Thank You Mr. King -- Installment 6 (Delayed).

It has been four years since my last post on this heading.  What have I been doing?  Not a lot of consequence, and I certainly have not written anything approproaching the art of Stephen King.  I do hear, however, that Mr. King, has been before Congress and has testified against the attempt by Penguin Random House of Simon & Schuster.  Not surprising that Mr. King objects to what is a terrible idea, inasmuch as (1.) it is a terrible idea, and (2.) some years ago when Penguin Random House (allegedly) cheated Mr. King from certain royalties, he took his considerable talents to Simon & Schuster.

In the interim, I did read a wonderful book entitled "How To Stop A Conspiracy", by the Roman (now deceased for about 2250 or so years) Sallust, with a commentary and translation by Josiah Osgood.  I strongly recommend it.  I bought my copy from the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, via an advertisement directed at me on Facebook.  For a long time, I resisted those advertisements.  But, I'll be damned, if, somehow, Facebook has figured out what interests me (some of the time, anyway).  Or what might interest me.  Let's hope FB keeps it to themselves (and me ... 😊 ... cause I likes what I likes, and it's no body's business what I likes, except me ... 😉).

Read.  Read.  Read.  Finally, as my ripe old age, I have figured out why "people" read.  Why leaders read.  Why the wealthy entrepreneurs read.  Why teachers read.  Why smart people read.  And it is this:  YOU DO NOT WANT TO ARRIVE IN THE NEXT LIFE AS IGNORANT AS YOU WERE WHEN YOU REACHED THIS LIFE.  You think I am kidding.  I'm not.  If you educate yourself, now, in this life.  You'll have a running start as a good life, the next time.  One time I watched the movie of "To Kill A Mockingbird" and then, fascinated, I actually got the book and I read it.  The most eye-opening this for me in that book was the old lady down the street, who had gotten addicted to some kind of drug, and on her dying bed (it took her quite a while to die) one of the protagonist's children was forced to go to her bed every day and read to her.  Why?  She felt that she needed to break her addition, in this life, so that it would not follow her into the next life.  And, the process was so appallingly difficult that she needed someone to distract her from her withdrawal sufferings.  She wanted to leave this life clean, better than she had been during her life.

I want to leave this life, lo' many years from now, better than I am now ... so that, when I get to the next place I am going, I won't be as ignorant as I was when I entered this life.  I want to give myself a leg-up.  Reading does that.