IKEA trip

The problem with preferring to buy physical copies of books instead of digital (sorry, trees) is that there’s never enough shelf space to house it all. Eventually I have to start shoving the new ones into drawer, and how esthetically pleasing is that? Isn’t the whole point of physical books is to show them off in book cases and shelves? How else are people going to know I am a learned being and I read a ton.

Joking aside, I do enjoy the library-like feel of having books on display, and in the never ending battle to procure more space, this weekend found me at the local IKEA store. There is a sale on the famous ‘Billy’ bookcase, and since I am an Asian always in search fo a bargain, the time was perfect to make the trip to East Palo Alto.

Not forgetting it’s still very much coronavirus season, I was curious at how IKEA is handling the flow of people in and out of the premise. The solution was rather simple: an amusement park-style queuing system, with a snake-like barricade system, and of course, six-feet of space in between each person/familiar group standing. It was indeed like waiting to in line to ride a rollercoaster, right down to the fair warning at the beginning that it’s a 30 minute wait until the absolute front.

Once inside, both sections of the IKEA store - showroom and warehouse - is open, though obviously the people flow is far reduced compared to “normal” times. You can even head straight to the warehouse section now, where previously they always forced you to walk through the showroom first. Knowing precisely where the bookcase I seek was located, I head straight for that aisle and section, bypassing the opportunity to walk through the second floor showroom.

After checkout, it was then another queue - with social distancing - to get into the elevators and back down to the ground floor where everyone was funneled to be parked on; you can’t have too many people stuffed into one like we’ve done previously. I would say the whole shopping experience was a bit strange, but not too much of a bother. I didn’t realize how much I had miss the simple task of heading to a store and buying something (that isn’t groceries).

With a new shelving in hand for more books, I am ready for the at least another year’s worth of purchases. Bring it on.

View fullsize

Morning coffee.

Support physical books and art

Despite the amount of trees felled every year in order to produce them, I still can’t peel myself away from physical books. An Amazon Kindle would be so much easier and a more environmentally friendly way to consume books (digital copies are cheaper as well), but it lacks character and soul. The tactility I get from touching a book’s pages and the smell it gives out is a significant part to the overall joy of reading. Besides, I am a serial highlighter, and making markings on an actual book helps me retain information far better than sliding my finger over a Kindle screen.

There’s also something very zen about shelves full of properly lined books, giving off a suitable facsimile of being in a library right in my room. Libraries are awesome places that gives off endless vibes of learning and discovery; coupled with the inclination towards quiet and silence, it’s no wonder the library was one of my favorite places to hang out as a kid (our family was also quite poor, so there’s that, too.) These days as an adult I can afford my own books, and have created a small library of my own.

Physical books are cool, and I especially like it when the creators I follow comes out with these tangible works of art. The bulk of creative content - this website included - reside in the digital realm on the web, where cost of entry is superbly low. Compared to producing an actual book, and the material costs alone almost makes it not worth the effort; a problem particularly acute for photographers, where printing costs are exponentially more than simple words and paragraphs. I’ve printed a few photo books for personal use, and they are easily in the hundreds of dollar.

So I make a point to support creators who come out with physical books by actually buying them, because I understand how much effort and money goes into making it possible. In doing my little part, I hope to spur on the incentive for these creatives to keep making prints and books, that there is a sizable contingent who still love the unique experience of interacting with actual materials. Plus, it’s important to monetarily support your favorite authors and content makers anyways, most of whom are simple freelancers just looking to get by.

Due apologies to the environmentalists out there. I also keep the air-con at 68 degrees.

View fullsize

To industry!

Reading one book per month

I was once told that one should read at least one book per month. Doesn't matter what sort of book it is, be it fiction or non-fiction, story or self-help. 

Of course, we're all so preoccupied with our screens and mobile devices these days, so who's got time to read anything substantial? Even on the Internet, long-form is largely dead. It's so much easier and faster for the ADD generation to parse through sordid lists and pictures instead of reading page after page of actual words. 

It's no coincidence grammar and word usage has absolutely gone to shit. English is and can be a very artful language, but you simply don't see it much anymore. It irritates me greatly when I see slang or colloquial terms enter into what people consider journalistic pieces of writing.

Step away from the iPad, and pick up a book. Unless you're like me and you use the Kindle app on your iPad, then by all means - as you were. 

Words in digital form

With the advent of digital readers such as the iPad, the way people read books, magazines, and periodicals has changed from the analog medium to one that is entirely digital. For sure it saves the planet infinite amount of trees if the entire production of the aforementioned reading material goes from paper to ones and zeros.

I have tried viewing books and magazines in digital form. I must say for magazines it is great. Most of the time I skim through them anyways. Then I throw it away thus saving me a lot of waste when I can just download them in the PDF format to view them. Not to mention magazines are a full color large format thus it looks absolutely fantastic on a large monitor.

As for books, err not so much. Sure it is just as much of a ease to read them in the digital format as is magazines, but something about having the actual book in my hands still feels much more substantial. Beside, nothing shows you are well read to others when they visit your home and see bookshelf filled with books. You can't really do that with your iBookshelf now can you?

Newspapers you say? I get my news online ever since I got an internet connection. Never was a fan of the ink stain on your finger newspaper form of news delivery.