Wednesday, 1 April 2009

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Sunday, 25 January 2009

still on hoarding books...


yea, RIGHT.

I tried this one at home... the thing is, the 'to give away' lot was empty.

You may declare it official: I'm a book junkie, but excepting a few that I 'gave' away almost as soon as I finished reading, there isn't really any book I can part with...

I gave away the Da Vinci Code just a couple of weeks after I purchased it. Not worth any euro, on my opinion. I didn't really give it away, I just am not planning to ask it back, even though I know perfectly well it is just gathering dust in my friend's shelf.

As for the other books I have... I do need the reference ones, for a start. I mean, I got them for a reason, right? And besides, who on Earth can possibly have too many reference books?? Unless you have more than a copy of each, I mean. And I mean to keep the biographies, thank you. As for the novels, yes, I will read them again. I have read some just once, a few a couple of times. a very few up to ten(!) times.

And, to tell you the truth, I don't understand that 'you have too many books' notion.

Plus, I don't really get why reading four or five books at the same time is such a bad thing. I have been doing it all of my life - and I suspect I'll be doing it in the years to come too.
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How to Stop Accumulating Books


from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Sometimes you’ll get a new book, glance through a few chapters while sitting on the can, put it on the coffee table for later indulgence, and get back to whatever you were doing. You don’t have time to actually read your new book yet. You've got a lot of work to do, and you're already part way through a couple other ones, so it’ll have to wait.
But then a strange thing happens: Over the next couple weeks, you've done it again. You've bought another must-have book, and the last book, the one that was waiting for you on the coffee table, has silently migrated to your bookshelf, without ever getting read.
You're a book hoarder. How do you stop the insanity?

Steps


  1. Cull your existing collection. Keep only particularly valuable books after reading. Donate the rest to your local library or charity, or trade them with other book lovers online. Five good online resources for this:

  2. Sell your books. Sites like Amazon.com and Half.com make it easy; listing is free and a small commission is taken when the book sells. Current textbooks in particular sell well.
  3. If a book is not worth keeping, but has a few interesting gems of advice, make notes of the few interesting tidbits from the books, save those tidbits in a file for future reference and inspiration, then give away the book. This is probably a good time to organize your books as well. First, break your books up into the following piles, and decide which ones get to stay and which ones have got to go:
    • Reference books. These are books like encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other nonfiction sources that you come back to regularly for reliable information. If you haven't referred to a particular book for over a year, though, you should probably part with it. These days, you can find a lot of reference information online, and there's always the option of using the local library.
    • Books you've already read, that you want to keep. Whether they're fiction or nonfiction, think carefully about why you're keeping them. Will you really be reading it again? Less than once a year, perhaps? If you can get your hands on a copy at the library, why keep a copy at home? Keeping books on hand "just in case" you want to read it again is a surefire way to watch your book collection invade your abode.
    • Books you haven't read yet. These can be broken down into two other categories: books you haven't read because you haven't had time, and books you haven't read because you're not really interested in them (usually gifts). If you don't want to get rid of the books that you're not interested in, consider putting them into storage. For the other books you haven't read, follow the remaining steps in this article.
    • Generally, if you haven't touched the book in the last 2 years, it's probably time for it to go!

  4. Make a rule that you will read X number of books you currently own before buying another one. Set a "read-to-purchase ratio". This solution works well because it lets you control your book purchasing habits without requiring that you wait several years until you've read the entire existing selection. It also encourages you to read more, knowing that you can reward yourself with a new book soon enough, and not feel guilty about it. Choosing a ratio that’ll work for you involves finding that sweet spot between how much time you have to read, how quickly you read, and how many shelves you’ve still got to get through.
  5. Make a “syllabus” of books to read. Look at your bookshelf, and pick out the next 10-14 books you want to read. The longer you've hoarded it, the better. Then write down the total pages in each book and add up the total. Give yourself a reasonable amount of time to finish all the books, break the total pages down into a daily reading assignment, and tell yourself that you can’t buy a new book until you finish half the books on the syllabus.
  6. Make a "to buy" list. Sometimes the urge to get a book can be satiated by writing it down on a list of books you would like to read or acquire "someday." Gardening your list can be a satisfying activity. Your list can be as simple as a piece of paper tucked into your library, or as elaborate as a computer database. There are even websites that allow you to keep and catalogue a virtual library. http://GoodReads.com, http://LibraryThing.com, and http://BooksWellRead.com would all work for this purpose.
  7. To keep your book collection from growing any bigger: If you buy a book, immediately get rid of a book you already have. Either donate it or give it to a friend. This can make you more cautious about buying a book, because you'll have to part with one that's already on your bookshelf!
  8. Use the library: most library systems will lend you books from anywhere in their system. They also have online resources so you can look up and reserve books.
  9. Purchase and collect your books on an e-Book reader (like Kindle Wireless). No more piles of books!


Tips


  • Some people view their book collection as a reflection of their identity, such as if someone were to look at your books, they'd get an accurate impression of who you are (or who you want to be!).[1] If this is the case for you, try to keep the most representative books, and give away the rest.
  • The novelist Jonathan Franzen limited the unread books on his shelves to less than half of the collection.[1]
  • Remember, the point of culling your book collection is to make yourself happier! If you're making yourself miserable getting rid of books, accept that sticking with your book hoarding ways is the better choice for you.
  • One of the best gifts that can be given is the sharing of knowledge. After reading a good book, immediately pass it on to someone else who may like it, and ask them to do the same!
  • If you are a person who likes to pen notes directly in a book, you might find it hard to find people who will buy or take a book that has been written in. Three things you can do: learn to make notes elsewhere so you can reference them without the book, jot things down on mini post-it notes and stick them in the pages, or just limit what books you write in and keep them. One thing you can do is scan the page and write your note on that and keep it in a file. Yes, there are laws against this, but only if you copy the entire book. Copying a page here and there isn't an issue especially if it is for personal use. There is nothing wrong with the practice of writing in a book so long as you understand that others will not want it afterward.


Warnings


  • If you are going for the e-Book reader solution make sure your favourite books are available in a supported format.


Related wikiHows




Sources and Citations





Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Stop Accumulating Books. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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Friday, 23 January 2009


How to Fold a Paper Rose


from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

You've made origami cranes, swans, frogs, airplanes, and even boxes.
Now you know how to make all of those, what can you make now?
Simple, make an origami rose. Too hard? Simple, just read the easy-to-f0llow directions below!

Steps


  1. Obtain some colorful, square paper (see "Things You'll Need").
  2. Face the colorful side of the paper up towards you.
  3. Fold the square in half so that the decorated side of the paper is folded inside. Open up the paper, turn it over, and draw a black line along the crease of the back side. (The colorful side will be the color of your rose, and that is why lines are drawn on the back (plain) side, so that they will not be seen).
  4. Fold the lower and upper half in half again, so that the square is equally divided into four parts. Color these creases.
  5. Rotate the paper and repeat the last two steps, so that now you have 16 little squares.
  6. Fold the paper diagonally both ways. You should have two lines dividing the paper diagonally, giving you four triangles. This is shown with red lines.
  7. Fold the paper in half.
  8. Fold the lower half up one third.
  9. Open up the paper and rotate it 90 degrees. Repeat the last two steps. This is shown with green lines.
  10. With each corner, fold black and red lines upwards (valley folds) and green lines inwards (mountain folds).
  11. Press down on the horizontal and vertical parts counter-clockwise gently, leaving the middle standing out.
  12. Press down on the four corners of the center part and it should turn into a tiny flat square.
  13. Turn the paper around so that the colorful side faces up.
  14. Use labels. To make it easier to understand, label the four parts, then lift up the fourth (lower right) square and rotate it 90 degrees, counterclockwise, to the left vertical border of square two.
  15. Make sure the two borders align exactly.
  16. Rotate around to each square and repeat the last two steps with all four squares.
  17. Round up all four sides, and now you have the basic shape of the rose in your hand.
  18. Flip the rose upside down. Now you are looking into the inside of the rose.
  19. Fold down the petals one by one.
  20. Once you reach the last petal, tuck it under the gap beneath the previous petal.
  21. Turn it over. Now you have a pretty rose. You can add a stem for it, using wire and a few pieces of leaves with green paper. Now you are done!



Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Fold a Paper Rose. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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