The room, in addition to its other drawbacks, was always underlit. But it’s proving a major challenge to find nifty lamps that also give enough light to read by. All the cool Art Nouveau sort of stuff only go up to 60 watts max, which, for a reader, is like switching on the darks. And the lamps in stores are not logically arranged by wattage; one has to wander about turning them upside down and peering at the little sticky labels on the sockets for a clue, for yea verily, the sales staff has none. They are not readers either, sigh.
Lois McMaster Bujold, letter to Baen’s Bar, 2004-10.
