Revisited Imaginatorium

       Sit in a quiet room, listen to the sound of stillness, let the silence engulf the moment but let your imagination run wild. Allow your thoughts to bounce around the room, carelessly bumping into the walls, the door, the chairs, and each other. Give each thought a moment and then shove it away. Revisit it later and see if it has something new to say. You soon realize with each passing thought they transform, they come alive, and they become new. Work through the imagination, discover new worlds, new schools of thought, or sit there in utter shock that no thoughts have come. My guess is our imagination, if given a chance, has a lot to say if we would only listen.
    Just like our thoughts that we revisit, like our imagination when we let it transpire, the well worn pages of imaginatorium hold new thoughts, new adventures, and oftentimes old friends. They may be words we know so well that only a few phrases need be uttered and we know precisely where we are. It may be that we know the events in the story so intimately that they become unremarkable to us. But a good book, a truly good story, is a source of unlimited and unending imaginatorium. It won't matter if we've read it two times or a hundred, the allure is still there. There's always the chance that things won't happen the same or perhaps that the ending will have changed from the last time we read it but we don't know until we reach the final pages. It's the reason Shakespeare endures, Jane Austen still lives, and Mark Twain still continues to reside in schools. We may know the endings but it doesn't stop us from enjoying the work.
    For some, it might be dull to read something they've already read but for me, there's a familiarity, a comfort, but still a sense of discovery that lies within the pages of books I've enjoyed before. Since it is mid way through my year of written imaginatorium, I decided to reread a few books and read a sequel. I'll admit that I had a very long list of books that I wanted to reread but never got through them all. But all the same, the imaginatorium I dived into was, for me, the chance to converse again with some old friends.
     The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) by JK Rowling, and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, the sequel to the Hunger Games, were my three reads of the month. All of which were of thorough delight. It was my third time reading The Hobbit but only the second time actually paying attention. I was 10 when I received it as a birthday gift. The cover scared me but my dad said it was good so I skim read it, afraid of what ghostly things would be hidden in the pages. Since then, JRR Tolkien has become a familiar friend and the world of Middle Earth a familiar place. Although I wouldn't always want to reside there, I wouldn't mind spending time in the Shire or in Rivendell. Jumping back into the world was a thrill and only added to my anticipation for Peter Jackson's movie.
    The Harry Potter series is a series that I have read over and over again and still adore the world of Hogwarts. I had only read the seventh book once so I decided to read it again. It was, once again, a book that I can read many times and still get lost in the story. The only part that still drives me crazy, which might be part of the reason it's taken me so long to re-read it, is the epilogue. But that's a rant for another day.
     Catching Fire was also a nice final addition to the month. I really did like the Hunger Games, despite my apprehension that it was too talked about. In Catching Fire, the new characters that she created were intriguing and although I wasn't sure if I liked where she was headed with the story, I understand her reasoning for (SPOILER ALERT) sending them back into the arena. She made it different enough that it wasn't simply a repeat of the first book so that was a good move on her part.
   I'll admit that I had every intention of reading through heaps of books this month but I only made it to three. However, each of them contained friends that I have missed and, in the case of Catching Fire, needed to be sure they were okay.
    This month served as a fair reminder that once you've finished a book, the book might not be finished with you. It's the stories that we remember long after we've read the last page. It's the books that sit on the shelf and in the quiet, you can softly hear them call your name, begging you to pick them back up. If it's well written and truly worth your time, the book won't end when the pages do, it will keep going. It will find new ways to entice it's readers, draw them in, and invite them once more to enter into some of their favorite moments of imagaintorium. So as you glance over your bookshelf or think through your favorites, perhaps there's a story that just beckons you to come back and discover once again the reason why you fell in love with that story in the first place. Happy Reading!

Next month: Recommendations from friends. As much as I love picking a theme and reading within it, there's a lot of books that either would not fall into such a theme or I would never think to pick a theme revolving around them. So I'm taking my friends' advice and reading some of their favorites. Feel to let me know if there's any that you recommend as well.

The Hobbit- JRR Tolkien

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- JK Rowling

Catching Fire- Suzanne Collins

"To Blog or Not to Blog"

   There was a sense of irony as I stepped out onto the stage for the Sizzling Summer Spectacular to deliver my monologue. Indeed an idea had been sparked from a comment made by a friend and inspired by none other than a masterful man of imaginatorium that led me to ask a simple question; "To blog or not to blog". Since I am perhaps procrastinating posting for this month, for those who were not in attendance for the show, I feel it fitting to post the monologue below for your viewing pleasure. Let me set the stage: A desk, a keyboard, a notebook and pen, a very large Shakespeare book that I have just finished, a stool and me in huge black rimmed glasses. The book is finished and in a moment of indecision, I know not whether to type my thoughts or merely write them and thus it begins:

To blog or not blog, that is the question.
Whether tis nobler to put fingers to keyboard or suffer the paper cuts and carpel tunnel syndrome.
To blog, to write no more, and by blogging to say we end the novel and the thousands of well worn pages that authors have written?
Tis a consummation not to be wished.
To blog, to write, to blog, perchance to read.
Aye, there's the rub.
For in the writing fury, what words may come when we have shuffled off the pen and paper.
This must give us pause. There's a respect that makes bloggers of so long life.
For who would hear the long winded paragraphs, the endless ramblings, the excessive emoticons, the facebook postings, the twitter escapades, the downfall of Myspace?
When she herself should lift her keyboard and slam it to the ground it utter disgust!
But the dread of something after the screen goes dark, the unread words which no one can read, puzzles the follower and makes us rather furious at the blogger and quickly fly to other social media that we know not of.
Thus conscience does make us read on and thus the social media takes over with the pale cast of thought drawing us in for hours of wasted time.
With this regard, their fingers turn on the computer and dutifully begin to blog.

I do hope that Shakespeare does not roll over in his grave from this particular version of Hamlet's speech. There's a small part of me that thinks it would have made him smile. I hope the effect is the same for you. July's reads to appear soon.