green worm

Milko says I am a book addict. If I am a book addict, then everyone is a food / water / air addict. I have heard of people who have overcome their addiction to food / water / air, but to my best knowledge, they live in another dimension. On my current plane of existence donkeys die when they have just learned not to eat. So, I’ll be reading all my way to enlightenment, and I guess, it might take millennia…

Milko says I am a tree killer because I buy so many books. Well, I am a tree killer for sure, and I do confess I have never thought enough about that in ethical and spiritual terms, but I have thought about that in green terms and realized trees are renewable. Still I have to find out the answers to many questions like: Are trees mostly cut to produce book paper? What kind of books get the most paper? What happens to different kinds of books when they are bought and read once? Is paper made of other plants as well? What is the process of recycling like? Why don’t I start a (green) book publishing business (one of my teenage dreams)? Why don’t I promote / start / take part in a book related research?

What I now know is that I need to buy books, so that my students and friends have something good to read ( the town library does not get enough money for books, and I don’t think it spends the little money it gets only on worthwhile books). Many people I know cannot afford so many books; some people do have the money, but they’re not used to spending it on books. As I believe reading is essential, I do have to provide people with books. Lucho has been reminding me of our idea to start a library ( I mean a real library, in a separate room). I have not forgotten Doddo’s suggestion to start a reading group (Would you ever care about bringing back some of the books you have kept for more than a year, Doddo?). So, Milko, the books I buy are used many times by many people, and good books don’t need to be recycled – there will always be people who need to read them. Good books never die. (Dimitar, Radka has brought the Iliad and the Odyssey in English for you).

Now that you have been led to believe I am about to become and angel in a couple of millennia, I’ll make a confession: I am not passionate only about learning and helping others learn. It’s a lot about PLEASURE.

Reading is SEXY, guys. I love practicing it everywhere – in bed, on a bench, on the grass, in a tree, in the car, on the floor, on the table, standing in line, in the toilet, in a boring class. Milko would say I should buy a laptop. OK, Milko, let me ask you a question – Have you ever made love to a doll? I know you can close your eyes and not look at it, but … how does it feel when you touch it? How does it taste when you kiss it? I guess it smells of rubber, and I can hear the funny sounds.

Have you ever loved a book, Milko? I can remember doing that as early as I was 3. I cannot take my eyes off a beautiful book or … shelves of books (blush). Have you ever caressed a matt wax book cover? I guess the purr of a processor on a rainy afternoon could be just as cozy as the rustle of pages, but … the smell? That’s what makes old books irresistible – so sweet and unchemical.

I pray to God / Allah / Buddha / Jesus / Mother Theresa / Green Peace / Al Gore to forgive me. I am not quite sure if I know what I am doing.