Just Passing By

There is something to be said about reading and editing for a living. You get into the habit of reading not for pleasure but to look for errors, for flow, for tone, for guarding the company brand. In short, it takes away the fun of reading for reading’s sake. Now, when I read, I can easily spot misplaced punctuations, awkward sentences, poor word choice. Besides, my eyes will be too tired after a long day at work that I just want to give them a rest and stare into space.

I’ve started reading seriously when I was in 3rd grade. I was introduced to Nancy Drew and then moved to cheesy teenage pocketbooks like Sweet Valley High. Then it was off to Barbara Cartland and the Mills&Boons and Danielle Steele. There were times when I’d rather curl up on the couch at home than go out with friends. The magic of being whisked in places faraway through the pages of a book appealed to me more than the idea of biking around the neighborhood chasing boys.

Such is my love affair with books. So to take that pleasure away is so very sad, tragic even.

That led me to re-discover the joys of reading, not with my eyes but with my ears. I brought the kids to the library two days ago and saw this huge sign against one wall: AUDIO BOOKS. Like a magnet, I was pulled to it and marveled at the wide selection. There were 3 books from Maya Angelou that I’ve been wanting to read by they were only in cassette. I don’t remember when the last time I had a cassette player was. Too bad.

So I ended up borrowing two other books in CD. On my drive to work the next morning, I popped a CD in my car. The experience was mind blowing! It felt like I had my own personal assistant who was reading to me. It’s not anything like the “dula sa radyo” of the olden days that our labanderas used to listen to from their little transistors. (Remember Simatar and Gabi ng Lagim?) The audio book was simply a book that’s being read to you aloud by someone else.

You know when you can’t put a good book down, saying to yourself, just one more chapter, just one more page and then realize that it’s already past midnight and you have an early start the next day? I didn’t want my drive to end. Even when I already parked in front of the building, I lingered a little, wishing I wasn’t here yet. The characters just had their first conflict.

I told my kids how much I was enjoying my audio books and Goji casually asked: So Mommy, is this a sign that you’re old?” Shit, maybe I am.