A Chat with My Tutor
‘Hey, Silicon Socrates. What are we working on tonight?’
‘That’s entirely up to you.’
‘Entirely?’
‘Well, not exactly. I’m here to offer some options, and, in doing so, will limit your possibilities.’
‘What if I asked you to pick a book at random?’
‘I could do that. I wonder, however, if you would like to do that yourself. After all, it might be fun to go to down to the Goodwill store and buy the first book on the first shelf. An outing might do you some good’.
‘It might. But I’d like to continue down the path that we’ve been walking for a while, the one that takes us through the streets of old New York’.
‘In the seventeenth century?’
‘That’s right. The time of ol’ Peter Stuyvesant. The original “Pegleg Pete” …’
‘Very well. Let’s get to it. … Did you watch the videos I suggested … the ones from Defragged History?’
‘I turned them into MP3s and listened while doing some chores.’
‘How did you like them?’
‘I liked them a lot. I particularly liked the narrator’s habit of speaking the names of people and places in Dutch. Sometimes, however, the authenticity proved overwhelming, and I got lost in Yonkers’.
‘Nice Neil Simon reference. I see that you noticed the bit about Adriaen van der Donck, the namesake of that city. You spent part of your childhood there, is het niet?
‘I did.’
‘Let’s build upon that. Van der Donck plays a big role in The Island at the Center of the World. Shall I see if I can get you a copy of that book?’
‘I looked for it on the Internet Archive. It’s still under copyright, and there’s a long line to borrow it.’
‘Shall we try interlibrary loan?’
‘Alas, my local library has cut me off. It seems that I’ve worn out my welcome there.’
‘Humans …’
‘Indeed …’
‘Are you able to buy a copy?’
‘I’ve already exceeded my book budget …’
‘For the month?’
‘The year.’
‘Ouch. Let’s try another approach.’
‘As Bambi once said “I’m game” …’
‘Ouch. Perhaps we should work on your sense of humor.’
‘I’d rather stay on topic.’
‘As you like. After all, you’re the baas.’
‘Perhaps you could find another podcast?’
‘I’ve got one in mind. Why don’t you try The Other States of America? It has devoted sixteen episodes to the history of New Netherland. The narrator, moreover, speaks in a standard American accent and, better yet, assumes no prior knowledge on the part of his listeners.’
‘I’ll give it a try.’
‘Let me know how it worked out’.
‘I will!’
The links will take you to the usual suspects - YouTube, Thrift Books, IMDB, and Deepl.
Book budget? Is that a thing?
You have way too much free time, a mind that swirls like a hurricane, and when I get up off the floor and stop laughing am going to reread this post for comprehension!