Tagged! Again!
Becky tagged me. That’s good. I can play along with chains. It gives me an easy topic for a night when I’ve worked too hard to think of an original one.
Except this chain is about books. Like most people who graduated with a degree in journalism with a focus on English, I hate books.* I like to read. I read everyday, and I’m not just counting board books. I read things like newspapers, magazines, and blogs; things I can pick up, read in short chunks, and put back down when someone starts playing in the pet water two minutes later. I don’t know where other parents find the time to read books. Between caring for three young children, not cleaning the bathroom, and not cleaning the kitchen, I barely have time to read the newspaper from front to back everyday.
Nevertheless I have read plenty of books in the past, often under threat of a failing grade. I’ll give the chain a shot, but my choices may seem a little outdated, and/or lame.
1) One book that changed my life. This list starts out easy. How about the Bible, the more or less basis for all of society's norms and morals? Too easy? I’ll say “On Becoming Baby Wise” by Gary Ezzo. That was the book that introduced me to the concept of scheduling children when Abbie was a newborn. It helped me transition from a new parent drowning in the responsibilities of childcare to a vaguely seasoned parent barely keeping his head above water.
2) One book I read more than once. I don’t usually read books more than once. I consulted “On Becoming Baby Wise” multiple times while establishing Abbie’s schedule. I’m pretty sure I’ve read “The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Collection” more than once in my life.
3) One book I’d want on a deserted island. I read the “06-07 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook” every time I go to the bathroom. That’s kind of like being on a deserted island. Of course I’d need a working television, preferably with a good satellite package, to follow college basketball to make that book worthwhile. Otherwise I’ll say the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien because I could read those books a million times and still discover something new, possibly because by the time I finish “Return of the King,” I’ve forgotten what happened in “Fellowship of the Ring.”
4) One book that made me laugh. Anything by Dave Barry. The Xanth series by Piers Anthony made me laugh in high school, but when I read one a couple years ago, the humor seemed a little, well, sophomoric.
5) One book that made me cry. I’m a guy. We don’t cry. Maybe the closest I came was reading “A Day No Pigs Would Die” by Robert Newton Peck back in eighth grade. I think those were tears of fury though at being forced to read a melodramatic tearjerker that teaches kids to never love anything because you may one day be forced to butcher it for your families consumption. Good memories.
6) One book I wish I’d written. “The Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown. I never read it, but that book made a ton of money. Otherwise just about any book I’ve liked I’d wish I’d written. I’d like to write a book like “Empire Falls” by Richard Russo some day assuming I ever get a chance to write for chunks longer than two-minutes.
7) One book I wish had never been written. Anything by Ann Coulter. Too easy? “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. My tenth grade English class complained so vociferously about having to trudge through that collection of Romantic ramblings that the teacher never made another class read it.
8) One book I’m reading now. “America (The Book)” from the gang at “The Daily Show.” A friend gave it to me last Christmas, and I’ve been slowly piecing my way through it ever since. Remember I don’t read books much.
9) One book I’ve been meaning to read. Any book I’ve received in the last two years. “America (The Book)” is one. My dad gave me “Stealing Christmas” by John Grisham a while ago, and he swears it’s better than the movie it inspired. I really wanted to read “On Becoming Toddlerwise” by Gary Ezzo before Abbie became a toddler. Maybe I’ll read it before the boys become toddlers.
10) Tag, you’re it. Becky already tagged most of the blogs I keep up with, and I’m too busy to find any more.
* One of my favorite college classroom stories involves me in a music class. The professor knew I was a journalism major, and asked me if a word she wrote on the chalkboard was spelled correctly. I told her I didn’t know, that I was a television major where we didn’t have to worry about spelling. She didn’t like my answer.
Except this chain is about books. Like most people who graduated with a degree in journalism with a focus on English, I hate books.* I like to read. I read everyday, and I’m not just counting board books. I read things like newspapers, magazines, and blogs; things I can pick up, read in short chunks, and put back down when someone starts playing in the pet water two minutes later. I don’t know where other parents find the time to read books. Between caring for three young children, not cleaning the bathroom, and not cleaning the kitchen, I barely have time to read the newspaper from front to back everyday.
Nevertheless I have read plenty of books in the past, often under threat of a failing grade. I’ll give the chain a shot, but my choices may seem a little outdated, and/or lame.
1) One book that changed my life. This list starts out easy. How about the Bible, the more or less basis for all of society's norms and morals? Too easy? I’ll say “On Becoming Baby Wise” by Gary Ezzo. That was the book that introduced me to the concept of scheduling children when Abbie was a newborn. It helped me transition from a new parent drowning in the responsibilities of childcare to a vaguely seasoned parent barely keeping his head above water.
2) One book I read more than once. I don’t usually read books more than once. I consulted “On Becoming Baby Wise” multiple times while establishing Abbie’s schedule. I’m pretty sure I’ve read “The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Collection” more than once in my life.
3) One book I’d want on a deserted island. I read the “06-07 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook” every time I go to the bathroom. That’s kind of like being on a deserted island. Of course I’d need a working television, preferably with a good satellite package, to follow college basketball to make that book worthwhile. Otherwise I’ll say the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien because I could read those books a million times and still discover something new, possibly because by the time I finish “Return of the King,” I’ve forgotten what happened in “Fellowship of the Ring.”
4) One book that made me laugh. Anything by Dave Barry. The Xanth series by Piers Anthony made me laugh in high school, but when I read one a couple years ago, the humor seemed a little, well, sophomoric.
5) One book that made me cry. I’m a guy. We don’t cry. Maybe the closest I came was reading “A Day No Pigs Would Die” by Robert Newton Peck back in eighth grade. I think those were tears of fury though at being forced to read a melodramatic tearjerker that teaches kids to never love anything because you may one day be forced to butcher it for your families consumption. Good memories.
6) One book I wish I’d written. “The Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown. I never read it, but that book made a ton of money. Otherwise just about any book I’ve liked I’d wish I’d written. I’d like to write a book like “Empire Falls” by Richard Russo some day assuming I ever get a chance to write for chunks longer than two-minutes.
7) One book I wish had never been written. Anything by Ann Coulter. Too easy? “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. My tenth grade English class complained so vociferously about having to trudge through that collection of Romantic ramblings that the teacher never made another class read it.
8) One book I’m reading now. “America (The Book)” from the gang at “The Daily Show.” A friend gave it to me last Christmas, and I’ve been slowly piecing my way through it ever since. Remember I don’t read books much.
9) One book I’ve been meaning to read. Any book I’ve received in the last two years. “America (The Book)” is one. My dad gave me “Stealing Christmas” by John Grisham a while ago, and he swears it’s better than the movie it inspired. I really wanted to read “On Becoming Toddlerwise” by Gary Ezzo before Abbie became a toddler. Maybe I’ll read it before the boys become toddlers.
10) Tag, you’re it. Becky already tagged most of the blogs I keep up with, and I’m too busy to find any more.
* One of my favorite college classroom stories involves me in a music class. The professor knew I was a journalism major, and asked me if a word she wrote on the chalkboard was spelled correctly. I told her I didn’t know, that I was a television major where we didn’t have to worry about spelling. She didn’t like my answer.
posted by Matt at
11:02 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks for playing.
I haven't read the newspaper cover-to-cover in, oh, about four years. On Sundays, I'm doing great if I can dig out the crossword puzzle. I miss those Sundays with a full pot of coffee, maybe some pastries and the newspaper spread over the kitchen table. I suppose I could do that now. If I get up at 4 a.m. And the paper is in my yard by then.
By
Becky, at 8:07 AM
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