Chris's Friend Comments

that's OK. There are far too many people related in WA. I fully support immigration as it improves diversity. And I am prepared to keep an open mind despite your origins and the people you hang around with.

Well Chris we are not immediately related as I am a lapsed Pom (10 pounder, circa 1971).

We've probably met in Albany as I have, funnily enough, been acting strange down here since 1999.
In fact my profile picture on this site documents me destroying a Warrumpi Band song at Bob Howard's wake, which was held at Sarah's Father's house.
Strangely enough, this wake was held at Bob's request three days before he died!
He was lucky to make it that far as there wasn't much of him left by then.

I have been to a few wakes over the years, but this was the first one I have attended before the funeral, and where the subject of that odd mix of celebration and mourning was in attendance and (only just barely) alive.
But he was there! This was a very Bob thing to do.
Did you know Him? A wonderful person who is missed by us all.

Shit! Rambling again...
Thanks for not deleting my rambling post(s), for that's a hell of a lot of your pixels I have destroyed that are never coming back!

Indeed, the Albany connection works (had lunch with Jon Doust in Sydney today). and a friend of Sarah's. and with a dark habit -- books. I feel we have met or perhaps we're related (not uncommon in WA if you have a couple of headstones locally). and i find your rant strangely funny.
cheers!

Hi Chris,

You recently added me as a GoodReads friend.

Now, while I feel honoured to be befriended by someone of such a high standing in Australian literary circles, I can't help but wonder how you came across little old me.

I have come up with some points that may have drawn you towards a GoodReads friendship with me, please consider the following:

1) I live in Albany, W.A. and you have a connection to Albany.

2) I am a friend of Albany Blogger, and soon to be published first time novelist, Sarah Drummond.

3)My name is Colin, and I am a book addict.

A few words about my reading addiction:
It all started when I was very young as just casual reading at school and with my parents.
But it didn't take long before I was reading daily, sometimes several times a day.
I thought I could handle it at first, that I was better than those old men who spent their days hanging around at the State Library, but I was a fool, a weak and naive fool.
Reading was no longer a fun activity that I shared with my family and friends.
It had become something I couldn't live without, I now had to read every day just to be able to function like a normal human being.
I was reading in my bedroom, in the backyard, at the park, in the school library, on the way to school, at friends houses.
I was taking books to bed and reading way beyond my bedtime, sometimes I would be reading several books at once.
I was spending hours in dimly lit secondhand bookshops, and spending all my money on dog eared copies of Issac Asimov, Philip K Dick, Robert E Howard and, I feel so foolish to even mention this book, The Lord of the Rings.
I had no interest in sport, I was neglecting my friends, my hair grew long and unkempt.
To support my habit I took a job selling newspapers after school, but that was a mistake, I found I was reading the papers before I sold them.
I was in need of help.
It wasn't long before my parents noticed something was going on.
Maybe it was the books overflowing from every surface of my bedroom, or the callouses from turning innumerable pages, but they had noticed the changes in me.
The most glaringly obvious change was that my vocabulary had improved, no longer was I giving monosyllabic answers to my Mother's questions.
I was answering her in full sentences, paragraphs with correct grammar and punctuation, there was structure to my rhetoric, I was making sense!
Their worst fears were confirmed when I received Literature awards and A's on my reports three terms in a row.
If it wasn't for the love of my family helping me to confront my demons I have no idea where I would be now.
Their counsel offered me a lifeline and helped me learn to manage my addiction.
It was too late for me to consider abstinence, the need to read was now a vital part of my metabolism and I would have surely expired without my prescribed daily intake of fiction.
I am proud to say that I am now living a relatively normal life, albeit on a huge maintenance dose of literature that I daily self administer optically.
My tolerance for the written word is huge and my daily read would no doubt be fatal if it found it's way into the hands of an inexperienced reader.
I am grateful there isn't much call for on the black market for hard literature anymore.
Most of the secondhand bookshops have now been closed down and our schools are concentrating on Negative Student Achievements instead of the reading and writing which was once such a huge part of the curriculum.
Thankfully most children in the 21st have no desire to become addicted to literature, they have seen the devastating effect it had on their parent's generation and want no part of Academia and it's associated horrors.
Children these days are a lot more conservative than we were in the 60's and the 70's, and as such are more likely to be attracted to the methamphetamine family and it's chemical cousins.
This addiction choice is much more suited to the modern society with it's emphasis on mindless violence and disrespect of any sort of display of intelligence or reason.

Hmmm...

I think I might have asked you a question earlier on in this piece, but that seems so long ago...

Regards

Colin Ryan


P.S. I am truly sorry about soiling your page with this long winded and unsolicited posting.

Hi Chris, thank you for the friend request! (=

Hi Chris :D

Thank you for adding me! :)

Sydney, eh? I got down there about twice or three times while I lived in Queensland (Rockhampton, mostly, but also on the coast between Yeppoon and Emu Park). I found Sydney cold. It even snowed there once when I was there. But then, I mostly got down there in the wintertime.

Anyway, I hope you like my reviews of other books.

hey Chris, thanks for the add :)

Thanks for the Friend Request... its nice to meet you!

Hi Chris! Thank you for the friends invite. It's lovely to meet you here on Goodreads. All the best for a fabulous day and happy reading! :)

Thank you for the friend request, Chris. Have a wonderful week.
Karen

Hi Chris, thanks for the request. I hope you're having a great weekend.

Hi Chris, Thanks for the friends request :)

Thanks for accepting my friend request, Chris. You seem like an interesting person, so feel free to tell me more about yourself and perhaps we can grow to become even greater friends. I, myself, am a singer/songwriter/actor who has recently turned author. My 2 top ten recordings were CONCRETE & CLAY (as a singer) and NAVY BLUE (as a writer)...both in the early 1960's.

Regards, and have a great day, Ed

http://www.edrambeau.com

Hi Chris - Thank you for your friendship!
Please visit my website http://www.peteradarkenedfairytale.co.uk
to view a sample page and many other snippets about the book.
Expected release date Feb/Mar.
Best wishes, William

Thanks for the add.

Daryl Sedore

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Want to thank you for including me among your friends, Chris. Wishing you the very best of luck with The Last Whale. jesse

Thank you for adding me as a friend. =)

Hi Chris!
Thanks for the friend request! I see we both keep giving Stephen King a try...I haven't read his new ones but they're on my list!
Have a great day!
Ellen C Maze
Author Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider

Hi Chris, thanks for the friend invite. I'll keep an eye out for your column in the Australian!

Hi,
Thanks for the add :)
Take care and ttyl....

~Rachel

Hey
Thanks for the Friend's invite!

Going forward, at the end of the day' ... the world's biggest news cliches
http://player.video.news.com.au/theau...

Thank you for the Friend Invite :)

Cliches - THE GUILTY http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/natio...

Hey, thanks for the add :)
Fellow aussie I see, haha.
tc

G'day Chris, All the best from good ol' Melbourne town!

Best, Stuart :)