i'm sure it's been said in the finer print

One of my projects when I'm not working on the circulation desk has been sorting thousands of juvenile library card applications. As I sort them, I'm writing each child's birthdate in sharpie on the side of app for easy reference once I get them filed. For hours at a time, I am writing dates over and over. It has made me consider how I write my numbers, and I've decided to make some changes. Instead of making a 2 the curly way, I'm going back to the right-side-of-a-heart-and-horizontal-line version that I learned in grade school. Instead of a totally round 3, I'm switching to one with an angular top half. And 8's are no longer a continuous squiggle on the page; I'm making two deliberate circles, the top slightly smaller than the bottom, like a snowman.

Changes in handwriting seem to signify something important, like a sudden maturation. I can still remember when I decided, in high school, to start writing my a's the way they looked in type, with the extra little bit up top. It was a mini-makeover; I felt older and smarter the next time I wrote a sentence.

It's business as usual over here. I love the library. I'm happy and entertained and have been running lately, which feels great. I'll be in NYC this weekend to visit The Preacher (not really a preacher, just a code name). I've got no clue what I'm doing for Thanksgiving, but I'd be happy to simply curl up on the couch and read the armfuls of books I've checked out, or watch indie movies 'til I run out of microwave popcorn.