I love to read. I'm not as prolific a reader as I once was, but to this day I do love to read. Reading is an integral part of my vacations and a vital ingredient in my relaxation regimen. Now dawns the birth of a new age in reading and the unavoidable question....to Kindle or not to Kindle. You've seen them....the sleek, portable personal e-libraries for avid and thoroughly modern readers.
I know and freely admit that I sound like a voice from the Dark Ages. But I think I will (or would) miss holding my book! I would miss... am I actually going to write this.... turning my pages. Is that silly? Looking back over the past five years, I have most definitely experienced a personal technology transition. I, quite reluctantly at first, moved from a "dumb" phone to a blackberry to a (drum roll, please)droid! Now I even wonder if there could there be an i-phone in my future? I also, again quite reluctantly, moved from film cameras to digital. And, although I miss the artistic side of catching that perfect picture the old fashioned way, this move has most definitely cut down on the boxes and boxes and yes more boxes of photos I was accumulating in my home. I will also have to admit that it is much easier to locate a photo from years back with the digital/computer storage system. My technological transition is yet further evidenced by the fact that my computer savvy is much, much improved as I excel and word and google and power point and search and e-mail through life as a real estate agent.
Back to the books. I laughed as I read from the friend of a facebook friend that she wondered why everyone was talking about wood...... kindling.....get it? I suppose I am at least one step beyond her point of view.
I have heard the late night comedians and the recent commercials making fun of the same "excuses" I above offered, and I suppose even more of the people who make them. I am sure Steve Jobs and other techie gurus are laughing all the way to the bank. But I struggle to decide to give up my books!
Last year, Size 4 Banker Sister caught a wiff that her hubby and sons were thinking of giving her a Kindle for Christmas. In typical sisterly fashion....we do have to stick together.....she called me to put the skids on that idea. That didn't go so well. Deciding the best and safest course of action was the direct approach, I called my nephew to tell him his size 4 mom wanted no part of a Kindle. Period. End of discussion. Nephew, also deciding the direct approach was best, told his Dad, Size 4's husband and coincidentally the originator of the Kindle gift idea. Household chaos ensued, matrimonial malaise temporarily set in, feelings were hurt, etc. etc. But you know, when a crisis, such as the wrong Christmas present for your sister, is about to occur, what else can one do but spring, or in this case sprint, into action?
Now, again to the current quandary as I face the perplexity head on....does my reading need to step into this amazing new century of technological advancement? Or is there some justification for staying the course in the comfort, the soothing simplicity of the pages , the tactile experience of a good old fashioned book?
I began to lean a little more toward giving "Kindling" (does that even sound legal?) a try when during our recent vacation I dumped an entire of course brand new bottle of tanning lotion all over and through a book I had borrowed from my sister. So, yes, there is one sticky, gooey, smelly, twenty-five dollar argument for.
A second potential argument for.....no one knows what you are reading. Now there's a good argument for all of us who, on occasion, find time for guilty pleasures of the literary variety. Where was kindling when thirty years ago I wanted to read..... or at least view the pictures in.... "The Joy of Sex?"
The debate with myself continues and the question remains. Will next year's vacation pics include a shot of a Kindling Dee? I suppose only time, technology, and tanning lotion will tell the tale.
No comments:
Post a Comment