Thoughts About Reading

Lego ergo sum. (I read therefore I am.)

I like big books and I can not lie.

Sueños (Dreams)

I usually don't try to read books in my dreams -- perhaps because I do enough of that while I am awake.

However, I have seen dead people in some of my dreams. No, seriously. After certain relatives and close friends have died, I had a tendency to see them in my dreams. I tried talking to them but fortunately they never talked back. Or should that be unfortunately?...

And no, I did not write all that just to win the "oddest blogger on the Internet" award.

However, I'll be sure to let you all know if I ever see Nick Andros in my dreams...

Mixed Message?

Apparently the Japanese Do Have a Word for It

But I'm not sure it applies to me. After all, I actually try to read all the books I buy. Sometimes more than once.

And yet the mentality behind this word does not quite seem all that foreign to me. No pun intended, of course.

TV Quote of the Week

I read books. That's like the Internet but printed on paper.
--Sydney Rae White, Marley's Ghosts, "Episode Two"

Literary Quote I Like

"Men who can read and figure can deal with the world," said Jason Russell from his place at the side of the room. "If you are going to make your way, you must know how to read and write and figure. If you cannot do these things, you will be entirely at the mercy of those who do, and you will be deaf and mute to all those you seek to reach."
--Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, The Law in Charity

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Marilyn Monroe!

AKA Norma Jeane Mortenson and Norma Jeane Baker.

Born June 1, 1926. Died August 5, 1962.

She was an American actress who appeared in a few obscure films during her lifetimes and inspired one Elton John song after her death. She was most noted for indulging in the above activity. At least that is how she would be remembered if I ran the world...

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Bettie Page!

AKA Bettie Mae Page, the Queen of Curves, and the Dark Angel.

Born April 22, 1923. Died December 11, 2008.

She was one of America's most favorite pin-up models as well as one of Playboy Magazine's earliest Playmates of the Month.

She later converted to evangelical Christianity and spent most of the latter part of her life in less than happy circumstances. Then again, she was alleged to have begun the earliest part of her life in less than happy circumstances.

However, unlike so many members of her former profession, she is still remembered today for her iconic features and her enigmatic wink and smile. Indeed, she is one of the few female celebrities of the 1950s whose name can still be recognized by people under the age of 30, and despite her less than happy life, she still inspires women of a certain profession even today. Hopefully, this is a good thing, right?

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Marilyn Monroe!

AKA Norma Jeane Mortenson and Norma Jeane Baker.

Born June 1, 1926. Died August 5, 1962.

She was an American actress who appeared in a few obscure films during her lifetime. She was most noted for indulging in the above activity. At least that is how she would be remembered if I ran the universe...

Quote of the Week

Motherfuckers will read a book that’s 1/3rd elvish, but put two sentences in Spanish and they (white people) think we’re taking over.
--Junot Díaz

The Legacy Continues

One of the most surprising discoveries of this year's Christmas season is the fact that my sister's son is proving to be quite a reader. Granted, his mother is a reader, his maternal grandmother is a reader and his mother's oldest brother (yours truly) is a reader so this really shouldn't come as a surpise. But still I really wasn't expecting to see a boy his age so into reading.

For what it's worth, his favorite reading material thus far appears to be Tom Clancy novels which might explain his addiction. Then again my mother is also a big Tom Clancy fan and I'd hardly consider her to be the type of person most people imagine when they think of a Tom Clancy fan.

Again, it's going to be interesting to see if my nephew keeps up his interest in reading or if it proves to be as much a fad as his taste for Pokemon and Power Rangers. Time will tell.

Trailer of the Week: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (2009)

Why bother seeing a movie this week? Why not read a book?

Random Thoughts

All happiness is temporary. Fortunately, so is all sadness.

My late father used to talk about how we all write our own stories. Some of us choose happy endings and some of us choose sad endings. And some of us are at the mercy of an unsympathetic editor who continually rewrites our material.

All great writers have a bit of OCD in their makeup. And, I suspect, a bit of MPD as well.

I am not so great but I do contain multitudes.

Lego ergo sum. (I read therefore I am.)

We all play our roles. Our roles are many and the roles are one.

Someday I'll die and the world will end. For me, at least. The rest of the world will most likely still be here.

Song Quote of the Week

Before you read me
You gotta learn how to see me.
--Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy, “Free Your Mind”