Ex Libris

[Picodiribibi]

I'm fed up with lending books out and never getting them back.

I'm considering getting an "Ex Libris" stamp for my books. Does that make me snotty?

No, Ex Libris stamps are cool, especially if you add "...and his friends." Hilarious. I agree that they're probably an ineffective means of preventing theft though.

I hear you, lending books out and never seeing them again is a drag. Almost as bad as getting them back in a sorry state.
I might loan a book to someone who is a notorious book thief; but I'll never lend a book to someone who has demonstrated they will not treat it right. Whereas theft sends the message "I care enough about you to pretend I'll read this thing and then pretend to forget you lent it to me because I never got around to read it and I feel embarrassed about that fact," returning books with dogears and broken spines screams "Fuck you, I don't care about the things you value."
But that's just me.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I was going to post on this thread around about lunchtime.

I was going to say that I have a book in my care, that belongs to someone else and that I've lost contact with the man and would love to find him again-- not only to return the book, but to renew an old friendship.

His name is Joe Wheeler, and he's a whip braider. He taught me a few braiding techniques, back in the '90's, and we tried out a few other projects as well-- like brain tanning a horsehide, not recommended for the Inner City!

It occurred to me, while I was writing my post, to try google once more, since I haven't looked for him an about a half-year. And lookie! He is still alive and well, and putting a brand-new website together!

 

[elsol]

Generally... I talk a lot about my brother who was executed by the state.

Incredibly, people either don't ask to borrow my stuff or return in with due haste.

 

[slyc_willie]

I don't lend out books. I give them away. That way, I don't expect them to come back. The days of 'honest return' are gone. This is the era of, 'I have it, so it's mine.'

 

[unpredictablebijou]

book karma

I have deliberately stolen a couple of books from friends, but I courteously informed them ahead of time that I was going to do so. So when I lose a book I figure it's just karma.

Problem is, we don't loan out books we aren't attached to. I only loan books when I find a friend who ABSOLUTELY MUST read a particular book and of course by definition it'll be one of my favorites. sigh.

Of favorite books I've had to replace more than once because they've been stolen:
St. Fidgeta and Other Parodies, The Pedant and the Shuffly, and The Face in the Frost, all by John Bellairs
The Brand X Anthology
Leaves of Grass
Delta of Venus
Titus Groan and Mr. Pye, both by Mervyn Peake
The Tao of Love and Sex
Trout Fishing in America and The Hawkline Monster, both by Richard Brautigan.
bitch is, some of these are damn hard to find. when I find them these days, I buy two copies because I just know someone I love will need to read them.

as to bookplates, howbout one that says
"I fucking stole this without remorse from..."

bijou

 

[NoJo]

Why don't you try smearing animal feces on your books (or do you spell it faeces?)? You can get anti-theft feces(/faeces) at The Sharper Image for $39.95 a 5-lb. bag.

You can also use feces in lieu of a document shredder. You take the documents you wish to protect and put them in a plastic sack and drop in several feces. Attach an attention-getting label that says, "WARNING! CONTAINS FECES!" and identity thieves and document snoops will be significantly deterred. The effect is enhanced if you add some liquid to the bag. This increases the so-called "squick" factor. The technique has the advantage of saving the earth's ozone.

Well, back to the lab.

Good idea, but it probably won't work on my friends

 

[Grushenka]

I was going to post on this thread around about lunchtime.

I was going to say that I have a book in my care, that belongs to someone else and that I've lost contact with the man and would love to find him again-- not only to return the book, but to renew an old friendship.

His name is Joe Wheeler, and he's a whip braider. He taught me a few braiding techniques, back in the '90's, and we tried out a few other projects as well-- like brain tanning a horsehide, not recommended for the Inner City!

It occurred to me, while I was writing my post, to try google once more, since I haven't looked for him an about a half-year. And lookie! He is still alive and well, and putting a brand-new website together!

Not that any other woman here comes close, and all flirting aside, I need to say you are the most interesting woman I've come across online ever.

 

[Salvor-Hardon]

Not that any other woman here comes close, and all flirting aside, I need to say you are the most interesting woman I've come across online ever.

[threadjack]
If I ever find out Stella is passing through Atlanta, I full intend to snatch her away for a long lunch so that I can listen to her stories for hours, and to see the look on the server's face when they approach to hear her say something along the lines of "the hardest part of turning your own wooden dildoes on a lathe is resisting the urge to get really intricate with the scroll work. Scroll work will just tear your pussy to shreds."



[/threadjack]

 

[Stella_Omega]

Not that any other woman here comes close, and all flirting aside, I need to say you are the most interesting woman I've come across online ever.

I just like to try things out... We were looking for less-expensive sources of leather that would hold up to the stresses of whip-cracking... Chicago used to be the stockyards of America... There were still one or two scrappers left, and we made a kind of historical pilgrimage to the area. It was fascinating, and aromatic.

[threadjack]
If I ever find out Stella is passing through Atlanta, I full intend to snatch her away for a long lunch so that I can listen to her stories for hours, and to see the look on the server's face when they approach to hear her say something along the lines of "the hardest part of turning your own wooden dildoes on a lathe is resisting the urge to get really intricate with the scroll work. Scroll work will just tear your pussy to shreds."



[/threadjack]

For you, Salvor...

 

[CharleyH]

I'm fed up with lending books out and never getting them back.

I'm considering getting an "Ex Libris" stamp for my books. Does that make me snotty?

Personally? I only lend books I hope to never get back. What does that make me?