Sticky tape and post-its

I’m an office slash art supply junkie, and I must confess that whenever I hit the bookstore,I spend as much time in the supplies section as I do browsing books. And I end up carting out a bagful of supplies I don’t actually need — from yet another set of soft paintbrushes, or a new set of markers, or a nifty paper cutter — but I can’t seem to help myself!

Two supplies I really need to constantly replenish, however, are sticky tape (I’m partial to the Tartan brand) and post-its. I use, maybe, a roll of sticky tape a week for covering books (of course, I also use plastic cover), removing sticky price tags, and other random tasks (taping down a half-eaten bag of chips, labeling items in the fridge — I scrawl on the tape with a marker, etc), while I use post-its for marking passages I like in the books I’m reading and making notes about them, as well as putting up everyday reminders on my computer station at the office.

I write about sticky tape and post-its because I just read two books about them: Transparent Tape: Over 350 Super, Simple, and Surprising Uses You’ve Probably Never Thought Of by Vicki Lansky, and the Post-it book Ideas that Stick: 222 Ingenious, Creative, Practical, and Simply Preposterous Ways of Using Post-it Notes.

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MIBF 2010: The Loot

I’m tired but I’m grinning like a bandit, because I made off with a lot of loot on the last day of the Manila International Book Fair, making up for the odd book I was able to squeeze in during the first days of the event.

The five days of the book fair was quite crazy for me, because aside from my work at the book fair, I also had work for all of the co-located events happening in the function rooms on top of the exhibit hall, and with one event opening every day it took all of my energy just to keep up with the schedule. I didn’t even have as many photos of this year’s book fair as I did last year; I simply didn’t have the time!

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Day One at MIBF 2010


Just got home from the first day of the 31st Manila International Book Fair. The opening day always goes by in a flurry for me (most of the work is concentrated on this day), but I know a lot of you are waiting for updates so I’m doing a Day One post so you can get a feel of this year’s book fair.

I’m sorry I don’t have a lot of photos for day 1, I didn’t have much time to go around or browse — I only managed to pick up a bunch of books half an hour before closing, imagine! In general the rough guide I posted yesterday doesn’t miss the mark, but I’ll list down the promos (that I remember from today) in this post.

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The Rough Guide to the 31st Manila International Book Fair

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of activity, and before I knew it, voila — it’s now the eve of the opening of the much-awaited Manila International Book Fair, the biggest book event in the country!

Now I know a lot of you have been waiting for the rough guide to this year’s book fair like the one I posted last year. A bit of the background — the nature of my work requires me to attend the Manila International Book Fair year after year (contrary to popular belief I  don’t actually get to shop until the last few days!), and this is the sixth year running now. While I generally make my rounds, I do have some top picks for the must-see booths.

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Those pesky price stickers

stick

Some people like to keep the price tags on their books to remind them of the book’s provenance. I’m  not one of them.

Aside from being  a compulsive plastic coverer (I can’t read a book that has not been covered in protective plastic), I’m a price sticker remover, and whenever I buy a new book my nails automatically itch to scrape off the price sticker. It just drives me crazy.

The problem is most price stickers are awfully sticky, and peeling them off takes forever, especially when the adhesive is so sticky that you can’t peel the sticker off as a whole (bookstores, please, do something about this!) and ten minutes later you’re left with a smudgy, sticky mess. It’s also annoying when the price sticker eats into the cover, leaving you with an ugly squarish patch (which is a regular occurence at my favorite bargain bookstore), or lifts some of the gloss from a brand new book.

Because I keep my nails short, they don’t offer much leverage when picking at price stickers, especially the really stubborn ones that refused to budge. So eventually I had to resort to other removal procedures.

Here are are two methods I use to remove price stickers.

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