A quick post from the Acela Express to say that I am on my way home from the launch party for The Emotional Calendar, the book by Dr. John Sharp that inspired this blog. (Yes, this is a shamelessly promotional post). The event was held at the Harvard Club and it was fun to stand under the elk heads and nineteenth century prints among all those well-dressed people and pretend to be a part of the New York literary scene. It was also fun, and unusual, to attend a party that was primarily about a book.
It always astonishes me that I can write blog posts from the train. It’s a beautiful afternoon and we are passing a salt marsh at the edge of a tidal river. A raptor is circling overhead and there is smoke rising from a power plant or factory at the edge of the bay. It is lovely to pass by the sea.
Someone recently wrote in an e-mail that “there is something grounded and site-specific about the things that end up floating unmoored out in the sea of the blogospheres and digitospheres.” I like to think of my blog posts as words unmoored in a digital sea. But right now, riding on a train and feeling a bit unmoored (literally) myself, I like to think that there are things holding these words in place. One of those things, I think, is the hardcover book that I held for the first time last night.
I love writing a blog and I love talking about the future of the internet but each time I move towards the digital world, books call me back. Publishing may be dead, but my romance with books is far from over.
Weather: sunny and cool but on the train it’s totally climate controlled!
Mood:
Hannah: 6 out of 10 on the “jumping for joy” to “can’t get out of bed” scale. A bit tired.
Anna: Out of sight, out of mind. She’s still in Europe!
Ditch the Umbrella 