Miklb's Mindless Ramblings

I’m horrible when it comes to reading books and novels. I think it stems from when I began cooking professionally and worked a crazy amount of hours, leaving me with very little free time. What free time I did have was either spent in a bar, or reading cookbooks and trade publications to further my knowledge base. However, it also meant I got away from reading fiction in any form. Today, my reading is solely relegated to reading online, and non-fiction for the most part.

This summer however, that changes. I’m not even sure how I came across it, but a few people put together the idea of collectively reading ( a book club if you will) Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace. Infite Summer is really a brilliant idea, and just another example of some of the great things about the internet and “social media”.

I’ll be reading along with everyone else, as well as with my fiancée. We ordered our copies a few weeks ago, and it’s been tough to not get started, but one of the premises of Infinite Summer is 75 pages a week, with discussion along the way (the book is 1000 pages, which is how the 75 pages a week idea came about—breaking the book into digestible chunks). The site will have guest writers as well as a forum, so I really wanted to follow the guide. The reading is to start Sunday, which brings me to the whole point of this post.

The “official” schedule was posted on Monday, that is, what page number corresponded with each ending week. It also will mark the cut off for “spoilers”. Nothing beyond that page will be discussed in the posts or in the general discussion area. They followed up with a post How to Read Infinite Jest, which recommends using bookmarks, several of them.

So I got the idea to make bookmarks. My fianceé was looking for a way to save the schedule without having to check back to the website, so I figured putting it on the bookmark would be convenient. A quick Google search turned up Stephen LeQuier’s 2009 Photoshop calendar template. A few modifications later, along with some simple graphics to match the Infinite Summer logo (which itself is a play on one of the edition’s cover), and I had myself a handy bookmark.

I’ll be the first to say I’m not a print designer (some would argue I’m not a designer at all), so apologies in advance if the quality isn’t the finest. My printer is in need of ink, so I’ve only done some tests to make sure the size would be OK. But I’m thinking that printed on some heavy paper or card stock would be sufficient to allow them to last the 3 months they’ll be in use.

I’m offering 2 downloads, both in .pdf format. A single version that might be able to be opened in PS with the layers intact, and a version with 5 on it. Why 5? Well, the guide to reading suggests multiple bookmarks, and well, I was able to fit 5 on a page.

Anyway, perhaps others will find them useful.

Download the single bookmark file..

Download the multiple bookmark file.

If you have any problems with the download, or the .pdf, leave a comment and I can see about offering other formats like .jpg.

Oh, and if you haven’t already planned to join the Infinite Summer, it’s not too late to get to the book store and read along with the rest of us.

UPDATE Matthew contacted me and reminded me that in the reading guide, there’s a pivotal point in the book on page 223. (No, I followed the guide and didn’t turn to the page to read it!) What ever is contained within that page is apparently something that the reader will need to refer back to often and he asked if I could update the bookmark once we reach that point in the schedule, which is July 13th. So on July 13th, check back for an updated copy of the bookmark for your main page that will contain that information. I’ll remove the June calendar to make room, Matthew says the information is quite brief.

Thank you for all who’ve commented so far, I’m quite happy to see so many people interested in the bookmarks and participating in Infinite Summer.

Also, I’ll be writing up a post on how I’m using Evernote to organize my thoughts and keep notes as I read.