Let Me Take You On A Trip, Around The World And Back, And You Won't Have To Move, You Just Sit Still

--"World in My Eyes", Depeche Mode

After what seems like years of neglect, I've decided to start a book similar to those that I was reading over a decade ago at USC. No more bestseller, flavor-of-the-month, fluff stories that really don't educate me or benefit me in any substantial way. I've undertaken a quest to read all those books I promised myself that I would read someday and never quite got around to it. I'm doing this for two reasons. The first reason is I can feel myself getting dumber as the years drag on, which I realize both in the manner of speaking I've adopted as well as my skills at composition. I promise, I used to be more eloquent than the roughshod behemoth that now sits before you writing this. The second reason is that I used to enjoy reading a lot more than I do now and am curious to see where that sort of passion died. It's my sincere hope that by falling into a pattern of reading two or three books a month I may recapture that sense of fulfillment now sorely lacking in my day-to-day existence.

For my first book, I've undertaken a doozy, Walden by Henry David Thoreau. I've always wanted to dive into this book ever since I heard so many of my fellow students at university discuss it. Sadly, I was never fortunate to enroll into a class where it was taught and missed out on its considerable charms. I've only prowled through twenty pages or so, but am finding it both a challenge and a joy to re-use those mental muscles I'm afraid I let atrophy under the rather light discourse of blogs, sports pages, and entertainment magazine articles.

The humorous aspect of the process by which I choose my intended delights is that I've always been spurred on by more conventional and current media. I'll be viewing a show I like, like Avonlea, and they will plug a great literary classic like Ivanhoe. The next thing you know I'm buying that same book the next day. For another example, I will be listening to a song and the lyrics will make some obscure reference to a Tolstoy novel. The next thing you know I'm scouring the internet to both find the reference and purchase the selfsame novel. It was much the same with Walden, except, in the case of this particular book, they made reference to it on an old episode of Frasier. Damn it all if it didn't pique my interest in actually completing that book.

I've always been that way since high school. The books I remember the most and the ones I cherish the longest are those that were prompted by the shows or movies I've liked. It just goes to show, for me, at least, that television doesn't make you necessarily dumber. When it facilitates a keen interest in pursuing knowledge after hours, then it can be a force for good. I think it's safe to say that 40-50% of the books I've read had nothing to do with a teacher's or school's reading list. That percentage of books I tracked down on my own because a show or movie I respected told me that I'd enjoy myself if I read it. They never said it in so many ways, but the idea that the characters who lived and breathed on those programs thought these books enriching enough to make mention of them is a good enough recommendation for me.

I still haven't been disappointed by selecting books in this matter and I doubt I ever will be.


let me show you the world in my eyes

Now, if you will excuse me, I have a book to read.

Yours Swimmingly,
mojo shivers