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Thread: Reading as escapism?

  1. #31
    Senior Member jp1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dado potato View Post
    I have cleared the decks for immersion in Charles Dickens' David Copperfield

    I am putting the kettle on for tea on the sunporch (where sunlight is streaming in!). I have the Everyman's Library edition (877 pages, illustrated.) and I plan to read along with an audiobook. I will be several afternoons on the sun-porch before I finish.
    Oh man. I read it in high school when I was home sick for a couple of days with a bad cold. Not the flu or a fever or anything, just a lot of sneezing/coughing/boredom. What a fantastic book. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! That dude was a seriously brilliant author.

  2. #32
    Senior Member jp1's Avatar
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    Personally I don't consider reading an escape. I consider it a worthwhile activity that I enjoy doing. Watching HGTV is an escape. I suppose some fiction that I read could be considered an escape, but it's a much more fulfilling escape than HGTV. Dreamland, the most recent book I finished, was definitely not an escape. It was more of an MBA case study of modern business practices that all aspiring capitalists should read.

  3. #33
    Senior Member Gardenarian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jp1 View Post
    Personally I don't consider reading an escape. I consider it a worthwhile activity that I enjoy doing. Watching HGTV is an escape. I suppose some fiction that I read could be considered an escape, but it's a much more fulfilling escape than HGTV. Dreamland, the most recent book I finished, was definitely not an escape. It was more of an MBA case study of modern business practices that all aspiring capitalists should read.
    I agree. Reading is communing with another mind, using your imagination and intelligence to put yourself in new situations. It can be learning new ideas from nonfiction. I don't see it as being any more escapist than having a conversation with a friend, or taking a class.

  4. #34
    Williamsmith
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    HGTV is prison to me. But the real estate industry loves it. Because of HGTV, I got to take a pilgrimage to Waco, Tx while visiting Houston. Television is capable of distorting any reality. They did a good job with Waco.

  5. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by Williamsmith View Post
    HGTV is prison to me. But the real estate industry loves it. Because of HGTV, I got to take a pilgrimage to Waco, Tx while visiting Houston. Television is capable of distorting any reality. They did a good job with Waco.
    Okay, now I have to ask: by "good job" do you mean accurate, or that HGTV bamboozled us into thinking Waco was better than it is?
    and did you stop to eat at Chip and Joanna's bakery???

  6. #36
    Senior Member jp1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Williamsmith View Post
    HGTV is prison to me. But the real estate industry loves it. Because of HGTV, I got to take a pilgrimage to Waco, Tx while visiting Houston. Television is capable of distorting any reality. They did a good job with Waco.
    So you're saying that SO and I should give up our dream of moving to Waco and buying a fixer upper to live in for retirement???

  7. #37
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lainey View Post
    Okay, now I have to ask: by "good job" do you mean accurate, or that HGTV bamboozled us into thinking Waco was better than it is?
    and did you stop to eat at Chip and Joanna's bakery???
    I think I saw that first episode of the bakery rehab.

    I dont have cable, but I took care of my neighbor’s dogs over Xmas break and watched bits of hGTV (which I love and could get addicted to hence no cable) and they were working on a bakery building.

  8. #38
    Williamsmith
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lainey View Post
    Okay, now I have to ask: by "good job" do you mean accurate, or that HGTV bamboozled us into thinking Waco was better than it is?
    and did you stop to eat at Chip and Joanna's bakery???
    I would describe Waco as “ordinary.” You have Baylor University. HGTV makes it seem like an oasis. Yes, the bakery is a small block building at the corner by the silos. The line was out the door and wrapped around the building. Quaint I guess.

  9. #39
    Williamsmith
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    Quote Originally Posted by jp1 View Post
    So you're saying that SO and I should give up our dream of moving to Waco and buying a fixer upper to live in for retirement???
    From what I know about you jp1 based on your posts and replies.....you’d be way better off in Austin. Not much progressive about Waco. And not much to do.

  10. #40
    Williamsmith
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    The house they did for Clint and Kelly Harp is not being lived in by Clint and Kelly Harp. It’s being rented out for big bucks. The Harp shop is next door and is a very small store front. The silos are commercially stocked with household items some of which was imported from Overseas. They were packed with people fawning over rather common decorative items. The whole thing was underwhelming.

    Another guy who had a house remodeled for him has a business doing bus tours of Waco for $75. He was standing on the corner stopping tourists as they came in. He tried to get me on one of his tours. He was pretty adamant about how much I’d love it. Lots of people trying made crumbs of money off the Gaines’ success.

    Frankly, I never liked Chips immature clowning around and hamming it up for the camera. And I think Joanna is the boss in that family. Boss in that she rules with an iron fist.

    All these things are probably very unfair of me.

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