Read a Freakin' Book People

It was all like hell. Rain, snow, everything but frogs falling from the sky. Needless to say I was depressed. We were in a phase three weather alert at one point and I couldn't go anywhere even if I wanted to go anywhere. What is one to do when no one has nowhere to run? I recommend reading.

Before the move to the Hocking Hills region of Ohio, I was as addicted as anyone to television. Fortunately I now am without two of my favorite channels: Cartoon Network and MSNBC. There are nights when I miss Chris Matthews or some new anime that Japan finished watching about three years ago, and I might even be tempted to watch the flickering goodness of the idiot box if not for another wonderful inconvenience: the writers' strike.

Now, I don't know who started it or who was right; but I am certainly glad it happened. I am an American and as such I have a right to life, liberty, and the attention span of a mayfly. I liked certain shows (Chuck, Monk, and Big Bang Theory), but with no "writers" there were no new shows.*

For awhile I have been beating my head against the wall trying to figure out what to do with my spare time. (I still have some of that.) These passed two weekends really forced me to ask the tough question of what to do with my free-time. Being left alone with my thoughts is not a pleasant experience. Usually either my thoughts or I will invariably tick the other side off and a mental screaming match will ensue.

However, after forcing myself to sit down and read the books that I constantly tell people I am reading. (I have a confession, I am not as big a reader as I pretend to be. It is my one little indulgence in the realm of dishonesty. Well that and I am from a small planet orbiting somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse.) However, I do try and read a lot now rather than turning on the tele. I have been retreating to my room for adventures in theology, mystery, and the occasional op-ed.

All-in-all reading is like any worthwhile thing we do, we have to make time for it, even when it would be easier to do something similar but less rewarding with that time.


* I should say that given the calibre of most shows now-a-days, I doubt that a writers' strike should've been too great an impediment to the production of a show...or a movie while we are on the subject.