2003-04-02 - 10:53 p.m.
Wow. One person links an entry and suddenly all sorts of people stop by my diary. Thanks to la-megere for the link.
Today was a good day for me a crappy day for my roommate. She got dumped. I got invited to DC to see This American Life live. It has to be my most favorite radio program of all time. I don't know if I'll make it up there, but the invitation was much appreciated.
I'm learning a little bit of HTML, which I'm very excited about. Soon I hope to make my template more interesting. Right now, though, I'll stick to inserting lines. Progress!
I was thinking this evening as I wandered the library, what books have been influential in my life? I considered only adult literature, although I could probably write a tome on what children's books shaped me. Here's what came to mind as I wandered among the stacks, organized by the year in school I read them.3rd Grade - The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lillian Jackson Braun.This book was one of the first "adult" books I ever read. It's the first in a mystery series about a middle-aged journalist and his two cats. I didn't really understand the trials of being a middle aged journalist, but I did like the story for the cat angle. I have since read every Cat Who book, more out of nostalgia than true interest. It did solidify my passion for mysteries.5th Grade - The Hunt For Red October by Tom Clancy.This was the first time I was obviously envied by my peers because of my reading selection. I did a book report on it, right after the movie came out. A boy in my class, one of the slackers, thought it was so cool that I read the book. He actually picked it up himself, although I don't think his attention span allowed him to finish it.7th Grade - Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.My English teacher recommended this book to me for a writing project our class was doing. Now I can't even recall what the project was, but the recommendation was revelatory. I loved that book. Someone who didn't know me that well told me about it. I started devouring book reviews and reading almost anything reviewed. I have since tempered this impulse, but there are still a few reviewers out there where I'll read anything they recommend.8th Grade - Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.I thought my eldest stepsister was really cool when I was in 8th grade. She was in college at the time, and she was reading Lolita. My father was fine with me reading it, but he discouraged me from taking it to school. I didn't really realize the incidiary power of a book before that. I had heard ridiculous things about books being banned from schools, and they were always books I thought were fairly innocuous. Here I was, though, a 13 year old bring a book centered around pedophelia to public middle school. No wonder Daddy worried.
I think I'll stop here for tonight. High school and beyond to follow tomorrow.
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