The things you learn

Tonight I looked over at Mario's laptop and realized he was reading an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel that he downloaded for free.

How? Where do I go? What do I click now?

My heart was racing....amazing books for free.

Now, please understand, I have not spent the last ten years living under a rock. I have downloaded books before, and when Stephen King attempted his great essaie into e-publishing, I was among the honest consumers who religiously paid their $1 a month for his e-novel, The Plant.

I have been here before, just not in this decade.

With trembling hands, I downloaded a Willa Cather novel, envisioning a whole new world of superlative and free fiction opening before me.

I read two paragraphs before the soundtrack in my mind came to a screeching halt.

I had forgotten how much I hate this.

Reading is my passion, I crave the written word in an OCD manner that is frankly a little scary. Most books in my large collection have been read ten times or more, simply because I read quickly and I read constantly. I don't care if I already know how it turns out, just give me something to read. GIVE IT TO ME.

Yes, give it to me. Give me the brand new pages which stick together on one side. Give me the delicate texture of the paper. Give me that new book smell. Give me that cramped hand from holding a weighty tome for hours at a time. Give me the skill to simultaneously hold a book and turn the page, using only three fingers. Give me that snick! sound that comes from turning a page quickly oh so quickly just tell me what comes next hurry tell me tell me now.

But never, under any circumstances, expect me to get my drug by staring at a computer screen.

A book ain't a book unless it's a Book.