Books by the Bed

Last night I attacked the heap of books that had accumulated next to my bed. This is a task that happens every 4-6 months. I do it when I realize that I have now read most of what was there, so back to the bookshelves with the read stuff, and then I browse the shelves and put a couple of new items on the floor. Of course I sweep first. Eventually it will be a heap again.

Some books stay. I keep two historical atlases (one world history, one medieval history) next to the bed all the time. Wild Swans is still there because I've got about 2 1/2 chapters left. So is the stack of short stories that Amilynne gave out at Christmas (what a great gift). I'm only halfway through it. There's also a study by a professor in my mom's department about how current education trends have ruined one neighborhood school in Texas. (Teaching is scary business--no one, espeically if they're in power, trusts you to know how to do your job.)

Sometimes (like this time) I find a borrowed book. A copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Italian, which one of my professors loaned me and which I really must return before the class I'm taking from her ends this summer. (Incidentally, in Italian they have translated "muggles" as "Babbani." Strange word, so's the English one.)

I put my Billy Collins books (all of them) on the shelves, but that will be shortlived, as I have ordered others from Amazon and they will be here soon, so I'll need the old ones back out to compare them with.

I could honestly not buy a new book for a year and still have more than plenty of reading material here. But that won't happen. Book shopping is fun!

Anyway, that's the report. The floor is open now, waiting for a new heap to form.

Justice for All

If criminals get a state appointed lawyer to represent them, then I should get a state appointed accountant to file my taxes. I don't see why I should have to pay anyone to compute my taxes for me if people don't have to pay for lawyers when they're hauled into court. I am just as bad at crunching numbers as the average joe would be defending himself in the face of a prosecutor. I should be protected from myself at tax time.

Here's the story. Last night I was working on taxes and I was NOT happy with the result. I knew that I should get more money back than it said, but I couldn't make it work. Tonight I'm going back over it, and BAM there it is: I forgot to figure in my exemption.

What kind of an idiot forgets to figure in an exemption? It's right there on line 42. And the sad part is, I knew that something like that should be there, and I read over the form several times, and I still did not see the blank for the exemption. The IRS cannot make forms easy, no matter how hard they try, and people like me who suffer from an aversion to numbers should not have to face our worst fears by demonstrating our numeracy prowess for an IRS auditor.

Rally with me! Cry out with me! Let us make our voices heard! No taxation without representation (by an accountant)!