Out of the Newsroom

I’m not sure I can trust anyone who doesn’t have something they are reading next to their bed. I don’t know exactly why, but I think anyone who actually uses that part of the body that Manager Jimmy Dugan so aptly called “That lump three feet above your ass” (As played by Tom Hanks in the movie “A League of Their Own”) for anything other than a place to park some headwear, should have something…anything…they are reading next to their bed.

Seriously it could be the newspaper, a trashy novel, one’s diary, I’ll even take a laptop if you prefer to do your reading off a screen–but not having something you are reading/just finished reading/or about to start reading (someday) next to where you lay your head at night is just wrong–in my book at least.

Then it dawned on me that exactly what is next to your bed probably says a lot about you. Taking a look at what was on the floor next to the bed I sleep on, bore this theory out pretty well. I snapped a picture to document this morning’s moment (yes, those are my feet at the bottom of the frame).

If you look close, in the picture you’ll find not only my current reading (”A Whole New Mind” by Daniel H. Pink is on top of the stack) but other items such as: my trusty laptop (a Macbook Pro), my cell phone (an Apple iPhone), my compass (Magellan GPS unit), my ideabank (a black sketchbook under the GPS), my sword (a mechanical pencil in the silver pencil case), my sanctuary (some good V-moda earphones for the iPhone), my cap (a freebie from CNN), my lifeblood (a Snapple Lemon Ice Tea), my source of all real knowledge (Cap from the Snapple bottle with fun fact underneath), my finances (a wallet with bills to be paid), my medical care (a prescription bottle for the anti-inflammatory drug I’m taking), my part to save energy (a compact florescent lightbulb waiting to be put in my bedside lamp), my part to waste energy (battery charger for my camera), my connections (various cables to hook things together) and my pants (in case I need to make a quick getaway–alas, some habits never die, even though it is my house.)

So to paraphrase those credit card commercials, “What’s Next to YOUR Bed?”