Year of Shakespeare: no change. I think this is twofold -- I am convinced it will not be very hard to read all of Shakespeare this year, and I needn't push it. Also, I still don't have the right reading chair, and so I'm postponing Shakespeare until that chair is in place. Everything else about my new reading nook is set up: the lighting is right, the bookshelf is right nearby, with the Shakespeare books stacked up neatly and a pile of index cards and some pens there within reach. I even bought a chair at a used furniture store, but the narrow little steep staircase up to this garret room proved too tight for the chair, so I had to return it. Soon.
Year of Planned Reading. Hmmm. I've been reading a lot. A LOT. More than in a long time. But I'm not so sure about the Planned part. I've gotten away from my disciplined preservation of daylight reading time. I haven't stuck to the Plan -- I've been grabbing books opportunistically at the library, or ordering things on interlibrary loan and reading them ahead of others because of their due dates. I've been fiddling around with my Kindle and reading different books on there than I would read in hardcover. I've been doing a lot of reading related to the Year of the Cure, and some reading related to my job. I should sit down and list what I've been reading, or even try to take a look at all the books I have checked out of the library right now and impose some intention on the pile. Reading, yes. Planned? Not so much. In honor of my good intentions, I'm going to devote the next two hours to reading, as soon as I finish up this post.
Year of the Cure. This is complicated. I know a lot more than last time I wrote, because of all the reading I've been doing. Maybe. I certainly know more about the architecture of the small and large intestines, and the chemistry of digestion. I'm not sure I understand it at a level that would let me make meaningful decisions. I have some choices to make, and I have some misgivings about the different options. I am not sure what my course of action should be. I don't think I've found the right allies and advisors. I don't know if it matters. I think my disease is mild and will probably always be. Maybe this shouldn't be my big fight. Maybe medicating it and doing more interesting things is the right approach. On the other hand, I have a Big Idea that I think might help lots of people. Implementing it would take a huge amount of energy and some money and a lot of time. This deserves its own post, which I will write a little bit later. Another day, probably. Tonight I need to read.