Books

Let's talk about books. I like books. I enjoy reading all kinds of things, from fantasy and sci-fi to crazy post-modern novels about the meaninglessness of our lives. Any way you look at it, books are pretty rad. They are stories from another's mind, translated into text onto paper, which we then transmit into our own minds via reading. We are essentially reading another person's mind in the past. Literally, someone was thinking the very thing you read when they wrote it. That's a pretty cool thing. I like that. I can read your mind, man. Just write down what you're thinking and send it to me. 

Of course the method of transference isn't perfect. There is much lost in translation, which is a good thing. I think there is much 'added' in translation as well, if that makes any sense, which it might not. What I mean is that when a writer puts their thoughts into paper, so much other junk comes with it, from their past, their lives, their experiences. Things they had no idea they were thinking goes onto the page without them even realizing it. We see it, as readers. We see not just what they were literally thinking but also that extra baggage. Of course it's not perfect but it's there. We read into it, we come to it with out own baggage, and as we read these thoughts coming from our own experiences, we see things nobody else will. Think about it. Even if you and I read the same book, line for line, word for word, we actually read different books. I will see things you did not and you will do likewise, simply because of our different pasts. That's amazing. That's why it's fun to talk about books you've read with others. They'll show and try to tell you what they experienced, meanwhile you'll attempt to describe your own understanding. I say 'try' and 'attempt' because that is what they are, you cannot communicate your entire experience to another because they have not lived the life you live. It's fun to talk about, though. 

Telling stories is awesome and honestly, I wish I was better at it in oral form. My dad is fantastic at it. He gets his whole body into the story and really makes you feel like you were there. He uses voices, facial expression and jokes. His stories are pure entertainment and it's enjoyable to listen to the same one over and over. Though, to be honest, this particular enjoyment is partially because he tends to change a story every time he tells it, until who knows what truly happened? But it doesn't matter. It's a story. Truth is beside the point that it's funny, it makes you laugh, feel and think. 

Think about it some more. When someone tells you something that happened to them, they aren't telling you the "truth". They are telling what they experienced, colored by their past and personality. This isn't a bad thing and doesn't mean that everybody is lying to you all the time. We can't get outside our own heads, so we just cannot be unbiased or neutral. We always bring things to the story, and that's a great thing. That's why when you hear a story, you feel like you know the author/teller a little better after, because you get more than just the plot, the sequence of events, you get their feelings and thoughts, their reactions. 

To sum it all up....

IT'S AWESOME. PEOPLE ARE COOL. LISTEN OR READ SOME STORIES. 

...THERE ARE LOTS OF STORIES IN BOOKS SO PICK SOME UP SOME TIME.