Do What You Can Do

Many years ago, in my art appreciation class, I conceived of this futuristic device for suspending one's book aloft and thus being able to read without the need to prop up awkwardly. So much more relaxing than cramped elbows and smashed pillows and bulky headrests that never really work very well. Also perfect for reading in the tub: no more soggy pages or leaning over the edge or having to dry your hands just to turn a page!

Remember, this would have been years before remote controls for channel - changing or garage - door - opening were in daily use, yet notice the stick-man's hand held page - turning device that somehow works in conjunction with the magnetic (?) levitating reading lamp! In retrospect, I'm kind of impressed with my ability to tell the future!

Next day . . . this just in: Little Supergirl Scouts impress Obama with device similar to mine! My friend Marguerite writes to tell me of the amazing coincidence that a troop of six-year-old Girl Scouts, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, have created an amazing variation on my concept, using Lego pieces to design a battery-powered page turner for people who are paralyzed or have arthritis. Better yet, they took their invention to the 2015 White House Science Fair (on Monday, March 23rd) and demonstrated it to President Obama:

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
(and video of "Supergirls" from the Tulsa World)

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"Our job as writers, as we begin that journey, is to figure out what we can do. Only do what you can do. It’s a rule I live by. Among other things, it means I can have novels heavier on dialog than description. But more important, if you only do what you can do, you never have to worry that someone else is doing it. It keeps you from competing. It keeps you looking inside for what’s true rather than outside for what’s popular. Ideally. Your writing is your fingerprint. It’s our job in life to come to some understanding of our own identity, and being a writer makes that easier. ~What do I think? What do I love? What do I see? What are my stories?~ come up over and over again and/or reveal themselves, sometimes unintentionally, over and over again.” (p 13; see also pp 151 - 52)

from the essay "Losing Norah"
by Delia Ephron
found in her book Sister Mother Husband Dog

And the same goes for reading, right?
You figure out what you can read . . . and you read it!

And for inventing!
And for drawing!
And for blogging!