The Official Nonsense Thread

[Caspin]

I think ebooks are great in principle but I just don't enjoy reading a novel on a screen as much as I do in paper form. I have a bunch of free ebooks downloaded on my iPad (mostly Sherlock Holmes stories and some classics that I've read a dozen times already) in case of a reading emergency such as being stuck on a delayed train or running out of books while travelling. However I find that reading on a screen instead of a proper book with pages is a bit like the equivalent of eating compressed food tablets, instead of regular food, in a futuristic sci-fi film. They may contain the same nutrients as a traditional meal but the format is less appetising! Maybe I'm a book snob but I can live with that. I did get a genuine thrill yesterday when I got home and unpacked my new books. I realised I've hardly read anything this summer because I didn't go on holiday - which usually represents two solid weeks of reading while hiding from the sun, watching everyone else turn into a lobster. I will have to catch up somehow. My book about the Salem witch trials turned up as well (my last book from Amazon, if I can keep my resolution) so now I've got all these things to read and no time to get to them!

The only advantage I can think of with getting a dedicated ebook-reader such as a Kindle, rather than just using the book app on an iPad, is that the battery on a Kindle lasts about a month without being charged, so I guess if you daily read a lot of things electronically it might be worthwhile just to save constantly charging devices or running out of power while on the move. Other than that, I think Minty is right - you might as well just get a tablet and then you can do everything in one place. I'm addicted to my iPad! He has a name and everything!

'Wolf Hall' was brilliant and I can't wait to go to see 'Bringing Up the Bodies' on Saturday. I normally don't like to travel into the city at the weekend but it was impossible to get tickets otherwise. I think you'd have really enjoyed it, Minty, being a history person and all. It's a shame you couldn't come too. You could have helped me out when I mix up all the people named Thomas!

I am still trying to find someone who has read the book (despite being a prize-winning tome, not many people seem to have actually read it!) so I can ask them whether the humour is confined to the stage or whether the book was amusing too. A few people have said that they tried to read the book but could not get into it. It would seem that there was difficulty in reading the dialogue because of the formatting, which sounds very odd. I'll have to take a look sometime.

I have become amazingly proficient at capturing and putting out spiders, to the extent that I have gained yet another nickname - "Spider Bane"! We've got a few of those false widows kicking about the place - they are the biggest scaredy-cat ever and flee at the first opportunity. There's just one I cannot seem to bane - he is living behind a book case that I cannot be bothered to empty and move just to get at him and he is super-speedy. But one day I will triumph!

I am immensely glad that I did not see the video with the bread knife. I am sure it would give me nightmares and whereas most people seem to be becoming desensitised to disasters/suffering, I seem be getting more sensitive about them somehow. Psychopath murderers. I can barely watch the news anymore - it seems indistinguishable from an apocalyptic movie and is likely to turn me into a nervous wreck.

I will now go and distract myself from thinking about that and earn my daily bread in spreadsheet land.