A Year in Pictures of Working

Poland sent me a link to a site that sends classic works of literature (from the public domain) to your e-mail account, serialized, a few brief pages a day.

I don't read as much as I used to. In the past I'd get a good amount of reading done on my commute to and from work, but I rarely ride the L anymore. And I like my job, so I don't read at lunch, desperately trying to escape into a book.

Over the years I've spent a lot of lunch breaks eating a sandwich head-down, my eyes locked to the page, not making eye contact with anyone else in the break room. Maybe literature is mostly meant for teenagers and people with dreary jobs. People who just need to be someplace else for a while. At other times in my life, reading has seemed mostly a pleasant distraction, but trapped in a terrible job I'll identify so intensely with the words on the page.

I read 'Watership Down' while working twelve hour night shifts at Texas Instruments and I remember thinking, "This is Efrafa. I will never escape."

These days I don't read much. I've been reading 'The Historian' for months (and probably for months to come). So, quick snippets via e-mail makes sense. I checked out Daily Lit's catalog and it makes sense to start with a little Dickens. His works were originally published episodically. I'm giving 'Hard Times' a second chance.

"'NOW what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life.'"

# posted by Arnie : 2:45 PM