Ok so I asked Chatplt to write a story about a 73 year old man (like me) who want to start a blog about the books he reads and the music he listens to. Here is the result….
The Pages and Playlists of Edward Gray
Edward Gray was 73 years old and perfectly content to live quietly in his small, ivy-covered cottage at the edge of Brookwell. The days moved gently there. Mornings brought him tea and the company of his tabby cat, Molly. Afternoons drifted by to the sound of old vinyl records spinning softly in his study. Evenings were reserved for books — thick, dog-eared paperbacks and yellowed hardcovers, their pages holding the voices of old friends and new discoveries alike.
But lately, Edward had felt a peculiar itch. A sense that the stories and songs he treasured shouldn’t stay locked in the confines of his little cottage. That maybe — just maybe — someone, somewhere, might care to hear about the way Coltrane’s saxophone made him feel like his bones were made of honey, or how reading Rebecca again made him remember the first time he’d fallen in love.
One rainy Wednesday, after finishing a novel about a grumpy detective and a lost dog, Edward did something entirely out of character. He switched on his old computer, googled “how to start a blog,” and spent the afternoon choosing a template called “Simple Journal.” By evening, he had posted his first entry:
“Welcome to Edward’s Pages and Playlists”
I’m Edward Gray. I’m 73. I read a lot, and I listen to a lot of music. This little space is where I’ll talk about the books that move me, the records that make the rain sound sweeter, and the memories they bring back. If you’ve stumbled here, welcome. Pull up a chair.
He wrote about a Nina Simone album the next day. About the way her voice could crack open the sky. Then about a battered copy of Watership Down, and how reading it as a boy taught him about bravery and friendship. People began to comment. Strangers with kind words. A fellow retiree from Cornwall. A college student in New York who loved jazz. A widower in Dublin who recommended a forgotten folk album.
Edward felt the walls of his cottage expand. The world, it seemed, wasn’t as far away as he’d thought.
Weeks turned into months, and Edward’s blog grew. Not famous, not viral — but steady. Honest. He shared songs for rainy afternoons, poems that saved him on lonely nights, and once, a recipe for the ginger biscuits his late wife had made every Christmas.
And though the world outside his cottage remained quiet, inside, it hummed with new voices, old songs, and the simple joy of stories shared.
Edward Gray, 73, blogger of books and records, had found his little corner of the great, wide internet — and it was enough.
Well, my name is not Edward Grey and I don’t live in an ivy-covered cottage ( though my wife would like that) at the edge of Brookwell. But the sentiments expressed in the story is how I feel! The result is this blog may have found a new name. While I may be inspired to blog again. What do you think???
P.S.
In keeping with the.pages part of the new site name, the photo at the top of this post is my latest library TBR pile. The top book the eleventh book ive finished this year. I’m well behind in the number of books I should have read to be on pace to read 50 books this year!
