I've grown accustomed to your face...

What do I prefer to read on screen and why? What a silly question for a full-time grad student! At the moment, the only reading I do is on a computer screen and that is not my preference. I spend more time each day looking at computer screens, than I do looking at the faces around me. 

"Frankly dear, your modesty reveals to me

Self-appraisal often makes us sad."

I prefer the organic experience of reading real paper-and-ink books. I have no desire to acquire an iPad, Kindle or other E-reader, so I was very glad when I discovered we were not required to purchase or borrow one for the purposes of this course. (Sorry, Prof. Galey, you won't be detecting my new electronic appendage in class!) Indeed, I was also glad to see that Maxwell called out E-book manufacturers for caring more "...about creating a market and a business model around the electronic book", than offering some Utopian vision for the future of the book.

"And if I add, 

your funny face appeals to me

Please don't think 

I've suddenly gone mad."

I especially love to read before bed, but have not made time to do so in quite a while. At that time of day, I prefer to read novels, rather than non-fiction, like biographies or books dealing with political, environmental, social or health matters. Late in the evening, I crave escape from the world, not a collision-course with reality.

"I love your funny face,

Your sunny, funny face." 

But I have to say, I've grown accustomed to reading on the computer screen. In part, this is because I've found ways to make the experience more pleasant. By sitting very far away from the screen, one can reduce the saucer-eye effect; that is, the feeling you get after staring at the screen for long periods of time that you've stretched your eyeballs out of shape. 

"You're not exotic but so hypnotic,

You're much, too much,

If you can cook the way you look."

And reading on my computer has certain affordances. I've gotten very good at reading quickly, which is apparently a problem for most people when reading electronically, so that I've cut my homework-reading time in half. I only read the first and last sentence of every paragraph and any big words in between that stand out. Finally, reading on my computer screen has improved my mental and physical reflexes, I suspect, in the same way that computer games do. 

"For world's I'd not replace,

Your sunny, funny face."

I think that if I stopped reading on my computer now, I'd actually miss it, because I've grown accustomed to seeing that "face". 

Best, Laura