the imponderabilia of actual life

"...there is a series of phenomena of great importance which cannot possibly be recorded by questioning or computing documents, but have to be observed in their full actuality. Let us call them the imponderabilia of actual life. Here belong such things as the routine of a man's working day, the details of his care of the body, of the manner of taking food and preparing it, and of passing sympathies and dislikes between people; the subtle yet unmistakable manner in which personal vanities and ambitions are reflected in the behaviour of the individual and in the emotional reactions of those who surround him."
Bronislaw Malinowski, Argonauts of the Western Pacific pp. 18-19.

Paged through, measured, and cleaned ten volumes of BU Board minutes and letters dating from 1852 to the 1890s. Bizarre now that I think of it. Thought we were founded in 1855... I'll have to double check the dates Tuesday. The handwriting can be hard to decifer. In the 1800s they would copy letters by placing tissue paper over the still wet ink. That's basically what I'm working with: whisper thin, barely legible, and to be honest, disgusting. Anyone who thinks that old books are romantic hasn't left work brushing red rot off their clothing.

Red leather-bound books have this habit of crumbling into bits after several decades. The binding takes on a suede-y feel and covers everything it touches in a rust/clay-like residue. Gross. I applied some-or-another cleaning agent to the affected volumes with a sponge brush. Spake Sally: "You know, we usually only do this outside during summer time." Me: "Oh?" Sally, indicating the jar of clear, noxious smelling gel: "Yeah. This stuff will get you high as a kite."

Needless to say, my work was punctuated by barely suppressed giggling fits, and my walk home was more entertaining than it should have been. Small, fervid, and fast moving creatures are really not that funny, no matter how great their ratio of body to limb mass may be.

So there you have it. A day in the life.

In other news, I'm an asshole. Genuine misunderstandings in both instances, but still. Would that I had the grace to rectify my own social blunders. But if that were the case I wouldn't be here, would I?