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Why Reading (At All) Still Counts …
On April 20, 2015 by Speranza
Dana Girls
Frasier ( Son #1) has often told me that people are not reading less now but rather, reading differently. He cites his own reading habits here – and many of his hipster friends – who may dip in and out of many respected, intellectual websites and blogs/instagram accounts daily but not necessarily read an actual book with any degree of regularity. But is the ability to settle down and enjoy a longer body of work for pleasure gradually being edged out by all these shorter blasts online?
Is there a case to be made about our attention spans atrophying since the onset of the internet?
I’ll try to keep this brief …
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The Year of the Mat
On April 7, 2015 by Speranza
Perhaps it’s because I myself have worked in public service for many, MANY years that I have a certain expectation of how I should be treated by store clerks or basically, anyone behind a counter. Firstly, no matter what kind of slack-jawed, no eye contact person I encounter, I will never be rude or do the whole store meltdown thing but what I will do is happily return home and send a detailed email about “how we did today.” (Which incidentally, is a universal way to get management excited, especially if you send it to someone with a real name at HQ. Just saying.)
And no, I am not a curmudgeon(ette) or even remotely uptight I merely expect to be treated fairly and hopefully with a few jiggers of respect and understanding thrown in if I am trying to resolve an issue.
Okay so last week I presented at a certain store carrying a mat under my arm for a print that needed re-framing. I knew the exact colour I needed which was plain, olive green. I would also have been fine with black.
The woman behind the desk was occupied with other presumably more important framing projects for a good five minutes before looking up and when she did, she did not speak.
Her expression suggested that I had interrupted an instore writing of her LSAT and she only had a few minutes left.
I said that I would like to get an estimate for having a mat cut and that I had brought the correct size with me (here gesturing to mat I was holding).
She pointed to another counter, final-spirit-Christmas-Carol style – still no words – and then joined me at the new counter.
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My Heart Belongs to Dyson
On April 6, 2015 by Speranza
About 15 years ago, a friend of mine bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner. I didn’t really pay much attention; I mean I vaguely knew the name but vacuum cleaners are not really something that I find exciting to discuss in most social settings. But she talked about this thing with all the zeal of an evangelist, using body language to show how the carpet fibers were now totally upright and what about the dirt you could actually SEE in that clear canister. Why even bother cleaning if you are just spreading the dust about, she reasoned with open palms. (This from a professional and highly educated woman who does not vacuum for pleasure –usually).
And so it came to pass, with several shedding pets in tow I got one myself …
The first time I used the Dyson, I was astonished that after a few broad sweeps of the carpet there was a swirling core of ginger cat hair in the Dyson’s Oz-like clear canister.
This was especially impressive since we have never actually owned a ginger cat.