Books vs internet vs plants
To the Editor:
Buying plants has become very expensive, but you can still have fun planting seeds. Planting mix and plastic pots can be purchased locally. A good hobby for old ladies and young children. I was born during the Coolidge administration but did not read my first book until 1935. It was “A child's garden of verse” by Robert Louis Stevenson, 1880. In the meantime, at age four I was introduced to a man who had seen Abraham Lincoln in Springfield) and taken to see a Hooverville. In 1936 I began reading adventure books for boys. The one that was responsible for 20 years as a bum was called “The Jinx Ship” by Howard Peace. It concerned a rusty coal burning tramp ship in the south pacific copre trade. That's me, I said, actually I did find a berth on a tramp ship in the copra trade in 1947, working out of Cebu, the Phillippines. It is probably the largest copra port in the world, a street with piers on one side with ships loading coconut products and on the other side bars with young girls as” hostess `and San Miguel beer. In the 20 years looking for adventure I managed, with guide book and map, to explore many of the great cities of the world on foot. Which contries did I like best? Mexico and England. I was lucky to discover Charles Dickens early.
The first Dickens I read was ` Pickwick Papers' about Mr. Jingle and Mr. Snodgrass. I was hooked on Dickens and proceeded to read every Dickens in print. I could see how he was the world's favorite author. At one time if you named a Dickens character, I could tell you what book he came from. I liked `American Notes' about trip to the U. S. that he made in 1840. He didn't like American behavior, particularly of spitting on the sidewalks. He was taken to see a plantation and slavery in Virginia. A few minutes were enough. He traveled west by stagecoach and riverboat to Cincinnati which was his favorite American city. About the same time Frances Trollope came from England to Cincinnati to observe American habits. In 1852 she published a famous book about Americans lifestyle and daily interaction with one another. Like Dickens, she thought Americans uite crude. Girls she hired to help with housework always quit as soon as they had enough money to buy a new dress. Today's writers I tend to like to read salty female writers and number one is Annie Proulx who writes about Wyoming. She is best known for `Brokeback Mountain' and won the Pulitzer prize for ` The Shipping News' about a weekly newspaper in Newfoundland which reserves one page each week for `sexual assalts.'
Now the internet has advantages. It will answer your questions on any subject. If you want to read news that is not in the peedee or npr punch nbc news. You don't have to waste time waiting for npr… all of their programs are listed by segment. Just pick the ones you are interested in and don't waste time on the rest. The program starts when you are ready. If you are a lefty then Hartmann comes on at 9 a.m. weekdays. If you like classical music, there are 100 or more classical music stations available. The San Antonio station says “How ya'll doin' today.” If a piece of music has been recorded, the chances are that it is on youtube. Thousands to choose from. There are no sports unless you pay for them. If you want sports get a tv or go to your local ginmill. When it comes to books vs. internet vs. plants, books win 5-1.
— Ralph Bostrom, Willits