More Muni Musings and Second Bookish Factoid

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Today while the L train didn’t pull magically up to greet me, an N-Judah train did.  In the game of Muni Roulette, today this means riding the N to the end of the line, which is the Great Highway, and walking home on the beach.  Sweet!  Especially since it’s a beautiful day, another ‘can’t quite decide between summer and autumn’ day.  The only down side is two noisy teenage boys just got on the train and sat behind me.  I confess to homicidal urges.  Or at least access to their volume switches.

So.  Another book related thing about me you may not know.  I read when I walk.  I have pretty much perfected the art of reading while walking, be it inside, outside on city streets, park paths or more rugged terrain. Lack of enough time to read forced me to hone this skill and I won’t say I didn’t walk headfirst into lamp posts or low hanging branches a few times. But you’d be surprised how easy it is to develop peripheral vision and awareness while engrossed in a book.  I used to walk Boska in Griffith Park while drinking coffee and reading at the same time.  This was back in the day I could trust her off leash and know she wouldn’t run away, unless a squirrel was involved.  Even then she’d come back when I used the Voice to call her name.  Paul Atreides had nothing on me.

My preferred reading while walking book is your basic paperback.  Compact, fairly light, easy to hold in one hand and flip the pages while manipulating leash or coffee cup in the other.  Trade paperbacks are a little more problematic, but still manageable.  Harry Potter hardbacks are nearly impossible, but I’ve done it.  No way I was gonna put it down without finishing and I needed my exercise!

12 thoughts on “More Muni Musings and Second Bookish Factoid”

  3. I used to walk and read all the time as a kid, sadly in Leicester its a recipe for abuse when you bump into people.

  6. Nope, couldn’t do that. I could manage books on CD, though. (Don’t have an ipod.) I might could walk and read, but I’d be constantly glancing ahead to make sure I didn’t kill myself or someone else.

  7. But Mom, you don’t chew gum!

    OL, Trade paper is great, but a bit cumbersome for walking and reading purposes. but I DO like ’em!

    Heh….Toast, I haven’t bumped into anyone while reading yet. Just hard objects that hurt me more than it hurt them.

    Morgan, I would definitely be one of those people! I do it in downtown SF all the time. I’ll get one of yoru books and send you a picture of me reading it in rush time foot traffic!

    Ron, I will read anything. Cleanser labels if there’s nothing else around…

    Helen, it took a couple of years of honing the skill, but so worth it! I’m not sure about the books on CD ’cause I’d like to be able to hear a car horn if Im about to get run over…

  8. I’m super impressed! I can barely walk and WALK at the same time. Seriously, I bump into walls all the time. Sometimes I entirely miss doorways and just walk into the doorframe. I think something is wrong with my balance, or something!

  10. Hi, Emma! I actually walk into things at work and home, table edges, et al, but not when I’m reading. So maybe reading all the time is your answer!

    Heh…Toast, it is good and right that you feel this way…

  11. Tee hee. I once walked into a ladies room while so engrossed in a book and in such a hurry to pee that I failed to notice I had pushed the wrong door open. Twelve or so frantic female shouts awakened me to the harsh reality of what a walking book zombie I had become.

    Loved this post, like all of ’em. {-:>

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