read?

Can't seem to do it these days. I just finished the first novel by Gary Shteyngart, the Russian Debutante's Handbook. It was good, not as entertaining as Absurdistan. I guess he progressed nicely in his sophomore effort. I read Debutante and thought this isn't that great, but if I wrote a novel I'd be thrilled if it was half as good. I have a(n) Haruki Murakami book on deck, but haven't pushed into it yet. I also have a couple business books that I'd like to want to read, but I can't commit myself. A Scrabble obsession has taken hold here, so the focus is more on individual words, sometimes two words, sometimes several two letter words, but complete thoughts created in intently formed sentences are on vacation. There was a chess obsession for a few weeks back in the fall, but you wouldn't know it to look at me at the time. I dream in Scrabble. Triple word has taken over my life. Either the prevention of or the taking advantage... uh... you see? I've lost my vocabulary. Plenty of words, but no vocabulary. Certainly nothing longer than seven letters. What would be the point? How would that help me score? I'd rather turn "ox" into "toxic" for 36 points than put together a thought. And what of the carpal tunnel strain all this mousing around is causing? Yes. What of that... indeed. Slushy brain keeps thinking of ta tam tame tamer oi oil oiled roiled broiled. Ah the waste. But it draws me in, like golf. One good shot, one killer word. I started out with a seventy pointer last night... it's intoxicating. The rush! The thrill! Nerdiness run amok. Dorkfest. Geek Week. Still I play. I'm cool, right? I swear I like sports. I can play guitar, too. Surprisingly well (at times). I'm aware of pop culture. Sure, most of it scares me, but at least I'm aware of it. I'm not totally out of touch. I'm hipper than most 35 year-olds, right? "Hipper" is a cool word, right? Cool is cool, yeah? I'm not a square. Mmmmh, squared... 17 points, but wait... triple letter on the "d", double word overall... 42 points. Excellent. Ahhhhhh. Oh yeah, I'm cool. 42 points cooler than you.

42 points
cooler
than
you