Intellectual shame?

This might come as a surprise to some of you, but I'm generally considered moderately intelligent. Lately however there have been times when I have really thought to myself, *Wow, you're really not living up to your intellectual potential.* Here are some cases in point.

In 2004, I would have called myself pretty close to fluent in French. While in Paris on a study trip during the Great European Adventure 2004, I purchased myself a number of 19th century French Literature classics to read and keep it up. One of these books was Nana by Emile Zola. I started it, but in 2007 I ended up purchasing a study guide (also in French) because I just wasn't reading it. I didn't read the guide either. But for some reason while I was trawling Wikipedia, I ended up just reading their summary of the book instead. This lazy reading then continued for the rest of Zola's Rougon-Macquart cycle.

(On the theme of books, the large majority of thosen I completed reading during the years of my PhD have been historical bodice rippers. A couple of years ago, Lydia invited me to a book club meeting where I delivered a defence of the romance genre and discussed its complexities in the face of overwhelming derision from the general reading public. She said everyone was impressed!)

We're currently in the latter stages of an election campaign. A campaign I've found largely uninspiring, mind you. Someone asked me whether I was watching a political discussion and my thoughts on it. I told them I was instead watching a political satire show. This was a bald-faced lie. I was instead watching a police drama show that when I tell some people that I watch it, look at me in amazement when I say it's highly entertaining!

When asked my opinions on what should be done to counteract pollution, the economic crisis, and global warming, my reply of "We need a new global pandemic - think about it!" was met with rounds of laughter. I was then asked what I really thought. When I repeated, "We need a global pandemic!" people were less pleased.

So yes. Should I be ashamed of my lack of opinion on the hard hitting questions and inability to complete works of literature? Perhaps its due to brainfry from research and alcohol abuse of the last four years. Or am I simply in the process of moving away from elitist intellectual thought and back into the popular fold? Either way, I'm going to get some KFC!