Slow Reading

[issybird]

Eggs is what’s for breakfast.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by issybird

Eggs is what’s for breakfast.

Vile devourer of potential chicken embryos!

[kandwo]

I regularly read in several different languages, which greatly affects my reading speed. In some, I have to look up words in the dictionary quite frequently; in others I understand everything but read slower and have to let the meaning sink in.

Whenever I read in my 1-2 strongest languages it feels like I'm plowing through the material at breakneck speed. But even there I'll slow down to appreciate the texture of the prose should it merit such degustation.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Vile devourer of potential chicken embryos!

They are not usually fertile**. Some sorts of free range might be, or oddly quail eggs. Not regular hen eggs* as there are no cockerels. The male hatchlings are not raised as food for humans.

Actually was reading this week that some tiny critters deliberately start laying infertile eggs (which can have same appearance or be softer) after the brood is laid so as to provide extra emergency food.
Some species eat their siblings (hatched or not) if there isn't enough food. Tadpoles.


[*Beware of hatching an egg laid by a cockerel]

[** There are exceptions: One lizard species are all clone females. Snakes occasionally do it if there are no males. See Parthenogenesis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenogenesis#Birds
Turkeys can do it but hatched birds are always male because they use the ZW system (all birds). Most mammals use the XY system so a Parthenogenic mammal can only be female, but it doesn't happen. Some bats use XO system also used by insects and arachnids (not just spiders).]

[Quoth]

I'll try to read slower if I'm proofing or reading a manual or textbook. I'd not worry about fiction.

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I have different speeds for different authors/genres. Some I savor, and some I gobble.

This. Genre, topic, my mood, location of sun in the sky...trying to read all books the same way, same speed, would ruin the experience.

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by Pierre Lawrence

I think we would all agree that with the possible exception of textbooks and the like, if you have to stop and reread what the author has written to figure out what he or she meant, the author has failed. Almost as bad is a plodding narrative, typical of the pre-Hemingway era.

I don't agree. When reading an author like Charlotte Brontë, I sometimes have to slow down and reread, because of the sentence structure and word use being so very different than our 21st century experience. I'll also admit to reading some bits out loud, being careful to include punctuation, to be able to grasp what is being said.

Or when reading an inspirational type book, or a Bible study type book, the content can be weighty or rather deep, necessitating reading a section more than once.

If I find myself having to reread some parts of "book-a-month" authors, because of confusing run-on sentences, then I tend to stop reading those authors all together.

Speaking of porridge...hubby and I used to go to a place in southern Ohio for our anniversaries. Their dining options were amazing, and included real Scottish porridge at breakfast. Cream and touch of sugar were all it needed to be spectacular. It was so good. And the scones...wow. The name of the place is Glenlaurel, if anyone wants to look it up. The original owner was a terrific guy.

[issybird]

I never cared for oatmeal, but my mother ate it every day with salt and butter and no sweetener at all.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by issybird

I never cared for oatmeal, but my mother ate it every day with salt and butter and no sweetener at all.

My grandfather did the same...I always thought it was a New England thing!

Shari

[DiapDealer]

If I'm eating oats, it has to be the steel cut variety. I'm also partial to brown rice farina every now and again. Cocowheats were a staple growing up. Just had to get one of the siblings to distract the parents long enough so extra sugar could be applied

[Deskisamess]

Oatmeal and porridge aren't not the same thing. That said, I like oatmeal with brown sugar and milk or cream.

[Quoth]

Oatmeal here is only used to make biscuit like products, or if ground more an oat based bread. A special version is for an instant breakfast is called "Ready brek". Some stores call it instant porridge, but the maker (Weetabix in UK) doesn't.

All porridge and muesli is using flakes, a rolled oat, though I read some countries have fake oatflakes from reconstituted milled or oat flour.

If it has anything other than oats, then it's a kind of muesli (or if roasted it's Granola).

You can of course add milk, honey, salt, sugar, syrup, fruit, nuts etc to cooked porridge, which is pure rolled oats and nothing else cooked in water (traditional) or milk.

I had what was sold as hot porridge in New York City one cold November morning (Manhatten or Brooklyn, I forget). It was more like "Ready Brek".

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

If I'm eating oats, it has to be the steel cut variety.

Have you tried whole oats (groats)?

Much less starch deposited on the "non-stick" vessel in the rice cooker.

[astrangerhere]

Maybe a mod can rename the thread and move it to the lounge if our topic is going to stay on oatmeal and porridge

[theducks]

Boy-o boy-o did I derail this thread with my attempt at levity