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Archive for October 22nd, 2012

Two-minute Sex

Posted in Quotes, Reading, tagged , , , , , , , on October 22, 2012| 1 Comment »

I do not speed-read books;  it seems to defeat the whole purpose of the exercise, much like speed-eating a Porterhouse steak or applying the two-minute drill to sex.
     —     Joe Queenan
From:  “One for the Books“
[This quote is from a column posted on the Wall Street Journal online site titled:  “My 6,128 Favorite Books“, and is an excerpt from Queenan’s book.
I found the link to this article on a blog I follow:  Lead.Learn.Live maintained by David Kanigan.  Dave’s blog was titled:  “He’s Read 6128 Books“
Like most “readers”, I’ve been down the path of learning to speed-read.  From high school, to college, to multiple companies – everyone seems to want me to read faster.  I CAN read reasonably fast when I need to.  I know how to look ahead, skip non-critical words, change speed for content / purpose, etc ad nauseam.  But when I read, I tend to cherish words and ideas; thinking new thoughts about new things or in different ways.  When I read for pleasure – and I mostly read for pleasure – I take my time and cherish ever flavor, every nuance, every smell, every touch created by the author’s imagination and conveyed through the language of words to my imagination.  Of course, I enjoy a two-minute drill as much as the next person, but I don’t want EVERY experience to be a two-minute drill any more than I want EVERY experience to be a two-hour visit to the dentist (mixed metaphor / pun intended).  —  KMAB]
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Just Staring, Why?

Posted in My Journal, Philosophy, Poetry, tagged , , , , , on October 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Leisure
WHAT is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare? —
No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
Written by:  W. H. Davies
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