Books in the Bank, Baby

I always feel safe and secure when I have books lined up to read.

Nestled on the bottom shelf of the end table that supports my magazines, my notebooks, the baseball that Eddie gave me, an occasional cup of coffee, occasional short whiskey, and other miscellany are a bunch of books.

Leonard Cohen's recent biography by Sylvie Simmons, "I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen." Pete Townshend's autobiography, "Who I Am". "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain. "Lords of Chaos:The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground", Michael Moynihan, Didrik Soderlind.

Most of the time I am forced to play it close to the belt because of budgetary restrictions. Cutting it close with only one or two books in the queue.

Very dangerous.

Got a little lucky recently and was able to ramp up dramatically.

I am not satisfied. Thinking about buying the next installment in the Jack Reacher series. I am reading them in the order they were released. I have read three; got 14 or 15 more to go.

Cannot get enough of the written word and the eclectic variety it offers me.

In addition, I am on page 432 of "Atlas Shrugged", by Ayn Rand. The book has 1,168 pages.

There is a lot of reading in front of me and I am feeling enthusiastic about that.

Gonna buy some cheap, well worn recliner that I can set on the screened-in porch so I will read out there this spring and summer (such as they exist). I don't know why I never thought of that before.

When I was a wee lad I used to read on the porch of my parents house in the summer. Second floor, looking down over Winthrop Street.

Those moments were the most sublime, peaceful, soul nourishing moments of my wickedly warped formative years.

The only reason I have never done it in this house - which the bank has owned and we have lived in since 1986 - 1986 - is because I never had a comfortable chair out there. There is a table and chairs but I despise reading at a table.

Took me 29 years to figure it out but, what the hell, I guess that means I am making progress.

That is the portion of my soul where I am residing this morning and it is a good feeling.

Since they are so rare and precious, I dig good feelings.

Ciao, baby.