To Read or to Write

Lately I’ve had a much greater desire to read than to write. However, it’s much harder to find the time of day to read on this trip than it is to find a half-hour of time to scribble some simple thoughts down. Maybe that’s all because writing is more physical and after a long day it is easier for me to stay up and write than it is to stay up and read.

For Christmas my dear friend Laura bought me a book that I’ve been needing to read, “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac, though it is just one of many books that can relate to my travels. I’ve only been able to dig into a few pages of the book, but as always, as if I was still in college I read with my highlighter in hand always ready to mark something that stands out as inspiration.

Last night I spent some time at Borders browsing all sorts of books. I couldn’t make up my mind, but I had to buy something. I needed another book in my passenger seat. Maybe it’s because I feel just by having another book in my car I can gain that knowledge through osmosis (or some kind of process like such). So I bought two books. The first is “Working” by Studs Terkel. After learning only a little about him he became a huge inspiration towards my approach on this trip, though I’m still learning what exactly that is. But once again, this trip is just practice, a trial run for what’s to come. Oddly enough the second book I bought was a coffee table book with 4,000 questions about how to get to know anyone and everyone. I guess getting to know someone doesn’t come as naturally to me as it does someone like Studs Terkel. And when it comes to reading and writing that reminds me of what my dear friend Andrew would quote, “He who reads much, in turn writes well.” Ok, so I don’t read much.

Mostly I am driven by things that I don’t want to forget; things I must share, As said by Jack Kerouac in On The Road, “and the things that were to come [on the road] are too fantastic not to tell.”