Are you a Wonderful Relic?

Are you a Wonderful Relic? I am. But how do I know? I first came upon the term in one of Johnny Moore's columns in The Press (Friday 19th August 2016). He had the following to say:

I pay myself less in my business by generating an income elsewhere - writing for the wider Fairfax audience on the Stuff platform and for those wonderful relics who keep the whole boat afloat by continuing to buy and read the physical paper.

As I was sitting up in bed at the time - sipping my morning tea and paging through said newspaper (to which I subscribe), I think we can safely say that I am a Wonderful Relic. And I love it, so much better than being an Old Age Pensioner, a Gold Card holder or a University of the Third Age wannabe.

But don't assume you have to be old to be a Wonderful Relic. Some people are born that way - and a lot of us seem to end up working in libraries. Check your Wonderful Relic status in this little quiz:

• 

  You subscribe to a newspaper or a magazine (1 to 2 points)

• You also buy books (1 point per book)
• You go to Literary Festivals like WORD Christchurch (1 point)
• You belong to a book group (1 point per group)
• You read poetry (1), write poetry (1), read your poems in public (off the scale Wonderful Relic - allocate yourself as many points as you like.)
• You keep a paper diary (1), you keep a journal (1), you draw in both of them (off the scale Wonderful Relic - see above)
• You love stationery shops - after libraries, they are your favourite places (1 point each)

And it's not that you disdain the use of eResources, you can download eBooks using OverDrive, use PressReader, take courses on Lynda.com and play around on Photoshop with the best of them. But when push comes to shove, at heart Wonderful Relics are aesthetes - we like things to look good, we are tactile in our approach to life and that may be where technology falls short for us.

This morning I heard, yet again, the dull thud of my morning paper hitting the front door. I remembered Johnny Moore and his reference to Wonderful Relics keeping the whole publishing industry afloat and as I took my first sip of tea I thought, it's OK Johnny because like all the other Wonderful Relics:  I will go down with this ship!

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