BLESS ME!

Questions are more important than answers, since we can never be quite sure whether any answer is the right answer. Here are some questions to ponder:

Can Peeps feel pain? I’m gobbling up (sorry—the chicken joke is already becoming a turkey) several little yellow spongy critters in honor of my secular Easter Day celebration. Yum!

Which statement is an exaggeration? 1. I always exaggerate. 2. I never exaggerate. (Any existentialist will smirk at your answer.)

Just who is Les Miserables and why did they write a book about him?

If your pet dog is named Gingerly, wouldn’t you just hate it each time your neighbors said, “I see Fred is walking Gingerly these days.”?

When people say they are getting their affairs in order, isn’t this an incomplete sentence? (What about: “I’m getting my affairs, in order to enjoy myself more.”)

If your car’s nickname is Sentimental, wouldn’t you feel self-conscious, waxing Sentimental?

Which sounds more menacing? 1. A time capsule 2. A timed capsule

How big is ample room?

Where did I see this sign posted last Saturday? NO PROBATION OR PAROLE PARKING!

Are there times when you can be wishy but not washy?

Would a sarcastic old-time golf pro be called Sam Snide?

Do you know a literary carpenter called James Joist?

Would this be a great name for a string-bikinied exotic dancer? Fanny Floss

Would a jaded prima donna be rightfully called Maria Callous?

Is it more prestigious to be cited or sighted?

Is it high time we re-invented the wheel?

Do you think it’s time I placed my brain on hold

jim@jimreedbooks.com

THE SILENCE OF THE BOOKS

Posted on March 28, 2010 by Jim

Listen to Jim here: http://jimreedbooks.com/mp3/silenceofthebooks.mp3

or read on…

THE SILENCE OF THE BOOKS

The Center of the Universe is the only quiet haven, isolated sanctuary, peaceful zone I can find in a world fraught with fear and anger and confusion and chaos.

The Center of the Universe—that is, Reed Books Antiques and the Museum of Fond Memories and the Library of Thought—is where everybody gets along with each other, where every philosophy and dogma, every political stance and emotion-laden opinion, every immovable object and irresistible force, all co-exist side by side in friendship and disagreement.

Here at my shop, every extreme, moderate and goofy idea gets equal billing, and we all have a good heated argument and afterwards share tea and crumpets together in a spirit of goodwill and tolerance.

How can this happen, this meeting of the minds, anywhere else in the world?

Take a look around the shop. Books featuring every viewpoint imaginable are happily shelved side by side, and nobody complains!

There’s Henny Youngman and Ernest Hemingway and Abraham Lincoln and Rick Bragg and Plutarch and Joseph Stalin and Thomas Jefferson and Ann Coulter and Hillary Clinton and Eldridge Cleaver and Nelson Mandela and Chris Rock and Kurt Vonnegut and Socrates and Jon Stewart and Mark Twain and Billy Graham and Michael Moore and Jennifer Flowers and Mother Teresa and the Albert’s Schweitzer and Einstein.

How come they can all enjoy the peacefulness of a small bookstore at the Center of the Universe, but they can’t in any way agree to cooperate in the world outside these walls?

Why is it that within the shop these folks lie dangerously near each other in peace?

There’s Anais Nin and Nancy Drew and Harry Potter and Jesus Christ and the Great’s Catherine and Alexander and Hopalong Cassidy and Superman and Norman Bates and Hannibal Lector and the Judy’s Canova and Garland and the Lucy’s Van Pelt and Ball and the Marx’s Groucho and Karl and the Ferdinand’s King and Bull and the Bull’s Connor and Durham…

They’re all here, folks, and they are getting along just fine.

If you want a gentle break from the craziness of a world gone impolite, just wander into the bookstore at the Center of the Universe, have a MoonPie on me, gaze in awe at the only place where the War of the Worlds is not taking place. Then, re-energized, re-awakened, venture forth onto the streets and take some of that peacefulness with you and spread it around.

Who knows what could come of that?

Just a thought

http://www.jimreedbooks.com