A Simple Pleasure

Let's talk about something that doesn't matter at all.

In last week's birthday newsletter, one of the things I listed as something that brings me joy is thinking "there has to be a better way to do this," and then finding said way. So today I'm going to be practicing escapism from the darkness of the real world and telling you about a silly little thing I asked for and received for Christmas and that I now don't know how I ever lived without. Is it important in the grand, or even baby grand scheme of things? It sure isn't. Is it something I NEED? Absolutely not. But does it bring me immense amounts of happiness because it solved a very minor inconvenience so swiftly and thoroughly? Yes, yes it does.

Last year, a friend changed my life for the better by giving me a Kindle. This was especially exciting because it was during a period where my local library was under construction and so the only way to get books out was to visit the Book Bus that parked outside the library once a week on Mondays. This was a great temporary solution (that lasted twice as long as it should have because our mayor is a useless ratking of a man) but it meant I occasionally found myself in a bottleneck of books. Or lack thereof. The Kindle solved that problem, because I can now do dances with the Libby app to always have a book available to me. (Special thanks to the person who taught me about turning my Kindle on airplane mode while reading a book whose deadline is coming up so I can "return" it to the library but also still finish reading it.) I also now have a backlog of physical books in case Libby ever lets me down but that is neither here nor there.

There were so many advantages to having an e-reader instead of always having to rely on physical books. Not having to worry about when the library was open to pick up a book when it was ready, not having to walk up and down my three flights of stairs just to return a book to the book atm, being able to read in bed without a light on because it has its own backlight, fitting it better in my bag, not losing a page when I inevitably misplace my bookmark or drop it while reading, etc. I was having the time of my life with this Kindle, but I had one tiiiiny problem. LIke I said, a very minor inconvenience, but with the Kindle's compact size and the lack of fear of ripping pages, I could contort into all kinds of new comfortable positions while reading, but, you see, to "turn" the page on the Kindle, you have to tap the right side of the screen. This is all well and good if you're holding it in your right hand, but I'm not often doing that. I don't know if it's because I was used to holding books in my left hand and turning pages with my right, or just because the way my couch is set up I'm often leaning on the left armrest, or what, but I was finding myself in situations where it was annoying to have to either reach across the Kindle to tap the opposite side of the screen, or move my now-comfortable-but-elsewhere right hand up to the Kindle to tap it. I didn't come here for an arm workout, I just want to be cozy and move as little as possible while I read! And short of changing the settings every time I changed positions, I couldn't imagine a solution for this...until one day, I was served an ad. There it was, in all its glory, a solution to all my problems: an e-reader page turner.

Of course, it seemed too good to be true. When are little gadgets you see on the internet ever actually what they promise to be? But my parents got me one for Christmas and, readers, it's everything I wanted. It's two parts, a little clip and a ring remote. The clip hooks onto the side of your e-reader (I keep mine tight to the bottom right corner; I don't need to know what percentage of the book I've read, I pay more attention to the "time to end of chapter" stat in the bottom left anyway), and you hold the ring, on which is a little button. When you push the button, bam! Page turned. Easy peasy. So now, not only can I turn the page easily with my right hand while holding the Kindle in my left hand, but I can turn the page of my Kindle without holding it AT ALL. I can put the Kindle on my couch's armrest and rest my head on my hand, I can lie down on my side and have it propped up on a pillow, I can even have it flat on the bed in front of me while I lay on my stomach, hands to my chin, kicking my feet like a giddy little kid. The reading position world is my oyster!

It's genuinely silly, I know that. Not the product existing - I'm sure this makes e-readers more accessible to some people and likely is what necessitated its invention - but how much I am enjoying it. Like I said, I was having a perfectly lovely time with my Kindle for months before I even wondered if such a thing existed. But the thing is, I have what I've been told is an "overactive imagination," so for me, reading is a fully immersive experience. It's like going to Sleep No More, wandering around like a ghost, observing a story going on around me. So being able to turn pages without moving helps me stay fully immersed longer, enhancing my enjoyment of the book. And goodness knows these days we can use all the enjoyment we can get.

So I know it's silly, and this post is most definitely not sponsored, by Biftu or any of the MANY brands that make a product like this, but I just wanted to spread the good news about this handy little product. According to the instruction booklet, it also works on tablets, and can even be used on phones to take hands-free photos without having to fuss with the timer. Not bad for a gadget you can get for $20 or less.

So that's it. My frivolous little product review. I hope I never grow out of being able to enjoy the simple things in life, and I hope something small and kind of silly has been bringing you joy lately.