Here in the midwest, the weather has been cold for months and it’s not showing any signs of warming up soon. I’ve gotta say, I’m getting sick of it. Of course, the up-side to the bad weather is that I get a lot of use out of my reading chair. Despite the fact that it’s not cool (in literary circles, anyway) to like Stephen King, I’ve been reading quite a bit of him lately. I just grab a book, a rechargeable flashlight, and a warm drink to settle in for the night.

If you’re still dealing with cold weather, what are you doing to make it all a little easier?

It seems like all the old-school, chain-smoking, gold cufflinks wearing authors are dying out these days. Stephen Marlowe recently succumbed to a long illness at the age of 79. He had written over 50 detective novels throughout the years. His most recent recognizable title was “The Death and Life of Miguel de Cervantes”, though he had written quite a few books in his last decades.

His wife and two daughters survive him.

As a broke writer, I’m constantly looking out for ways to save myself a little money. Here in the bay area, the cost of living can be insane, so every little bit helps. I was recently furnishing my apartment and I have to say, a place like directbuy would have come in handy. My couch alone cost over $1000, and I’m sure a large portion of that was profit for the company. I understand that they’re in business to make money, but it’s somewhat nice to know that I won’t have to make the same mistake in the future.

Now, if they just had something similar for books.

Have you ever read one of those books that’s like the emotional equivalent of a colon cleanser? I would count Atlas Shrugged, The Alchemist, The 4-Hour Workweek, Rebecca, The Trial, and Crime and Punishment among those books for me, but there are definitely others. Each one left me stunned for days or weeks after the initial reading, and I’ve read all of them at least a few times.

It’s enough to make me feel bad for people who never learned how to love books.

I just can’t take any more of the television that’s on these days. Reality shows have constipated the airwaves and they definitely need a colon cleanse.

On the bright side, it means that there is absolutely no conflict in my mind between reading and watching. I’ve spent the last two hours shopping on Amazon and arranging to catch up on even more of my reading. Neuromancer, Virtual Light, some other William Gibson stuff. I’ve always wanted to read them but I’ve never gotten around to it.

If you suddenly found yourself with some extra time and a stack of bookstore gift cards, what would you get?

It’s February already, and that means that it’s time to do a careful assessment of my checking accounts to see where things stand after the holiday season. All the statements have finally come through, and it’s almost time for Valentine’s Day. The only thing I’m waiting for now is a pile of checks from some of my online income sources last Christmas. Once those come in, I’ll definitely be going on a mild Borders shopping spree.

Some of the choices? I still need to pick up a couple of Chuck Palahniuk titles, another copy of The Alchemist for a cousin who could really use it, and Neuromancer, which I still haven’t gotten around to reading. I figure I still have another 2 months or so of cold winter weather that’s perfect for reading.

No matter what you enjoy reading, I think it’s important to branch out into strange and unfamiliar territory from time to time. One of my favorite ways to do that is to think of a word and enter it into Amazon. Any random word will do, so long as it’s not something overly common like “the” or “it”. At first, you’ll probably end up with a lot of products, but if you click on books (at the left), you’ll be able to narrow it down to just the books that relate to that word.

Tonight, I tried a couple of terms. First, I tried “pool”. The results brought up a lot of books on playing pool, which isn’t really something that I would normally buy. All the same, I did see one very interesting-sounding book called “Everybody into the Pool” which is now on my wish list.

For my second search, I tried mattress. Surprisingly (or perhaps not, for you dirty-minded readers), it brought up a couple of erotica-related books. Very interesting.

Actually, I’m 100% sure that you don’t know this about me, but it’s time I came clean. I’m a Wayne Newton fan. Not one of those sad little people who may have heard Danke Schoen once or twice and say they’re fans, though. I have forked over cash to purchase multiple records, tapes, and eventually CDs of his music. I cringe when people say “Is that a girl singing?” when they hear some of his older pieces. Moreso when it’s regarding one of his newer pieces.

I can’t stand Jay Z and Beyonce and The Fray and Modest Mouse and all that garbage the “kids” are listening to these days (”kids” may be a bit of a stretch, I’m only 27). Give me “Red Roses for a Blue Lady” and “Too Late to Meet” and “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree” any day.

Could this have anything to do with the fact that I grew up around nursing homes and old people? Does it even matter? All I know is that once again this summer, I’ll be shopping for a hotel in Vegas.