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| Yet another Meme... | | Date Created: Jul 08, 2005, 07:37 PM |
In the second week of conferences. Got back from the UK on Thursday (safely and without incident, fortunately.) And now I'm in California for another conference. I guess that explains the lack of posting...
If it weren't Christian who tagged me, I probably wouldn't have responded, but since he rocks, I guess I'll have to participate. :) And, unlike most other meme's, this one is actually interesting, and potentially informative.
1. How many books do you own? Geez, I have no idea. Certainly several hundred. They basically fall into only a few catagories though: 1) gay fiction, 2) chemistry books, 3) education books, and 4) religion books.
2. Last book read? The book I'm currently reading is Whores of Lost Atlantis by Charles Busch. He's the guy who wrote and starred in the movies Psycho Beach Party and Die Mommie Die. The book is about a guy named Julian who is a performance artist and starts a small acting troupe doing wacky, campy shows that he writes himself. Hilarity ensues. The blurb on the back says it's supposed to be "side-splittting." I've checked several times and my sides are fully intact. It might be "guffaw inducing" but isn't much more than that.
Since I'm only in the middle of this book, then I guess a more accurate answer to what I've just read would either be The Last Masquerade, which I already blogged about, or What God Has Joined Together? by David Myer and Letha Scanzoni. This is a book written by an evangelical Christian who is also a psychology professor at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. His basic argument is that marriage is good for everyone, including the gays. I read it, not because I wanted to be convinced but because 1) Hope is my alma mater's arch rival, 2) I used Professor Mayer's psychology textbook for an intro psych class when I was an undergrad, and 3) I wondered what kind of a case he'd make. It's a good book, but it isn't going to persuade anyone who isn't really on the fence and ready to jump off.
3. Last book purchased? See above.
4. Name five books that mean a lot to you.
1) The Bible, by God. Even if you're not Jewish or Christian, the Bible certainly should be read to understand the gigantic number of cultural memes contained therein. Also, there are actually some really good stories in there. For example, the story of Elisha as told in 2nd Kings 2: 23-25. Any Bible story that involves children getting mauled by a she-bear is definitely worth a look-see, in my humble opinion.
2) Walden, by Thoreau. He spends a whole chapter talking about his peas. What's not to love? I'd count this among my gay fiction reads because there's a little evidence that he may have had a frequent male visitor to his little cabin. And, it's a fictionalized account of his time there (the book takes place over the course of a year, but he actually spent a few years there.)
(is that only 2 so far??)
3) Last Watch of the Night by Paul Monette. No one does bile spitting rage like Paul Monette. And after losing 2 lovers to AIDS during the Reagan/Bush years, he certainly earned the right to be cranky. This is the book I pull out about Mid-February when the Seasonal Affective Disorder really kicks in. If you're going to feel melancholy, you may as well wallow in it, right?
4) How Long Has This Been Going On? By Ethan Mordden. This book spans 4 decades, and the bredth of the United States, from one coast to the other. I read it shortly after coming out and it served as a wonderful (if ficitionalized) history lesson for me.
5) This Space Intentionally Left Blank. First of all, I have about 20 more books that mean a lot to me, and I can't narrow them down, really. They'd include: A Home at the End of the World; At Swim, Two Boys; An Arrow's Flight; The Persian Boy; The Lord of the Rings books; The Ray Bradbury Chronicals; the robot books by Asimov; The House with a Clock in It's Walls; My Trip to Alpha Prime and many many others. Plus, I'm hoping that I'll read a few more books that also mean a lot to me that should make this top 5 list.
5. Tag five more people. I've read this meme on everyone else's blog. In fact, I may actually be the very last person on Earth who hasn't posted it yet. If that isn't the case, and you are reading this now, and you have a blog, consider yourself tagged. Just let me know, and I'll link to you, then I can pretend like I tagged you. |
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