composite drawlings: How to Keep a Nerd Out of Trouble

My family has a habit of collecting books. I get this from the distaff side, since Pop buys his history books, reads them, uses the data for his fun activities on the internet and touring, and then gives the books to the local college library, where he used to teach and I once attended a class or two. (I suspect, therefore, that my alma mater has the best Civil War and WWII selection of any school its size.)

Meanwhile, The Bat and I amass volumes. Between us, we managed to fill the pantry and kitchen with over a thousand cookbooks, and quite a few craft and art manuals. The downside to this is, one can never quite recall on short notice where a certain article or recipe is, and, if one does find it, one has to worry about smudging the pages or breathing in large volumes of accumulated allergens (yes, I have a dust allergy).

So, while my health is still fairly good, I decided to do something about both issues. Page by page, I'm putting the Bat's and my libraries into a digital form and storing it outside the house, in an online cache. I have a scanner, I have an internet connection (such as it is) and I'm not afraid to use it. This means stirring up all that dust, and even some mildew, so that all I will need for reference will be a phone or tablet.

I'm making myself sick for the greater good. Or, at least, for my own future well-being and comfort. I'm not sure how much of what I scan will fall into the category of public domain, so most will be stored behind internet walls. I hope to share my favorite pages with anybody who surfs into one of my public blogs, though.

Besides the books, though, we have several ring-binder notebooks filled with pockets, each filled with loose-leaf projects, recipes, etc.

Like this one.