Update to Lowbrow.

So I was talking to my brother the other day. We talk about five or six times a year on the phone, usually around birthdays and an occasional,”Hey, how ya doin’” out of the blue call. Well, I put the “Am I well-read?” question to him, and he (as he often does) opened his piehole and made a lot of sense.

I’m not necessarily well-read, but I am a voracious reader. He has the same bug, along with my dad. We always have books on us. Like, not just on the bus or wherever. We take books to the grocery store to read in line. We walk and read. We eat and read. Dad and I also watch tv and read. I read in the forty seconds between classes at work. In short, wherever we go, we are poised to start reading, given not even a minute’s wait time.

It struck me all of a sudden. My family is addicted to reading. If we don’t have books, we look at magazines. If there are no magazines, we will actually rifle through our pockets or bags for old mail or CD liner notes or receipts or something. Looking at it from the outside, it seems kind of OCD.

But it sure explains why I make my living teaching kids to read.

Some Stuff | Liz October 16, 2006

7 Comments to “Update to Lowbrow.”

By Arwen, October 16, 2006 @ 11:12 pm

I sometimes get a little mental without something to read. I’ll read anything, even that shitty newspaper 24. So I totally relate.
By Liz, October 16, 2006 @ 11:34 pm

24 gets me too. Especially if I haven’t planned well and end up bookless. Grr.
By Beth, October 17, 2006 @ 6:14 am

Raise your hand if you’ve read the entire cereal box back at breakfast if you manage to sit down without a book. I know the history of HP sauce because I’ve actually read the bottle.
By Carol, October 17, 2006 @ 9:38 am

And then there’s the whole committing to memory of the back of the shampoo bottle (and whatever else is with in reach) while peeing thing. (Please tell me it’s not just me here.)
By Liz, October 17, 2006 @ 12:45 pm

>Hand raised
By Liz, October 17, 2006 @ 1:25 pm

And Carol, reading in the bathroom (often other peoples’ bathrooms) is how I learn about new shampoos and stuff.
By Carol, October 17, 2006 @ 5:28 pm

Also good for keeping one’s French-reading skills fresh. (Sigh. Miss that, being an ex-pat.)