{"id":11006,"date":"2015-09-18T08:52:50","date_gmt":"2015-09-18T15:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/?p=11006"},"modified":"2015-09-18T08:52:50","modified_gmt":"2015-09-18T15:52:50","slug":"book-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/2015\/09\/18\/book-addiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday Anne discarded seven bags of books. It had been something needing to be done for a long time, bookshelves overflowing onto every level surface, including the floor.<\/p>\n

There’s just something about accumulating them, and a resistance to letting them go. And that’s whether or not they’ve ever been read, read so long ago, or even (admit it)\u00a0never will be read.<\/p>\n

The fact is, even with the seven bags gone and a large box of others “to be stored,” we still found ourselves with only a little bookshelf space left for anything new.<\/p>\n

It’s not that I’m such a reader. I’m painfully slow (unlike Anne). But these things become such friends, it’s hard to let them go. And their presence adds character and interest to any house. I’m reminded of a New Yorker cartoon where a sophisticated bachelor says to his equally sophisticated lady friend looking at his bookshelf, “I’ve had those books for years. They represent the person I once aspired to be.” (Actually I keep that cartoon on my bookshelf.)<\/p>\n

\"Barts-Books\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Anne, rummaging at Bart’s, before entering.<\/h6>\n

But\u00a0we keep buying. I’d just bought an arm-load from the library used book store, ironically the same place we donated our seven bags. In Ojai earlier this month we had to visit “Bart’s,” the famous outdoor bookstore. Of course, we had to buy something. And so it goes, a continual flow. Like an addiction. (Though, of course, I can quit any time.)<\/p>\n

If that wasn’t enough, I’m making books. I’ve done six already since I first became a publisher two years ago. They’re all on my website, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The most recent one, Sketches of Italy, was featured on my “Blank Canvas” blog, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These, I mention, not to push, but just in case you share my addiction. There could be worse ones. And, besides, there must be something like AA for the likes of us. Maybe I’ll see you there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s something that has to happen now and then, to keep the ebb and flow, to discard the old and make room for new.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11006"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11006"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11015,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11006\/revisions\/11015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}