introverted blurbs

back in the days of my youth when the web was still science fiction, i would read tons and tons of banal romantic paperbacks. that was my alternative lovelife. i wasn't the dating kind, not in the mold of some of my friends who attracted suitors like sports illustrated swimsuit models. by the time i was 14, i've read all my mom's mills and boons collection and joined a book club thereafter until i reached 20.

in those enchanting pages, the men were always gorgeous and loaded. the women maybe feisty, sometimes mousy but were a tad bit conservative. i may have outgrown those shrivelled novellas after graduating from formal learning. but i'm still grateful it laid the groundwork for my constant craving for the erudite terrain. but all the page-turning, in some ways, also turned me secluded from the social scenes of my immediate circles --- an ascetic freak rather than a recluse? waht's the difference?

with all the advancement through the years, from youtube to recorded television, ipods and high-powered cellular phones (we didn't even have a landline in my teens), e-mails and social networking sites, the information overload shouldn't drag us into boredom. attending a soiree once in a while shouldn't be distressing, as long as it's bereft of bitchiness. better said than done. but possible.