BOOKS: w00t for books

These are potent, perverse times. Times of uncertainty and change. Times of War, Religious Zeal, Economic Turmoil, and Plummeting Intelligence.

It is times like this where one would like to seek comfort in a Beautiful Woman, a Stiff Drink, or perhaps, a Good Book. In these bizarre times that have seen the meteoric rise of the Internet, the Nerd, the Blog, and absurd amounts of technology that would make even George Orwell's head spin, perhaps it is in the simplistic binding of ink, paper, and glue where we can find refuge. Humans continually turn to their culture's traditions and myths for guidance in times of uncertainty. What better time for us to get back to reading?

I'm reading a Good Book now called The Devil's Horn. It's the story of the Saxophone, an instrument that inevitably evokes images and sounds of Sex, Cities, and Cool. About halfway into the book, author Michael Segell mentions an old joke about how a gentlemen is someone who knows how to play the saxophone, but doesn't.

I was watching Fox News the other day and decided that a Decent Human Being could be defined as someone who could have been a news anchor, but didn't.

Yes. It is a Peculiar Period in Time. Emerging from the Industrial Revolution and two Wars, America has now led the world in the Time of Technology. But will we let the woman who picks our books, pick our president?

Americans are not Readers. We are Doers. And Talkers. We shoot now and ask questions later. But can we maintain such a reckless way of life? "Don't be hasty," Tolkien's Ents warned us. So perhaps it is time for us to pick up those goofy, cumbersome, outdated "apps" we call books and read a few.

The publishing industry has begun perpetrating gimmicks galore, doing what little they can feebly do to goad us into reading. Not that their actions are for the sake of Humanity, but at least their end is noble, if not their means and reasons.

W00T for books!

So don't be so l33t and pick up an old-fashioned book. They go great with an Old Fashioned.