Sunday, September 03, 2006

WHO’S THAT GUY?

I love reading. It’s probably one of my favorite things to do. Unfortunately I don’t read as much as I used to because I am too lazy. It would seem that reading is a perfect activity for a lazy person. However, watching TV is much easier. My reading is often banished to the 35 or so minutes a day when I am on the train. To make matters worse, I am often reading the mindless Red Eye paper on the train or doing the crossword and sudoku that they name the Pop Quiz Duo or something equally inane. After I am done with that, I am lucky to read for 15 minutes. Utterly depressing.

The other day I needed something to read and I went to the library of my former GED class because they had quite a collection. After browsing for a while I picked up The Stranger by Camus. I thoroughly enjoyed the first few chapters on my ride home. Then the horror struck. It seemed everywhere I went I heard about President Bush reading The Stranger and calling it “A fine short read,” or something like that. I typically don’t worry about what people on the train think about the books I am reading but now, I worry. What if they think I am reading The Stranger to be like Bush, or because he gave it the good old thumbs up? That is completely embarrassing. So, if anyone happens to see me on the train reading, it’s because I had heard good things about the book and enjoy existentialism as much as the next fella. Not because our moron of a president thinks it’s a good read.

Speaking of the President reading, I enjoyed the segment about it on “Real Time With Bill Maher. I enjoyed it despite the fact that it was another place I heard them talking about Bush reading The Stranger. They made a really good point though. Should President Bush have enough time to read 60 books this year? Answer, hell no! Not even if these 60 books are as short as the stranger and he is a really fast reader. Does anyone believe he is a really fast reader? As the panel said, that is a lot of time reading for a man who goes to sleep by 9pm, works out daily (maybe he reads while working out but I think that may be hard for him), and has a country at war to run. Not to mention that he doesn’t read the Newspaper and is proud of that fact. Anyway, I’m glad he reads. I wish he could apply some of that knowledge of the world gained through Literature to the task at hand. Good luck.

I should also mention that my dear friend Roxanne came by yesterday. I have known her forever. We met in baby swim class I was 6 months old and she was 11 months old. The fact that we are still friends is awesome. We didn’t do much, went out to eat at a Thai place down the street and just sat and talked at my house. She could only be over for about 4 hours because she had to go to a wedding rehearsal dinner for her Cousin Kate’s wedding. It was still great to see her. I hope we get to spend more time together soon.

Since not all the songs have been guesses from last time I am going to continue this game with the remaining songs and one more to round it out to five. There are still a few easy ones left.

1. The boy done wrong again. Hang your head in shame and cry your life away.
2. I can't stand it I know you planned it I'm gonna set it straight this Watergate. Sabotage, The Beastie Boys. Identified by Lucy
3. A flask I drink of sober tea while relay cameras monitor me.
4. You're gonna break another heart you're gonna tell another lie.
5. Standing like John Wayne she is full frame she is center stage.

5 comments:

Lizza said...

Haha! To twist an analogy a bit, you're like Hester Prynne; only instead of a scarlet A, you have The Stranger to make you an object of other people's "scorn."

lucy said...

God, I can't believe I missed No. 2 - Beastie Boys Sabotage.

INAMINI said...

Even if Bush could read, I doubt he would be able to understand even the rudimentry message of most books, including "Green Eggs And Ham."
Keep reading, and believe that people who see you reading would never put you in a club with Bush.
PS- Thanks for dropping by my blog!

Terry said...

I had no idea "The Stranger" came in an illustrated comic book version. That would be the only explanation for why the President would be reading it. Besides, isn't "The Stranger" about a guy who murders an Arab? Hmmm. I digress.

Sabatoge is arguably the Beastie Boys' greatest song ever.

Foofa said...

Lucy- Yeah I was pretty amazed that no one had got that one (even though my Mom almost did) I thought it was probably the most obvious of all.

As for my reading, thanks for the support guys. I will continue my clandestine operation on the train this evening. I'm proud to be a reader! Oh, I am also out of things to read so if anyone has some suggestions that would be great.