An Overload of Limn

Or, Travels without Rescue Remedy

I am a nervous person by nature – give me a couple of molehills and in no time you can have the Himalayas in your back yard. I blame my genes. I also blame living in Gauteng – but that’s another story. So, of course, I will look for hobbies that will sooth my frazzled nerves and give me some respite. Hence, you will not find me rock climbing, scuba diving, or eating something which contains nuts. I just don’t need that kind of adrenalin rush.

Mostly, I turn to books once the business hours have passed and the daily traffic jams are left behind. I have quite an eclectic taste – give me a good story and I’ll most probably read it. Give me good writing and I’ll indulge for hours. The problem comes in more when picking what to read first. This problem is compounded when walking into libraries. Not only can I take out just about any book in the building, but I can do so for a very minimal payment. For. A. Whole. Year. And only then need I hand over some more cash.

There is a rush all bibliophiles share – the rush of finding the book. The book which is just the kind of thing you were searching for. The book that makes your hand move to the shelf on its own accord. The book that hides in plain sight until you pass the shelf and then it suddenly grabs hold of your poor oculars, nearly tripping you as you try to walk by without taking them off the spine. The rush of a good book sale. Ah, the book sale; the bibliophile’s kryptonite.

The rush can make you do strange things. It can make the biggest nerd with the smallest stature carry around 20kg of books on one arm for the entire time it takes to search through the whole sale. It can make you spend your whole food budget before you even fully realize what you picked up. It can even let you make excuses about why you really, really, REALLY need ten more books right now. ‘Of course books have no side-effects,’ you stutter while one eye twitches as you spot a biography of Borges. And you get to swipe your club card on sales purchases. You’re actually saving money. And you were thinking of going on a water diet anyway. And one of the books is a gift for someone else. And your new mantra for 2011 is suddenly ‘limn… limn… limn…’. Before you know it, your New Year’s resolution to stick to your budget is bust, you’re using a credit card to buy food and you forget to go to work because the book you’re reading is just so good.

This year, rather stick to a couple drops of Rescue Remedy before going in search of new reading material. At least then you can go on a bread and water diet after buying another Bottomless Bag o’ Books.

The Bibliophile

First published over at:
http://letterdash.com/lonebibliophile/an-overload-of-limn