The Gift Of You

 This year since my family is comprised of all adults, we are not giving material gifts. Instead we are planning a few events in which we, together, are all participating. One is a concert and the other, a dinner. And it feels sooo good. Trying to second guess someone's "would like" is a challenge or having to make a list of "what I would like" is over. Stress is relieved.  And yes, it is the name of my cultural holiday and it is called Christmas just as other folks call their special days by their names. I have no shame in being who I am, nor of my own culture and its history. None of us should hide our heritage because it is what we are in this great Canadian mosaic that I dearly love. This Christmas will be one without the piles of paper and ribbon but it will be  warmer and truer because we will be together and that counts for everything that Christmas means: love and giving of ourselves and being in a company that shows respect and recognition of family and friends. Children do look forward to the fun of Santa gifts. They needn't be costly but they should be thoughtful and meaningful. At the same time, since we are all very conscious of the need to keep our globe going in a lasting and "clean" way, we are also thinking of others not as fortunate as ourselves. Gifting should include taking care of each other in our varied world. Not giving gifts is a gift in itself and certainly takes away the stress of shopping and its down sides. The good side of "shopping",  even if it is window shopping, are the decorations, some so beautiful that they are a gift in themselves. As a child we were taken every year to peer through the glass of a large department store which put up a delightful display of a Santa toy train. It was free and such a wonderful treat to see it along with all the other store windows. We made it a point to drop some charity change as we went along. We didn't have lunch with Santa because we weren't rich enough, but just to be in town, was enough.  But the best part of my children's Christmas memories are of the people and of being together. 

Audio vs Read Books

 We have a book club member who listens to audio books and does his book talks on them. It bothers me. Maybe it shouldn't, but it does. It feels as though he hasn't put in the work of actually reading the book. But then, I have to recall a book club that I was in years ago, one that had a blind person in it. She "read" only audio books.  We held our gatherings of eight members, at a restaurant and this lady, while quite adept at feeding herself herself, often had to ask her neighbour what she was eating. We found her own giggles over it, fun. That's not saying much about the chef, but no one found it out of place, nor did they mind her presentations of audio books. The blind woman discussed books as keenly as anyone else in the group. But the man in my present book club who "reads" nothing but audio books, has perfectly adequate eyesight. A few of the other members of the book club are privately as disturbed at allowing audio books under the wire, as I am. We haven't debated the issue openly, but I suspect it will happen one day. At the moment, it seem an imbalanced argument to get into it, since we have only one audio book chap. To me, an audio book is much like a Hungry Man Dinner popped onto the table after a session in the micro. It looks good but the taste and or effort just aren't the same as a dinner constructed  of similar ingredients.  Also, from an author's point of view, when a writer goes to great efforts to fashion certain words in creating a scene or a mood or a question, it seems unjust to be taken up by a reader who then adds the colourful intonations to construct the same intent.The reader misses the experience of creating imaginative scenes using his own ability. Or does that matter?  Some of the audio book fans I know tell me I am wrong because they listen to readers that have such fine voice ability they actually enhance the enjoyment. Or so they tell me. Many of the professional readers come with an intriguing non- English accent and some read the books they have written. It is true that it adds a certain unique element. I suppose the debate will continue, cover unopened, really never to be resolved. 

Notable Books

Came across a list of "notable" books posted in one of the world's most famous newspapers. I won't say the name, but you know which paper all the fashionables in North America tend to quick read every morning. I like the paper's word games. The word "notable", however, bothers me. Who determines "notable"? Does it mean the most "talked about book" on the streets of that huge city? Which street, one wonders? When I look at must-read-books, I shudder. Most of them I  have no desire to read after seeing their blurbs. When I plunk down to read a book, I want it to entertain me or inform me or help me, but most of all it should inspire and delight me.  Few of the books I have thoroughly loved aren't on the Best Seller list. And I care not. Nor should I feel guilty over it. Like you, I read because I love to open a book and wait for that wonderful moment when I think "ahhh, you and I, my dear, are going to spend a lot of time together". I want the book to take me somewhere, to surprise me, to involve me and to make me smile or cry or groan or tremble, but never to let it completely leave me after the last page. I have no truck with audio books. They are not books, they are not reading, they are listening. I want my brain to see the use of  language done beautifully and deftly. Not only do I crave to learn new words, but of their use in sincere forms that are not scruffy Creative Writing instuctor cute tricks. I crave words that pique my desire to honor them and discover their new and unique way  of use.  It has nothing to do with how many people bought the book or what the current media hype demands. Nor do I like to talk about books at parties. Book clubs, yes. Parties, no.  Reading the dusty classics, I find words to add to my list of Arachaics, as I call them: words I have never heard used or written in my readership. To me, that's very exciting and is a chance to have an "aha" moment. I don't find these sorts of words in modern works unless they are coined very cleverly. I am not a snob reader but I know that Fiction is the star because it has arms and legs, it's human and realer than real. 

No Gen Gap

 To assume that there is a"generation gap" is not only incorrect, it is ridiculous. Whomever coined the term, wasn't thinking broadly but presenting a false picture of society. To have a gap, there must be a separation or abyss that prevents one from crossing over from their side to another. Generations today, all of them, live in the same basic enviornment: thus, where is the "gap"? Even if you speak of older versus younger persons as the "gap", the theory doesn't apply. Among any of the generations, usually described as twenty-five years, you will find huge differences in same age groups. It has nothing to do with what kind of clothing you wear or how you speak or dance or sing or go to school or have gone to school. All living human beings live on this planet in countries and environments together now, and the frippery described as a "gap" is simply,  not applicable. Those older within their section, have huge differences in how they behave or think or produce, and those in younger age groups also don't all think, act and live the same way either. And who would think they do? Nor do, within in either group, economic, cultural or physical differences all look alike or behave the same way. I think when some rant on about generalizational "gaps", they ought to define what part of generational "gap" they  are referring to. If they mean physical or emotional differences, even those facets, don't accurately, jibe. The variety of choices available to the young and the old make reliable facts impossible prove the "gap". For example, the other day, I had the pleasure of watching a hugely popular rock music group performing. They were visibly very elder but continued to make their special brand of music movingly accepted by a raving audience of all ages. Furthermore, it isn't about one's appearance, health or physical ability since most of the world's greatest influencers and performers and politicians and scientists are older while some are very young and innovative and all are valuable to our survival on theis planet. They work together because it's not about fad and fashion, it's about contribution. They do what they do in this time, this "gap" that we all live in - right now. Today, tomorrow and until we die, we are all one, in The Gap. 

Belonging Longing

 After hearing that most hotels in the city were booked a year ahead because a certain stage singer was coming to town, I began to wonder why.  It's easy to pooh pooh such things but the question that always arises is "why"? What is this need for hundreds, thousands to collect in one place just to hear a human being of passing popularity, sing songs and prance about on a stage? It's not much more special than listening to the song which can be purchased or nipped on-line for free. It's more than that. From what I have heard about mass human participation, it's more to be with a bunch of other people and sway and sing along and gaze on a spectacle together. It's an affirmation of being among our kind. Like a  flock of little fish or birds or junebugs all grouping together, we humans love to mingle and move in hoards and feel we belong. When you see videos of masses of humankind at concerts, all holding their cell phones in the air and swaying  and crooning in front of a large stage with a few little colourful bodies moving about like hopping ants , it is a strange sight. But there's  a reason why we creatures do it. We love to be part of a large, like, swaying and humming mass. It makes each individual feel less lonely. These folks aren't conscious of the reasons during the time they are there, they just want to be a part of it all. It makes them feel that they are the stage and the star, too, as they move and make sounds along with the "stars". Some political figures not only in the past but now also,  and likely to be, in the future,  can take advantage of this mass need to be part of a group and can direct that emotional behaviour in a number of directions.  Hopefully it is in the right and moral direction. This kind of crowd appeal is nothing new in society and harks back to the early days of man when being in a group meant security and assurance that one is protected. When our primitive ancestors sang or danced together, they felt that common bond. Nothing new.