September 24, 2010

52books:

The smell of e-books just got better

Does your Kindle leave you feeling like there’s something missing from your reading experience?

Have you been avoiding e-books because they just don’t smell right?

If you’ve been hesitant to jump on the e-book bandwagon, you’re not alone. Book lovers everywhere have resisted digital books because they still don’t compare to the experience of reading a good old fashioned paper book.

But all of that is changing thanks to Smell of Books™, a revolutionary new aerosol e-book enhancer.

Now you can finally enjoy reading e-books without giving up the smell you love so much. With Smell of Books™ you can have the best of both worlds, the convenience of an e-book and the smell of your favorite paper book.

Smell of Books™ is compatible with a wide range of e-reading devices and e-book formats and is 100% DRM-compatible. Whether you read your e-books on a Kindle or an iPhone using Stanza, Smell of Books™ will bring back that real book smell you miss so much.

I know this is for the lulz, so to speak, but I am very aware of the sense of smell as a valuable way of receiving input from the world. I’m also obsessed with the smells and textures of papers and aggregated papers, e.g. books. I have an annoying habit of tapping books when I’m reading and idly pressing buttons when I’m using technology. There’s no smell equivalent for technology though (I mean, besides Smell of Books, obvi). NOT TO COME ACROSS AS WEIRD OR ANYTHING.

September 11, 2010

I just moved to California. Things I like: more diverse food options, more extensive library collection, inoffensive if repetitive weather, being employed.

Things I miss: (deciduous) trees, simple roads with none of them fancy lights/sidewalks/multiple lanes, ShopRite, the sound of crickets and frogs and all manner of critters at night, feeling like I’m home.

July 7, 2009

A house in California. I think I would freak out if some random person posted an awkward drawing of my house online. But also, I worry too much.

I drew this with a Pilot G2 pen. I generally like runny-ink pens and the G2 is supposed to be a good pen, but I do not understand why. The ink doesn’t flow smoothly and I have a harder time achieving any sort of subtlety. I used to have some non-retractable pens (the Pilot precise, probably V5) that I bought from Walmart or wherever, and they were pretty good. I guess if I want to be real artsy-farsty I could invest in Microns or something, but I don’t generally worry about “unparalleled archival quality” and the like.

October 19, 2008

Went to the Animation Show of Shows, which was a showing of eleven short animated films. My favorites:

• La Maison en Petits Cubes by Kunio Kato: An old man lives in a little house on the water. As the water level rises, he builds new rooms on top of his house and moves into them. One day he scuba-dives down through the rooms below and relives his memories. Likes: the quaint, grainy, drawing-based aesthetic; the underwater cube-house as a storytelling device; the lack of words; the emotion/mood.
• Kudan by Taku Kimura: A man who doesn’t pay much attention to his toddler son discovers a spirit world where plant-like things, small boxy creatures, and a Grim reaper determine the lives and deaths of humans. When their lives are threatened, the man tries to save his son and learns about communication. Likes: heartwarming/cute-ness, crazy sci-fi-ish spirit world, humor.
• Skhizein by Jeremy Clapin: Henri is hit by a meteorite and is knocked 91 cm off from the world. He has a hard time dealing. Likes: color scheme and general aesthetic, use of stars and space images, Henri’s patterned wallpaper and use of chalk to make measurements, emotion.