Seussless

Yesterday was Dr. Seuss' birthday. I don't really read many of his books to my kids (we only have a couple) because I never forgave him for being mean to me when I was a kid. I was in the 2nd grade and he had come to our school. He was signing books in the library if you bought one but if you didn't (and I had no money) he wouldn't even say hello, much less give you an autograph. As an adult I'm guessing it was because he didn't have a lot of time but I was very disappointed and didn't understand. And I realized yesterday that under the right circumstances I can hold a grudge for a very long time. Here it is, more than 20 years later, and I still remember that every single year.

I was talking to Eric about it last night and today he wrote this for me:

"Buy my books!" said the strange man.
"I'd love to, but I have no money!" I began.
"But someday I'll have a job, and kids too!"
"You have no money today?" he said. "Boo to you!"

I've not forgiven him, not even now.
It's been over twenty years, and yet I still avow:
While I enjoy reading about green eggs and ham,
Still pissed at old Dr. Seuss, I am, I am.

I love it!

100th post AND Secret 6: I'm a thrift store mommy

This is a 30 Secrets in 30 Days AND it's my 100th post. I thought about making #100 something extra and all by itself but I think this secret is special since it's something that I share with all of my sisters and my mother.

Secret 6: I'm a thrift store mommy. Yeah, that's right. My kids own a LOT of stuff from Goodwill and St Vincent's and other thrift stores. I buy clothes, toys, sometimes furniture and a LOT of books. My kids don't yet understand that the stuff is used, or care that it is. When I was younger, but older than my kids are now, I was mortified to walk in there. It wasn't until after I moved out that I was able to see the value in thrift stores. The kids haven't yet figured out that some kids at school don't think it's cool and I'm not telling. Apparently credit card companies don't like it when you shop there either so I now pay cash or use debit only.

There are a few things that I won't buy there, of course, like underwear and shoes. And stuffed animals for the kids. The reason I won't buy stuffed animals is that my older sister, Middle-Middle, taught her dog that stuffed animals which smell like thrift stores are the dogs' toys, which I think was pretty brilliant really. I allow my dog the same rule because he ONLY chews on the animals with that scent. This way the stuffed animals that smell like the kids or like new don't smell like 'his' and he doesn't chew up their stuff, EVER.

My number one favorite thing to buy there is books. Today I got 27 books for the kids for $25 compared to an average of $5/children's book at a regular store which would have cost over $135. And, since I'm buying used preowned stuff I'm also helping to keep things out of landfills and help the environment. Yay, thrift stores!

Moby Dick

My Earth Hour activity. Moby Dick is book number 20/501 for me and I'm about 1/4 of the way through it.

What a relaxing way to read!

I'm really enjoying this copy, too. It's old enough to have that great "old book" smell. There's no printing date in the book, only a 1931 copyright. I picked it up at Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon last month which, if you've never been there, is a great treat. It's a city block of warehouses all tied together to make one great big used and new bookstore. Powell's is one of my "happy places".

Mmm, the smell of books!

This is my attempt at a self portrait. I'm still trying to figure out how to effectively use my point and shoot so bear with me.



I took this photo in a Virginia City bookstore. I love the way they named their book section!



I immensely enjoy the smell of old books. I'm not sure what chemical they used in making them but books, especially 1960ish and prior, smell so lovely! It immediately brings to mind every cherished book and adventure in my collection. Which book is your favorite?

My latest reads in my 501 books are Treasure Island and Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories. I saw the movie Treasure Planet with my kids which, obviously, is an adaptation of the book, minus the more bloody bits so the basic plot line was already familiar. Maybe I'm too jaded by other pirate stories with what seems like a deluge of them in the last few years (no complaints here, I love those) but this particular book, while good, is not going to be in my favorites list as a book that stands out from the rest.

This was my second attempt at the Just So Stories. (To clarify, I didn't finish it the first go-round for lack of time, not because I didn't like it.) The tales are very similar to the ideas many of us parents concoct to satisfy the constant streams of "why" and "how" from our children to explain the things we have no explanations for. (And secretly we hope they'll immediately forget some of these explanations as soon as they're told so they won't be repeated to school teachers who know better.) If you want to read it without buying a hard copy here's an online link: Just So Stories.

Books! Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Tonight I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I've seen the movie in both versions (I like the older version WAY more). It's a little surprising I've never read this book before, not only because it's good and I like the movies but also because Roald Dahl is my number 1 favorite children's author.

Among my other favorites of his books are The BFG (Big Friendly Giant), Matilda, The Witches and George's Marvelous Medicine. For those of you noticing that 3 books mentioned so far are movies, he also wrote James and the Giant Peach (a cute movie but much better book). I also own The Roald Dahl Treasury which has many of his short stories.

I like seeing what's different between each version of the movie and the book. For instance, none of the 3 have quite the same ending. No, I'm not going to spoil it here. Go read it, only 162 very quick pages and I picked it up in a used book store for only $2.50.

Finishing this book adds to another one of my goals as well. Currently I am going through a book called 501 Must Read Books and this marks the 17th book I can cross off. Books are categorized by genre (Children's, Sci Fi, Fiction, History, Memoirs, etc) and authors aren't usually mentioned twice. I've found many of my favorites in the list and read some new favorites as a result of this book. Life of Pi is a gem I discovered in this process. I highly recommend that book to anyone.

For anyone who's interested, here are the books I've finished thus far:

Life of Pi

Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

Cosmicomics

Little Women

Adventures of Huck Finn

Anne of Green Gables

Catcher in the Rye

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

The Secret Garden

Stranger in a Strange Land

The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Where The Wild Things Are

A Wrinkle in Time

The Last Unicorn

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

A Christmas Carol