The Lost Art of Reading A Book

I bought a book the other day. Not an eBook. Not an Audiobook. A real, live, physical book. With covers and pages made out of paper. You remember those. Seriously old fashioned.

Archaeologists identify this as what was known as a “book” by inhabitants up to the
early 21st century when they became obsolete.

One thing I noticed right away was the weight of the book. It was a paperback but it was the large format type, and felt heavy. Then I started turning pages. They stick together. Took a few minutes to figure out the whole page turning thing.

Holding it was awkward too. Accustomed to holding a tablet or phone when reading, it was a weird transition to hold a book that had pages and weight and seemingly a mind of its’ own. And then came the process of putting it down.

When reading an eBook it just remembers where you were and opens to that spot. With the book, I was nonplussed. I wanted to close it but didn’t know how I would know which page to go back to. I thought about folding down a corner but it’s a brand new book. I didn’t want to ruin the aesthetic of this vintage piece of history. So I memorized the page number. Thirty-two (32). Still remember it. Not sure how, I can’t tell you what I had for breakfast today.

Then I vaguely remembered a thing from my past…

bookmark noun book·​mark\bu̇k-märk or bookmarker\bu̇kmärkər definition: a marker for finding a place in a book

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Nothing like a good Dad joke to enhance a blog post

Of course my bookmark was nothing as fancy or funny as the one pictured. I think it was an old receipt or some other random piece of paper, but it did the trick. I’m still on page 32 but the bookmark will come in handy when I either forget page 32 or I read further into the book.

At any rate, it’s coming back to me, this reading a book thing. And I wasn’t sure at first that I liked it but now I think I quite like it very much. No temptation to reply to notifications. No temptation to play a game instead of read. No backlit screen to mess with my eyes. I can leave the phone in the other room, sit quietly and read.

Remember that?

Tough out.

Hump Day Wake Up Call

If you’re having trouble kickstarting the day Dr. Semitough has exactly the prescription to get you going. Take one Youtube video, add Stevie Wonder and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Sprinkle in some Jodie Watley on backup vocals. Hand Salt N Pepa some tambourines and such and have them dance in the background. Then crack into the most funkiest version ever recorded of Wonder’s super smash hit Superstition.

Impossible you say? Such a thing cannot exist you say? Au contraire. Behold, in all it’s VH1 glory…

Have a great week. Tough out.

Candles for Waylon

Waylon Jennings – Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down

It’s been awhile since I blogged here. Thought I’d drop by to share some more country music on the occassion of what would have been Waylon Jennings’ 72nd birthday.

My parents were big fans of Waylon’s early music. I became a fan of his “outlaw” music in the 70’s. He came to the Black Eyed Pea Jamboree in Athens in 1976 or so with Willie. I’m not sure the Spanish Trace Inn has ever seen the likes of Waylon and his gang, and probably never will.

This selection combines both old and outlaw Waylon, with a bonus of an outstanding pedal steel guitar line, as all my faves usually do.

Ever notice that it’s always the old fat guy on pedal steel guitar? I think I gotta learn me some of that.

Rollback. Flashback.

 

What goes around comes around

The year was 1971. After 24 years in the military my Dad had finally figured out what he wanted to be when he grew up. He loaded up all his Navy retirement money and bought a service station. Conveniently located on IH 35 E – R.L. Thornton Freeway in Dallas, just up the hill from the Dallas Zoo. It was right about that time that I remember ~30 cent gasoline. It was a Gulf station with three different grades of fuel. No-Nox was premium or ethyl. Good Gulf was regular. And there was a brand new grade that had just been introduced, Gulftane – Low Lead. It seems that folks were figuring out that perhaps lead wasn’t healthy for humans or the environment. We didn’t sell any of it but we had it.

 

Anyway, all that was to tell this story about buying cheap gas the other night. Local grocer Tom Thumb – A Safeway Company, has a fuel promotion. For every $100 worth of groceries you buy you get 10 cents off per gallon at their fueling stations. They’ve done this for awhile, but their new promotion allows you to save them up and use them all at the same time. So we did. Eleven of them. A dollar ten cents off. So it was with great pleasure I filled up Esposa’s MegaSUV for a mere nine dollars the other night. To amplify the savings, we had an outbreak of global warming and it was around 27 degrees Farenheit with a 25 mph north wind so if the experts are right and you get more for your money when it’s cold, it was a double Yahtzee.

Now. Back to reality. That means we spent $1100 on groceries between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. Let me consult the Semitough Magic 8 Ball for an appropriate reaction: