On the Reading Railroad

I was never a big book reader as a kid, as I was certainly interested in other activities.

Why read a book when I could play the Land Before Time CD-ROM on dad’s Windows 95 Gateway PC? Or assemble a Hot Wheels volcano race track? Or watch talking babies on television?

Those Hardy Boys can wait when dad needs your skinny fingers to reach for a screw under a torn-up dashboard.

Now, I did make some time for reading as a kid. Some Roald Dahl here, some Narnia there, but many nights were spent reading through the chronicles of George Beard and Harold Hutchins in the Captain Underpants books. Call me crazy, but talking toilets and Professor PoopyPants commanded a lot more attention than a big, friendly giant or even a talking Jesus lion.

Not to mention Captain Underpants author Dav Pilkey beautifully integrated poorly-drawn comic books written by the fictional, rabble-rousing main characters.
It was these inappropriate, poopy-filled comics to which I greatly attribute my inspiration for drawing cartoons.

So, if any of you derive any value or enrichment from my political cartoons at the IDS, please keep in mind, for your own sake, the inspiration of my drawings has changed very little.

Feces and politics may both give off a nasty smell, but only one is innocent.
Maybe I can say innocence was the reason I read little more than the Captain Underpants books as a kid.

There were plenty of silly pictures and topics to keep me occupied.

It can be hard to think of a book by itself as being exciting or luring, but if you stop judging the book by it’s cover, you never know what you may find inside.

Please try not to cry on the paper or, even worse, your keyboard.To me, books just sit humbly, waiting for you to get to them. They might have a bookmark sticking out to tease you, but there’s no fancy box spitting out tons of sounds and pretty pictures to gain your attention.

There’s something relaxing and almost therapeutic about reading a good book while sitting on a couch at the IMU.

Simply find a book you like, or even a book you only think you may like, and allow the pages to entertain and stimulate you for a few hours. I feel quite a difference after spending a long time watching television versus reading a book.

Even though a book can be more challenging to your imagination, the benefits become quite evident.

After a few hours binging on Netflix, I feel I have emerged from a dark cave, exhausted and irresponsible, my mind exhausted from trying to process such a fast influx of images and sounds.

Yes, reading a book can be exhausting too, as your imagination must take the wheel.

But turning that last page can send you speeding along the rails of the Reading Railroad on a speeding train of thought.

­— chagiff@indiana.edu