That Mystery Floating Alongside

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  “The side of the ship made an opaque belt of shadow on the darkling glassy shimmer of the sea. But I saw at once something elongated and pale floating very close to the ladder. Before I could form a guess a faint flash of phosphorescent light, which seemed to issue suddenly from the naked body of a man, flickered in the sleeping water with the elusive, silent play of summer lightning in a night sky. With a gasp I saw revealed to my stare a pair of feet, the long legs, a broad livid back immersed right up to the neck in a greenish cadaverous glow. One hand, awash, clutched the bottom rung of the ladder. He was complete but for the head. A headless corpse! The cigar dropped out of my gaping mouth with a tiny plop and a short hiss quite audible in the absolute stillness of all things under heaven. At that I suppose he raised up his face, a dimly pale oval in the shadow of the ship’s side. But even then I could only barely make out down there the shape of his black-haired head. Howev...

Bookshelves

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Some may look at this, shrug and click on through. Others will open their e-mail or pick up the phone wondering if I've lost my mind. Perhaps I have. I thought I would try something different. Everything's still in order--it just looks different.

While rearranging I discovered a few surprises, one being that each stack has a life of its own and many require a delicate touch. These are more than just piles of books, but an exercise in balance and quiet control, thoughtfulness. One does not just take a book from the shelf. One must handle softly, move, rearrange, stack and re-stack. The shelves become ever an ever-changing work of art.

Less than 15 minutes after finishing, one faculty member froze in his tracks outside my door then spent nearly 10 minutes commenting on the fresh look. He mentioned that he, too, might do the same and he would call me for advice. I refused to help, not because of the workload (there's not much, really--and it's quite fun), but the experience is singular for the bibliophile.


Ordered Chaos.
Disarray under control.

Oh, and did I mention how much shelf space opened up with this new arrangement?


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