A Book, a Beer and a bit of a Blip

I used to love reading as a child. I'd devour books and if I enjoyed it I'd read it again, and again and then put it back on the shelf knowing that eventually I'd read it again.

Comics too. Whizzer and Chips (I supported the Chips)!

If I got a magazine, I'd actually read it... not just scan and pick the good bits, but I'd read it cover to cover (Look In! Smash Hits! (What can I say - Kim Wilde was in it!!!))

In my late teens and early twenties I'd sit in the conservatory listening to Guns N Roses and Sisters of Mercy while reading whatever I could find (I still love the sound of rain on a conservatory roof. Even though I don't have one now. Yet)

And then came the Internet. I still ponder that if someone had told us 20 years ago that we'd have at our fingertips near instant access to pretty much the sum of all human knowledge, we wouldn't have thought it possible. We'd probably have also thought that if it were possible it would mean a new era of peace, understanding and global prosperity as we achieve the pooling of knowledge and shared wisdom.

Heyho.

But anyway! That's not my point. Since the internet came into my life about 18 years ago I found that I couldn't read anymore!

My concentration span for the written word deteriorated so much that I found myself reading 3 or 4 lines of an article, whether online, newspaper, magazine or book, before discarding it. In fact, if you've got this far then well done you! I should make you prove you've actually read this by including the word 'Wallaby' in your comment! (go on :o) )

On holiday I was OK - I'd take about 7 books for a 2 week trip and I'd get through them more or less. Until I got internet on my phone and the distractions were back!

I genuinely think that the internet has changed the make up of my brain (ROFL1!)

I really missed reading though, and that feeling you get when a book absorbs you so much that you don't realise you're reading anymore and it turns into a visual event in your mind. So I got myself a Kindle a few months ago with the reasoning that if I spent that much money, then I was blooming well going to use it!

And I have to say it's worked! I think it's because it fits neatly into my pocket so goes with me almost as much as my phone and camera, and I also wonder if it's because it's a screen, my technology scarred brain can tune into it quickly and easily.

I don't think the Kindle or any other e-reader will ever replace books (although a fan, I'd hate that to happen), I think there's room for both.

So this is me settling in for the night with a book, a beer, and a bit of a blip.

Except I've spent so much time on the blip, the beer's gone flat....