1. an-no-tate (verb)

add notes to (a text or diagram) giving explanation or comment. 

What Harm Could an Roll of Washi Tape Actually Do?

I want to open you up to a world of deep imagination and aesthetic: annotating books. (If you’re new to the concept of annotating, check out the Oxford definition above.) Annotating the books I read was something I avoided for a while, never taking the ‘scary’ leap into writing in them. At first I was flagging quotes I wanted to remember with a post-it, then I would pencil in a small note on the flag.  This worked for me because I could keep track of my thoughts, but I could also decide to take them out. I did this with both books I borrowed and the ones I owned.  When curiosity finally got ahold of me, I looked online to find people who were showing how satisfying and fun it can be to annotate.  I came across photos of books that are highlighted and underlined with notes in the margins. It was all beautiful to me, because somewhere behind each photo was a human that sat and indulged in that text. So this is where I started to change my mind. At first I saw it as damaging to a book, and started to see it as an enhancement. So the dream was born! I started experimenting with my favorite books - deciding that as long as I own it I can do whatever I want.

Layer the Sticky Notes and Highlights

I can tell you the very moment I knew the time was right to begin. As I was reading The Eyes of Darkness (Dean Koontz), I came across a scene that made me pull out one of my flags. I wrote: this chapter= woah. That chapter ended up being my favorite chapter of the book, and it is the first scene that I felt confident to tackle with annotating. I connected with this scene and it hit me as magical, so it was the best time to begin. I pulled out some washi tape, a pencil and a ruler, and got to playing around. I underlined my favorite lines and made notes on colored paper that I taped to the page. It’s themed and quite cute, for being the first try and with limited resources :). And it had a profound effect on my experience in the story. I can remember so well what happened in this scene, after going in and interacting with the words. I love the scene a lot more now, and I am closer to the story. I have appreciated and worshipped the text, sat with it and found a deep understanding of it. I can also go over it again anytime I want, layering my thoughts onto the page over time.