the mind...what a terrible thing to lose....

(this fluff piece appears in lieu of an op-ed piece on the AFN, it's the ol' "if you can't say something nice...")

recently a friend was at my apartment with me and was struck by the number of books piled here, there and everywhere. my place is a small bachelor (ahem, "studio" according to the listings) suite, rectangular, and as such, space is at a premium. i decided there's no use fighting it, i will turn it into an office with a bed in it rather than try to maintain the fiction that it is actually any kind of an partment. i'll be like the old gumshoe or a character out of a raymond chandler novel and will now be sleeping in "my office." i just won't have the whiskey/bourban in a side drawer of my desk or a secretary out front though i am willing to interview applicants for my answering service. - - back to the books. i had to move stacks of books and various reading material so that we could sit and talk comfortably and finally curiosity overcame my guest as he asked in all earnestness: what are all the these books for?

indeed.

i moved early in the new year and something about the new space has allowed me to read more than i have in the past ten years - however the internet is a factor in that it is an endless source for good material and information, (one needs to actively seek it) - - this has manifested itself a hyper-creative period for me which is always a blessing, the ideas seem to come at an almost furious pace. i am alive in good reading and my consciousness is ever expanded...

so that's the good word?: read, lots and often - it won't hurt (or brainwash) ya.

* recently read titles (not ALL recommended)
sundogs - column mccann
the lyre and the orpheus - robertson davies
surfacing - margaret atwood
the robber bride - margaret atwood
the naked and the dead - norman mailer
the lovely bones - ?
as i lay dying - william faulkner
bono in coversation with michka assayas
murther and walking spirits - roberston davies
transitions - making sense of life's changes
vols 1-4 daily telegrams - wil rogers
the moon of letting go - rich van camp
the creative process (1952 original version)
unless - carol shields
some ghandi stuff on non-violence
the secret - rhonda byrne
love medicine - louise erdrich (first read in 92)
and much, much more...