Books

I think I am most creative when I procrastinate.

I had tons of stuff to write about, everything from intelligent discussions about reality to the downright depressing feelings related to exams. And this was yesterday, before the last exam paper today.

And today, after the exams, I forgot every single thing I intended to write on this blog. (I didn't do it yesterday because I was convincing myself I was not procrastinating. But well, haha...)

Anyway, I dropped by my fav. place in the world after the toilet. The library and the book shop.

And, I found out that Robert Jordan had drafts for three books before he died. THREE. Oh in case you're not familiar with him, he's the guy who wrote the Wheel of Time. Yeah, that book, I read 11. There's 13 now. And the thinnest is 750 pages long. With a font size about this small, in every page. And there's three more, written by some other people based on his draft. Not sure if I'll read it, because the last book I read was pre-SPM if I remember correctly. That's 4 years at least.

And, as I was leaving Borders, I saw Justin Bieber's face. No, not the real guy. The real face slapped on a hardback book. The pretty face took about 75% of the front cover, and the other 25% filled with the words '100% official' and something else.

So yeah, it pisses me off because I hold a sacred view of books. Books are tomes of knowledge. They share imagination, ideas, facts etc. But writing a book of 'How I became famous, how I got inspiration for my mushy songs and how I dealt with the emotional problems when everyone hates me' stuff is not exactly something that turns me on. I detest it, in fact. 

I wrote all these without having listened to a single song by him (an achievement I maintained till now). But the general idea I have of people like Bieber is that, well, shallow. Perhaps it is unfair, perhaps it is unjustified bias. But I just cannot stand the idea of a pre-pub guy singing about love (remember my statistics about 90% of the songs out there being about love). It is a poisoned view, seasoned with media inputs and baked with the camera lights. The idea of everlasting love, with unimaginable freedom and as simple as 'be with me forever', without a shred of responsibility other than the impetus of the rush of emotion.

No, in the long run, this will not contribute anything to humanity. It will serve to entertain and whittle away the time of a disillusioned faceless society. As bad as reading some sappy love story perhaps.

And I am not saying all readings I approve of are of science or philosophical themes. I read fantasy all the way up until last year, before I switched genres (to science and philosophy). I still enjoy other books, comic books and fantasy books in fact. Leisure reading is leisure reading that exercises the mind and stretches the imagination. Reading about how wretched and blessed an idol's life is is not leisure reading.

And I almost began ranting on the state of movies on screen, but I'll consciously avoid that.

My current reading list includes Dawkins, Atkins, Kaku, Kant and Nietzche. Heavy. Throw in Robert Jordan maybe? Oh and Bryson. Bought a whole lot of his books for a bargain and didn't get around to reading them.

Till then, I shall indulge in some nerdy bookworm activities after a depressing period facing coursebooks and textbooks. 

On a side note, I found a really awesome wallpaper of Fate/Unlimited Blade Works that utilizes fully the great laptop I have. That made my day :D