Wednesday

A girl you should date

Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag. She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.
She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.
Buy her another cup of coffee.
Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.
It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.
She has to give it a shot somehow.
Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.
Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.
Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.
If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.
You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.
You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.
Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.
Or better yet, date a girl who writes.
– Rosemarie Urquico –

24 comments:

  1. gefällt mir sehr! :)

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  2. IC definitely found a girl who does both, writes and reads. I think these goes for men you should date as well. Date a man who reads.

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  3. Really nice post. I have always liked reading..and I'm a bit sad that at the moment I don't have time to do that as much as I would like. Too much things going on with the studies.. I like reading novels..but I have also found that many "more scientific" books out there are also really good, informative and fascinating. I have found that especially the books by worlwatch-institute are good ones. Then I can somehow combine studying and reading..;) Waiting for the holidays to start reading again because I have a pile of books waiting for me to read them..

    Love,
    Maija

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    1. Hi Maija,
      yes the world of books is a rich one ;-) I hope you soon will find enough time to read, and get all those unread babies to the read-pile :)

      xx

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    2. I hope so too. I love the books that take you into their little world and for a moment you can think it's real..:) Many times it's also the case that the books are much better than the movies made from them. The characters build by your own imagination seem to be much more alive in your mind than the actors playing them.. I have also heard that reading is a very good way to exercise your brain and to reduce stress and on top of that, it's really a lot of fun.

      Love,
      Maija

      http://theroadtounknown.blogspot.fi/

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    3. Absolutely! Because it enhances your imagination skills in an active way. (While watching TV is merely passive). I used to have my reading escapes through my university times, when research, essay writing and logic dominated my life. Reading a good book was a nice small oasis for me and my mind then ;-) And, I agree, it also reduces a lot of stress.
      Yes, there are indeed not that many films better than the actual stories they're based on. (Although there are a few, I find). What do you currently read?
      xx

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    4. At the moment I am reading the book called "the hundred-year-old-man who climbed out of the widow and disappeared" by Jonas Jonasson. A very nice book and it has some good humour in it (always a nice thing in a book). Another book that I have stated to read is "the children of Húrin" by J.R.R. Tolkien. Both are in English. I am one of those weird people who can have couple of books under the "reading" status at the same time without it bothering my reading experience.

      Maija

      http://theroadtounknown.blogspot.com

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    5. Ahh, great!! Although I must say that the hundred year old men etc was one of the books I put aside quickly, as I could not warm up to them. I migh try again one time in the not so near future ;-)
      I also read books parallel; especially if its the classics, since sometimes I need something refreshing and quick!

      xx

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  4. I like this! I completely agree with Deidre too. I've always imagined the man of my dreams when I was younger to read too. I visualized we'd both be reading a book together in bed before saying good night,we'd talk about the characters and challenge each other who gets to discover the plot of the story first (page-wise). Fiction or non-fiction, I love books.

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    1. Hi Arni, ha ha, yes, I should defo try and get myself a reading man ;-) Yeah, that would be cool, both reading, nobody complaining about the other's boring-ness of not going out and party. I am not so sure whether men indulge in the same stories as I do (classics & women's fiction), but i'd be ok as well if we pursue different interests here. That both like to read is already a bonus I'd say ;-)

      xx

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  5. that's a beautiful article! i totally agree, i love guys who read because i feel that they see more than what meets the eyes, they are not superficial but deep and their actions are most meaningful than most, loads of guys who read are also a bit shy and mysterious and that just adds to the charms of the guy even more!
    i love reading myself although i dont always have the time for it or that's what i like tell myself when i take 3 months to finish one book! :)

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    1. Yes, me too!
      I just couldn't NOT read. Sometimes it also takes ages for me to finish one book. (I indeed currently read Ulysses, and don't understand a thing. And I am on page 27 and started three weeks ago. The preface went smooth though, ha ha).
      xx

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    2. i havent read Ulysses yet! it seems like no one understands it! but you know, confusion can be beautiful sometimes! :)

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    3. Absolutely -- completely agree. And strangely enough I cannot put it away really. (Because I tend to put books away after 20 or so pages if my heart did not 'pop')
      This is a lovely blog post title by the way: Beautiful confusion ;-)
      xx

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  6. I so agree, yet I am so not that girl at the same time. Whoops haha

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  7. What a wonderful text! Sometime I believed during reading you´re writing about me - I own so much books that I permanent have to buy new shelves and mostly I´m reading much more than one book at the same time ...

    Thank you very much for this jewel, always a nice surprise to come to your lovely blog <3

    xx
    Rena
    http://dressedwithsoul.blogspot.de/

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  8. Ooh, I LOVE this post! As you may be able to tell from my blog, I am SOO that girl! I think my boyfriend is very grateful that I would rather buy books than shoes. I have way less shoes than every other female I know!

    We actually read to each other somtimes. I obviously read a lot of books he's not interested in, but we read Terry Pratchett books together and we've just finished a Robert Rankin one.

    I bet he would understand the part about losing me for a couple of hours too! SOmetimes he makes the mistake of talking to me while I'm reading then ends up having to repeat half of what was said cos I didn't hear a word of it! hehe.

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  9. Loved this post! So true!

    Downton Abbey (3) ist wundervoll. Habe selten so viel geweint! <3
    Liebste Grüße!
    Maria

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  10. I love this!!! I think many of us can see ourselves somewhere in this description and it's truly beautiful. And thank you for the German dream description! I'm practicing German for my upcoming trip to Germany....SO excited...and can use all the help I can get, including your blog!!! :) Glad that you're back. This month I think has been crazy all around. I had a bit of a blog lapse as well! But here's to March!! xoxo

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    1. HI Stephanie,

      exactly! When I woke up this morning my first though was 'ohhh, February is over'! And I hope blog lapse is finally over as well!
      Great, that you're practicing German! Wow! I guess it is complicated, but probably not as hard as Russian ;-) Are you coming over for a holiday?
      xx

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  11. Was für ein wundervoller Text. Ich bin auch dafür, dass man uns lesende Mädchen auswählt. Umgekehrt finde ich auch Männer, die lesen viel viel attraktiver und interessanter als solche, die es nicht tun.
    Liebe Grüße
    Lotte

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    1. Allerdings - da stimme ich dir vollkommen zu, liebe Lotte! Date a MAN who reads ;-)

      xx

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