I feel all thin, sort of stretched…like butter that has been scraped over too much bread.—Bilbo in The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
I feel like that some days. To use that quote is to compare our son to the One Ring, which is a little over the top, but he certainly does rule us both.
I love glass. I always have. When it’s worked into interesting shapes, I find it hard to resist. I’m not the only one to feel that way, which is why so many glass items are collectible.
Glass insulators have always fascinated me with their many shapes and colors. I haven’t seen a lot of them outside of junk shops, so imagine how happy I was when I leaned out the window of my office and saw this:
Certain glass insulators are quite collectible. I was curious about mine, so I looked it up (you can see in the picture that it’s a Hemingray-20). Assuming I identified it correctly, it’s worth $3-$5. Jackpot!
People who collect glass insulators are very serious about their hobby and there seem to be some really good websites out there. I found everything I needed to know about Hemingray insulators at Hemingray.info and got the price estimate at Grampa Mac’s Insulator Empriorium.
I only stayed at those sites long enough to identify my insulator. I didn’t dare look too long at those beguiling bits of glass or read too much about their history, because if I got hooked on the subject then I’d have to collect them. Then I’d spend all day every day at eBay, half of it buying insulators and the other half selling things to make room for my new collection.
I jest, but such things have been known to happen before. Take for example the case of Willys Jeep.
I’ve had this cute little glass jeep since I was a kid. I owned the thing for years and never thought much about it. Then, one day, I was sitting at my computer and had the brilliant idea to look up Willys Jeep on the Internet. I knew there had to be some sort of story behind it, and there was.
Willys Jeep is a candy container. As used to plastic as we are now, it’s hard to imagine small items like candy containers being made from glass, but that’s how it was. And, because they were made in a variety of shapes, like animals and buildings and vehicles, kids used them as toys after they finished the candy.
I looked at picture after picture of glittering candy containers on eBay and I fell in love. I just had to buy more. I stuck to the transportation theme, buying only trains, planes, automobiles, fire engines, tanks, and boats. That may sound limiting, but it really wasn’t. To buy one of every type would have cost a fortune, because there were so many and some were exceptionally rare. I only bought the cheap ones, but I still spent plenty.
Years later, I still love all my antique glass dust collectors, but I’m wary of the collecting bug. That’s why I will look out my window every once in a while and really enjoy the sight of my glass insulator, because it’s the only one I’m ever going to own.
We went back to the used book store one more time. Here are my new acquisitions.
Total cost: Free (my books fit in the bag with Faithful Reader’s books and consequently did not cost a penny)
That was our last trip to the store. It closes on Friday. I am sorry to see it go, but I am grateful for all the inexpensive books.
I read an ad in the newspaper about a used bookstore that was going out of business. They were selling their books at $5 per bag. How could we resist such a temptation? Naturally, we went and we spent. Then we went back the next day. And I, along with my friend K—, went back again a third time.
At only $5 per bag, I could afford to get not just the obviously good books, but anything that looked even mildly interesting. And that’s what I did. The books were already somewhat picked-over and the place was a mess, but it was fun poking around. I still believe that there may be some overlooked gems in that store, so I may go back one final time later this week (alas for the GLP!).
Here is a list of the books (and tapes) that I bought… Continue reading
The Mirror Crack’d (a.k.a. The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side) by Agatha Christie
Grade: A-
The new world was the same as the old. The houses were different, the streets were called Closes, the clothes were different, the voices were different, but the human beings were the same as they always had been. And though using slightly different phraseology, the subjects of conversation were the same.
In The Mirror Crack’d, Miss Marple has gotten much older. She doesn’t get out as much as she used to, and she needs someone to look after her at home, but her mind is as keen as ever. Though the world has changed around her, human nature is still the same, and Miss Marple knows a thing or two about human nature… Continue reading
Would you rinse your mouth with this?
Exactly one year ago, my Faithful Reader and I got married. We had no idea, as we vowed to support each other through thick and thin, that our duo was about to become a trio, and that things were going to get very thick, particularly my waist. Our honeymoon year has consequentially been a little stressful, and sometimes our marriage has taken a back burner to parenthood, but I hope you know, Faithful Reader, that I love you and that I’m happy with our life together. Other people might not think a one-year anniversary is particularly exciting, but I’m proud of the way we’ve stuck together, and I never take it for granted. Thanks for spending this year with me.
Happy Anniversary!
The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie
Grade: B
The title of this novel is, of course, a reference to the poem by Omar Khayyam,
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
The Moving Finger is one of the books that I purchased at the Westerly book sale. I was disappointed to find after reading a few pages that I had read it before (which means I must have another copy of it kicking around somewhere, darnit). But I was lucky in that I didn’t remember whodunit, so it was a mystery until the end, the way it was supposed to be.
The plot is simple. Jerry Burton, injured in a plane crash, rents a house in the countryside where he hopes to recuperate in peace. His sister, Joanna, accompanies him. Once there, they receive a vicious anonymous letter. Soon they find out that most of the villagers have received similar letters. It all seems more annoying than harmful until people start dying. Can they discover the identity of the poison pen before there’s another victim?
The biggest problem with this Marple mystery was that Miss Marple didn’t make an appearance until page 142 of this 200 page book. Honestly, I don’t know why Christie bothered to put Miss Marple in the story at all. I also didn’t like the first-person narrative (I almost never do) and I found the ending rather abrupt. Overall, I’d call The Moving Finger readable but not worth the time unless you’re a Christie fan. It is important to note, however, that the online reviews I found for this book were positive and some reviewers mentioned that Christie herself considered it a favorite.
My favorite quote from the book:
I like walking at night. Nobody stops you and says silly things, and I like the stars, and things smell better, and everyday things look all mysterious.—spoken by the character named Megan
Phrases I hadn’t seen before:
all of a heap: 1. amazed or 2. suddenly.
crock up: to suffer a nervous breakdown
seed cake: old-fashioned cake containing caraway seeds
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