I love reading, and it has become a favorite form of unwinding, unless a good game is on TV. However, I can only read when it is quiet, and not in front of the TV while my girlfriend watches it.
Can anyone read in front of the TV? How do you do that?
I like being in the same room as my girlfriend (a sign that I like her, eh?), but I like reading too.... I guess I may have to train myself over time.
You get all squeezed up inside/Like the days were carved in stone/You get all wired up inside/And it's bad to be alone
You can go out, you can take a ride/And when you get out on your own/You get all smoothed out inside/And it's good to be alone
-Peart
I can read the newspaper or magazines in front of the t.v., but prefer to read novels when it's quiet or with soft music in the background.
"A witty woman is a treasure, a witty beauty is a power!"
I can read anytime....background noise has never bothered me.
"Growth is inevitable and desirable, but destruction of community character is not. The question is not whether your part of the world is going to change. The question is how." -- Edward T. McMahon, The Conservation Fund
I can if it's a good book! But I usually prefer to read while sitting on my bed (no TV in bedroom).Originally posted by zmanPLAN
I need quiet to read. Of course my wife and son see me reading and figure "he's not doing anything. I will talk to him."
"I am very good at reading women, but I get into trouble for using the Braille method."
~ Otterpop ~
I had removed the TV hookup option from our bedroom in the house we are building. It's bad feng shui, plus the Z Man likes to read himself to sleep... the girlfriend agreed to it, so it can't be all bad.
Sorry to hijack your thread, Z Man...
You get all squeezed up inside/Like the days were carved in stone/You get all wired up inside/And it's bad to be alone
You can go out, you can take a ride/And when you get out on your own/You get all smoothed out inside/And it's good to be alone
-Peart
Same for me. I read all day at work with people talking, phones ringing, etc., so I can pretty much read thru anything at home.
I need absolute quite and on disruptions to read.
A nuisance may be merely a right thing in the wrong place — like a pig in the parlor instead of the barnyard.
The fact that I share an office now, and before, I have learned to read with distractions, but still cant do that at home... that is why I could not work from home...
...most of my reading is work related, even when I read for pleasure it is generally about planning...
"Those who plan do better than those who do not plan, even though they rarely stick to their plan." - Winston Churchill
If it technical reading, I need quiet. If it pleasure reading, I can put up with a fair amount of background noise.
I'm used to some background noise, but I prefer absolute silence (which seems to be alomst impossible to find anymore)
I can deal with a fair amount of noise but but actually don't do much leisure reading. I have arthritis and extended periods of sitting in one position is painful.
It is all a matter of perspective!!!
When I can actually find a minute or two, I actually prefer background noise. Completely quiet rooms make me nervous (hence two boys running around, when it gets quiet it usuallu means they are up to no good)
If I am reading for work I definately prefer total silence, leisure reading, bring on the noise
ALWAYS! In college, my best studying was done on the couch, with a giant bag of cheesecorn, with the TV on muted, and the stereo on. Then again, I am a bit ADD, so it goes with the territory...
As a parent of a 16-year old and if serenity was a pre-requisite to whether I read or not, I suppose the library would consist last week's "balor supplments."
I've gotten used to it, you mioght say.
It depends on how I am feeling on a particular moment in the particular environment that I'm in.
I can read on the bus, subway, and streetcars as well as in cars. And, I don't get motion sickness!
I can read with music on...preferably not ones that gets you jiggy.
I can read with tv on as long as I'm not interested in it, but I've not done this since high school. For the last few years, I've only turned the tv on whenever I want to watch a particular show.
I can read in a quiet or a noisy library or room.
I've not tried reading in a coffee shop, an internet cafe, or the like.
But, then if it got too noisy, I can always turn off my hearing aids to get some quiet.
Sometimes, the quietness of the quiet rooms bug me so I have to make some noise to de-quiet the rooms. I usually do by turning on the music box.
I can read and study with music, but I find it hard to concentrate if there's other people talking.. (hence I use music to block them) I also find it hard to study in absolute silence... I get sleepy and my mind starts wandering.... Although for studying I can't put music with lyrics or I'll start singing it in my mind instead of studying... thank god for instrumental rock.
TV is a no- no for me... it's too distractive... not only the noise but also the visual flashes and images.
I feel the same way. Rheumatoid Arthritis sucks! I try to drink a cup of tea when I'm reading. It forces me to get up in about 30 minutes or so. You know - input, output
Living and dreaming are two different things-but you can't do one without the other."
-Malcolm Forbes
depends on the purpose of reading. also, i find that back in my teens i was much more tolerant of background noise. i prefer silence but a constant low background noise is usually ok. or something i can tune out if i'm not interested in it. this doesn't work if it's something like CSI that's on in the backgroundIn a pinch there's always earplugs...
I can read in any circumstances. All noises or distraction disappear more or less according to my being captivated or not.
Some books need to reverbarate, echo in me. It ofyen need its own sapce and time to do that. II choose not to "sleep over it" and have one, two or three nights to hae the natural process of memory doing the job for me, the I more often than not, need a qiet space an open time to do it m y self. It is very similar to preparing a writing cession.
François
Yes, college. I would always go the middle of the commons to do all my studying. The back ground commotion was key.
Now, when I find the time to read I can do so with or w/o noise.
When alone however, which doesn't happen often/at all, I prefer the dishwasher or some kind of white noise. hmm.
Yes noise does bother me, so my solution is to put on the headphones, turn on some Mozart and go into a corner where no one can bother me!
Simple right?
When I was in school, I needed some background noise to drown out distractions. I usually had on classical, but not opera, and some basic instrumental blends.
Grad school, same thing. I needed some noise to keep me reading. Otherwise, if it was too quiet, I'd find myself mentally wandering, and unable to finish.
Now I prefer quiet, but it doesn't have to be silent. Hubby can have the TV on in the other room, or be on the computer, etc. and it doesn't bother me. But having the TV on in the room where I'm reading is very distracting! I've always prefered reading alone or with one other person in the room. I can't stand reading in the library - too many people wandering around in my field of vision, and it's too social of a place.
"We do not need any other Tutankhamun's tomb with all its treasures. We need context. We need understanding. We need knowledge of historical events to tie them together. We don't know much. Of course we know a lot, but it is context that's missing, not treasures." - Werner Herzog, in Archaeology, March/April 2011
I can read through anything, except a TV.
The movement, the conversational tone, the rapid changes in music and mood.
Even if its trash it will distract me, especially if its trash.
I can read in crowded rooms, on the bus, while the radio is playing (except for some NPR) or through any type of music.I even used to study listening to Iron Maiden on headphones.
If the book is a stuggle - unfamiliar theory, philsophy, or Moby Dick then I need a calmer enviorment. If the book is good, my wife has learned that she has to wait for my attention, or I will miss at least the first sentance she says to me.
In the ADD literature its called hyper-focus.
wrong! dont you know you are not building this house for yourselves!Ultimately is the next buyer you are building it for. I know, we got the cable hookup in the bedroom. I forbid TVs in bedrooms, but it'll be a selling point for the next owner. (who probably never heard of fengshui). Right now we have a painting over the outlet/socket because the outlet is at TV height! (for that flat screen we dont have)of all the stupidity...
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If its textbooks or technical, I need relative peace and quiet to absorb the material. Recreational reading I can do anywhere!
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