"If the book we are reading does not wake us... why then do we read it?"

Sorry for the lame title for my last blog. I just couldn’t come up w/ something clever, and I was more than a little tired to find something. Besides which, I don’t have all my good “quote” books nearby from which to find new quotes. I felt like “alas” was the best word to describe the way I was feeling, and that is where Hamlet came from.

I was reading through the last 4 days of my emails from The Writer’s Almanac. I used to be very meticulous about reading those daily, skimming through the birthdays and anniversaries listed and trying to read through the poem for the day. Honestly, most of the poems never really caught my attention but there have been a few that just grab me. They other day there was one called “Pre-holiday PMS.” I heartily commend it to you all, for it not only describes the “female” state of mind, I think it captures how many of us feel about the holidays.

The reasons for the celebrations are lost amidst the dash for the finish line. There really is something to the idea that holidays have been over commercialized. I was in the office today, waiting for the truck to come, and all I could hear were my female coworkers pouring over the Thursday ads in preparation for their Friday assault on the stores. Thanksgiving in the paper business has become the day to advertise. Each week the Sunday paper grows steadily larger and large with more and more ads. Not only is it rough for the carriers and stressful for us employees but people can be downright mean about the whole thing. If they don’t get all of the right ads they will make such a fit about it. I had no idea I would write about this but now that I am it just serves as a clarion call to myself not to forget what is going on around me, and “behind the scenes.” Just yesterday I was commenting upon, but not really lamenting, how out-of-touch I was w/ the Church Calendar. And perhaps that is not a bad thing, but I am certainly out-of-touch w/ the true celebrations. And what is Thanksgiving anymore? I’ve started calling it Turkey Day because that seems to reflect what the day is – it’s about food (the food we ingest and the food we watch). I don’t keep myself apart from others. I am certainly no saint in this matter, but still… where have we gone wrong?

I was talking to Tom at work today. He mentioned that he used to complain to his friends about work, and they would just kind of stare back at him. I have one of the easiest jobs in the world. The hours are mostly flexible. I’m not in the office the whole day. And a slew of other things, and yet I take it so seriously. Mel suggested I might be better served by pouring lattes or something. I think I know where she is coming from, and I don’t disagree w/ the sentiment or the thought, but to be honest I’m not quite sure a change of jobs would change my attitude about work. I become invested in what I do. It’s why being a writer is so scary. What I put down on paper, what I show to the world, that is an extension of me and if someone takes offense at something I write or something I say it is like an attack on me. What is that all about? Man, this is starting to sound like a) a general rant about life, and b) a therapy session. Not that either is bad, but it just occurs to me. I used to do the whole counseling thing. Not so much lately. For a while there I was considering finding a spiritual counselor/advisor but I was afraid of the ‘conservative’ nature some counselors may have.

I’m going to make an effort to read some tonight. I was reading Harry Potter and Philosophy a little earlier and I think it is time I get back to it. It really is quite interesting and a definite change of pace for me. Of course, it is getting me interested in reading the books again, so I’ve already dusted off PoA and will likely be re-reading that in no time, when, instead, I should be reading something new like the Chaim Potok book I purchased last week. Tonight’s title is a quote from Kafka taken from the opening pages of Potok’s The Promise. I suppose I can become a speed reader overnight, eh?