i’ve always been a bit of a bookworm.  back when i was 18 or so, very good friends*** suggested that i read the spenser: for hire series by robert b parker.  they thought the books might be good for me.  i gave them a shot and, over the years, i’ve become an addict.  with every new book release, i re-read the entire series.  if things in life are not going well, i re-read the entire series.  if i feel like i need to get back in touch with myself...yep, i re-read the series why, exactly, the books affect me as they do, i’m not sure.  but by now, they’re like going home.  *shrug* it works for me, so i go with it

quotes that i liked from spenser novels:

“...if you lay back and let oblivion roll over you, it will be your fault.  you’re old enough now to start becoming a person.  and you’re old enough now so that you’ll have to start taking some kind of responsibility for your life.”

“what you’re good at is less important than being good at something.”

“...you are going to have to get autonomous....autonomous. dependent upon yourself.  not influenced unduly by things outside yourself.”

--from Early Autumn, by robert b. parker

“in many ways, he’s typical of this town.  a bit more extreme, a bit more unloving, but essentially he’s left a very much different kind of social circumstance, maybe the first generation to go to college or wear a suit to work.  they’ve moved away, people like (him).  moved away from the old neighbourhood, both literally and figuratively.  the old rules from that neighbourhood don’t apply here.  or people like (him) don’t think they do.  they don’t know the new rules, so they latch on to the conventions of the media and the assumptions of the magazine ads and the situation comedies.  they try to be like everyone else, and what makes it so hard is that everyone else is trying to be like them.”

--from Ceremony, by robert b. parker

“extend that logic, and we eventually have to decide that no one can understand anyone.  maybe the matter of understanding has been overrated.  maybe i don’t have to understand your situation to sympathize with it, to help you alter it, to be on your side.  i’ve never experienced starvation either, but i’m opposed to it.  when i encounter it, i try to alleviate it.  i sympathize with its victims.  the question of whether i understand it doesn’t arise. ... maybe civilization is possible, if at all, only because people can care about conditions they haven’t experienced.  maybe you need understanding like a fish needs a bicycle.”

--from A Savage Place, by robert b. parker

***it is robert and natalie who are my namesakes, tho i don’t believe they were ever aware of it.  before they left to return to boston, they gave me a kitten.  i wanted a name that would help keep them with me and i came up with “arin”, R(obert)N(atalie).  so to them: much love to the two of you, wherever you may be.  i hope the years have been kind, as you deserved nothing but the best. 

from one of my favorite books, early autumn by robert b parker:

“money isn’t everything.”

“that’s true, but have you ever tried spending sex?”