a productive saturday!

Some of you know that when I was little I wanted to be an author. I spent hours writing down little stories, writing "chapter books" (most chapters were a page long!), and when we got our first computer I typed up many stories. My inspiration was mostly "The Babysitters Club" and "The Boxcar Children" books. Going through old notebooks I have countless stories and things I wrote. Obviously my dreams changed, I no longer have any desire to be an author. I don't have the patience for it. But I do love to read.

Today was a beautiful sunny day, and after spending almost 4 hours in the UW library working on my research project I decided to go to Borders and peruse. In college Rachel and Kara and I used to go to Borders and just drink coffee and take tons of magazines and just read them, without buying them, and return them to the shelves when we were done. Is that cheating?! Anyway, today my plan was to look at magazines, but to my shock and horror Borders doesn't have any horse magazines (Practical Horseman being my favorite). So I decided to go look at real books.

When I look at books I usually don't really have anything specific in mind. I love looking through the shelves and seeing which titles I recognize and which titles I have read (and trust me, I have read many). Today I decided I wanted to buy a new book to read, because I am a bit tired of all the books on my shelves. When I look for a book to buy, I first look at the spines, then read the backs, and sometimes even open it up in the middle and read a bit. I am a picky reader. Some would even say snobby. I don't like cliche books, I don't like overly verbose prose, I don't like a lot of the new "cookie cutter" or grossly romantic novels (think recent Nicholas Sparks, anything that was turned into a movie, and any novel with a pink cover).

Today the book that popped out at me was True Notebooks: A Writer's Year at Juvenile Hall by Mark Salzman. I started reading it right as I got home, and just finished it. And let me just say, I am absolutely so glad I spent the money on this book. This is a true story of a writer who, amidst the frustration of finishing a novel, decides to volunteer to teach a writing class for prisoners in an LA juvenile facility. It is an amazing book and tells the story both of the author finding meaning through his experiences, but also mentoring and helping young adults to find their own voices. It is a very moving and at times shocking. It's definitely not a "feel good" book, but an honest portrayal of the juvenile justice system in LA in the 90s (and i'm sure today as well).

I highly highly recommend this book. Parts of it moved me to tears, were shocking, and a bit familiar to me when I remembered my volunteer times last fall at Remann Hall, Pierce County's Juvenile facility. It gives voice to youth, most involved in gang activities, who rarely are ever given a chance to express themselves.

Also, I just happened to stop by the travel section of Borders. There are hundreds, possibly thousands of books in this section. There are whole 3-shelf bookshelves dedicated to California, Flordia, Hawaii, Chicago, even books dedicated to specific cities like Los Angeles and New York and D.C. I had to hunt to find the section marked "Great Plains", passed books on the Dakotas, Kansas, and even Montana, and then I found it. On the bottom shelf, the second to the last book on the shelf, was one solitary book that was simply titled, "Wyoming". Oh the irony.

Overall, a wonderful productive sunny day. I went running in the morning, then the library, then Borders. Made dinner. Now settling in for SNL with Betty White in a little bit! A good end to the day.