The Antisocial Socialist

I think the switch from bookstores (as Waits talks about) to online stores came at the right time for me. In my 20s and even 30s, I thrived on the serendipity; now that I'm much closer to death than to my birth,* I'm much more into pursuing specific projects, and I love being able to do directed research much more easily, get hold of rare titles I've heard of for years but never seen, and spend time reading instead of hunting for books.

* Not morbid, just realistic, and it's gotten me motivated in some good, practical ways.