The Amazing Upside-Down Backwards Book!

   A couple of days before Christmas, I was in the Indigo store in north London, looking for a book/gift for Doralyn.

   I had nothing particular in mind and was simply looking at book covers for anything which sounded interesting and possibly something she might like.

   I found myself staring down at the cover of a book called "The End of Men--And the Rise of Women", by Hanna Rosin. This sounded intriguing, so I picked the first copy off the shelf and opened it up.

   Everything on the inside was upside down!

   My first thought was well, this is what they mean by the end of men--men won't be able to read this. Out of curiosity, though, I picked up a few more copies and they were all conventional. I realized, then, that I had something different on my hands.

   At this point, I thought I would simply turn it upside down and read it that way.

   When I did this though, I discovered that not only was it upside down, it was backwards!

   What you needed to do was go to the "back" of the book and read it in the opposite direction. Essentially, what had happened was that the wrong side of the pages got bound together

   Okay, this disoriented and really screwed me up for a little while til I was able to wrap my head around the process, which basically didn't happen til much later.

   It also greatly excited me! I actually ended up buying two copies of the book (you're welcome, Hannah!) so I could take them home for comparison. I also couldn't help but show it off to the total strangers around me in Indigo. The salesclerk actually offered to sell it to me cheaper but I was too excited for that, and paid full price.

   I wrapped both books as a gift for Doralyn and we spent a lot of time showing it off to the Christmas company for the next few days. At this point, nether of us has had much of an opportunity to sit down and read anything, let alone an upside-down-backwards book, but the couple of pages I have managed to look at seem quite interesting.

   Just need to decide whether I'm going to read it frontwards or backwards!
        

Things I've Seen Other People Doing That I Would Really Like To Do

   
   I occasionally come across other people absorbed in whatever they happen to be doing at the time, whether it's maybe work-related or not, and I find myself thinking   "Hmm...that looks like something I might enjoy!" Generally, this is a pretty wide variety of things and probably not even the types of things that other people might find cool or interesting, but I'm gonna list them for you anyway....

1. Talking through a headset with a microphone
     I always think this looks sorta cool and fun! I'm talking about phone receptionists, air traffic controllers, gamers, big box store employees, police, and those kinds of people. I want to be free to use my hands and still talk to people at the same time. They also kind of look like they're in charge, you know what I mean?

2. Using that electronic inventory gun
     

I want to be the person walking around the store, shooting that little gun at things!

3. Using a hydration vest

      I think it's cool when I see runners and athletes wearing hydration vests---it means they're not just out for a run, they're out for a long run...

4. Wearing a hard hat
      Along with this, you could also include construction boots and a reflective safety vest. Hard hats are cool, I think, because they symbolize pretty well everything that I'm not.

5. Coaching goalies

     I've played a lot of goal over the years and have a pretty analytical mind. I've also had to handle a lot of my own playing "demons", so I have this strong feeling I could help other goalies.

6.

Do a "one man show" 
     Okay, I have no idea what kind of a"one man show" I'm talking about, but I want to walk around on a stage somewhere talking to and interacting with a group of people. I don't want a script or anything, I just want to get up there! And if I could wear a hard hat and a headset at the same time, that would be awesome!

7. Head to the mountains on a writing retreat

     What is it about the mountains?! There's a place in Banff which offers retreats for writers and artists and I kinda lust after that! Now, I've never actually seen anyone doing this, so maybe it shouldn't be part of the list...

8.

Being the "slow" and "stop" traffic signal person
     Okay, kind of a no-brainer here, you get to wear a hard hat, reflective vest and maybe even carry a walkie-talkie---all pretty cool things!

9. Ballet

     Or quite a lot of other types of dance, there's just something about the athleticism of it all which intrigues me. Some of my friends will say, "I knew it all along!"

10.

Someone ending a list at #10 
       I've seen many people end a list at #10 and I think this is awesome!