The Following Small Talk.

Now it's time for a little nostalgia.

Gather round, boys, girls, men, and women, for a little storytime. Drag over your rocking chairs, pull out your pipes, and hunker down in your snuggies, slankets, or other such ridiculous yet ingenius combinations of comfort and clothing.

Once upon a time, in a land far far away.....

There was a mystical place, known by the name of "Odd job". It was the local convenience store, a place which not only sold double A batteries, but also lingerie, generic brand cereal,and flashlight radio clocks. It was also the birthplace of an avid bookworm, a reader from the heart, the spot where a young girl read her very first words.."Od..d ..jo..b?" Yes ladies and gentlemen, you guessed it. This humble bookworm is me, and those were the first words i ever read.I clearly remember my astonished mother whipping around so quickly from her spot in the drivers seat, that i thought for sure i had done something wrong. Alas, no punishment was doled out. Instead, my mother just looked at me and smiled, wearing that expression of pride that only a mother can wear. Soon after, it was clear that i was hooked. Every street sign, t-shirt, billboard, poster - it was all mine for the reading. Years later, and the passion still burns bright within me.
                   When i read a book, i read it. I mean mashed potatoes encrusted in the folds from Sunday's dinner. Corners damp from brushing my teeth while it's propped up against the sink. Sand in the binding from the bookworm joy of beach reading. I know, i know, it sounds like massacre to those of you who keep your books in a glass vacumm while they're eternally preserved. But i believe that my mental adoration for a book surpasses the physical trauma it's subjected to ( And yes, i dog-ear my pages. I hear the manic cries for my head outside my window already. )
                    So no matter whether you agree with my methods or whether your seething with unadulterated rage  from your spot in front of the computer screen, when it's down to the bolts and nuts of it, the Beatles know where it's at. All that counts is the love, of not only reading, but learning, expressing, sharing, and growing. And if you so vehemently disagree, drop a line and let me know.
                             Read on!
               

"Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life."
  -Mortimer J. Adler