Regulars

As predicted, I sit here once again in the library with the Jons, Ronald and Hank. Oh, Hank. I'm going to stray from movies today though, partially because I already looked and found nothing of interest, but mostly because I think I could be more productive with my time. So instead of grabbing Brokeback Mountain like Jon does on a weekly basis, I decided two things. First, to start broadening my horizons musically by listening to the library's jazz CD collection, and second to replace the DVDs I check out with books. The fruits: I'm listening to Count Basie's Greatest Hits right now and have two books for later tonight, one by Vonnegut and another by Lovecraft. Suggestions would be appreciated, as my scope of books is mostly limited to sci-fi and fantasy thanks to my older brother.

On average I've spent probably 25-30 hours a week in the library over the past couple of months. You definitely start to notice the regulars at that point, and my favorite is probably the petite library clerk with the thin goatee. Always clad in khakis, he walks around with a magnified sense of purpose although the only thing I've ever heard him say is "The library is closing now, please clean up your things" in a nasally voice. A close second is confused Asian woman that wears a hat. Sometimes I watch her for a few minutes at a time, and all she really does is walk around, sit at a computer or desk for a few minutes, then get up and walk around aimlessly, all the while looking like she's waiting for someone or something. And who could forget the guy that's the spitting image of Santa Clause if Santa only had one arm. Maybe the Elves revolted against low wages and unrealistic production quotas. To cap it off, there's also the prim woman in the neat pant suit and a guy that I dubbed "the mutterer," who is insane.

So that got me thinking about retirement and what the hell people do with all that free time. Is frequenting the library simply a time-killer? Me, I apparently kill time by blogging about random things, but this is bearable because I know I'm going to be back in school next August. Sure I know that the grass is always greener on the other side, and that once school starts I'm going to be ripping my hair out.

Ideally, you've got a lot more disposable income, 401k's and are tapping into the social security system, so there's an easier avenue to do things you want: travel, eat at expensive restaurants and buying a mid-life crisis Corvette/Harley. The biggest factor might be the natural mellowing-out with age, so maybe wandering around aimlessly in the library with a hat is just a tootin' afternoon for some. No one likes to picture their golden years like that, but I guess not everyone's Jack effing LaLanne.

Tidbits:
-Harrington wants out of Golden State after Nellie just made him a captain? Fine, but he better be traded for a legit starting PG because our little tagteam of Nelson, Williams and Watson is pretty shoddy.
-Why would high school kids come to the library as much as they do? Is Monta Vista turning that much more competitive? I know we sure as hell didn't study in the library back then... but I don't remember doing much studying at all anyway.