[chelsea24]

Truly a great post Uncle Muncle!

[jojo]

Kate, We read the same books. I lived for the next installment in the Nancy Drew and Bobbsey Twin books. I was an only child and books were my escape. Also relate regarding athletic skills. My worse grades in college were in phys ed.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by jojo

Kate, We read the same books. I lived for the next installment in the Nancy Drew and Bobbsey Twin books. I was an only child and books were my escape. Also relate regarding athletic skills. My worse grades in college were in phys ed.

Me too, JoJo. Fred and Flossie and Bert and Nan...and Nancy who never necked!

[Muncle]

Originally Posted by katezbox

...PS - I wonder if anyone is concerned that I got bad side effects from other books I have found addictive over the years -

I remember the first series to which I became addicted in the mid-50's, as well as the Hardy Boys, of course. These were the Landmark Books, much more popular among boys than girls. The were American histories and biographies dating back to Columbus. There were several great WWII and other war battle books. But the aspect I found most rewarding was that these were 1950's books. Warts on the heroes and situations were almost all ignored. Yeah, there was a book on George Washington Carver, but race was not a major issue. We were 3rd grade kids who watched Crusader Rabbit and the Mickey Mouse Club. We didn't need to know the unvarnished truth as much as we needed heroes like Carver, Columbus, Edison, Lewis & Clark, and Black Jack Pershing. We had plenty of time later to learn about the inhumanity of slavery, the treatment of the Indians (they weren't Native Americans yet), and how blacks and women were treated. Maybe we were better able to face the facts later, because we knew our heroes and events were also story book fodder, more reliable than Golden Books, but still . . .



`

[graciegirl]

I used to sneak out the adult novels and read them. Ah such romance.

I think I like cheese and milk so much to this day because of the Heidi books.

Did anyone else read " I Capture the Castle"? I don't know why it sticks in my mind but I remember liking it a lot.

In the summer the local library had reading contests for the kids with themes like "Gold Rush" and if you read x amount of books you got a little bag with pebbles painted gold. I didn't need an incentive. I LOVED to read.

[tony]

Well, any of you can ask Mrs. Tony, and she will confirm that I absolutely cannot remember movies or books. I love movies and books, but I can actually remember very few. She sent me out once to get movies for the weekend and I came back with three. She announced that we had seen all three. I asked if I liked them and she said yes, so we watched them again. It was late so I could not take them back.

This is all leading to Harry Potter books. Don't ask me titles. Don't ask me about the plot. I can read them again and they will be new and enjoyable. You can ask me about my perception of quality. I remember that. J.K. did wonderfully at first. I envied her. Wish I could have crafted those yarns.

Then came the fourth. It was like reading a ninth grader's writing and plotting. Terrible stuff. It should be kept away from kids. She quit writing from the heart and with feeling and was writing while holding her bank book in the other hand. I lost my desire to read such drivel. Like so many movies, the original wa fine and Movie II was just junk. So often that happens. And so went Harry Potter.

Anyhow, I probably should not have written this because now Muncle will print this, hold it up, and slap it say, "Tell me. Tell me these are the words of a Dementor."

[saratogaman]

There are people in this world who are basically negative downers. We are wasting our precious hours by even dealing with them. They are lacking in self-esteem, try to build themselves up by knocking down others, act like they know how to straighten out the mess in this country and the world, know what's wrong in your marriage as they destroy their own, have screwed up kids but all too freely who tell you how should have raised yours...did I mention their thoughts on religion and politics? Spare me!
Be selective...just because you know someone or live next door does not mean that you have to pay attention to them.
Pick and cherish the best...ignore the rest.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by saratogaman

There are people in this world who are basically negative downers. We are wasting our precious hours by even dealing with them. They are lacking in self-esteem, try to build themselves up by knocking down others, act like they know how to straighten out the mess in this country and the world, know what's wrong in your marriage as they destroy their own, have screwed up kids but all too freely who tell you how should have raised yours...did I mention their thoughts on religion and politics? Spare me!
Be selective...just because you know someone or live next door does not mean that you have to pay attention to them.
Pick and cherish the best...ignore the rest.

Very good advice and I needed it just this evening!

Thank you for bringing the thread back to topic.

Sorry to be a hijacker!