Kindling a Fire

I've now had two lengthy discussions about the Amazon Kindle (thanks Jennifer and George). Yesterday, I ordered one.

My hopes for the Kindle go beyond portability and reading. I am planning to use the Kindle for sermon notes (and delivery?) as well as notations and filing. I'm also hoping to flaunt the Kindle in social settings, pulling it out of my pocket with a flourish while standing next to the caviar table and announcing that I'm halfway through The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire and good Lord, I'm loving it!

I may also use the Kindle to appear more intelligent than I really am. Any electronic device, I think, lends an air of sophistication to my trailer-park mentality and I hope to carry the Kindle with me when I shop at Wal-Mart. I'll use it to double-check my grocery receipts while others stand in line and whisper, "What's up with this guy, ma and what is that he's holding? It ain't a bomb is it?"

My friends will be impressed, too. Their jaws will drop. And I expect beautiful women to make a pass at me. I can pretend to take their phone numbers and program them into the Kindle while they stare in utter disbelief at my technical savvy.

I'm mostly looking forward to impressing my wife. She's easily impressed, and more easily distracted, and I could see myself bringing the Kindle to bed and opening up the little night light while I read Madam Bovary or D.H. Lawrence. I could also read selected portions aloud from the Song of Songs in a James Earl Jones voice.

No doubt, my wife will want a Kindle, too. But I'm not certain about this. Frankly, I picture us as a one-Kindle home. We don't want to get too advanced, and we still want to feel that we can talk to the clientele in Dollar General.