Just for Fun

 

One of the things I do, when I’m not sitting here pestering you, is to read other people’s gibberish.  You can find it in any library.  There are shelves of books, many thousands of them.  Just pick one at random and see what was so important that they felt it should be written down.

If you’re like me, you’ll find they were wrong.  It wasn’t important at all, in fact, most likely it is just some story they made up.  Many of them, much like television, is about murder.  I’ll never know why people can’t be more creative than that.  There are way too many detective and murder stories.  It’s really quite tiring.  No, there is nothing wrong with you, if you like that sort of thing, it just isn’t for me.

Anyway, what I do is sort of like fishing, although there are no sharp hooks, squishy worms or smelly fish involved.  The only thing I work with is a business card and tremendous odds.  The odds are against me, but it is still fun.  Whenever I read a library book, I leave a business card somewhere between the pages.  Then I wait for a nibble.

 

 

Someday, someone will come across the business card and wonder what it is all about.  If they are at all curious, they’ll type it into their search engine and there I’ll be.  My Blog, in all its glory will pop up onto their monitor.

What they’ll discover is a book with a different story on every page.  No murders, no lame who-done-its, just  gibberish for gibberish sake.  Some pages will have pictures, others may be filled with poetry or simply an empty cigar box, still holding the fragrance of someone’s grampa.  His hair askew, perhaps a little grizzled looking, but with kind eyes and a welcoming smile.

Here's the thing, if they take the bait, they will have years of commercial-free, family-friendly entertainment.  Or they will simply toss the card into the waste bin and go on with their day.  I’ve been doing this for some time now, and so far, nobody has written saying, “Hey Zobostic, I found your card.  Thanks.”

But I haven’t given up.  I still cast out a line, sit and wait, watch for ripples, maybe a few air bubbles.   You never know.

 

 Much like fishing, I have no idea what I'll catch.  It could be Mrs. Trout, wandering along the banks of the adventure aisle, or it could be Richard Bass, poking around the self-help section, or maybe just an inquisitive teenager, searching for an author their teacher spoke of.  It might be just a quick flip through the pages when they spot a juicy little business card wiggling through the reads.

"Hey, what's this?"

Suddenly there a tug on my line.