Multi-tasking on Sundays

It's Sunday, and that means baseball, needlecraft and books. We go to church on Saturday evenings, so Sunday is my one totally free day. Many times friends say "I saw your blog--I don't understand how you can read more than one book at a time!" I respond by explaining that

• At least one book in my currently reading is always an audio book. I listen in the car (I have an hour round trip to the pool everyday to work out)--this week it's Dinner at Mr Jefferson's. This one hopefully will get finished today.
• One is usually a non-fiction work that requires some time and thought--today that's American Lion, the biography of Andrew Jackson, by Jon Meacham. Very good, a Pulitzer, and emminently readable for such a meaty subject.
• One is usually something else that can be done in short bursts, such as poetry, or short stories, or books written as Letters. Today it's The Food of Portugal, a cook book I'm leisurely going through for my "Things Portuguese" category in the 999 read on LT.
• The last is a novel or some fictional work. Today it's Sacred Hearts which I got as an Advanced Reading copy. (The Jackson bio is also an Early Review copy from LT).

On Sundays, I usually read the 'heavy' book in the morning or finish up one that I'm within 50 pages of completing (in this case the cookbook). Then in the afternoons, while the REDSOX are playing, I settle down with my cross-stitch in front of the TV, put the MP3 player in my pocket, plug in the earphones and listen, watch and sew. I don't need the bloviating play by play of the announcers to see what's going on, and I'm at a point in my sewing where not much counting is needed, so I can easily keep three balls in the air. On this particular Sunday, I'm really happy the SOX are out of town, because here in New England our weather has me googling to find out how to build an ARK! (and trying to figure how I'd explain to our mother turkey who comes to feed everyday why she'd only be allowed to take two of her 9 babies!) I think as long as the books you are reading are not too similar --I try not to read 2 biographies set in the same period, or two mysteries, or two books of poetry at the same time-- it's an easy and relaxing hobby. It keeps the brain sharp, and means, no matter what room I'm in, there's an adventure in words waiting for me. Off to enjoy my Sunday. Enjoy yours too!

Baseball and Multi-colored Fun

Well.... the baseball season is now in full swing, giving me the opportunity to enjoy three of my favorite pastimes at the same time. I love to watch the Red Sox, followed closely by the Orioles (I grew up in Baltimore). I truly enjoy doing various kinds of needlework, and always have two or three projects going at any one time. And as has become obvious, I am never far from a book. During baseball season I can do all three at once, and really feel like I'm accomplishing something. Before he died, my dad was famous for cross-stitching and watching 3 different TVs (3 different stations) at the same time--must be genetic.

While the game is on, I won't try any really intricate stitching that requires a lot of counting, but most pieces have large sections that are just 'fill-ins'. Right now I'm filling in the sky on a harbor scene I've been working on for more than a year. Last night while I watched the Orioles go down to ignominious defeat (I gave up when the score reached 17-4), I was able to stitch, and listen to a great semi-cozy mystery by Earlene Fowler called Delectable Mountains.

I only put them all down when my mom calls to 'watch' the ball games with me. At 84, she is a bigger baseball nut than any of us, and can quote statistics, tell you where new players were last year, give the entire schedule for the upcoming month, and generally make up great non-cuss words to express her displeasure when her O's go down the -----er. (her quote not mine) So we 'watch' at least 3 or 4 innings together on the phone almost every evening.

However, it becomes quite brain taxing (and here I have difficulty multi-tasking) if she is watching the Orioles and I'm watching the Red Sox --particularly if they're not playing each other!--with two games to keep track of, and Mom's comments on life in general--and the neighbors and relatives in particular-- I find it almost impossible to sew, and obviously since I only have one set of ears, audio books are out of the question at that point.

Listening to audio books has become a great pleasure and almost an addiction. Particularly with the advent of public libraries offering downloadable audio books, my MP3 player is always well-stocked. I listen while I cook, while I drive (no earphones- I use the car's CD player), while I sew, while I walk, and whenever I want to drown out carnage being spewed from the TV (my other half is a crime TV junkie). It's a great way to enjoy an added dimension to words that authors put on paper. Those words are not always as forceful, or inspiring, or entertaining if your brain is only interpreting them through your eyes. When you have another reader's intonations, and oral interpretations, there's an added bonus.

So take a try at the multi life. It really is fun. Just don't try to take any of it too seriously. Life's too short. So what if you have to re-wind, or put down the sewing, or take off the earphones, or curse the umpire. Just step back, get up, get some popcorn, have a beer. It's life, it's a ballgame and the book, the sewing, and the lousy ump will be there when you get back, Pappelbon will soon be coming in from the bullpen and you won't have had to spend $15 to enjoy your timeout.

You can even watch in your 'jammies!