Catching Up

Time: 7:55AM
Reading: Make Love!* *The Bruce Campbell Way
Mood: Complex
Number of Times I Wished I Was Not At Work At 6:45 This Morning: 57894637+91916781

Ok, so a few things that went down this week.

MATER-IAL PROBLEMS
First of all, I was more than a bit annoyed with my dear Mother this week. Whenever I leave in the mornings, I lock the doorknob on the front door, leaving the rest of the locks open for my easy passage in the evening. Monday, I got home, watched E3 and Catpants drive away, and realized Mom had gone back and locked not only every lock in the house, but turned the deadbolts as well. (She left by garage door.) So, instead of doing whatever it is I do when I get home, I sat outside in a lawnchair and read for an hour and a half (luckily, an order from Barnes and Noble came in that same day). I know it may seem very relaxing, but shit, it was hot, and I wanted to maybe get out of the most uncomfortable clothes in the world BEFORE I sat in the dead-insect-encrusted lawnchairs. When Mom FINALLY got home, she was all apologies, giving me a candy bar, and trying to take care of me. I told her it was fine.

She promptly did it again the next day.

READ, YOUNG AMERICANS
The books I received bring me to another point. Have you experienced your children's fiction renaissance yet? I have. There are a few TERRIFIC things about reading young adult fiction at this point in my life.

*They are cheap. I ordered what totals out to 10 books (a box set of the My Teacher Is An Alien series included), and the grand total came to about $35.
*They take you places. Drama is fun, psychological horror is even funner, but when's the last time you read a story about a boy hatching a dragon on his farm? Or a rip roarin' Choose Your Own Adventure novel set in the Seventies cold war?
*They put things in Perspective. My favorite pre-teen book has always been There's A Boy In The Girl's Bathroom, by Holes author Louis Sachar. Its a delightful and poignant tale about a young boy who nobody likes, least of all himself. This was one of the books that Mom picked out for me, and I remember now that it is the first book I finished all on my own, for my own pleasure (Mom did START reading it to me, but I finished it on a summer trip to my grandparents house). Reading this book again, I realize how very lonely and sad I was as a child. I had an alright childhood (well, more like an "Eh, Alright" childhood), but I have ALWAYS been the tempermental and brooding laugh riot that you know now. Looking back on everything, I remember how this book cheered me up and told me that I was not a complete loss. That there are people out there who can help, people who care, and most of all, that I was actually a pretty cool kid. Who couldn't use that nowadays?

And that seems to be the draw for these books. They helped me through a lot. If I got through that, any problems I have now will also be looked back on in 15 years or so as being....not silly, but long over, at least.