Ever since buying my Kindle about a year ago, I've started reading a lot more. I've never been much of a book reader, but the thought of spending more time sitting in front of the TV, being bombarded [for the most part] with mindless jabber, no longer seems appealing. Plus after reading more of Far Beyond the Stars, I've become inspired.
Not only that, but reading has become so much more convenient, especially since there's an app which allows me to read my kindle books on my phone. (There's even this report to indicate I may not be unique to this trend.)
It's so amazing when you think about it. Items which not to long ago were big, and bulky and difficult to carry by themselves, can now be packaged in such convenient formats. If you're as old as me, you'll remember when computers took up entire rooms, telephones consisted of two parts, and had rotary dials, and cameras had to loaded with a roll of film before you could take a picture.
Now all that stuff [which for a minimalist could be considered nirvana], a computer, telephone, cameras, and now even books can all be loaded into one convenient device about 5" x 2.5" x 0.4" (my Droid X) or smaller, and easily slipped into your pocket.
It just boggles my mind.
But I digress [as usual]. So like I said earlier, I've been reading [maybe a little too much for my own good, but....]. The most recent book I finished was "Captive: My Time as a Prisoner of the Taliban", by Jere Van Dyke, and currently I'm reading "The Good Soldiers", by David Finkel, a story of one army battalion (the 2-16) during the infamous Iraq surge of 2007.
Both books are well worth reading, but the latter particularly is one I think everyone should read (Steven Colbert featured this book and interviewed the author on the Colbert Report), if for no other reason than to enlighten everyone as to the kind of hell the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are putting this country and it's young man and women through.
For me it brought back some old [and current] memories, and reminded me of a song by Eric Burdon and the Animals, oh what seems like an eternity ago
Not only that, but reading has become so much more convenient, especially since there's an app which allows me to read my kindle books on my phone. (There's even this report to indicate I may not be unique to this trend.)
It's so amazing when you think about it. Items which not to long ago were big, and bulky and difficult to carry by themselves, can now be packaged in such convenient formats. If you're as old as me, you'll remember when computers took up entire rooms, telephones consisted of two parts, and had rotary dials, and cameras had to loaded with a roll of film before you could take a picture.
Now all that stuff [which for a minimalist could be considered nirvana], a computer, telephone, cameras, and now even books can all be loaded into one convenient device about 5" x 2.5" x 0.4" (my Droid X) or smaller, and easily slipped into your pocket.
It just boggles my mind.
But I digress [as usual]. So like I said earlier, I've been reading [maybe a little too much for my own good, but....]. The most recent book I finished was "Captive: My Time as a Prisoner of the Taliban", by Jere Van Dyke, and currently I'm reading "The Good Soldiers", by David Finkel, a story of one army battalion (the 2-16) during the infamous Iraq surge of 2007.
Both books are well worth reading, but the latter particularly is one I think everyone should read (Steven Colbert featured this book and interviewed the author on the Colbert Report), if for no other reason than to enlighten everyone as to the kind of hell the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are putting this country and it's young man and women through.
For me it brought back some old [and current] memories, and reminded me of a song by Eric Burdon and the Animals, oh what seems like an eternity ago
we gotta get [everyone] out of this [Iraq] place
Comments
Permanence matters!