Isn't perception an interesting idea. Depending on who you are, what you think, how you've been raised, the experiences you've had and a host of other criteria, all this will color how you view the things that happen in your world. I've been thinking about perception because of two events this last week. First, my new car. OMW a convertible, a sporty, little convertible. This little car will certainly change a lot of people's perception of who I am. Maybe it will change my perception of who I think I am...hmmm...that is something to think about further.

The other event was to finish the book Foul Matters, by Martha Grimes. I originally picked up this book because of my perception that she writes a good mystery and I even remembered the detective's name that she usually writes about; Richard Jury. This book was nothing like my perception of what a Martha Grimes book sould be like. There is no Richard Jury, just a cast of strange and wonderful characters. And the weirdness of it all was that this was actually a funny book. Perception, expecting one thing, getting another.

Question of the day...am I a Z4 kind of person? We drove a BMW z4 today. Convertible. Two seater. Stick shift. Is this me? I've got to say that sitting in that car, driving down the road...I did feel an attitude coming on. The wind in your hair, rolling down that road, it does give you a feeling that you are young and sexy and all possibilities are before you. OMW, am I having a midlife crisis?

So this is something that I'm going to have to think about. I'm not only looking at getting a "cool" car, but I fantasize about a "cool" job, I'm working on getting into shape (and I'm hoping I'm doing that to be healthy and not to become "cool"), I'm keeping my hair blonde and I don't care what people think about me anymore. Yup, this could all be indicative of that dreaded midlife crisis, but it could just be that I've hit that point in life where I finally get to do the things that I want to do.

I think I'll think about this some more.

I think I've reached a point in my life where I want to try and write.

I think I want to write some of what I'm thinking, some of what I'm living through but maybe more about what I'm reading. This will be an interesting experiment. Interesting because at one point in my life I thought I wanted to write a book. But I soon figured out that I really was happier reading books than working at writing one. The act of writing has always been attractive and I've flirted with journal keeping throughout the years but have always found some kind of excuse to not have to seriously work at it. Again, reading journals turned out to be more fun and interesting that I felt I could ever write.

So here I am, hopefully doing a little more than flirting this time. I'm going to read and then write and let myself enjoy it all.

The newest thing I've been reading are the Maisie Dobbs books by Jacqueline Winspear. This was one of those books that you read and then say, shoot! I'm going to have to go get all the rest of them. They were that fun and fascinating. Set just after the ending of World War I, in London, Winspear gives the reader a look at "polite society" as well as the emerging middle class. I've read a lot of WWII books, regency, westerns, futuristic, etc. but it seems like I've pretty much missed that window of time between the two world wars. And Maisie is a very interesting character. She has a very lower class upbringing but is vaulted into her future because of a thirst for knowledge and a love of reading. She becomes a psychologist and investigator...and how cool is that in the late 1920's. So leaf through and enjoy!