Finally! Get to put my brain to work again! 

I almost want one.

I'm finally beginning to rediscover my roots as a reading machine. I finally got around to reading my sociology books on cultural changes, which have all served to educate me in the most fascinating social questions. I finally got around to reading the "Prince of Nothing" series by Scott Bakker, the single most interesting fantasy series I've ever read. And I finally read House of Leaves...that was gripping. Now, if only I could read my LSAT prep book...I think I'd rather just try my hand at a couple old LSATs, honestly. The questions on the prep guide are all supposedly representative of the most difficult LSAT questions, and as a result, my head feels likely to explode after an hour. And I hate the fact that sometimes, none of the questions are even RIGHT, you are just supposed to choose the "best" answer. That's a god damn pain.

Anyway, not that any of that is of interest to you. I'll be eventually reaching a point to this post here if you give the time. As some of you know I'm actually currently down in Los Cabos, Mexico, relaxing with the family, getting a tan, and yes, consuming dread amounts of intoxicants and gyrating in clubs. But something I've noticed about myself - and probably the vast majority of the worlds inhabitants - I hate not being able to communicate whenever and whatever I desire. It can be the result of any impediment, like a physical jaw surgery, but in my current case, it's the language barrier.

I really SHOULD have a better grasp of Spanish. I took about four years of it during High School. But few people come out of those Spanish programs with a truly strong grasp of the language - to truly understand it, some say, you can't study it as a scholar. I'm sure the scholarly aspect helps, but it is not the core of fluency. To truly understand it, you must experience it.

Now comes an interesting idea I heard while eavesdropping on the plane out of Pullman. Learn a language by reading fiction. Think it's possible? Too complicated? Too mind-numbingly boring?

Well, what if that book series was Harry Potter?

As a high fantasy reader (think George Martin, Scott Bakker, Steven Erikson), I'm philosophically opposed to Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling might technically be an author in the sense that she wrote a few books, but the writing itself is comparable to an award-winning modern art piece that consists of five positioned limestone rocks, a clump of grass, and ketchup, all of this on top of a mirror. (Maybe I'm being harsh. Modern art is usually better than that.) But where Harry Potter fails to truly be "literature" it succeeds in being exciting, intriguing, and fantastic. What it does is it appeals to the base child instincts in all of us, the "Get away from the oppressing parents and go to a fantasy world surrounded by friends, enemies, thrill, and above all, badass-as-all-hell wizards" part.

But anyway, to the abstract. In essence, it's simple, colloquial writing with an interesting backdrop, written in Spanish. And, well, I haven't finished the series. I never read "Deathly Hallows." So, that's some drive to keep going. And there's a lot of it. The sheer volume of pages should have me up a couple notches on the "Spanish Fluency Scale" after I've read the series.

So anyway, now that I've rediscovered my reading mind, I'm going to try this experimental way of learning Spanish. I just need to get ahold of the set in espanol. And who knows, maybe I'll be just that much more prepared if and when I decide to study abroad in Spain.
-David