Of Bald Men and Bears

Amazon.com just had the most brilliant idea of their corporate life: The Penguin Classics Library Complete Collection.

From the web site:

The Penguin Classics list is an organic thing: new books are brought into the series and others are removed as tastes and interest in literature evolve. Penguin's ability to react to the always-evolving universe of great literature is one of the many things that has made Penguin the leader in classics publishing.

Now, for the first time, the entire line of Penguin Classics is available in one complete collection for home, office, or institutional libraries. For 2005, the Penguin Classics Library Complete Collection consists of 1,082 titles, all great works of literature totaling nearly half a million pages.
...
From Edwin A. Abbott to Emile Zola, the 1,082 titles in the Penguin Classics Complete Library total nearly half a million pages--laid end to end they would hit the 52-mile mark. Approximately 700 pounds in weight, the titles would tower 828 feet if you stacked them atop each other--almost as tall as the Empire State Building.

It's tough being a bibliophile when great deals like this come along leaving me unable to afford the $8,000 to cash in. I guess I'll just have to go about it at by using the 1-at-a-time method--the only problem is that I won't get the $5,327.75 savings that comes by buying in bulk.

(Be sure to check out this Wall Street Journal article about the offer.)

Labels: Books

Posted by Jacob at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments

This summer is shaping up to be the best one of my life. For the first time, I'm living on my own (with two roommates, but still, on my own). For the first time, I'm staying in Lincoln over the summer. I have my first real job as a professional parliamentarian, which involves a short trip to Washington, D.C. next week. At my day jobs, I get to be around books all day (I do like books), and my morning job allows me much time to read (frequently check the list of books I am reading/have read (lower right-hand side) if you don't believe me), while my afternoon job affords plenty of time listening to my iPod.

The past two summers, although I've enjoyed being with my family, have been largely boring--my friends from high school increasingly stayed away from Hastings, and I left behind all the friends from Lincoln. But this summer, at our new house, we have been having people over almost half of the nights of the week.

So, basically, my life rocks now in the following departments:

• Living arrangements
• Social life
• Reading
• Work
• Activities at church--I'm getting to preach a significant amount, and I'm a small group leader, both of which I enjoy
• Laundry--It suddenly became free!

I am, however, working out the following problems:

• Cooking--I'm slowly learning, but I'm also growing a bit tired of macaroni and cheese with tuna
• Sleeping--I'm the only one who has to get out of bed in the morning (i.e., before noon), but my bedroom isn't exactly soundproof
• Trying to live on a budget--Perhaps I should create one first...
• A certain "Frisbee Debt" I owe Grant...
• Internet, lack thereof--We have been trying various strategems for somehow gaining internet for our house, all of which have yet to pan out

(Just so there's no misunderstanding, "Endless Summer" is the title of a Beach Boys album I listened to about a bajillion times as a child (it was the first--and only for quite some time--tape I owned), and in no way suggests that this summer is dragging on in a fashion which I find disagreeable.)

Labels: Life

Posted by Jacob at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Comments