9.19.2007

If Libraries Worked the Way I Think

Most people who know me will attest to the fact that I am an extremely visual thinker. Give me a concept, a social theory, a political process, an equation (you get the gist), and my first instinct will be to draw it. (At some point, I will share a thought process for a paper with you that will speak to this.) I do programming for a professor at school, and need to draw diagrams of what I want the programs to do to my data before I write a word. I also remember things by color and shape. To me, different colors have a different feeling (not unusual), and the shape of numbers, and letters to a lesser extent, dictates their characters - 7, for example, is very sharp and curt, 8 is friendly and open, much like 0 (kind of unusual). Suffice it to say that if everything were organized by color (grocery stores, libraries, city blocks, etc.), then I would never lead wild goose chases trying to find a great restaurant, because I'd know to go to the brown block.
I don't remember where I came up with this idea (probably Domino or Blueprint), but when we got back from our honeymoon, I decided to organize our bookshelves by color. I'll post pics this weekend. Then look what pops up around the blogosphere just days ago!
This is from How About Orange: (via Superhero)
And the Craft Magazine blog also has a post about organizing your books by color and shares this great pic:


(This image is from chotda in the Rainbow of Books flickr group.)
I can't wait to get pictures up to share- look for some this weekend. In the meantime, pull your books off their shelves and get down to the dirty work of organizing them by color- it's great fun, and will force you to look at your books in a whole new light. Enjoy!

1 comment:

elizabeth said...

Hey, M.
I'm only able to see the first picture. The others have unhappy red xs :(
Also, how cruel to taunt us with the promise of professional wedding photos. I think you ought to call Randy and tell her to get in gear.
-Speck