grab a good book, gather round the fire…

Welcome! It's midnight, midwinter, and I've gathered you here, friends, around a roaring fire, nestled in a cozy cabin somewhere on the eastern seaboard. As instructed, you've left behind your every worry and technological encumbrance, and arrived just this evening, right on time.

But this is no murder mystery, simply the start of a delightful and eminently relaxing virtual reading retreat!

We find ourselves in a home with many rooms, a mix of reading cathedrals, spacious areas where light rays play, and small nooks where we can crawl inside of stories and let our minds churn without distraction. Plus of course bedrooms for all, and a communal kitchen, and woods for morning walks close by.

This place is ours for seven days. You don't have to stay the entire time, but you're welcome as long as you like. Join me in imagining how we spend our time…

This morning I'm well rested; we all got a solid night's sleep and are just back back from a long walk. My step count is already well north of five digits; I feel primed for a day of balanced relaxed energy.

We had a big breakfast, bacon and eggs and assorted fruits and bagels and several pots of coffee. Now, a luxurious span of time unfolds in front of us, at least three, maybe four hours til lunch. Just what we're here for: plenty of time to dive into a book.

Back in my room, I start to extract the shelf I stuffed into my pack. The first few I grab:

• Publishing Manifestos, a fun anthology that's been on my list for a while
• Puzzles About Art (intriguing!) + Sal's book The Uses of Art (started; fantastic)
• Designing an Internet, Mapping Hypertext, and Composing Cyberspace
• Borges' Collected Fictions, to dip into for inspiration

For now, feeling like some deep web history, so I grab Designing an Internet and make my way to the small room upstairs where I thought I saw a big comfy chair…

> PROMPT: how are you feeling as we begin our reading retreat? where are you getting cozy? what books did you bring? which do you dive into first? what are you excited to talk about together after a long day?