BibliophileBullpen

this is a cross post from my ‘other’ blog.

After making 1 avocado guacamolé the other day I was left with of course an avocado pit. Then I remembered the chapter in Richard Langer’s, After Dinner Gardening Book (1969) which is as useful today as it ever was. It is still out of print, but it seems there are a ridiculous number of copies online.

Each chapter in Langer’s book is chatty essay about indoor gardening with your leftovers; mangos, artichokes, papayas, loquat etc… One of those books you read and obviously remember decades later. I usually keep a few copies around so that I don’t have to loan my personal one out. It’s easier just to give it as a present.

Getting back to the avocado. Langer advises, starting with a pot large enough for the avocado’s 1st year of growth. Laying in a layer of gravel to prevent overwatering, then a mixture of 2/3rds potting soil to 1/3rd humus with a handful of vermiculite. To speed germination he advises a sort of seed circumcision recommended by the California experiment station. Using a razor blade cut a thin sliver off of both the tip and base of the seed. Plant the pit with the larger flatter end down about two thirds into the soil so that the tip is well exposed. The pit should be then ‘doused with tepid water’, and if your apartment is very dry, invert a plastic or glass cup over the pit to help keep it moist. (sounds like a good job for a small soda bottle, which they didn’t have in 1969.) Langer warns it can take between 1 and 3 months for germination, at which time the pit should be covered with more hummus to prevent drying out.

Of course the book goes into all the whys and wherefores, reporting his experiments and failures but it makes good after dinner reading. As a matter of fact since I have mine out, I guess I will reread it and see what I will be eating tomorrow.

worth reading • i don’t know if this is piling on or just schadenfreude but Gawker.com has a post…cum scorecard ticking off Ms Winfry’s Liar’s Club…or as I like to say fake book factory. Speculation is that she isn’t the victim of all these con artists but the cause. I think you know what I think….maybe I will elucidate…considering the woman is worth 1.3 BILLION…that’s with a B baby… that a few of her minions could be tasked to vet these people before you try to con the American public to buy their books?

well worth reading • In the Pittsburgh Post-gazette, John Schulman of Caliban Book Shop has a fantastic essay on life after the funeral of the book. Schulman still has hope for the future of the bookstore lifestyle….hell i still have hope for the bookstore lifestyle. I am just not brave enough to put my money where my mouth is.

Dear Bibliobull -

I bought a store where the previous owner used a “store stamp” in each of your books.
It seems common for advertising purposes and for indicating non-returnable status.
Should I continue doing it?

Stampy Town books.

There is a special circle in hell for people who use rubber stamps in books.

What you are doing is reducing the value of of your own stock, and alienating any serious book buyer. There is no reason to deface books in this manner in this day and age, not for any reason. You want to advertise? give them a bookmark. If you don’t want to buy a book back, then don’t. If you can’t remember which titles are bad for your inventory (the fact that you can’t is scary enough), then use a innocuous mark on the fore-edge. It has been good enough for major publishers to mark remainders for 70 years, I can’t think of why it’s not good enough for a lowly paperback bookseller.

What other retail or reseller would ever be able to get away with marking up their inventory before you buy it? How long would a thrift store last if they wrote their name on the back of every shirt and dress?

You want to put your name on a book, WRITE ONE.

Be kind to your books and your customers, keep your stamps to yourself.

well worth reading • as late as it is coming to the party, there is a readable feature in todays NYT about the effects of internet bookbuying on real world bookstores. David Streitfeld’s “Bargain Hunting for Books, and Feeling Sheepish About it, covers all the ways in which the intenet has screwed over the American bookseller, and it covers all the recent casualties of war.

Toby just showed up at the door…he must have been kept in a garage or a basement for the last week his entire undercarriage is gray and dirty, but he wasn’t starving. Someone must have fed him. My cats that go out are like homing pigeons, they don’t mind mooching on a neighbor but they know who the true master of the can opener is. He needs a serious bath. On the whole a good day.

Dear Santa Claus:

Earlier in the season, I wrote to you with Christmas wishes. Thank you one
and all for the good stuff.

1. Intelligent conversation — it’s rare, but appreciated.

2. Good books. So I had to whack some of them down myself. Who cares?

3. Warm weather. There’s warm weather here. Now can I wear my shorts and sandals?

4. A great movie. Benjamin Button came as a great and pleasant surprise.

5. Someone to count inventory New Year’s Day will be me. I think I’ll still find that two-hour brunch.

6. The New York Times can be read on Internet. I thought it could be purchased locally, but no such luck. I wonder what it takes to order it?

7. There were several great presents: a beautiful, whimsical, silk scarf in one-size-fits-all, practical post-it notes which I always need, and a great
book.

8. Marvelous chocolate was in the refrigerator, and more came for the big day.

9. Great presents may come, great presents may go, but the spam goes on forever.

10. I understand that Rudolph is not available for deliveries to the post office. I sang about him at least twice yesterday and hope he, the other reindeer, the stressed-out elves, and you and your spouse have recovered
fully from the big day.

Lunch calls.
Lynn Wienck
The Chisholm Trail Bookstore