expeditions and awards

Today I went and visited my uncle, who owns an online used bookstore. Basically, he buys books by the thousands from charities like Goodwill and Salvation Army, sorts through them for the resellable ones, and lists them on Amazon. But that leaves him with tons of books he doesn't want, and I have an open invitation to come rummage through the giant bins. So that's what I did today.

Sadly, I didn't find anything really amazing. There were some interesting bits of ephemera, like some little Chinese-language children's books that look to be from the early 60s. I've found some real gems in the past-- my favorites are 20's and 30's children's books with gorgeous illustrations-- and I didn't turn up anything like that today. But I'll try again another day, and maybe I'll have better luck! (And if any DC-area folks are interested, I'd love to have a book-hunting buddy!)



In other news, Kate was sweet enough to nominate me for a One Lovely Blog award! I'm sort of intrigued by the way this works. It's a bit like the memes I'm used to from LJ fandom, but it operates more like a chain letter, where you specifically pass it on to new people. I had some fun following the award backwards up the chain-- it actually jumped from fashion blogs to book blogs before I lost the trail! I'm really curious now about who started this meme, and what sort of blog they had. I wonder if they know it's still going.

Anyway, here's how it works. The conditions that come along with this award are:

1. Accept the award. Post it on your blog along with the name of the person who awarded it along with a link to their blog.
2. Pay it forward to 15 other bloggers that you have recently discovered.
3. Contact those bloggers and let them know they've been chosen.

Here are my picks:

1. green gable
2. a l'allure garçonniére
3. coffee and a cardigan
4. renr
5. bow ties are cool
6. thrift. nest. sew.
7. one pearl button
8. diversions
9. what would a nerd wear
10. oranges and apples

Okay, I don't know if I can come up with 15! Plus, there's the whole social anxiety thing that comes from commenting on a bunch of new blogs. I swear, I get as nervous about commenting somewhere for the first time as I do about meeting new people in person! (Yes, I am aware this is crazypants of me. That's why they call it *irrational* anxiety.)