The Story Behind "My-Then" Blog

Note: This post is from my old blog - iloveclassicbooks. I'm making a move here in my new blog though but I do wish to share this story about why I came up with that blog before.

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"Books. . . What for?"

Never will I forget this line from one of our recited poems back in fifth grade - back from the time when the Internet was still flourishing, when our minds are swept by words bound on books and not on mere computer screens, when our eyes get so excited to read another installment of Sweet Valley High and not from some cheap teen-age shows that don't even add up to one's vocabulary and back when books have been more essential than reading fashion magazines. Where were those days?

Indeed, my time is through - but the passion that I have for books will always haunt me till this very day.

Confessions

I am not an avid reader. I must say, that though I love books - I have read roughly just quite a few. But I am a self-confessed classic books fan. I love to read books that lived years before me, thrived centuries ago, and were known to men for ages. I don't know what mystique lies within these kinds of books - but I must say, that I am clearly smitten.

Favorite Book

Among the classics that I will really love is a book I've read in high school written by Harper Lee, and which, by the way, is the only book she's written; "To Kill A Mocking Bird". I remember reading it for the sake of passing my book report. But eventually, I've realized, that I loved the whole story and writing something about my experience upon reading it was magical. I never really did a book report for the sake of passing my requirements, I made the report because I want to write in words the feelings that I felt after reading the piece - and until now, the report is still with me, and all the preserved feelings are still there kept in each word I've written.

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Neglected Passion

Though I love classic books, there came a time when I was too busy --- and I never read any book for how many years. . . . Until one day, I came across a book sale.

Revived

I searched through piles of books in one of the book sales of a prestigious bookstore here in our country. I found one that caught my attention. I didn't really paid enough credit for the title, as it says "Don't Know Much About Literature". For me it was like, "Yeah, no big deal." But when I opened the contents, I was automatically caught by it - it's all about classic books. I checked the price and saw that it costs only P50, maybe roughly 1.19 USD. I bought the book. And started reading it.... Then I realized, I miss reading. And so I kind of made a resolution to myself that I will change my long-forgotten wordpress blog into something useful. . . Something that will make me constantly thrilled to pursue my passion, and here it is. Here I am, determined to write about classic books!

Perhaps

Perhaps one day I might get too busy again that I will fall short of the resolution I've made now. Maybe I'll even find other book "genres" that I will like. . . . But one thing's for sure - once a classic, will always be a classic. Wink.

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• Classic Reading (lynnmcmo.com)


• Banned Books Week: Harper Lee's Classic "To Kill a Mockingbird" (blogher.com)

Fighting for Literature Amidst A Sea of Trash

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Just a simple piece of what's inside my mind right now - "If I ask a sixth grade about who Carlos P. Romulo is, will he/she give out a sensible answer?"

During these days it seems as if children, or should I say - the younger generation, is quite so much amused with the liberal flow of information that hugs them in this new age of the great Internet.

I noticed that my fifth-grade niece would answer her assignments using 'Google" instead of the encyclopedia. Well, basically, I can't blame her. The .001216567 seconds that it would take for her to get an answer from the big G is of a large difference as compared to the perhaps 2-3 hours (of searching through piles of pages) that using the encyclopedia snatches off from her time.

Perhaps Google is indeed, the universal encyclopedia now. . . And I'm guilty of using this tool too. But I am quite alarmed at how children nowadays deliberately depend on everything regarding their research and school-works to the Internet.

I mean, yeah, the web is much faster as typing and clicking will take just about a fraction of a second to accomplish while scanning and eye-searching will take about an hour or so - BUT - there is actually more danger in using the Internet as a source for academic projects than using books.

Information in the Internet can just go in and out. Whatever info that's glued on a web-page is not actually screened by ANY particular body or organization. Using the Internet as a source of information is solely upon the discretion of the user. The user is the one responsible to "filter" any information that he/she may snatch up from the Internet as either true or not, reliable or just downright fabricated. The thing is, children are also USERS of the Internet, but they don't have the proper skills yet to decipher whether something is indeed significant or trash.

In this particular sense, parents really do have to perform a very important role. I really do suggest that parents should supervise their children in terms of using the Internet.

And as much as possible, children, in their primary stages of education should USE published books. Books are really reliable as these printed papers have gone through a lot of editing before being published.

In addition to this, I think that children should be introduced more to classic books rather than to vampire stories and adult novels.

Gosh, do these kids even know how to locate books in the library? Use the Dewey Decimal System? Use library cards? Or do they even have one?

Just a final note: What will happen to the future of literature, if the world's REAL hope for the future don't even appreciate it?

Related articles

• Let's Do Dewey (mtsu.edu)

Books Aren't Just for Nerds

Have a craving for words?

Not everyone may be a bookworm, yet it will definitely not hurt if once in a while you drown yourself over literature's treasures rather than advancing another level on a video game.

Books are very important. Education never existed if it weren't for the written accounts of great men before us. Civilizations never flourished. Histories would have been forgotten. (Okay, I know you get the point, I don't have to push it.)

So if it happens that you don't LIKE books or even reading, it's about time to think twice. Although you don't have to make a major major change from who you are to a major major book nerd - you can at least read even just a couple of good books out there.

Printed or not? 

Although technology  has more or less substituted books with kindles and laptops, published contents are classics that couldn't be replaced no matter what. The advent of kindles nowadays has again revolutionized how people read and appreciate literary works and written contents. Well I don't have any problem with kindles, it's just that - I like reading more when I'm holding a book. For me, published materials are still better finds than contents flashed on a screen - plus, I hate getting dry eyes!

Book me up!

Truth be told, I'm not really a book-eater, bookworm, or whatever you call a person who reads a lot he can't even take a shower; I'm just a person who appreciates reading literary works and books about personality development. If you're like me, then perhaps you'll love to browse through my Books Category.

We read to learn. . . So learn to read!

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