Oh god, I read a mystery last night where Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy were detectives. It was so distressing. It was written okay, but the characterizations we so wrong, and the plot way over the top, and the historical anachronisms...

I did not write in the margins, though.

(I've written 1 paragraph!)

You should point and exclaim, "Ooh - what's that interesting thing over there?" Then run away in the opposite direction.

Ha! I don't even need to do that. There's seriously no one in my chain of command in the office. My minion, boss, and boss's boss are all out of the office, and that's it. Four out of six senior managers are out. Half of my department is out.

somehow the magic power of yellow would make them remember everything.

I love this. So true. If you highlight everything, what's the point?

I found that I remembered things best if I copied over my notes from a lecture-heavy class ASAP after the class was done. It gave me easier-to-read notes, and burned the info into my head better than the first time around.

The house we're buying has a very high level of radon. Anyone here ever dealt with radon mitigation? How much does it cost to fix? Will it give us cancer?

Radon significantly increases the chance of getting lung cancer.

Mitigation is usually $1,000-$3,000, depending on the way the house is constructed house. I seem to recall that the house has a basement, which may add to the cost.

The "we don't need no sticking libraries" guy needs to be run over repeatedly with a library cart. Public libraries have been an essential part of the American dream. People cannot pull themselves up by their bootstraps unless they actually have bootstraps, and in this country, public education and public libraries for self-education have been bootstraps for many people. Look at Richard Wright's description in Black Boy about his struggle and conniving to get access to the library. I doubt if I would have survived high school without the library.

Also, as others have said, the branch nearest me has computers, a big meeting room, a book club, film showings, books on tape and large-print books.

I cannot write in books. Under extreme duress, I can make pencil stars in the margin next to something important or make a light pencil underline. I love the Post-It products.

I love the Post-It products.

Except, if the NYU librarians are to be believed, Post-Its are really not good for books.

I found that I remembered things best if I copied over my notes from a lecture-heavy class ASAP after the class was done. It gave me easier-to-read notes, and burned the info into my head better than the first time around.

Did your system involve recopying your notes with different colored pens?

I sometimes wondered why I bothered to highlight when I was reading a text right before an exam, because it's not like I was planning to go back to it. But I think it still had its benefits as a study tool, because the act of marking the text made me read it more slowly and therefore absorb more information.

Post-Its are really not good for books.

You can't leave them in too long, because they start to become more permanent. I pull them all out after a project.

I sometimes wondered why I bothered to highlight when I was reading a text right before an exam, because it's not like I was planning to go back to it. But I think it still had its benefits as a study tool, because the act of marking the text made me read it more slowly and therefore absorb more information.

Thereby looping this conversation right back to the beginning and making Kristin's point!