Pride comes before Boredom

I used to be a book snob. I would only read Literature. Then something wonderful happened. I started to pick books up and read them just because they sounded interesting !! I grew tired of reading the elite and grammatically wonderful world where most of the writers had died in the last century.

In the last few years I have gone on a journey that involved wonderful characters and places that I might have missed if I had stuck to the tried and true. Just recently I finished The Observations by Jane Harris that I bought on a whim. When I met the cemtral character Bessie, I was enthralled. I wanted (maybe needed is more accurate) to hear everything she had to say.

Whenever we open the cover into a new world, we’re really entering into an agreement. The reader will pay for the privilege of escaping reality and the author will create a world that is believable and striking.  A while ago I had nearly given up on most living, breathing writers of books because they didn’t seem to be living up to their end of the deal. Now, however, there just doesn’t seem to be enough time to experience all the new worlds I want to step into. All I can hope is that I don’t do any damage from all this mental gorging…

Loose Change

Last week, I found a 10 dollar note while out for a walk. This is the first note I’ve found laying around for many, many years. In the 90s this wouldn’t have been a rarity. It was a simple pleasure. You keep your eyes sharp and strangely enough, at least once every few months a note would blow my way.
I guess this is due to digital banking. I wonder what else we fail to find due to digital intervention? Einstein once said that his biggest fear was that technology would one day supercede human interaction.  This has now become the case in so many situations.  Just think how much time is spent looking at computer screens and phone screens rather than the people who are most important to us.  All I can say is that it’s a good thing that phone batteries run out of charge, or we’d all be slaves to them…

The Time of the Orator

In the older days, men like Dickens would make a substantial living from public speaking. They would travel from town to town, narrating their stories, acting them out for the pleasure of the fans.

Things are a bit different these days. People put public speaking on the same level as a trip to the dentist. It’s a shame, really, but the time of the Orator has been lost. It’s been replaced by television and movies. Not that I have a problem with movies, I’m an addict from way back. I can’t help but wonder what those times would have been like. It’s strange to miss times that were dead before you were born.