things to say about the upcoming journey (things that, clearly, didn’t translate to the haiku). They get better, promise. At least one of them is decently decent.

The photo is of our hotel, Hotel Sebastian, taken from a little park across the street. The staff of el hotel were amazing, very friendly, very patient with our broken Spanish, willing to speak to us in English when really necessary. I’m glad we got to stay at a fairly small, local hotel like that one and not a big chain like a Holiday Inn or something (yes, Quito does have a Holiday Inn). Probably the best part was the music they played in the hotel restaurant: slow, piano-solo versions of popular songs from the 90’s. So good.

Book Treasures: This is how they get you…

Sometimes a book’s treasure is less about its former owners family and more an economic representation. Just the cold, hard numbers. Which anyone who’s spent time (losing money) in a college bookstore will understand. Because, when you get right down to it, all you are to those soulless monsters is a number. They see you coming and they don’t think, “gosh, here comes another young scholar, so full of promise!”

All they think is: “CHA-ching!”

Book Treasures: Don’t Call it Voyeurism

This is one of the first treasures my co-temp and I found stuck between the pages of a used book. I can’t remember which book it was anymore, but for a long time it sat on our work table and sometimes one or the other of us would pick it up and stare at it for a little while.

Until I nabbed it and took it home.

Wait, does that make me sound like a creepster?

Book Abuse: Not Even the Grand Canyon is Safe!

Recently I got a temporary job working in the bookstore warehouse of one of the local universities. It’s a mostly mindless job and I spend long hours on my feet, but overall I like it. I get to check out all the books that are being used in this semester’s classes (some of them look like classes I’d like to take!) and I get to see all manner of exciting uses for old texts. Plus there’s no shortage of treasures left behind by used books old owners, but more on that in later posts.