Time to Read

How long does it take you to read a book? Any book. A book you love, a book you must read for a class or a research, a book you read for your book club if you are in one, a book you must read for work (there are such)... Are you a slowpoke reader or a speedy-spider?

With few exceptions, I have always been a slowpoke reader. Some people read - for instance - the Harry Potter books in a matter of 1 to 2 weeks each, and I read each of them in an average of three to six months. There are books I started reading years ago - decades ago, probably - and I haven't finished. However, my average for books is normally a couple of months. And I love reading. Back at the University I had already realized that I read an average of 20 pages per hour, though at work I normally work at a speed of 5 to 10 pages per hour, depending on how many comments I need to make, and how much research I do next to the reading. (Yes, whenever I read something at work, and that something makes reference to an earlier project or research, a law or a Standard, I look it up and read it, analyze the connections and comment on them. If the quote is wrong, then I add extra research to correct it. I also check on the maths of the documents, and that's also time consuming.) There was a time, then, back in the 90's when my reading speed in Hungarian was of 100 pages per day (this day refering to my waking hours, and that normally included around 10 to 8 hours of reading, as much as I could muster between classes, and reading while walking on the street - a dangerous art, if you ask me, but some books worth it). So yes, compared with people who read 800 pages in a day, I'm one of the slowest of the slowest.

Then, no matter the maths, I was reading slower and slower. While at the office, I normally choose to eat alone in order to take the luch hour to read. Our of the 45 minutes of the lunch hour, normally some 15 to 20 are spent on going to where you will eat, so that leaves 30 to 25 minutes to read. I read every day, and still the books would travel in my bag for months. Why? Because I'm a slowpoke.

Then last week, as I read the book our preacher lent me, I realized that I'm not such a slowpoke, that I could very much read a book in a week (and average 350 paged book in 4 days). Today is the premier of Headhunters, a movie based on the book by the same title, of Jo Nesbo. No, I haven't finished it, but I started it two days ago and didn't have that much chance to read it. Still, I'm 2/3 into it, and if I get the time, I'll probably finish it by Saturday. What I realized was that I was relating to reading as a "filling" activity. Yes, I have designed times for reading, such as in bed before I turn down to sleep, or at luch, but these were all times where reading itself was a "thing to do while". And though I love reading and I looked forward to these moments, these times could be easily swapped. I would sit with a coworker I like, so we would chat while having lunch, or I would turn down to book before sleeping so I could watch a movie or a series I like.

Now I could say "I'll go running and then I'll read until lunch" or "I'll read a couple of hours after lunch", or even "I'll go to Starbucks, have a coffee and read for a while". When I made myself time specifically to read, I realized that I go faster through the books though I read with the same speed. One could, of course, fall into the trap and say that that's because I don't have to go to the office now, but that's not the point. You are not all day at the office, and just as you make time to go home, do some errands and prepare things for the next day, go to yoga, or to the latest classes you've enrolled to, you can also decide that after dinner, or as you get home, you'll sit down a read a little.

But that's not only for reading but whatever hobby we have. Go running or jogging, take a moment to practice sewing or knitting, or working on your scrapbook project. Paint, play piano... you name it. Don't make your hobby something you do on stolen minutes, something that can be easily shut off because you are too tired or too sleepy, but give it a slot of your day, a box in your schedule. You see, not only working and responsabilities are important in your life. Your hobbies also deserve your attention.

Do You Read? And What Do You Read?

Reading is the learn skill that enables you to look at a group od symbols - called letters - arranged in a certain way and form words, that form sentences in a language you know. A lot of people around the world reads, though there's a percentage of adult people who don't. A funny thing is that often being "analphabet" is called "illiterate" and being able to read is called "literate". Why is that so funny? Because a lot of those "literate" people wouldn't be caught dead near a book. Their reading skill is used to read tweets and messages on the Facebook wall, or to roam the Internet and read search results from Google. Some might consider themselves "literate" because they read news headlines and from time to time might read an article from a magazine or are able to go through a digital newspaper. Yes, they excersize the skill of reading, but that's hardly really reading.

Interestingly, the real reading is evidenced in the writing. Read a book, a good book - and if you are not sure a book is good, try out not a best seller, but a classic. You know, books that were written before the TV was on all day in every home distroying the mind. A mind used to reading good books, is a mind also able to write well. Those who read little often don"t realize they read things written poorly, and may copy the writing style, not noticing how their thoughts flutter loosely and disarranged.

Pick a good book, there are many for free at the libraries. You'll see the difference.

Rain and Me

It's raining. I wouldn't mind that fact much - I would actually love it - except that it started REALLY raining when I was out doing office errands. Now my trousers are wet from the knee down, and the sleeves of my shirt are wet also, and to say that it's driving me mad, would be an understatement. I wish right now for nothing else but to take my clothes off and wait for them to dry. Hate the feeling of wet clothes!

After getting to the office, peeling back by bright aqua-green raincoat and putting my things down, I went to the bathroom, where I stood with my scarf tied as a skirt around my hips for I don't know how long trying to dry my shoes, socks and trousers, all the while cursing for not taking my rubber boots for the trip. Should have. That way at least my shoes and socks would have been saved. Oh well. Now I have to wait for my normally steaming-hot office to do the magic and dry my clothes. (Oddly, either I am losing sensitivity on my legs or I feel my pants... dry.)

This thing, by the way, is a curse I have. You see, no matter what, but during the rainy season at least once I get SOAKED while wearing pants. Have gotten soaked in dresses (actually remember getting soaked wet in a Benetton dress, which I was able to fully dry under the hand drier!), but always-always get soaked at least once while wearing pants. Then again, it could have been worse, it could have been jeans. Now that would have been really unfortunate.

In moments like this I also mind not having a desk top, as CPU's are awesome drying devices. Oh well, the UPS will have to do it.

I'd love to be home right now, wearing dry, comfy clothes, drinking coke and watching TV, or answering letters from my friends (which reminds me that I'm stuck with another letter again! But this time ain't because I've no idea how to answer it, but rather because I've like so much to answer to it! It's turning into a Coppernican Letter!), and stuff like that. The other day I wanted, but like really wanted to read a manga I haven't read in ages, called "Only the Ring Finger Knows"... or something like that. I checked where I keep my mangas (which is now  everywhere I used to keep my books, since basically all my books have been shipped to Hungary, and I don't want my folks to see my room empty and feel that I will leave anytime now, even if that could be the case), and it wasn't there. Checked up and down and all the way around and nothing. So I came to the conclusion that we packed it and it's now in Hungary. I've been re-reading again all my yaoi mangas and pretty much read them all... again, so I was looking for something I haven't read recently. Anything. Okay, anything but Ororon (good art, stupid plot), Paradise Kiss (interesting plot, but that doesn't make it good), Mars (good art, corny plot), Angel Sanctuary (awesome art, good plot until it nukes the fride, or like I say 'brings back the Winchester'), Candidate for Goddess (I really gara get rid of that), Petshop of Horrors (I went on a speckof hope that never came through. Gara get rid of that), King of Hell... Chuck! I have a lot of mangas to get rid of!

Anyways, it happens that today in the morning, I spotted it! Yep, there it was, the manga, in yet another shelve. Right now I'd love to go home and read it. Well, truth is that I just wanna feel comfortable and be a bit lazy. Rain, whether on me or not, always invites me to be lazy. What does it do to you?