Bibliomania!!!

These obscure holidays are rather fun, as well as interesting.  Today is: Thank You For Libraries Day, Big Word Day, Day of Silence, and National Tea Day.  (All of which are loosely inter-related.)  In the modern technological age, a library doesn't have to stay static within the vision of a government sponsored entity storing massive amounts of books, magazines, and card catalogs located somewhere down the street.  A library could form on the computer under a file containing digitally downloaded articles and books.  Or I could simply build my own physical library at the place of residence I call home.  However you choose to start and grow a library, it becomes very personal.  Even though I do have quite the library in the apartment, I also have a multitude of library cards ranging from Houston to Austin, from Victoria to Fort Worth, and everywhere in between.  The argument may be made libraries are becoming obsolete with the advent of the Internet, but, for old-school researchers like myself, there's nothing like handling physical material right in front of me.  Whether I'm reading for pleasure or research, I always use a highlighter and pencil.  In addition, when I come across a word I do not know, I reach for the trusted dictionary to look it up.  As an aside, have you ever thought about the oddity of dictionaries.  For example, when I want to look up a word to see how it is spelled, I have to sort of already know how to spell it in order to look it up to see how it is spelled.  Anyway...  Throughout the day I have so much noise pollution coming my way, I need almost absolute silence to concentrate when I'm reading.  If I don't, the story doesn't sink in to my psyche as well.  In other words, my retention level diminishes greatly.  Once all those factors are subjugated and in place, I am more than likely drinking a cup of Earl Grey hot tea while reading and relaxing.  This is my usual nightly routine when I arrive home after a hard day of work.  All four holidays may have converged at random, but I make a practice of each one of these on a daily basis.  What is your daily or nightly routine upon arriving home?  Is it reading?  Every one of us is uniquely different.  Don't feel strange if you're not like me.  Enjoy today's holidays!