Sigh, I’ve been really neglecting this blog. Anyway, something non-bookish for a change but fun to read nonetheless! Happy Holidays.

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet
table knows nothing of the Holiday spirit. In fact, if you see
carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they’re serving rum
balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It’s rare.. You
cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who
cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It’s not as if
you’re going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It’s a
treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It’s later than you
think. It’s Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That’s the whole point of
gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of
your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they’re made with skim milk
or whole milk. If it’s skim, pass. Why bother? It’s like buying a
sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to
control your eating. The whole point of going to a Holiday party is
to eat other people’s food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New
Year’s. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do.
This is the time for long naps, which you’ll need after circling the
buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of
eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like
frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position
yourself near them and don’t budge. Have as many as you can before
becoming the center of attention. They’re like a beautiful pair of
shoes. If you leave them behind, you’re never going to see them
again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each.
Or if you don’t like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin.
Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one
dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it’s loaded with the
mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean,
have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don’t feel terrible when you leave the
party or get up from the table, you haven’t been paying attention.
Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the
corner.

Bookshelves often seem to burst. You always try to squeeze in another book into the last gap which is far too narrow. „Platzhalter“ gives in to force and makes space for more books by literally bursting. An initially hidden board stretches between the split halves and widens the usable surface. The more books you add to the shelf, the wider it opens. The classical rectangular shape turns into a V-shaped outline until the shelf reaches its defined limit.

Behold the ‘bursting’ bookshelf.

Personally, the design is not aesthetically pleasing but it sure is unique! (By the way, I’m not sure why the guy looks like he thinks the bookshelf is smelly.)

And what about this Book Porcupine? Looks messy but pretty darn cute! If I have a bookshop I’d use this to display last copy books as an appealing way to attract customers. Or if I were to put it in my room then I’d put the books waiting to be read, to make them look more enticing. Then again, I might not with the price tag of 950 pounds!

The photo above is so simple in its presence, just a bookcase in a non-descript room that you wouldn’t think much of it. It is the photo of the bookcase which swung out to cover the secret opening to the annex where Anne Frank’s family lived while in hiding from the Nazi’s.

It sure makes you think about bookcases differently.

Found this interesting bookshelf trivia via here.

Books smell so good, a hotel chain is spraying its hotel with a scent specially made to smell like books!

Book that scent
SONIA RAMACHANDRAN

What does a hotel smell like? A book apparently, much to the surprise of SONIA RAMACHANDRAN

WHAT captures the values of chic, culture and discovery? That was a question two young men had to grapple with when they were asked to design a scent for the Le Meridien hotel group.

Edouard Roschi and Fabrice Penot own Le Labo, a store that designs custom fragrances. A few months later, they came up with three fragrances inspired by French femininity, the Greenwich Meridian longitude and an antique book.

French femininity was inspired by the scent of old perfumes while the smell of being on a yacht crossing the sea was the inspiration for the Greenwich Meridian.

The book was chosen. Why a book?

“A book is a symbol of chic, culture and discovery. It could be a photography book about a country or a region or something. Obviously that can be chic and culture intensive. You can learn and discover things from books. If you are curious, you don’t have to travel. Just pick up a book and look at the pictures,” says Roschi.

Why did Le Meridien pick the scent of the book?

“The scent was designed to stimulate the guest experience by engaging in memory and emotions through the sense of smell. The construction and shape of LM01 was inspired by the Earth’s meridian lines as a nod to the origin of Le Méridien’s name.

“The scent was chosen to reflect one of the books as this was close to our core values of culture and art in the widest sense,” says Le Meridien and W Hotels Worldwide Global Brand Leader Eva Ziegler.

Since Le Merdien was founded in 1972 by Air France, Roschi and Penot took a very old copy of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Le Petit Prince (the author was a pilot too), and analysed the rich smell of the book.

“We used that as the platform. We added things to the perfume because the smell of the book was too regressive, too clamouring,” says Roschi.

He says they liked the idea of taking a copy of the book to be analysed. “The book was about five years old and it smelled like old paper,” he says.

“Le Petit Prince is such a French symbol and is read to kids and adults alike. It’s about travelling but it is about travelling in a very surreal way.”

Wouldn’t an old book smell musty?

“The original smell is musty — it’s oak moss and smells like mould, like a humid cupboard. That wasn’t enough to make an interesting and engaging perfume so we made it sweeter with amber, vanilla, jasmine and gave it personality with iris.”

The best part, adds Roschi, is that it actually smells like what it is supposed to do.

How does it make a guest feel?

“It starts with you leaving the taxi, bus or whatever you came in to the hotel. You’re struck by the visual welcome and then you are transformed, experiencing something more intimate, more the Meridien experience and the scent adds to that experience.

“You don’t necessarily know why, but at the end of the day you realise that there is a specific smell to the reception, to the welcoming experience. It’s not necessarily something that makes you to say, ‘Oh, that is a nice smell’. People will not just say that. They will say, ‘Oh, it is a nice smell but…’. It’s memorable, sometimes it’s bizarre.

“I think a lot of people will stop and say ‘it’s nice but what does it smell of?’. You can’t describe it in one word. That’s what we wanted as well — to stop and engage people’s curiosity.That is what the new Meridien inspires,” says Roschi.

I’ve featured book scent products here before, so not a new thing in the online market. If only perfume companies would make one for the mass market now!

That’s how reading is described on this T-shirt.

Hilarious! I’d love to wear that.

Another crazy site is this one called Everything But the Books. Name is self-explanatory.

This is a Cadbury book biscuit tin. And below is a lawyer book lamp.

I’m not a kid but I sure wouldn’t mind having this rug in my room.

Lots of great kids furniture here at All Children’s Furniture, especially the book-loving ones. There’s even one for the big boys: a Harley-Davidson bookend.

Interesting use of words to describe what being a mum is all about!

Just a Mum?

A WOMAN, renewing her driver’s licence at the county clerk’s office,

was asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation.

She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.

“What I mean is,” explained the recorder, “do you have a job or are you just a …?’’

“Of course I have a job,’’ snapped the woman. “I’m a Mum.’’

“We don’t list ‘Mum’ as an occupation, ‘housewife’ covers it,’’ said the recorder emphatically.

I forgot all about that story until one day when I found myself in the same situation, this time at my town hall. The clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient, and possessed of a high-sounding title like “Official Interrogator’’ or “Town Registrar”.

“What is your occupation?’’ she probed.

What made me say it? I do not know. The words simply popped out.

“I’m a research associate in the field of child development and human relations.’’

The clerk paused, ball-point pen frozen in midair and looked up as though she had not heard right.

I repeated the title slowly, emphasising the most significant words.

Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written, in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.

“Might I ask,’’ said the clerk with new interest, “just what you do in your field?”

Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply, “I have a continuing programme of research (what mother doesn’t) in the laboratory and in the field, (normally I would have said indoors and out).

I’m working for my Masters, (first the Lord and then the whole family) and already have four credits (all daughters).

“Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities (any mother care to disagree?), and I often work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it).

“But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are more of satisfaction rather than just money.’’

There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk’s voice as she completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door.

As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants – ages 13, seven and three.

Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model, a six-month- old baby, in the child development programme, testing out a new vocal pattern.

I felt I had scored a beat on bureaucracy! And I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than “just another Mum’’.

Motherhood! What a glorious career. Especially when there’s a title on the door.

I recently bought a book jacket after stumbling upon it while browsing at a chain bookstore. It was very expensive at RM29.90, in my opinion. However, I love books and accessories to do with them are hard to find in Malaysia, other than bookmarks. Besides, I like the floral pattern so it didn’t take too long to have me convinced that I want this.

This is how it looks like open flat on the outside. It is meant to fit standard paperback-sized books. As paperback books have different sizes, this jacket only fits the smaller or medium-sized ones, not the bigger ones. As I mostly buy paperbacks and I prefer the smaller versions, this jacket fits many books on my bookshelf.

This is how it looks like open flat on the inside. On the left side the flap is sewn up, but on the right side the flap is adjustable according to the book’s size. The elastic bands help to hold the flap in place. The diagonal ribbon in the middle is a designated bookmark.

This is how it looks like when the book jacket is wrapping a book. Initially, I thought this is an innovative but impractical idea, as the flimsy cover of the paperback might be damaged from being wrapped by the cloth book jacket. Which is true to an extent – this is not something you want to use with a brand new paperback or a book you greatly cherish. I’m currently using the jacket on a book borrowed from a library.

The longer I use it, though, the more fond I am of it. The flap makes the book cover slightly heavier and it helps in keeping the book open slightly better. Also, it is great for keeping bits and pieces of paper – I’m always keeping notes in my books, whether it’s a shopping list or a to-do list. And it does protect the book in some ways. For instance, I don’t have to worry about wet surfaces. The book jacket is machine washable, of course.

The book jacket is made by Positive Ideas and they have a website here, but it seems to be down at the moment. It’s a local company that makes cute gifts, like bookmarks and notepads and the like.

Would you buy a book jacket?

I recently went to Ikea and I’m so in love with the limited edition Billy bookcases – the black one.

I have two Flarke bookcases in my room. I chose those over Billy because they are cheaper at RM99 each, unlike Billy which costs RM185 for the normal ones and over RM200 for the limited edition.

Ikea is celebrating 30 years of Billy the bookcase. You can read about it at BBC and Guardian.

Not all is nice and lovely with Billy bookcase, as this piece of news reveals that the factory in Sweden that has been making Billy bookcases will be shut down for a cheaper version in Slovakia.

You can see how people furnish their Billy bookcases on Flickr.

Billy the bookcase is out of my budget currently – not to mention out of my room space – so I’m settling for Laiva bookcase that costs RM75. Would have got one the day I went to Ikea but they were sold out of it.

Well, that’s what this award seems to insinuate to me, heh.

• Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.
• Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.
• Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.
• Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we’ll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!
• Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

It was given to me by a long-time book blog buddy, Josette, whose blog I enjoy visiting because she and I have pretty similar tastes in books. I often see reviews of books that I have read myself; it is fun to read her thoughts on the books and compare that to mine.

So it is a big honour to receive this award from Josette! Considering I hardly blog these days. I really should pick it back up. Anyway, thank you Josette!

I now pass this award on to:

MusEditions – one of my longer blog friends who writes beautifully on subject matters that make you sit back and think for a bit. Now that’s what I call superior scribbles!

Lovelyloey – she thinks she’s superior to most people, so I can’t not give this award to her already. And since I plan to visit her in Singapore soon, maybe this will give me some brownie points, lol!

This awards ceremony abruptly ends because I have no other book blog buddies to pass this award on to. Anyone wants to be my book blog buddy?

Another personal library kit. This is better than the one I previously posted about.

Oh, this would be a great diet motivation sweater! Well, in concept, at least. The site has also other awesome bookish tops, sigh.

And how cute is this Booxstore? (Great name for a bookshop!) Organise your stuff in boxes that looks like books. Put them on a shelf and they’ll probably be mistaken as a bookshelf. Perfect for non-bookworms or what? I just happen to be a bookworm and love to organise stuff in boxes, so this is beyond perfect for me.

A short and sweet poem that echoes what I feel about reading, taken from here.

Everyday I read,
I see the world through someone else’s eyes.

Everyday I read,
I learn, feel, and experience something new.

Everyday I read,
I live a life I might not have otherwise known.

Everyday I read,
I learn to refine, and redefine myself, my beliefs and my ideas.

Everyday I read,
I see the changes in history, I see what stays the same. I feel a love for humanity and sometimes I feel shame.

Everday I read,
I laugh and a cry with a family that is not mine, but one I am still connected to.

Everyday I read,
I learn to be brave, to be inspired and most of all, to always stop and appreciate all the wonder that surrounds me.

Nari