Friday, May 05, 2006
Reading everything
I just got my mail and realized I had subscribed to another magazine that I probably won't have time to read. I really want to read it, I am sure it will give me insights to the world I would never arrive at on my own. The magazine is Gastronomica the Journal of Food and Culture. I have decided I have too many books being read, too many magazines for me to read, work and watch 3-4 hours of television every day. Something has to give.
I am giving up TV. We will give it one week. My Tivo will catch anything I care about anyway.
Rules. I now have to read all my magazines, all my library books, and any books I buy. I get a lot of cookbooks from the library so I'll have to accept that I will not complete every recipe, but that I will read the authors forward, philosophy and cooking tips.
Reference books will have to accept that I will not read every word.
I also subscribe to Sports Illustrated, several cycling magazines, several birding magazines, Nature (a magazine so dense with jargon and scientific terminology that I have to read it with a dictionary and a computer close by so I can get an idea what the grad students are talking about.) I won't be renewing Nature.
I just bought Six Thousand Years of Bread. I started the library copy, but couldn't finish it in time for the library to be happy. I renewed it 2 times. Apparently no one else in the library system wanted to read it.
I also have a lot of audible books to listen to. I often listen to them when I am ready to sleep. I get a few minutes of intense listening then I drift off. In the morning I often discover I may have listened to the whole book, but have no idea what I heard. Next night I start again. I have discovered I can listen to books on tape (iPod) while I ride my bicycle. I know. I should be paying more attention to traffic etc. I will claim that I have years of experience, 10's of thousands of miles of cycling experience so I should be able to multitask. I do find it a relaxing experience, but I cannot push hard on the bike and concentrate on the book. Local bike paths are low traffic and if I only use one ear piece it allows me to hear traffic, cyclists etc. When I am riding in traffic I turn off the iPod.
So my task is to read Gastronomica, Six Thousand Years of Bread, listen to Barbara Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer, Noam Chomsky's Failed States, Read the newspaper, work, take care of my responsibilities so that my wife is happy, exercise, bake bread and anything else that comes up. All I have to do is give up TV.
It is a nice day. I'll read for a while on the back porch with my spotting scope handy to watch birds. Later I'll go for an easy bike ride and listen to Noam or Barbara.
I am giving up TV. We will give it one week. My Tivo will catch anything I care about anyway.
Rules. I now have to read all my magazines, all my library books, and any books I buy. I get a lot of cookbooks from the library so I'll have to accept that I will not complete every recipe, but that I will read the authors forward, philosophy and cooking tips.
Reference books will have to accept that I will not read every word.
I also subscribe to Sports Illustrated, several cycling magazines, several birding magazines, Nature (a magazine so dense with jargon and scientific terminology that I have to read it with a dictionary and a computer close by so I can get an idea what the grad students are talking about.) I won't be renewing Nature.
I just bought Six Thousand Years of Bread. I started the library copy, but couldn't finish it in time for the library to be happy. I renewed it 2 times. Apparently no one else in the library system wanted to read it.
I also have a lot of audible books to listen to. I often listen to them when I am ready to sleep. I get a few minutes of intense listening then I drift off. In the morning I often discover I may have listened to the whole book, but have no idea what I heard. Next night I start again. I have discovered I can listen to books on tape (iPod) while I ride my bicycle. I know. I should be paying more attention to traffic etc. I will claim that I have years of experience, 10's of thousands of miles of cycling experience so I should be able to multitask. I do find it a relaxing experience, but I cannot push hard on the bike and concentrate on the book. Local bike paths are low traffic and if I only use one ear piece it allows me to hear traffic, cyclists etc. When I am riding in traffic I turn off the iPod.
So my task is to read Gastronomica, Six Thousand Years of Bread, listen to Barbara Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer, Noam Chomsky's Failed States, Read the newspaper, work, take care of my responsibilities so that my wife is happy, exercise, bake bread and anything else that comes up. All I have to do is give up TV.
It is a nice day. I'll read for a while on the back porch with my spotting scope handy to watch birds. Later I'll go for an easy bike ride and listen to Noam or Barbara.
