Getting the Gear...to Read?

It seems that today even the simplest activity requires an obscene amount of gear.  Take running.  When I started running in high school - wishing now that I had kept up with it - all I did was purchase a pair of shoes and new batteries for my Walkman.  Granted, I looked like a bit of a berk in my ratty t-shirt and was nearly thrown of balance by the violent jostling of that 1.5lb cassette player in my right front pocket.  But the cost to start was virtually nothing.  Today, to start running, the initial outlay could well run above 500 dollars between the breathable shirts, orthopedically contoured shoes, bounce-secure headphones, and new songs off iTunes for that perfect running playlist. 

When it comes to gearing up I've tried keep it toned down.  I love cars, but I've only one car-themed piece of clothing (a BMW knit cap).  Bicycling?  No spandex to date and my steed is the mountain bike I got for Christmas in 6th grade.  Running?  Well, I just don't do that anymore.  But there's one basic hobby, perhaps the most simple of all hobbies, for which I seem to be breaking my "keep it simple" rule: reading. 

Of course, one needs books.  This has never been a problem for me.  Be it history, fiction, Elizabethan tragedy, Japanese surrealism, British automotive journalism, or trashy horror, I've got something on tap in either physical or Kindle form.  What has caused issue with my little reading hobby is how I read: voraciously and on my back. 

I never really enjoyed going to bed, even as a child.  In fact, I appreciate that luxury far more now than I did when I was eight.  To placate their little insomniac, my parents came up with an ingenious solution, one I plan on using for my own kids.  I was allowed to stay up as late as I wanted as long as I was reading.  Some nights ended close to my bedtime.  Others went until 10 or 11.  A few mornings must have been tough, but this little piece of parenting helped to instil in me a life-long love of reading.  Unfortunately, it also virtually ruined me for extended reading in any position other than laying down.  As such, finding the perfect chair is perhaps the most important aspect of my reading gear-up process.  Happy to say that I have found it.  A chair and ottoman combination I've lusted after for 15 years or so.  But, as it hasn't arrived yet, I'll have to reveal it in another post. 

Sumie and I did find a very comfortable interim chair and ottoman set at Ikea.  Amazingly, it was the cheapest one they had, but by far the most comfortable.  Lucky thing, that.  We need this second chair, even though the first is already ordered, to help flesh out the second item on my list of reading gear: a dedicated room. 

Having a reading room is, admittedly, a significant luxury.  But one I think, if done correctly, is well worth the investment.  The large room at the front of our house has two entrances, one off the kitchen and another off the hallway.  It is semi-divided into two rooms by a pair of built-in bookcases.  Traditionally, the room off the kitchen would've been a formal dining room.  The room off the hall, which the bookcases face, would've been the family room.  We did things a bit differently.  Not really needing a formal dining room, we turned the room off the kitchen into our Family Room, complete with TV, couches, and toys.  The room off the hall is in the process of becoming the reading room.  Currently it's outfitted with a fireplace, rug, chair, and stereo.  Again, having a dedicated room like this is a huge luxury, and a bit of a sacrifice when it comes to space, but I do think it'll have a tremendous impact on Mimi.  We'll have a dedicated space in our home for flipping through pages.  I can't wait to see her in her little rocker, the same one I had when I was a child, reading alongside Mama and Papa. 

The room right now, like my gearing-up process, is still a work in process.  There's so much more to consider.  Is the lighting just right?  Do the chairs impede the sound from the stereo?  Do I need a pipe and smoking jacket?  What about a cocktail cabinet?  And where can I find someone named Jeeves to serve me brandy?  Yes, as you can tell, this is going to take some time.  I'll provide an update once it gets closer to completion but, for the meantime, Here are a few pictures of how it looks so far.  Cozy, I think.

And, of course, no post would be complete without a picture of Mimi.  Here she is enjoying one of her own favorite hobbies.  This one genuinely doesn't need any gear.  Besides Tupperware.