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Let us go a-Kindling



I've just finished reading the New York Times on my brand new Kindle, the one Marissa bought me for Christmas.

I got the free trial and I've made a note on my iPhone to cancel on the 13th day, otherwise, I'll be automatically billed on my credit card.

I love the New York Times but I can't afford it at nearly $30 a month, so I'll read it on my laptop for free after the trial. I will continue to read newspapers online as long as they don't cost me anything. I just won't pay for them online. It seems wrong.

I still prefer the print edition, still love the smell of the newsprint page, still love the photos and the little gems I find between the big stories.

Dog gnaws feet off blogger, who then blogs about it. The dog, not the blogger.

Man spurned by wife, mows neighbor's lawn.

You never see this stuff online.

But I have to admit, this old fossil might be converted. Kindling will mean an end to Citizens and Globes which stack up in the recycle; it will reduce the number of magazines littering the john.

And it will give me the ability to read in bed without getting pug juice all over the pages.

It also makes the Sunday breakfast more civilized. Today, Scott and I could eat in uncluttered bliss, no longer having to fight for space for our breakfast plates amidst flyers and the dreaded, barfy and unread home sections. Thanks to the kids, we now have two book readers, the Kobo, from Stef, which is brimming with free copies of the classics -- a hundred of them. I once vowed to spend one winter devouring the Penguin classics but thought it would be too expensive. No excuse now. I have Dante and Huck Finn sitting beside me beckoning.

It got me thinking that Faith Popcorn was right when she predicted the decline of social in favor of the cocoon.

Today, Scott will immerse himself in Call of Duty while I will segue between the e-reader and the 3DS, battling worms and spiders in the make believe world of Ocarina with my trusty Princess Zelda by my side.

We are being held voluntarily captive by our flatscreens, various computers and video game devices.

If I didn't need food or exercise, I simply wouldn't go out anymore. Technology brings work, entertainment and information right to my fingertips.

I don't even have to get out of bed or shed my pajamas.

Truth be told, Scott has to remind me to wash my hair.

The Kobo is like the main event and the Kindle is the dessert.

I wonder, dear bleader, when I will have time to work.
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