It’s been over a month since I’ve sat down and read a book. The last time I had done so was with A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, back in April of this year. Since then I haven’t been able to get past the third chapters of any book. I’ve tried – I got through 10 pages of A Life of Pi, and 30 pages of Slam. The busyness of school and orgs, and the distractions of Google Reader and podcasts have taken away my readers mojo and I’m determined to get it back.
On Monday I pulled The Yiddish Policemen’s Union off my shelf and made up my mind to get to the last page. My first time through the book was a chore; I struggled through every paragraph with its landmines of five syllable words and Yiddish references. In retrospect, if I told myself that the plot could have been summed up in less than twenty pages, I probably would have given up. But I have fallen in love with this book. This is my third or fourth time through and I have a much clearer understand of what’s happening. I can now sit back and enjoy everything that makes the book great.
The added pleasure of rereading the book is the memories that come with it. I found tucked in its pages a boarding pass from my trip to Tacloban, a slip of paper with the contact details of Bratpack, and a airline napkin that book marked the glossary. Before I used receipts which doubled as a book mark and a list on which I wrote vocabulary words. The receipt is now gone since I transferred the list onto my computer. You can download the vocabulary list by clicking here.
TYPU represents much more to me than just a book; it is a memory bank that brings me back in time. Grab a book off my bookshelf and I’ll tell you where it came from. Give me a song off my iTunes library and I’ll give you a memory. Journals, diaries, blogs can remind you of an incident, but those words are told in past tense; they tell of a time when you remembered an incident. They are a memory of a memory. The things you can touch, hear, taste, smell, or feel – those are the things that really bring you back.
I downloaded two podcasts this evening – both were re-aired interviews from March. And surprisingly, I knew exactly where I was when I first heard those interviews. The first interview was with the creators of South Park and I remembered I was across DLSU at National Bookstore looking for a present for my dad. I ended up buying him Blink by Malcolm Gladwell since he enjoyed Outliers so much. The second interview was with Kelly Kennedy, and I remember hearing the first half of the interview while I was waiting at the airport for my mom at three in the morning. I wasn’t able to finish the podcast as I saw my mom exit the customs area.
Sounds, feelings, emotions, things that created a moment for me. I am mesmerized at how my memory works. I wish I could utilize it for my education.
I just noticed how sentimental I sound. I don't consider myself to be a sentimental guy -- I move around a lot, which disallows me to accumulate much. If I was evicted from my house on the unlikely premise that Nick Hornby wanted my room, I'd take my laptop, guitars, xbox, clothes and my books with me. I'd leave everything else to his disposal. I don't care much about the foam hand from my first UAAP game, or the lanyards from the different retreats I've been part of. Almost everything in my room are for decorative purposes only. What I'm trying to say is that the memories I was talking of are memories brought up by books and music.
*Sigh* It's hard to differentiate the two. Maybe I am a sentimental guy -- deep down inside. Maybe memories are what keep me sane. I'd hate to think so. Memories . . . they tell me who I am. Where I have been. What I have done. Memories -- please go away. I'm trying to live in the present.
1 comment:
Hey, if ever you get evicted, don't forget my boxes in your room. They are important! :):)
Yes, memories are good as long as they inspire and teach. Always learn from past mistakes (and from other people's mistakes)!
Pictures are also a good way of keeping memories. And I am so glad that now we can keep pictures in our computers or external drives. We have a jumbo balikbayan box in your Lolo and Lola's storage full of pictures that I couldn't bring myself to throw away. They are precious memories of our past -- of your childhood, of the different places we've been to, of the different houses we lived in, of our friends, of our loved ones and reunions, everything! Maybe I will throw them away when they turn yellow and become blurry. But first, you and your Papa should convert the important ones into digital pictures first! :):)
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