In February I was a bit down because of the horridly frigid weather that was better suited for January. Reading anything that wasn’t page-turning or zippy was hard. Now March, March has taken a sudden turnabout from February and it feels like April. I hope this doesn’t mean that April will end up being like March, that would be too much. But the warm, well warm for Minneapolis, has been so glorious it has made me unable to sit still. I want to be up and about doing things. Reading? Reading’s for those who have nothing better to do and I have lots to do.
I know! I can’t believe I just said that about reading either! I have a serious case of spring fever. While reading helps with other kinds of fevers, it only makes spring fever worse. It also doesn’t help that I have once again found myself in the middle of a bunch of books with nothing new just begun or anything about to be finished. Such a situation tends to make me antsy anyway then add the spring fever problem to it and I’m nearly bouncing off the walls. Some of that might be from the cup of coffee I just had, but still.
So today, how about a few weird things from around the internet?
First there was dinosaur erotica (it’s a thing, look it up!), now there is Conquered by Clippy, a short story about one woman’s torrid romance with a giant paperclip. The same author has another story called “Taken by the Tetris Blocks.” What’s next? “Making out with Mario”? No, that’s too obvious, maybe “Probed by Space Invaders.” Oh this could get to be silly fun. What unlikely erotica title can you come up with?
It seems that a good many people are aghast that digital natives prefer reading in print rather than on a screen. While I read ebooks for the convenience and easy carryableness of them, print is where it’s really at. A print book is one of the most perfect technologies if you ask me. But then I doubt any of you need convincing about that!
And while we are on the subject of books, have some fun reading How to Tell If You Are In A Virginia Woolf Novel. Because even Woolf deserves to be laughed at sometimes.
Finally, nothing to do with books but music. Specifically music for your cats. I played the clip linked in the article for Waldo and Dickens and they both looked at me with panic in their eyes not sure if they should run and hide or stay and listen. They stayed but they certainly didn’t relax or look like they were enjoying the music. But then that’s cats for you. You buy them an expensive toy and they like the bag you brought it home in better. You play them music just for them and they act as though it’s nails on a chalkboard. Ungrateful beasts.
I played the cat music for my two cats while we were having our wake for the third. They were unmoved.
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Jeanne, it’s hard to impress a cat! So sorry to hear about the kitty wake 😦
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I love your choice of words and your writing!! Its simple yet so rich…Am trying to improve my vocabulary everyday and I wish someday I could write like you 🙂
Thank you for this interesting post 🙂
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What about 50 Shades Of Granola – perhaps it will conquer the world. Delighted to read the article about digital natives enjoying print (but it doesn’t surprise me). I wonder which of your cats might like the Straycats Straycat Strut or which might prefer the Cure’s Lovecats?
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Ian, Fifty Shades of Granol, erotica for hippies and alternative lifestyle folks 😉 I play The Cure’s song fairly regularly because it is in my workout music mix and the cats don’t care. I suspect Straycat Strut would also fail to move them.
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agals24, thanks!
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Relieved to hear our next generations still see the value of reading in print. Maybe in a few years it will become trendy to read real books and gadgets will become passé (wishful thinking?). I followed the link to the WP article and then to another one in a different edition and both comment on how reading digitally is a different experience. You do tend to skim more.
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BookerTalk, we can hope that is the case but I wouldn’t hold your breath 😉
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Embrace your spring fever! Such a lovely season (though I’m pretty sure your spring is like my winter and I definitely don’t miss that). Summer here has been downright soporific and I can’t wait for a nice, chilly fall. That would leave us without my Granny’s tomatoes, but I miss so much feeling *awake* during the evenings that I will happily trade tomatoes for that 😛
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Natalia, it doesn’t take too much encouragement! As cold as winters get, summers can get pretty hot and humid and I always find myself come the end of August looking forward to cool fall days because the heat and humidity make me so tired and droopy. So I totally understand being willing to trade Granny’s tomatoes for a chilly evening!
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LOVED the Virginia Woolf link. And the comments! I so need to read something by her soon. Or reread Mrs. Dalloway. or To the Lighthouse… decisions, decisions.
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Care, glad you enjoyed that! I’m currently reading Orlando. It’s a reread but it has been a very long time and I didn’t remember how gosh darn funny it is!
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Oh, I should re-read Orlando again too then. The only Woolf I’ve re-read to date is To the lighthouse and I did enjoy that Care, if you read this.
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To the Lighthouse is one I definitely want to reread sometime. When It was the first Woolf I ever read and my unfamiliarity with her style made the experience a bit rough.
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I think Orlando was my first and it was so lively that it probably got me off to the right start!
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I completely agree with Natalia …embrace the spring fever! You are lucky to be located in a geographical region that has spring. We go from hot to boiling point to cold to freezing point!!!! So have fun!! Love the Virginia Woolf link….its just awesome!!!
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cirtnecce, with so much encouragement to embrace the spring fever I might do it and you won’t hear from me again for a month or more! 😉 We have all four seasons here which is great, I love that. But winter generally lasts for half the year and the other three seasons cram themselves into the other half so it is imperative that nice days not be squandered. Glad you liked the Woolf link!
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Ahhh Spring. Yellow pine pollen covering everything, sneezing, watery eyes, wheezing. Gotta love it. (But the daffodils are beautiful).
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Grad, ha! I hear you on the allergies! I had to start taking my allergy medicine last week. It has cooled off though so the doors and windows are closed again for a little bit but I went to Target and stocked up on generic Claritin and allergy eye drops. The joy of spring outweighs the misery of allergies. So far. 🙂
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I love The Toast! Thanks for the link – it was spot on! (I’m a big Virginia Woolf fan.)
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Laila, I’m a big Woolf fan too and laughed my way through it. Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
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I have a love-hate relationship with spring – love that feeling of things opening up again (spring fever as you say) but I hate the changeableness of it. One day it’s glorious, next day back come the cold winds. Still, you know it’s moving in the right direction and that gives you hope.
Of course, I agree with you re books. I read print 90% of the time. But I am doing my rereading of Emma on the kindle because I can download my highlights and notes and use them in preparation for my JA meetings. As I’m always rushing that preparation, it’s a great facility.
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whisperinggums, heh, I know what you mean about the changeableness of spring. Here we can have 60F/15.5C here one day and a foot of snow the next. But as you say, it’s going in the right direction and I always know the snow won’t be around long. I reread Emma on my Kobo and it was a nice experience. There is something to be said for digital reading 🙂
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I have just read Ch 36 and there was a comment about February that made me think of you, basically how cheerless it is and it is always thus! See, Jane Austen didn’t much like February either!
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Heh, Jane, or at least Emma, and I would have kept each other good company during February 🙂
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Spring fever is fun while it lasts – you might as well enjoy it! The books aren’t running away. Loved the links, they all gave me a good chuckle. I am definitely in a Virginia Woolf novel. I wish it were Orlando, but it’s probably closer to Mrs Dalloway!
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Litlove, glad you liked the links. Orlando would be much more fun to be in than Mrs. Dalloway, but with the latter you at least get to go to a good party.
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The nice weather has meant I have been taking lots of longer walks outside on the weekends, which like you means I am out and about and not reading as much as I would like. I have a partially written letter that you will get to read someday, and lots and lots (and lots…) of partially read books. I have to admit that the NYRB book we picked is started but sitting there staring me down. You are working on reviews and I am working on class reading. I love my class, but it will sort of be a relief to not have any sort of reading deadlines when I am finished with it.
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Danielle, I have a pile of letters to write but when it is between sitting indoors for a couple hours to write them or being out in the fresh air and sunshine, the outdoors wins. So keep enjoying those long walks! I haven’t even started reading the NYRB book yet so don’t worry about it!
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