Back in an Jealous Rage

It's been nice to take some time off from blogging - to reclaim a portion of my inner thoughts - I may do it more often.  I find that when I blog less I write in my journal more (one of my favorite things to do).  I'm sure I'll find a balance.  

I will get to posting about our wonderful Christmas and New Years, but I just had to confront my growing jealousy before it got out of hand... I just started reading "The People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks and I'm only at page 10, but I think I'll really like it.  It is about an ancient manuscript and its travels through history as told by the ephemera found in its spine by book conservator, Hanna Heath.  That's all I know about it.  But when, on page 4, Hannah described her conservators lab, down to the wheat paste and linen threads, I was seized with what (embarrassingly) is best described as uncontrollable jealously - for her tools, her job, her knowledge and her skills.  Is that the dumbest thing? ...also, she's not real.

This happens to me when I read about books.  I have also been reading "A Gentle Madness" about eccentric book collectors and collections and as much I as am LOVING it I am also always slightly put off when I put the book down.

And here's why.  I'm jealous that they have so much more and so much cooler knowledge than me.  I want Hannah Health's studio and I'd like to work for some organization that would fly me across the world to repair their manuscripts collection.  I wish my skills were good enough to have earned that studio.  I wish I  recognized all of the volumes that crazy Mr. So and So had purchased at an estate sale last winter and why they are important in the book collecting world.    

But it's a good jealously.  Its what convinces me that reading "Dahl's History of the Book" is more important than frittering away the afternoon....blogging...   But I'm only 26 with lots of traveling and learning  ahead of me.