Literately

Tonight, I swear to you all, I am going to read.

I have spent the last six months with a stack of books next to my bed, unread. I have tried, valiantly, to move through these books in order; to pick them up, read them beginning, middle, to end.

For a while it was working. The Unread pile grew smaller as the Read pile grew larger. Sometimes distractions would arise: BIG DRIVE OH FIVE, for example, saw very little reading. I may love the written word, but I also love not driving into oncoming traffic.

I was surprised to find that one of the bigger distractions was a video game. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic consumed forty-five hours of my usual reading time. I would come home from work and sit right down in front of the Xbox, then play until I fell asleep.

Throughout it all though I have had one mainstay, one sure-fire spot to read: the T. Every morning and every evening on my ride to and from work the train becomes a reading nook. Well-lit, heated, seats usually available, and the best part is that there are no distractions. No phones, no video games, no television. The most I can do to spoil it is throw on some music but really that just becomes white noise once I become absorbed with the story.

As it happens I am nearing the end of my current read. I am seeking, more and more, to put aside distractions in order to finish the story. I am finding, more and more, distractions at the forefront.

Distractions take the form of projects around the house, moving friends, phone calls, and rounds of Fireball Island (in which I am obligated to play). This means a book which I could finish in three hours tonight will get spaced out over four or five days on the train, in twenty minute segments.

Not tonight though. Tonight I will read.

I will leave work. Read on the train. Arrive home and read. Possibly eat dinner. Read. Watch Lost (all new episode tonight!). And then read until I fall asleep. I am going to try and finish this book tonight.

So I can start a new one on the train tomorrow.
-t

recommended download:
Pearl Jam, God’s Dice