05 December 2008

A Jenial 2-for-1

In the next few days, I will read My 120th book of 2008, keeping alive a yearly streak of at least 10 books a month that dates back to last century. Not that I actually read 10 books every month, for unlike other years, this year I was behind My pace until early November. 

I read that many books because (a) I love to read; (b) Hate to chit-chat, so when in public places, I read and (c) By reading that much, I can take a few chances and try out new things without much stress.

Out of 120 books or so (as many as 147 in 2002), I'll take 20-25 chances a year on books I normally wouldn't bother with, whether it's fiction or non-fiction. The beauty of this system is that more often than not, I discover a whole new world to explore and can then add that section of books to My expanding mental list of "good to read."

And if it turns out that the book was a clunker, no big deal. That's what the rest of My "To Read" library (currently sitting at 97 books just to the left of me as I write) is for: to make up for that.

From what I understand, reading that much puts Me way ahead of the average person in the U.S. of part of A. and even further ahead of the average person in Puerto Rico. That's okay. The pack is for mules, anyway.

________

I am amused, in the most condescending sense of the word, by a local group of bloggers who are pasting their blogs with "awards," apparently handed out by each other, to serve as "recognition" of their work. How very 1996 of you all, when the Web was filled with sites parading dozens of awards in some feeble-minded efffort to provide legitimacy where none existed.

The "awards" don't make up for the fact that many of these bloggers are nothing but posers. One blogger has the temerity to say his blog is about calling out the truth because he's fed up with what he sees (or some smelly crap like that), but he uses an alias and doesn't show who s/he is. How very bold! Give him an(other) award!

Here's the thing: I understand the need for privacy, especially in this day and age of identity theft and spam. But when you talk the talk without walking the walk, you are nothing--nothing--but a hypocrite. And stamping your blogs with empty "awards" reminds Me of the Special Olympics, where every feeble-minded participant gets his or hers.

Unlike them, you utterly lack dignity. And maybe--just maybe--unlike them, you can actually do something about it.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kudos on this blog!

The sad thing is they probably just give awards for SEO cross-links.

I'd love to have a link to make this more.. laughable.

GCSchmidt said...

Thank you for mentioning links, Francisco. In the category of "Acephalic Awards Shared", try the blogs "Sin Mordazas" at http://desahogoboricua.blogspot.com/ and "Poder 5" at http://poder5.blogspot.com/ Scroll down to see the "awards" and note how many on the blogrolls are "award winners." As for hypocrisy, check out "Dedo En La Llaga," http://dedoenllaga.blogspot.com/ whose masked author (I kid you not) says he is "Married and with children, screwed by the government, tired of hypocrisy, avid to call out a few truths." Oh, really? Since when does telling the truth require an ape's mask? (Unless it isn't a mask, in which case, damn.)

Posers. That's all they are.

The Insider said...

Oops. I admit it. I like hiding behind my IP too, but I haven't invested in my ape mask. Of course, I'm not a very well kept secret, and I'm not getting any awards... not even those ones from back in 1996! :)

Unknown said...

Where do you keep your book lists of books read and books to read? Do you use BookMooch? Do you keep at it with books that start badly to see if they reward later on?

GCSchmidt said...

Insider, you don't CLAIM to be some "fed-up hypocrisy hater," so your privacy is okay in My book. I just sneer at the yellow-belly posers who shriek "Here I am!"...while wearing a mask.

Gabriel, I keep My Books Read list on a spreadsheet (geeky, I know) and my To Read list is essentially books placed carefuly on three shelves, on a nightstand and strewn about My car.

Coincidentally, I am slogging through a fantasy novel right now that's long on sub-creation and short on plot, but I will finish it. (The great advantage to speed-reading at 1,200-1,400 words a minute is that you can get through mediocre books in a flash.) In My life, I've only "dropped" 8 books, one of them "Anna Karenina" because the characters were about as pro-active and as fungi. I only remember one other dropped book, "Little, Big"; dropped that one twice.