Reading and Walking
I have a new found love for audiobooks
I live a 20 minute walk away from work, which is AWESOME since I don't have the money for car upkeep right now. Unfortunately, 20 minutes is QUITE a long time of doing nothing but walking for someone who has the attention span of a hyperactive five year old high on sugar. It is very boring. THANK GOD for smart phones, so I have all my favorite music right at my fingers.
However, I have realized I am a creature of habit, and I listen to the same ... 100 or songs OVER AND OVER AND OVER. Which sounds like a lot of music until you get to that third or fourth AND OVER. And LOOK, I love all my favorite music, and you know, I guess I could listen to all that stuff to which I never listen, but I just got a new phone, and AAAAALLLLLL my playlists are NO MORE, and, quite frankly, I'm too fucking lazy to deal with that.
So I was listening to Maroon 5 and Flo and the Machine and lots of really great music, and it was cool because I had only been working downtown for like a week, and it was entirely too soon to get bored of all my music. BUT THEN! The library didn't have a physical copy of a book I really wanted to read (The Golden Compass, if you're interested), but they DID have an audiobook download available.
Now, I have never really listened to audiobooks. I get too distracted doing ANYTHING to pay enough attention to the plot being spoken at me, so it's not a thing I've ever gotten into. I know lots of people like listening to them in the car, which you know, good for them, but I like to belt along with Cee Lo's "Fuck You" or just about anything by the Glee Cast (the more dramatic and show-tuney the better) while I'm driving, and if I'm a passenger in a car long enough to warrant listening to an audiobook? I'm asleep. Put me in the passenger's seat for more than 20 minutes, and I'm conked out.
HOWEVER, I did once "read" a James Bond novel while walking around my neighborhood, so you know, maybe this audiobook thing could work on the walk to and from work, too, cause it ain't like I got anything better going on for those twenty minutes. And it turns out that listening to audiobooks on my walk is AWESOME!
I've since finished the His Dark Materials triology, listened to The Magician's Nephew (I'm catching up on iconic YA series I've never read), and right now I'm in the middle of The Time Traveler's Wife, which is SO GOOD, by the way. I've actually started listening to my books while I go about my daily chores too, which keeps my brain occupied and gets me through the book quicker so I can be onto the next one (I've got two on hold right now)! This is such a great way for me to read stuff that I WANT to read, but I know I'll never get around to because of all the other new, shiny books that come out and distract me. So yay for whittling away my To-Read list!
I live a 20 minute walk away from work, which is AWESOME since I don't have the money for car upkeep right now. Unfortunately, 20 minutes is QUITE a long time of doing nothing but walking for someone who has the attention span of a hyperactive five year old high on sugar. It is very boring. THANK GOD for smart phones, so I have all my favorite music right at my fingers.
However, I have realized I am a creature of habit, and I listen to the same ... 100 or songs OVER AND OVER AND OVER. Which sounds like a lot of music until you get to that third or fourth AND OVER. And LOOK, I love all my favorite music, and you know, I guess I could listen to all that stuff to which I never listen, but I just got a new phone, and AAAAALLLLLL my playlists are NO MORE, and, quite frankly, I'm too fucking lazy to deal with that.
So I was listening to Maroon 5 and Flo and the Machine and lots of really great music, and it was cool because I had only been working downtown for like a week, and it was entirely too soon to get bored of all my music. BUT THEN! The library didn't have a physical copy of a book I really wanted to read (The Golden Compass, if you're interested), but they DID have an audiobook download available.
Now, I have never really listened to audiobooks. I get too distracted doing ANYTHING to pay enough attention to the plot being spoken at me, so it's not a thing I've ever gotten into. I know lots of people like listening to them in the car, which you know, good for them, but I like to belt along with Cee Lo's "Fuck You" or just about anything by the Glee Cast (the more dramatic and show-tuney the better) while I'm driving, and if I'm a passenger in a car long enough to warrant listening to an audiobook? I'm asleep. Put me in the passenger's seat for more than 20 minutes, and I'm conked out.
HOWEVER, I did once "read" a James Bond novel while walking around my neighborhood, so you know, maybe this audiobook thing could work on the walk to and from work, too, cause it ain't like I got anything better going on for those twenty minutes. And it turns out that listening to audiobooks on my walk is AWESOME!
I've since finished the His Dark Materials triology, listened to The Magician's Nephew (I'm catching up on iconic YA series I've never read), and right now I'm in the middle of The Time Traveler's Wife, which is SO GOOD, by the way. I've actually started listening to my books while I go about my daily chores too, which keeps my brain occupied and gets me through the book quicker so I can be onto the next one (I've got two on hold right now)! This is such a great way for me to read stuff that I WANT to read, but I know I'll never get around to because of all the other new, shiny books that come out and distract me. So yay for whittling away my To-Read list!