LJ Idol Entry #1

[dogriver]

When I was a kid, my father said something to me which, I expect, you
don't hear too many parents telling their children: He told me that I
was permitted to read only a certain number of books per week. While
most parents, one assumes, would be hard-pressed to get their kids to
read enough for their liking, my parents felt I was reading too much.

So reading has always been something of an obsession with me. I read
everything I could get my hands on. I'd sit on the school bus as it
headed out to our farm and read the index, table of contents,
introduction, even the acknowledgements for my school texts. I was
memorizing ISBN numbers long before I knew what they meant; I was
reading glossaries, and not just on the off chance there might be dirty
words in it; I knew all about the author, what the New York Times, the
Christian Science Monitor, Publisher's Weekly, and the Reader's Digest
book review had to say about the books. I read it all, cover to cover.

Not surprisingly, I also learned to enjoy writing. Whether or not I ever
became particularly good at it is up for debate (I suppose that's sort
of why I'm here), but I did enjoy it. Before blogging came along, I was
working on a weekly commentary, One Guy's
Thoughts. It gave me a chance to have opinions and to share them
with anyone who might be interested.

But it was my discovery of LJ last year which really started opening up
doors for me. Here was my chance to write commentaries, offer opinions,
or say whatever the heck else I might want to say, all using a
ready-made interface. How cool was that?

And so it goes. Here I am, participating in what should be a lot of fun
in the form of LJ Idol. I am looking forward to reading the writing of
others, and I do hope my little contributions will make an enjoyable
read for some. Hopefully I'll come away with some new friends ... One
can never have too many of those, unless the saying that a friend in
need is a friend indeed is to be taken literally and to its extreme. So
let's idol along, shall we, and all the best to everyone who's
participating this year.

Comments

[djner.livejournal.com]

Totally know what you mean about being obsessed with reading. I am blind, and always thought it was cool that I could read in the dark after we were supposed to be in bed. I read a bit of the dictionary and encyclopedia, but I don't think I ever was as extreme as you were as a kid. Good to meet you, and I hope to hear from you again. Should be fun!