DZER the reader ...

I’m a voracious reader. I read the newspaper, magazines, online news stories and blogs, as well as books galore. At any given time I’m reading at least one book, and often more.

I stole the idea for this post from AlwaysArousedGirl, who had a great list regarding her reading history, habits, predilections, preferences and other associated reading trivia. So here’s mine.

1. My parents read all the time, and my mom still does (dad passed away a few years ago). So, as a result, all of us kids read, some of us more than others. I remember getting my first library card. It was great, even though I could only take two books home with me at any given time. We went to the public library almost every Saturday, no matter where we lived.

1.5 A big credit for my reading success goes to Sesame Street, Electric Company and Mr. Rogers. Those were — and Sesame Street still is — great for teaching and encouraging kids to read. On top of reading, I also learned about numbers, what the Alligator King got from his sons, and to never walk down stairs carrying 11 ... banana ... cream ... pies ....

2. Like AAG, we also had a children's illustrated vesion of the Bible, which I read all the way through. There were a lot of books, with a lot of stories. As a kid I like the stories about David and Noah the best, and though Lot got a really fucking raw deal. I also really got into the parables of Jesus. When I got a little older, I read the Bible several times — mostly the Catholic version, but also the King James version just to see how/if it was different. There really are some great stories in there.

3. Even in first grade I can remember checking out books meant for older kids or adults. In first grade I kept checking out books on dinosaurs, as they were the coolest thing ever (thanks, Land of the Lost!). I was one of the few 6-year-old who could correctly spell and pronounce words like "Tyrannosaurus Rex," "ankylosaurus" and "bracchiosaurus." Heh.

3.5. I always tested far above my reading grade level on standardized tests. By seventh grade I was at 12th grade level in reading and comprehension. That was me, the guy who finished off the curve. I was Mr. 99.5 percentile. Not bragging, just truth. OK, a little bragging. :oP

4. I totally disagree with both AAG and Edgy Mama... Stephen King is NOT an underrated genius. He is, in fact, and overrated HACK!!. By the way, it's shameful how ignored and underappreciated Mark Twain is.

5. I, like AAG, reread books all the time. Some of my favorite stories and books have been read dozens of times. Great authors and great writing keeps it from becoming boring. I love an author who can insert me into their stories, as if I were in the story. Realistic conversation — mixes of serious talk and subjects, fun and humor, teasing and nonsense are a must. I can't read the always-stilted shit. Some of my frequent rereads are: The Lord of the Rings trilogy, almost anything by David Gemmel, the Heralds of Valedemar and associated books by Mercedes Lackey, and almost anything by Raymond E. Feist.

6. I'm not one of those people who can fall asleep reading. I might get tired whilst perusing pages, but I have NEVER fallen asleep with a book in my hands ... unless you count course texts in college ... yawn!!

7. Some of the books that almost destroyed my love of reading: Crime and Punishment. Silas Marner. Any Victorian English novel. Some of the books and stories that saved me: Almost any of the American fables — Paul Bunyan, John Henry, the Headless Horseman, Johnny Appleseed. Anything by Dr. Seuss. Anything by Maurice Sendak. The Lord of the Rings forever made me love books. My favorite genre to date is still high fantasy, though I read Science Fiction, fiction, non-fiction, historical fiction and even a romance novel or three, as long as there is crime and hot sex involved! LOL

8. I learned so much real science theory from comic books that it wasn't even funny. Gamma radiation, mutation, space travel, time travel, black holes, quantum theory — I learned it all from comic books. I also initially learned about the gods of different cultures (thanks to Thor, Wonder Woman and Hercules), which led me to the library to read books on mythology — Greek, Roman, Norse, Native American, Eastern and Indian. I read the translation of the Iliad at about age 10. At 12, I found a translation of The Prose Edda. I still love reading mythological tales.

9. Books I refuse to read: Any of those self-indulgent self-help books by people like Dr. Phil. The only one I've ever liked was Robert Fulghum's "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten." That was actually a great, light read with uplifting stories.

10. I truly plan to someday write a novel. It will probably be a high fantasy book. I've actually already have a loose outline and story background, along with several characters semi-shaped. Chrissie, whom I've known for close to a decade, keeps telling me that with the kind of erotica I usually produce, that I should write a romance novel. We even came up with a nom de plume for me. I forget exactly what it was. I think it was something like Desiree McCovington. LOL ... I'm pretty sure on the Desiree part ... the last name was supposed to be some high-falutin' sounding name. DuBois. Delacroix. Something like that. LOL

10.5. Besides the erotica and the stories, columns and assorted pieces written for the newspaper and magazines I've worked for, I've also written some short stories, a lot of poetry, and even a fairy tale. I lost most of this non-backed-up material last year when my previous computer fried. Bleah.

Random Guam Fact Of The Day:
• Chamorro was strictly an oral language. There were no written records until the Spanish came, and even they never made any real effort to document or preserve the language. Today's Chamorro is a mix of the ancient language, Spanish, Chinese, Filipino, American English and other dialects and languages, I'm sure.