Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Dr. Strangelove]

So basically he's taking over an Independence Day event that's existed for years, moving it to the opposite end of the Mall, and turning it into a political rally for himself?

Hold the date!!

EDIT: Have seen reported that Richard Nixon in 1970 was the last President to try and hijack 4th of July celebrations for his own political purposes but have not confirmed.

[Dr. Strangelove]

South Dakota Governor: the Trade Wars have 'devastated' her state

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/22/trump-trade-south-dakota-1180196

[Whitley]

Libraries.jpg

Love this. I got 6+ foot bookcase of books I will read one day.

[Ghengis Jon]

Nothing quite like a book. The wife has been enforcing some downsizing for the upcoming retirement move. Been painful, but I'm down to 500 pre20th century non-fiction, 100 pre1910 aviation, and roughly 300 newer books.

Just picked up on Saturday one the first Presidential memoirs, Mr Buchanan and His Administration On the Eve of the Rebellion. 1866, 2nd edition. Rambling self justification of a president almost as reviled as Trump. In some quarters the Civil War was referred to as "Buchanan's War." The 1st edition, published late October 1865, was published as a vanity nod to the former president with no expectation of any demand or sales. Small second (and final) edition. Buchanan notes in the preface that he waited until the end of 1865 before publishing as to not be accused of trying to undermine the Lincoln administration during time of war.

[Whitley]

Nothing quite like a book. The wife has been enforcing some downsizing for the upcoming retirement move. Been painful, but I'm down to 500 pre20th century non-fiction, 100 pre1910 aviation, and roughly 300 newer books.

Just picked up on Saturday one the first Presidential memoirs, Mr Buchanan and His Administration On the Eve of the Rebellion. 1866, 2nd edition. Rambling self justification of a president almost as reviled as Trump. In some quarters the Civil War was referred to as "Buchanan's War." The 1st edition, published late October 1865, was published as a vanity nod to the former president with no expectation of any demand or sales. Small second (and final) edition. Buchanan notes in the preface that he waited until the end of 1865 before publishing as to not be accused of trying to undermine the Lincoln administration during time of war.

I wish I had the money to have stuff like that. Most of my stuff is way more modern. Nothing like having a physical book or newspaper in your hands and reading at a brunch or during the morning or lunch. I hate getting rid of books probably why I have 14 boxes of books still in the boxes.

[hack]

I got rid of all of mine when I moved overseas, but a living room looks pretty severe without them. I'm adding back select favorites. Amazon is great for picking up used hardcovers.

[Ghengis Jon]

I probably shouldn't reveal the secret, but I have picked up some staggering finds at Goodwill and Salvation Army. Seems when great-grandma dies, the young-uns dump all the boxes of books that were in the attic for a song of a tax deduction. My best purchase was out in rural Iowa, outside of Waterloo. Rummaging through a buck-a-book shelf. Found the two volume sets of Dicken's Dombey and Sons (first edition) and Ulysses Grant's autobiography (leather bound first edition). Cost me all of $5 (keep the change). I've collected long enough that its not so much the find anymore, as it is the thrill of the hunt. I'm off to Florence Kentucky today, fresh hunting grounds.

[hack]

I should try that more often. I did score tree Franzen hardcovers for $1 each a few months back. Usually those shelves are piled with so much trash that I don't have the patience to sift through.

[Whitley]

Yeah you can go and find some good stuff there and some antique places.

I don't think I have anything that is really valuable money wise. Got a ton of stuff though.

Science fiction/fantasy (Asimov, Jenna Black, Chris Claremont, Neil Gaiman, Tanya Huff, Terry Pratchett, Harry Turtledove, Star Trek novels (TOS, TNG and USS Titan)
Native American fiction and non fiction (Deloria, Lame Deer, Welch, Silko, Momaday)
Sports (Baseball, Golf, Basketball, Football and Hockey)
History
Fiction (Grisham, Vonnegut)
Graphic Novels
Children's/YA (Kessler, Stein, Dr. Suess)
Classics (Shakespeare, Greek playwrights, Mark Twain)
Reference
International Fiction
Westerns
Romance

and over 5k of comic books

IF I ever get enough money going to have a place to do my writing and all these books surrounding me.

[hack]

I had a copy of Catch-22, my favorite novel, signed by Heller. Water damage from the fucking upstairs apartment.

[Ghengis Jon]

Don't find many Pratchett fans in the US. Never see his books in the used book stores. People seem to just keep his books. I've got the diskworld series.

[AlabamAlum]

I do almost all of my reading on an iPad now. I like the feel of a book, but I can make the text size much larger with an eBook and that helps me in my old age.

I had a signed Hemingway book (TOM&TS) and it is a first edition. Paid $900 for it at a charity auction. Thought I got a steal, but it was appraised at only 400 bucks, though. It's rough in areas, but I still thought it was very valuable. After I won the auction, I planned to sell it, recoup my original expenditure, and give the profit back to the same charity. Yeah, that didn't happen. So I gave it to my son.

[hack]

So rare to find profits by dipping into those small worlds of full-time collectors. I've tried that a few times myself. When we moved home from Turkey, I was curious to see if I could sell some of my oriental rugs. Instead I've bought more, because the market for them is not large and the fakes have gotten really good.

[Whitley]

Don't find many Pratchett fans in the US. Never see his books in the used book stores. People seem to just keep his books. I've got the diskworld series.

The entire series? That is impressive. A girl I used to be with turned me onto Pratchett. Really appreciate the the way he interweaves humor into the novels. That is very hard to do well.

[Ghengis Jon]

I don't have but a few signed works and they came to me totally by accident. Heller and Hemingway? Those are great authors to start with.