-1/26/22 What Would(nt) You Read?

Hello, word peeps. Welcome to another addition of what lies behind the doorway to my mind. Yes, this is my mind. I've owned it for 52 years now. I've not always been the sole contributor to what goes in it but for the most part, I have to own it. Sometimes I'm inflicted with mental contributions from society at large (which are not always pleasant) and each little nugget of B.S. has played a role in who I am today. I believe the good has outweighed the bad, though.

Now, I'm not content with putting the brain on autopilot and going through life absorbing morsels from just the road signs I pass. This is what they say, this is what you know and believe. Oh, no no. Sometimes you gotta take a side road and go looking for things to feed on. If you only absorb what they give you then you'll only be as intelligent as they allow you to be. I enjoy feeding my brain with everything. So, what resonates when you thirst for learning as much as you can, you might ask? Knowledge. Like they say, 'Knowledge is power.'

Question: When you were finished with schooling, and now you're all grown up, do you ever take the time to dive into a little science and see what is out there? To remind yourself of what you have forgotten or anything you were never taught? If yes, kudos to you. If not, why? What are you waiting on? Is there something else I don't already know? The answer is always 'yes.' If you find yourself interested in brushing up on a little bit of science, pick up a book and get lost in it. If you are like most people, and would rather learn in a visual sense, might I suggest spending some time on You Tube with astrophysicist, planetary scientist, author, and science communicator Neil deGrass Tyson. I love this man. He makes learning something new, fun. Don't have the time, you say? I call B.S. Log off of Facebook. Get off Tiktok and Instagram. Turn off the sitcom and enrich your mind with something of substance, for a change. You'll be better off, trust me.

So, this brings me to the topic of today's blog. It aint about science, though. It's reading.

What would(nt) you read?

There are many types of books one could pick up and be whisked away with, fiction or non, it's all out there. There are many genres within fiction one could choose from. What's your pleasure? One person may reach for a good horror book while another person steps back and says no way. Not for you? Quite alright. Perhaps your taste is more akin to diving into a romance novel. Not for you? Quite alright. That's the beauty of freedom to read what you want to read. We live in a world where you have that right too as well as some places where you don't. Can you imagine this? Denied access by threat of physical harm. Not any place I wish to live in. How about a good comedic book? Everyone enjoys a good laugh. Well, they should, anyway.

I read for both entertainment and knowledge. Entertainment - Right now I am trying to finish a book by Robert Galbraith called The Cuckoo's Calling. A London supermodel plunges to her death and her brother has hired a detective to uncover the truth, believing it was not suicide. Knowledge - Also, I am listening to an audio book written by Adolph Hitler (while imprisoned) called Mein Kampf (My Struggle). I know you've probably heard of it but did you ever feel like you'd be interested in actually reading it? "Why on earth would I read that?" you might be screaming. Calm down, peepers. My mission is not to find pleasure in the mass murder of millions of Jews, quite the contrary. The work is a part of history. If one doesn't understand history then one is in danger of repeating it. This particular work is actually banned/illegal in some parts of this green and blue globe. Suppressed by those who crave the cancel. I am curious to the mindset of this dictator preceding his rise to power. Not surprisingly, I recognize many similarities in it to our modern day state of the union happenings. Scary stuff. So, I ask you ... would you read it? If so, why? If not, why not? Not interested or do you draw a strict line in the sand on this one? Either or, quite alright. If you wouldn't pick it up, how do you feel about someone who would? Does it bother you in any way or do you look at it like, "Ehh, don't care"? How many books have you chosen to die at that line in the sand? Have you ever thought about it? Let's see if I can hold onto all of you here and not lose anyone. What about the Bible? For most people it would be an obvious answer but you are in fact you and not everyone else. Joe Somebodyelse might not have any interest in it. Could you choke this one off as "Ehh, no judgement here"? Or does this one get under your skin just a little bit? I ask this because religion has a knack for causing people to act in a horrible manner towards their fellow man. Not cool on either end of the spectrum. I have actually read the bible so many times I couldn't give you an actual number. I've spent many years reading it (not just from Gen to Rev) and have studied it exhaustively in the form of 'word' searches, 'topic' searches, 'person' searches, 'chapter' searches, 'numerically factual' searches, you name it. Ok, let's try this one ... what about the Quran or Anton Lavey's Satanic Bible? Have I lost anyone yet? My motive here is not to praise or condone any of the writings I have mentioned. This simply falls under my heading of what you would or would not read. If you haven't, would you see yourself as someone who was confident enough in your beliefs to read either of them in a purely informative way without any threat to oneself? I, also, have read LaVey's work and no, I do not worship the devil. Things are not always black and white in meanings. There are a lot of grey areas in life. If you fail to ever question then you sentence yourself to a mentality of strictly black or white. I have actually stumbled upon tidbits within LaVey's book that I feel were more moral than situations I read in the bible. I have found tidbits within the Quran that were contrary to what I had always been told. Had I not looked, I would not have seen. Once again, not preaching, simply asking where your line in the sand is.

So, what are the books that stop at your line? That stop way before your line? Books you would rather burn and be done with them? Hopefully not my recently released Caesar's Move.

[Disclaimer] If you burn my book, a child will go hungry. Just kidding, peeps. Humor is still among us, some more than the rest.

I feel it's a dangerous road to go down when you begin to burn/ban books that you personally don't like. The same with speech. When you begin to try and squash everything that 'you' don't like then what happens when you fall prey to the same mentality but from someone else? Once you start the train a rolling, how would you ever stop it? You don't. It just derails and takes us all with it.

In closing, there are many books that one would definitely enjoy reading. There are many that we draw lines at. All of our lines are not at the same place. Some are two inches from our toes while others might be two miles from us. Either way, you might not understand why someone decides to dive into a certain piece of literature but it's not for you. It's for them. And their reasoning might be just the opposite of what you imagine it to be. Where's your line? Is it movable? Is it set? An open mind can move mountains. Surely it can move an imaginary line.

Love your neighbor, people. A kind word and pleasant gesture can go a long way. Pick up a good book and continue to feed your brain. You owe it to yourself.

Angelo

Check out my website at angelobain.com where you can follow my weekly ramblings and check out/pick up a copy of my recently published book, Caesar's Move.