Its bruce again. You know.. Mr. 10,000th comment?
(Sounds of trumpets blaring)
I’ve done the math, and I’m sure that the first threads of my welcome won’t start unraveling until about Thursday, the day that Heather is destined to return. But I figure that as long as I have access to such kind and literate people, I might as well do some research on a topic of recent interest.
I have three new books that I might start reading; The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, Walden by Henry David Thoreau, or Crime and Punishment by Fyoder Dostoevsky. Each has its merits; social justice, personal transformation, a cool russian name…
But really, what’s going to be the deciding factor, is this; which is more likely to impress a girl?
You see, a couple of weeks ago I grabbed a book I’d been reading and headed off to the pub for a drink. All was well, until the waitress, a wonderfully cute girl, with long dark hair and a sexy voice comes over, sits down at my table and starts making small talk. Eventually she asks the inevitable, “whatcha reading?” So I have to reveal my book, a geeky title; The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins. If there was a reaction, I don’t even recall what it was.
Next time, I vowed, I’d bring something more “impressive”. Not because I’m overly concerned about my appearance; because I was, after all, sitting by myself in a nearly empty pub on a Monday night. But I’m just thinking, that if I’m going to be reading in public, I might as well make it a potential conversation piece as well?
Do not bring Dostoevsky. It’s much too cliche, and instead of looking intelligent, you will look pretentious. It’s also totally unoriginal. You should not be reading it in public, you should be reading it at home, in secret, perhaps under the covers – just so nobody realizes you haven’t read it yet! That’s how I figure I’ll get through it someday….
I’d say go for The Jungle. If only because any time anyone says/hears/sees the world “jungle”, they will instantly (if only fleetingly) think “fever,” which is enough to plant the subliminal and primal seeds of whatever that feeling is in the brain of the hopefully as cute as that waitress observer.
And for the record, as a random (and kinda geeky) girl, I’d have been impressed by the Dawkins book. It’s on my list of things I want to read out of interest instead of some strange sense of obligation (which is where Dostoevsky fits into my reading schema).
I always notice what people around me are reading. As long as a guy is not reading Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, reading material is always a good opener.
okey, Dawkins i can take but Thoreau, Dostoevsky!?
dear, where are we, in the stone age or something?.
i’d have been impressed by some comics book like Calvin and Hobbes…yeah, that is good.
well, if if this sort of reading experience doesn’t fits your fancy maybe Stephen Hawking would do the trick.
oh, yeah…i can see a girl which is impressed by this one :)
I dunno about The Jungle… it just makes me think of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” And rancid meat.
A-weema-whappa-wheema-whappa…
as long as you’re reading, girls dig it. even better that it’s not a glossy magazine like maxim.
reading is sexy.
the rant-radio show i listen to in the mornings had a talk about whether or not it was appropriate to read Maxim in front of a woman you do not know.
and definately: men who read are sexy.
I’ve got to go against the grain here and say that Crime and Punishment would put all sorts of interesting thoughts into my head… So I say go for the Dost.
Hmmm, you can’t really shorten his name… it’s not a good nickname type of name.
I would say that, while I think men who read (aside from the magazines mentioned above and perhaps a few other choice variations) are sexy, I think men who journal are sexier, albeit more “unapproachable”. Which may lend itself to the appeal, I don’t know. But yeah… seeing a guy with a black leatherbound notebook scribbling… for some reason that gets me.