Half Way There

So I'm still digging through War & Peace.  Believe me when I tell you that though it's taking a long time, I can't put it down.  Here is the latest passage(s) that absolutely kill me.

"Poisonous nourishment of a too sensitive soul
Thou, without whom happiness would be for me impossible,
Tender melancholy, ah, come to console me,
Come to calm the torments of my gloomy retreat,
And mingle a secret sweetness
With these tears that I feel to be flowing."

"One is afraid of the unknown [...] whatever we say about the soul going to the sky...we know there is no sky but only an atmosphere."

Doesn't get much better than that.

I just watched a documentary called Paperback Dreams.  It was pretty good. Like something you would see on PBS. Definitely not The Cove, but nonetheless good.  Really made me realize how quickly the times are changing.  The fact is that everything is changing so fast we don't even notice it.  We are always scrambling to keep up.  Bookstores (local ones) used to be places of refuge.  Places to go to randomly discover the works of authors that could change the way we think...our whole lives even.  Now at the touch of a button we can order, from the fat-ass-of-a-lazy-boy-recliner-chair, anything we want.  No more self discovery.  Just click.  The idea that these places will soon be extinct breaks my heart.  Record stores are the same thing.  Soon we will no longer be able to run our fingers across the tops of 30 year old vinyl records searching for that random gem, won't be able to smell that old cardboard or cut ourselves on those crispy paper sleeves.  Another example (though a poor one I must admit) are video stores.  I remember when I was young going to the movie store to pick out the latest release or oldie-but-goodie.  I haven't jumped on the Netflix bandwagon yet, but it looks like I will be soon since another video store shut down.  This I am not heartbroken over, in fact I don't really care. But it is just another sign of the ever-changing times we live in.

I want to slow down.  I want to walk to work.  I want to sit and watch my coffee brew.  I want to walk to a friends house to ask them a question or to simply say hello.  I want more face time.  I want to roll my own cigarettes. I want to use a typewriter.  I want to do long division (no i don't), I want to send a letter in the mail and be okay with not hearing back from someone for weeks on end.  I want to slow down.