Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Letterboxing 2: Eletric Boogaloo

We just got back from our second letterboxing expedition, this time in a different part of the same park. And with an extra kid, the boy's friend J. (Remember the kid I took to the ER when we saw King Kong? This is him.) Last time we went in the rain, this time we went at twillight. The boy is the one on the right.



This was an easier find than the first, I think. Here are the spoils: A little notebook, an ink pad, and a rubber stamp, all closed in a plastic container and sealed in myriad plastic bags.



We had a good time (they did all of the navigating; I was merely the photographer), but I think the boys' favorite part was getting to be the only kids at the playground, and in near darkness. What a cool mom I am.



I love this vacation, and so far I haven't spent any money I wouldn't normally spend. Hooray for sunny weather, the pool, and the wonderful, wonderful park.

*****

A Meme Borrowed from Suse at Pea Soup.

1. A book that changed your life.
Harriet the Spy. I still can’t write anything—“private” journal or not—without the thought/fear that someone, someday, will read it.

2. A book you've read more than once.
Possession. The Harry Potters and Anne of Green Gables. Jane Eyre. Little Women. Pride and Prejudice. Naked, Barrel Fever, Me Talk Pretty One Day. Most of Madeleine L’Engle. I read for comfort a lot.

3. A book you'd want on a desert island.
I’d have to go for something like the Encyclopedia Britannica—that would provide lots of book bang for the buck. If that wouldn’t qualify as one book, I’d go for something long and Russian, I think.

4. A book that made you giddy.
Possession. How can someone be THAT SMART and THAT TALENTED? Byatt is brilliant.

5. A book that you wish had been written.
I’m swiping Suse’s answer and saying MY book.

6. A book that wracked you with sobs.
The Amber Spyglass. I had to keep taking off my glasses to wipe my eyes so I could see to keep reading.

7. A book you wish had never been written.
I honestly can’t think of one.

8. A book you are currently reading.
Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein.

9. A book you've been meaning to read.
The bible.

*****

Also, I started reading CS Lewis's Mere Christianity, thanks to this Salon article. Has anyone else read it? Any thoughts?

9 comments:

lazy cow said...

With the exception of Possession (which I only read for the first time last year - so there is time!) all your comfort reads are the same as mine.
NOW I know what this letterboxing thing is about! It's not well-known in Australia.

Gina said...

I don't know how popular letterboxing is here in the US, honestly, but I'm so glad to have learned about it.

I'm wondering how many women will have similar comfort reads . . . I bet some of them are universal.

Amy said...

I have Mere Christianity on request at my library so I'll probably get it sometime in 2010. I LOVE Possession, one of my favorite books, too.

yt said...

One of my comfort reads is Anne Tyler's "Saint Maybe". Also "Black Beauty."

The Francis Collins bit reminded me that there are many references to God in Albert Einstein's quotes: "The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge."

Kathy said...

Possession is one of my all-time favorite novels even if it does start out with a theft from a library -- that made me cringe -- but the book is absolutely amazing.

Badger said...

I've read Mere Christianity. I have more to say about it than can be said in a comment. If I ever write my big giant post about that one time I spent a year reading lots and lots of religious books, that book will be in it.

Oh. I REALLY did not like it, if that's what you want to know. But I'm not Christian, so grain of salt and whatnot.

And now I have to go read that Salon article.

Suse said...

I picked up a copy of Possession at the library yesterday because of you two.

Does the film do the book justice? (Not that I've seen the film either).

Gina said...

Suse, I haven't seen the film, and I probably never will. I hope you love the book!

Joke said...

Mere Christianity is...okay. I like The Screwtape Letters better though.

-J.