I’m trying to explain to my wife about the tagged meme. “You don’t HAVE to do it,” she said/asked. “No, but it’s sort of a convention, a social contract.” Scott of the Scooter Chronicles tagged me.
1: One book that changed your life: Probably mentioned before, but “Lying” by Sissela Bok. I’ve stolen outright this Amazon review, because it captures the book so well: “Sissela Bok challenges the reader to consider the effects of lying on the individual, relationships and society. The author systematically covers the spectrum of lies from ‘little white lies’ to avoid an unwanted dinner invitation to the arguably moral lies required to survive in a totalitarian state – taking the reader step by step through a journey of increasingly complex moral questions. The book argues that lying, as it is often conducted in society, often lacks the moral basis of those few cases where it can be justified.”
2: One book you have read more than once: When I was a kid, I had this “I Spy” novelization I read repeatedly. It was where I learned the phrase “hoist by his own petard”. There was also this 1931 sports anthology called “Play the Game”, which featured Rogers Hornsby and others on baseball, Red Grange and others on football, legendary writer Grantland Rice on golf, plus a whole lot more. It’s 350+ pages, and I still have it, though I haven’t read it in decades.
As an adult, the ONLY book I’ve read all the way through more than once is the Bible, and I don’t know if that counts, because one time was the King James and the other time was the Revised Standard Version.
I assume we’re not talking about children’s book, since Scott said he didn’t have any, and I suspect he’s read the same stories repeatedly to his son Nigel. A children’s book I’ve read a lot BEFORE Lydia was “Bartholomew and the Oobleck” by Dr. Seuss.
3: One book you would want on a desert island: Almost assuredly, the Bible, the NRSV. Quoting Scott: “Considering I would be there quite a while and have time to think, it would a good opportunity to try and digest all of it.”
4: One book that made you laugh: I have four Doonesbury anthologies, trade paperbacks. Maybe one of those. Although I remember borrowing one of Erma Bombeck’s books from my mother on a visit, maybe “Septic Tank”, and finding it surprisingly more entertaining in the collective than her daily column, even though the book was culled from them.
5: One book you wish had been written: “Growing Up” by Russell Baker. I always liked his style.
6: One book you wish had never had been written: Probably some neocon diatribe, but truth is, I tend to shut them out of my mind rather quickly.
7: One book that made you cry: I’m sure there have been some, but none come to mind.
8: One book you are currently reading: “The Genesis of Ethics” by Burton L. Visotzky. Our former pastor, Joe Shook, was giving away many of his books, and this one intrigued me. It’s about why a bunch of not-necessarily-religious folks got together to read the first book of the Torah.
9: One book you have been meaning to read: Only one? “The Gnostic Gospels” by Elaine Pagels is one on my bookshelf.
10. Who to tag? Well, I thought of Greg, but he’s been doing his book thing lately. Tom? Gordon? Fred and/or Lynn? Mark, a voracious reader? Sarah, who doesn’t read books a second time? Tosy, from whom I steal memes all the time (and he from Jaquandor)? Lefty? Well, they can if they want, but I’d be most intrigued if THE most voracious reader I “know”, which would be Kelly, would try it. And what the heck, Julie Hembeck can put it in her page as well.
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I was sad to hear about the death of my grad school alma mater’s University President, Kermit Hall. But never did I figure out that he had the same initials as his predecessor, Karen Hitchcock.
And even though I once referred to his “The Men in My Little Girl’s Life” as a sign of the Apocalypse (the song went to #6 in ’66), I was sad that Mike Douglas died last week on his 81st birthday. I used to watch him fairly regularly for a time, not just on John & Yoko’s week.
From Dead or Alive, some famous people who died on their birthdays:
Ingrid Bergman – actress – Aug. 29 (1915-1982) – 67
John Banner – actor – Jan. 28 (1910-1973) – 63
Betty Friedan – author – Feb. 4 (1921-2006) – 85
Mike Douglas – talk show host – Aug. 11 (1925-2006) – 81
Maria Felix – actress – April 8 (1914-2002) – 88
William Congdon – artist – April 15 (1912-1998) – 86
Otto Kruger – actor – Sept. 6 (1885-1974) – 89
And in the “maybe, maybe not” category:
Stanley Fafara – actor – Sept. 20 (1950-2003) – 53