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Superstition, Reading, and So-Called Smartphones

April 6, 2010 By Jeff 86 Comments

I apologize for WVU’s loss on Saturday night.  I knew I’d better not watch the game, but did anyway.  And they were beaten, as feared.  I don’t watch sports very often anymore, and when I do, the team I’m pulling for always loses.  Always.

So, you see, it’s my fault.  If I’d just watched Curb Your Enthusiasm or Rescue Me on Saturday, the Mountaineers would have played for a national championship last night.  I hope you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me.

Of course I’m joking, but only sorta.  I really did think to myself, “Should I watch the game tonight?  ‘Cause if I do, they’ll definitely lose.  As sure as a Sunkist soda will trigger a frantic drive to the poop-hoop.”  But then I dismissed that kind of thinking as ridiculous, idiotic superstition.

Yeah, and we all know what happened next…

Are you superstitious about anything?  I am, but only mildly so.  I’m aware, if you know what I mean.  I take things as signs – good and bad – but don’t fully believe any of it.  I don’t make decisions based on it, or anything like that.  But I’m always aware.

For instance, if I look at a clock and it says 7:11, I’ll stop and try to remember what kind of ridiculousness I was just thinking about.  Because 7:11 are good numbers, and I might want to follow-up on what was passing through my head at that time.  You know, that sort of thing.

What about you?  Are you superstitious at all?  Tell us about it in the comments, won’t you?  Do you make life decisions based on it?  We need to know.

I was listening to a podcast at work a few nights ago, and the guy cranked off some amazing statistics about the reading habits of Americans.  I don’t know if they’re accurate, but I suspect they are.  Here ya go:

58% of adults never read another book after high school.

42% of college graduates never read another book after graduation.

80% of families did not buy or read a book last year.

70% of adults have not been in a bookstore during the past five years.

57% of new books are never read to completion (page 18 is the average stopping point).

I find those numbers to be amazing.  How is it possible?  Books are fantastic, one of the best things in the world.  I always have at least one going, at all times, and lately have been reading two or three at a time.

In fact, I polished off two (really good) books about editing fiction last week alone.  They weren’t huge, but they had a lot more than 18 pages each.

I love books, and buy ‘em a lot faster than I can read them.  I do my best to keep up, and sometimes do a better job than other times (I’m running wide-open at the moment).  I can’t imagine NEVER reading.  Why would you never read?  It makes no sense to me.

And I hope you don’t think I’m pretending to be highbrow here, sitting around reading William Faulkner and James Joyce with half-glasses way out on the tip of my nose.  ‘Cause that ain’t it.  I read all manner of stuff, including many novels that are designed for pure entertainment, and nothing else (aka “trash”).

And I also love bookstores.  I could spend hours wandering around a good one, if I had hours at my disposal.  Just like when I was nineteen, loving record stores and the whole record store vibe.

Which is why those podcast numbers blew my mind…  Do you think they’re accurate?  What are your own reading habits?  Are you like me, and consider reading a natural part of the day?  Or have you never read another book since teachers stopped requiring it?  I’d be interested in knowing.

So, there you go… I’m superstitious, yet very well-read.  Make of that what you will.  And actually, I’m not all that well-read.  There are lots and lots of “the classics” that don’t interest me at all.  Life is too short for the Scarlet Letter, for instance.  Far too short.

And just so you know, I got my Droid on Friday afternoon.  I’ve been playing around with it, and have already gotten into a habit of checking the exact same things, over and over.

I fear I’ll get locked into this cycle, and will only take advantage of 5% of the phone’s capabilities.  So, if you have one, or any so-called smartphone for that matter, what out-of-the-ordinary things do you use it for?  Please help me avoid the 5% cycle!

And that’s all I have time for today, boys and girls.

I’ll see you again tomorrow.

Now playing in the bunker

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Comments

  1. chett says

    April 6, 2010 at 4:46 pm

    Thanks for reminding me about the wvu game. I made a vow that I would not read the sports section or watch espn for 2 weeks. Same thing I did after the Pitt game a few years ago.

    As far as reading goes you should try paperbackswap.com (referred by chett if you wish). For each book you mail to another member you get to choose a book that gets mailed to you. Good selection too

    Reply
  2. zazu the pitts says

    April 6, 2010 at 4:57 pm

    I use the kindle app on my iPhone a lot. I
    love being able to whip out my iPhone and start reading where ever I am.

    I am a binge reader. I can go for months without picking up a book but then start devouring whole “trashy” series one after the other until I can’t see straight.

    I knock on wood when I tempt fate by saying something like “It has been years since I have gotten a speeding ticket.” Knock! Knock!

    And since I work in a hospital I know that the full moon is a bad MF.

    Reply
  3. dto says

    April 6, 2010 at 5:16 pm

    I’m superstitious about having sex in a tunnel with strange midgets. That can only lead to continued bad luck.

    Reply
  4. Lee Harvey Ramone says

    April 6, 2010 at 5:35 pm

    I won’t eat green eggs and ham in a house, or with a mouse. I do not like them here or there. I do not like them anywhere.

    Reply
  5. renn says

    April 6, 2010 at 5:40 pm

    To my knowledge, I am not superstitious. I’m probably wrong, though.

    When my husband and I end up with a rare date night, we always end up at a bookstore. It’s my favorite place in the world.

    I’m always reading at least one book, and I’m not a fan of the Classics. I’m also rarely a fan of Oprah Book Club Selections. My current selection includes two books on writing, one book on death, one on health and wellness, and some Roald Dahl and Lucy Maud Montgomery with my daughter.

    Reply
  6. Gretchen says

    April 6, 2010 at 6:01 pm

    Well apparently my comment did not meet with approval as it’s no longer awaiting moderation, it’s completely gone. I don’t remember it all now, but the gist of it was that being an English major burnt me out on reading fiction books yet I read plenty of non-fiction works. I believe there was an exciting bit about James Joyce, a Playboy magazine, and a hand puppet, but I guess it was too racy for the WVSR. Oh well.

    Reply
  7. dto says

    April 6, 2010 at 6:06 pm

    Gretchen…if I can write about having sex with midgets in a tunnel…you were probably ok. By the way…how tall are you?

    Reply
  8. Nezrite says

    April 6, 2010 at 6:57 pm

    Man, I wish I could read. All these people reading books and I only have COPS to comfort me…

    Reply
  9. Seanette says

    April 6, 2010 at 7:10 pm

    I’m a total print junkie. I count at least 65 linear feet of full bookshelves, some double-layer filled, others with extra books stacked on top of or in front of the shelf occupants. There’s a 12″+ stack of library books in my living room. I have two books currently being read (one novel, one how-to on knitting), which is unusually low for me. My PDA has hundreds of e-books (most on theology) which are duplicated on my laptop. Last time we moved, my husband asked me if I thought we maybe had too many books. We only had 18 boxes at the time (yes, the collection has grown), which is less than my mother got out of a mobile home when she moved.

    Reply
  10. Seanette says

    April 6, 2010 at 7:17 pm

    As for the general population, I’m firmly convinced that “Idiocracy” is a very accurate look at the future if present trends continue. I’ve met “people” who consider reading a waste of time, but won’t miss an episode of any MTV “reality” sleaze-fest.

    Reply
  11. jeremy says

    April 6, 2010 at 7:27 pm

    the beatles are way over rated

    Reply
  12. girlgoyle says

    April 6, 2010 at 7:56 pm

    I am an avid book reader- there are piles of them all over the house. I get on author kicks and buy everything he / she wrote. I have at least a 1/2 dozen authors on my must read first week list. I’ve even paid money to see one of my favorite authors, Nelson DeMille, talk about a book.

    I totally believe the statistics you cited. I once lived in a very blue collar area and few of my son’s friends parents had books in their homes, not even a dictionary. We were pretty much the local library to some of these kids. For the past 10 years I have worked in media and communications and been surrounded by readers.

    A more disturbing statistic in my opinion is this one: “The average IQ of Los Angeles County high school GRADUATES is 85”. A score of 85 equates to Dull Normal. Ever wondered why some people slow down when they see a police car or a construction vehicle on the other side of a divided highway? Well if they are Dull Normal they are probably fascinated the same way a small child would be. Basic rule for IQ mental age X 100 = score. so an 85 IQ has the mental age of 8 1/2. I don’t want to drive with a third grader.

    Put that together and you understand why they aren’t reading.

    Reply
  13. Ordinary Phil says

    April 6, 2010 at 8:04 pm

    I ain’t got time to not read.

    I don’t recommend stuff to folks I don’t even know, but I’ll say this about The Scarlet Letter: the first forty or so pages are a gut-busting discussion federal bureaucracy. Odd, but true.

    Not always, but often enough classics are classics for a reason. I do draw the line well before Finnegans Wake, though.

    Reply
  14. chill says

    April 6, 2010 at 8:08 pm

    I think I read a lot, but I don’t have a book going at *all* times – just “often”. I tend to go for the big novel series type stuff: Foundation, Gunslinger, Outlander, Baroque Cycle, Known Space. Basically escapist fiction.

    I totally don’t get this “never read” thing. Why would you not read? It’s enjoyable! Provided the book doesn’t suck, of course. A good book beats movies to a bloody pulp.

    This has been a lifelong thing; my parents always had *lots* of books around, and they both usually had a book going, so I grew up thinking it was normal to read. They had the complete set of Narnia books just sitting on a shelf waiting for one of us kids to discover them, which I did. In 4th grade I got busted in school for having a Heinlein novel hidden inside my reader.

    Reply
  15. Dorothy's Secret says

    April 6, 2010 at 8:09 pm

    Here’s a big list of cool Android apps. I’ll email via FB as well where it may display better.

    anyhow:

    Aldiko Book Reader – nice public domain selection
    Any Cut – to put dialer shortcuts on the mainscreen (for once touch dialing)
    Astrid – task manager that can integrate with gmail via an add-on and also with Thunderbird via a plugin
    Bonsai Blast – fun addictive game
    Buka – cute game
    Coin Flip – neat flip a coin app
    Dayz – nifty countdown to or count up from different dates
    Easy Note nice app to take quick (and categorized) notes
    Google Maps – turn by turn too!
    Google Sky Map – neat for star gazing (hold it up and it show the sky and moves on the screen as you turn it
    Google Voice – if you have a google voice number
    GPS Speedo – neat to see your speed (like a digital speedometer in the car)
    Guitar:Solo – nifty guitar twanger
    IMDB Top 250 – keep track of the IMDB top 250 movies (what you’ve seen and such)
    Kaloer Clock – Night Clock – turns charging phone into a clock for the nightstand.
    Key Ring Reward Cards – store all those damn store rewards cards
    Labyrinth – neat guide the ball through the maze by tilting the phone
    Linda File Manager (helps to send files other than pics via gmail)
    Pandora – online music
    PhoneFlicks for Netflix
    Psycho Droid (just awesome!) – make sure to enable blood then slash away!
    Rotary Dialer – for old school dialing
    Shazam – hold the phone to a speaker to sample a playing song and it will send it to a server and tell you what the song is… very nice for discovering new music (“This is great. I wonder who it is…” not anymore!)
    Solitaire – gotta have, card games
    Slide Puzzle – slider puzzle goes up to 8X8
    Twidroid for twitter
    Twisty – love me some Interactive Fiction!
    UPS Mobile – new app recently available, can even ship a package and it will email the label as a pdf to print out, very nice
    WeatherBug – so I know the weather outside when I’m stuck at work
    Vintage Comic – neat, old comic reader with pretty good selection of old comics (most I’ve never heard of, no superman or batman etc)
    Zombie, Run! – fun game when walking around the mall or the neighborhood

    Reply
  16. clintcurtis says

    April 6, 2010 at 9:51 pm

    @fryguy…Oh, I know of that! I’m a lifelong pit crew guy for my younger brother. I came back from the concession stand one evening eating a candy bar. He said, “Waht are you eating? To which I replied, A Snickers bar.” He promptly told me to go fininish my candy bar somewhere else because it had peanuts in it!
    Superstitions for me, probably “13.” I launch weather balloons for a living and if the instrument package I pull off the shelf ends in the number 13, I’ll put it back and take the next one, “14.”

    I can’t for the life of me envision a life without having a book going every day. My wife and I both read constantly, a trait that, fortunately, our oldest daughter has picked up. I still come home from work each night at midnight to find her laying in bed with a headlamp on, trying to squeeze out the last few pages of the current book she is reading.

    My 10 year old, on the other hand, is NOT big into books. She likes books, but she likes to have the read to her at bedtime. Hopefully she’ll pick up the love of reading for herself at some point in the future.

    …My prayers go out tonight to the families of the miners killed in West Virginia yesterday. WV is a tough place to live, but has such wonderful people.

    Reply
  17. Casey J says

    April 6, 2010 at 10:04 pm

    Who doesn’t read?? I live for my books, and need to have one going or I feel like something is missing. My husband though, is one of those people. Can only recall reading one book in school front to back. Never again. He might have had undiagnosed ADD, because in those days you were just Trouble. lol.

    What people are missing. sigh. Too bad really, and I have met some of these people, I really do believe it. We have books everywhere, my kids get books all the time(In Easter basket, today is my sons 3rd bday and yes he got a book. 🙂

    ugh. I hate stupid people.

    Reply
  18. Casey J says

    April 6, 2010 at 10:04 pm

    forgot my last ). yes. lump me with the dumbos. haha

    Reply
  19. Big bear in OH says

    April 6, 2010 at 10:38 pm

    Superstitious to a point… I try to stay away from 13’s and 666…won’t walk under ladders. I am a reader though… Typically 3-4 books a week, mainly WWII and Vietnam biographies, histories and interviews. Also a big Tom Clancy and John Grisham. I also feel for the families of the miners in WV — clean coal always comes at a cost, and the big mine owners need to take care of their people. I feel like there are more people that read than that statistic… But quick research at work says 50% of a major cell phone companys sales reps haven’t read anything since 8th grade.

    Reply
  20. bino in nh says

    April 6, 2010 at 10:47 pm

    ….not really gonna get an acc-yer-right answer asking people who read THIS if they read a lot……..

    Reply
  21. JCIII says

    April 7, 2010 at 1:55 am

    Good Morning Surf Reporters……..

    Reply
  22. johnthebasket says

    April 7, 2010 at 5:36 am

    Jeff,

    If Gretchen wants to go blue on your site, whatever her height, I can’t construct or imagine a cogent argument for censoring her. I know we’re playing in your yard, but if she has come to a point in her life where she is going to get all Redd Foxx on us, what better place to do that than among friends?

    Of course I don’t know how dirty she got, having not read the comment, but that’s part of the point. Prior restraint is discouraged by the first amendment and even that outlaw Federalist Alexander Hamilton might find your actions a little high-handed. (Of course, he was materially responsible for the imposition of a whisky tax to help finance the American revolution ex post facto, so what the hell does he know?).

    In any case, if this site gets banned in Boston as a result of some filthy comment by Gretchen, before her Lenny Bruce phase has run its course, I will be happy to fly to Bean Town and place a lantern in the steeple of the Old North Church to remind them that a little revolution now and then is a good thing, and that they just need to let some things go. Hell, Bill Buckner already knew that.

    best regards…

    jtb

    Reply
  23. johnthebasket says

    April 7, 2010 at 5:48 am

    I just calculated my mental age using girlgoyle’s formula (“Basic rule for IQ mental age X 100 = score”), and my IQ the last time it was measured (1962, just before the idea of an “intelligence quotient” was discarded as absurd by every reputable educational organization).

    Turns out I have a mental age of 1.4 … That explains a lot.

    jtb

    Reply
  24. johnthebasket says

    April 7, 2010 at 6:05 am

    Brynhildr…

    Thanks for reminding me of the chupacabra. I used to work for one of those guys and, besides being a little parsimonious with the days off and a little fanatical about the blood drives, he was a real goat sucker.

    jtb

    Reply
  25. icecycle66 says

    April 7, 2010 at 7:39 am

    I just got Cubs – Cardinals tickets right behind home dugout for a game a Busch this summer. Badass.

    Reply
  26. Gretchen says

    April 7, 2010 at 9:25 am

    JTB: I was being purposefully obtuse yesterday about my lost comment so as to titillate. It probably wasn’t that racy at all. It may have had been rejected, either automatically or manually, because it had two links in it. I’m wondering if I yet again stompled all over blog etiquette. Whoopsie. In the hopes that the Powers That Be accept one link, here’s the hand puppet portion, from the defunct cartoon “The Tick” (though perhaps I’m the only one here who watched it back in the day):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZhJlGV2s_k

    READ A BOOK!

    Reply
  27. Gretchen says

    April 7, 2010 at 9:28 am

    BTW JTB, I’m going to try and incorporate “goat sucker” into a sentence today at some point. I could have used it last night when the Yanks beat the Sox thanks solely to errors.

    Reply
  28. Tyrosine says

    April 7, 2010 at 9:35 am

    No superstitions.

    I read constantly, but like Gretchen university killed my love of fiction. Currently I read four or five newspapers and three or four scientific papers daily, and I have at least one book on the go at any given time.

    The survey doesn’t surprise me but it sure saddens me.

    Reply
  29. johnthebasket says

    April 7, 2010 at 10:04 am

    Gretchen,

    I assume you are aware that my rant to Jeff about your going blue was tongue-in-cheek. You don’t actually strike me as the Redd Foxx type, and I can’t imagine Jeff actually banning content unless it’s hate speech or obviously slanderous.

    Brynhildr gets credit for goat sucker, the literal translation from the spanish chupacabra. Check it out on Wikipedia when you have the chance. It’s a pretty weird phenomenon.

    I recently reread “Fridays with Red”, a pretty good baseball book if you appreciate the generational and cultural continuity of the game. I learned about baseball sitting with my grandfather in the 1950’s, watching Pee Wee Reese and Dizzy Dean broadcast the Game of the Week. From Dizzy and Pee Wee I learned about squeeze plays and the double steal. From Grampa I learned how Pee Wee was willing to put his life on the line for Jackie Robinson.

    Have a good day and try not to go blue at work.

    jtb

    Reply
  30. Gretchen says

    April 7, 2010 at 10:54 am

    JTB: Oh absolutely I knew you were being tongue in cheek. I think just about every Surf Reporter here speaks in tongues….so to speak. But I thought I’d come “clean” anyway. As for the “censorship”, I’m just assuming it was a computer glitch, unless Jeff has an unspeakable love of Proust and Joyce, whom I backhandedly referenced. I had loads of trouble logging onto the site yesterday, so I just assumed somethin’ was up there.

    As for baseball books, I read “Crazy 08” last year. I can recommend it if old timey baseball, with it’s badassery and nicknames such as Mordecai “Three-Finger” Brown, pique your interest.

    Speaking of censorship, the other day some dude rolled up beside me in his big boat of a car blasting bad rap music. Said rapper tried rhyming something with “cajones” and I burst out laughing, loud enough for Dude to hear me. Needless to say, he sent me a withering stare across two lanes of traffic. However, I still think the refrain doesn’t hold a candle to my favorite bad rap line evah:

    I’m with some nasty hoes
    Eatin’ pistachios

    And that’s Ludicris on an Outkast album, no less. They should know better. I still want it on a t-shirt, though.

    Reply
  31. shdowwar says

    April 7, 2010 at 11:51 am

    FYI Jeff, I’m now following you on my droid via reader.google.com. And if you have a google calendar, it will push to your phone with very little setup. Quite handy, if I do say so myself. I’m still learning the little tricks with mine.

    By the way, I’d gladly pay you thursday for a hamburger today…

    Reply
  32. Jason says

    April 7, 2010 at 12:12 pm

    I always have a book going. But I don’t care for fiction.

    I also like reading bathroom walls. “James Smith is a fag!” and then, “Whoever wrote this is a bitch. I’m not gay. Tell me who you are so I can kick your ass!” and then, “I’m the doctor from the ER that removed the coke bottle, lightbulb, and cucumber from your ass.” (no response)

    Reply
  33. Fat Secretary says

    April 7, 2010 at 1:43 pm

    The husband and I read pretty much anything we can get our hands on. We love bookstores, and especially used book stores-you never know what hard back treasure you may find. Every time the movers come, which is about every 3-4 years, they are fine with the house until they come to the “library”. There is usually a shock and awe reaction, 84 book boxes last move, the collection has grown since. I also read regularly from the library, but the husband seems incapable-he must OWN every book.

    Reply
  34. Nezrite says

    April 7, 2010 at 5:49 pm

    Oh and…GOD I’m loving the Baroque Cycle! Which reminds me, I need to get our copy of The Cryptonomicron back from my brother…

    Reply
  35. Shiny Rod says

    April 7, 2010 at 6:07 pm

    Books, smooks, who has time to read?

    Reply
  36. aminnev says

    April 7, 2010 at 10:00 pm

    Ahh, books are the greatest! Tried reading on a Kindle last Thanksgiving and didn’t like it too much. I prefer the hands-on mode. I’m always backtracking to a particular part of a book and I gauge where I need to be by the thickness of the pages read.

    Just finished the 13-book “Sword of Truth” series. Not bad. I’ll have to start up on Stephen King again. I’m behind by about 3 or 4 books.

    Reply
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