Exposing myself




It is said you can judge a person by the books in their library. We need not jump to conclusions about what people are reading, but rather that they read at all. For me that is judgement day.  Reading exposes us to different ideas, perspectives and encourages critical thinking.
Here is the book case in the “Unemployment Office” or otherwise known as my bedroom. The books are helter skelter, not alphabetized, not orderly and it takes me a good 5 minutes to find the book I’m looking for. It is the same with my man tools, my pottery tools and my fridge. A cluttered mind????
Most of my books are pottery related that is at least the ones I keep. As for pleasure reading which I have done since Grade school I read and then pass them forward to someone I think will like the book.
When I was a kid working for my Uncle Jimmie in the pottery I didn’t get paid but I could have any book my heart desired and they would take me to the Stratford Festival each summer to see a live play.  My favourite play was Cyrano de Bergerac. My favourite author was John Steinbeck who I read over and over. I was a veracious reader.  I was thrilled when in Sag Harbour doing a workshop on Long Island to be in Steinbeck’s home town.
So maybe the order of one’s library also says something about the person. What kind of pots and art they will collect?  Whether they could be just as comfortable in a hostel as a 5-star hotel.
Last night when I went to bed I had a memory of my daughter Robin and I in Newcastle, UK. I had booked us into an old mansion that turned out to be a shit hole. We feared our toes would turn green when going to the communal bathroom, we saw cockroaches, the carpets were thread barren, there was no A/C etc., etc., Many would have been outraged and left.  We laughed and had the grandest time. Dinner was at a Middle Eastern restaurant where the server gave us complimentary this and that. It was one of the best days of my life.
Give me Bourbon Street over Wall Street any ole day.
“Gaze not on the blemishes or marks of others and ask not how they came by them. What you speak in secret to your friend deliver not before others.”  From my next read Rules of Civility by Amor Towles.

PS: To my Italian sommelier Vicki Hamilton. I had a nice organic red with my Mexican tacos tonight. It is titled “Guilty Men”. It is a blend of two grape
varieties that my wine making friend Martin Malivoire owner of the winery said he would never do. He did and he is forever guilty. It is in my price budget, it’s organic and I am The Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov of Aylmer, Ontario, Canada

I hope your book club enjoys A Gentleman in Moscow. I recommend a nice Gamay, Beaujolais or Pinot Noir for light drinking while reading.

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