Ain't That the Truth

Pa's gonna be mad when he sees me do that. He don't like no fancy stuff like that. He don't even like word writin'. Kinda scares 'im I guess. Ever' time Pa seen writin', somebody took somepin away from 'im.
-Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

My how times change... or do they. For folks these days who don't have the advantage of a solid education, pieces of paper can still be intimidating. I picture so many friends in Africa who showed up at our door clutching a piece of paper. It might be a pink page with a list of prescriptions, a bill from the tax man, a notice from their landlord. All those pieces of writing brought news that somebody was fixin' to take somepin away from them.

All those papers except one--a book--that motivated folk not only to writing, but to reading. It was so painful to listen to men and women struggle through reading passages aloud, but they struggled and they prevailed. This book, the Bible, spurred people on to do what neither school nor government had done. It gave them a reason to want to be able to decipher the words on the page.

It taught them to read.

Hidden Treasure

I picked up a book from my nightstand this morning, one of those that's been shuffled to the bottom of the stack over and over for the past 3 months. One I wasn't too excited to read.

And you know what? I think it's going to be good. I love finding a hidden treasure buried amongst the books I already know and love. It's like finding money in your pocket when you pull out your winter coat in November.

Shh! I'm reading!

Read Aloud

One of the coolest things about my kids is that they love to be read to. Out loud. Every day. Even the teenagers.

Of course, their tastes have changed and they beg their dad to read fantasy fiction to them at night while they draw pictures of dragons. But mornings are my time to read aloud and I get to choose the books.

We recently started reading THE TREES by Conrad Richter. This classic first book in THE AWAKENING LAND trilogy was first published in 1940, but reads like a much older story. It's one of those books that, if you were assigned to read it in English class, you would have complained and skimmed through it for answers, not because it's not a terrific book, but because you were assigned to read it in English class.

Don't tell my kids that it's classic American literature. Don't tell them they're learning from it. Because they love it. They're engaged in the story. They're learning the vocabulary. They care about Sayward and Sulie and Genny. Just like earlier this year they grew to love Scout and Jem and Atticus Finch.

What do you think we should read next?

happiness is...

...a good book.

...a good friend.

...a hot drink.

...a new mug.

...and a warm puppy.

Readers of the new Millenium

I always thought you were supposed to put your most important, most eye-catching information at the beginning of an article. In print, that's true. People want to get hooked by the headline to read the first paragraph. Hopefully the first will lead to the second and so on. Come to find out, this rule does not apply if you're writing for an online readership, because online readers don't read, they skim. For them, the second paragraph is key because they assume the first paragraph is a rewording of the headline.

Did your eyes skip to this paragraph first? If so, the theory is correct. (see above)

I guess it's true for me. Most times when I read something online and try to tell someone about it, I find I don't have details to back up what I'm saying.

Me - "Did you hear about the bombing yesterday?"

Husband - "No what happened?"

Me - "Um, I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure there was a bombing. Or maybe it was a bomb threat. I'm not sure. But you can look it up."

I'm thinking a symptom of this method of reading is that we've got a lot of people who know a little about a whole lot of subjects rather than people who know a lot about a few subjects. I've got more to say about that, but by now you've quit reading anyway and have moved on to the next blog.

Blah, blah, blah.