Lit(erature) - (indie/alternative) Rock Part One

Disclaimer: When I started writing this blog entry my intention was to write about my love of reading and music (and tying it all back to GW, of course).  But as I started writing I came to decision to make this a two-part blog – mainly because it was getting to be way too long!  So here we go with “Lit(erature) – (indie/alternative)Rock Part One”…

Zits is the only comic I read and primarily because it mimics my life so well.  (I also feel like Claire from Modern Family but let’s save that for another blog to be).  I relate so well to the mom in Zits but also to what the teenager Jeremy goes through as a high school kid.  In last Sunday’s comic section the dad in Zits remarks about what life was like when he was a kid – just three TV stations, no cell phones, no Facebook = less distractions.  It was easier to be a teen back in the olden days!

You already know that I think a lot about what I was like as a teenager and my former high school self.  Images of doing homework in my brightly painted, flower wallpapered bedroom with yellow shag rug come to mind easily.  My daughter will be surprised by the vibrant colors in my memories because when she imagines me as a kid she sees a total black & white world!  Think of the movie Pleasantville and you get the picture!  Anyway, while surrounded by notebooks on my bed the teenage me would always be listening to the AM radio, WABC was my preferred channel (this was before anyone discovered FM radio).  I know working in front of a TV is more commonplace these days but we just didn’t have that many programs or even channels to watch so radio was the next best form of entertainment.  And when I was done with my homework for the night, I often picked up a book to read.  I still prefer reading for pleasure and listening to music over mindlessly channel surfing.  I am really dating myself but my point is that life was simpler in the late 70s. 

When you travel to the extent that I do you find yourself alone, a lot, and a book can be great company.  My summer reading this year included Crime and Punishment (I like to read what my daughter reads for school and I had never read this classic tale).  Want my opinion of it?  My crime was starting it and my punishment was that I had to finish it.  Happy to discuss it further with anyone who cares but that’s all you’re going to get from me now.  I also read Bossypants by Tine Fey (loved it), Room by Emma Donohue (much better than I expected) and I just finished re-reading The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (brilliant). 

My current book is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.  This book is from GW’s First Chapter program, which has been in place since 2006.  This optional (but highly encouraged or you'll be lost in some classes) program encourages all freshmen to read a common book that will then be discussed in many classes as well as events and symposiums that address the scientific, social and moral issues found in the story of Henrietta Lacks.

“Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and more. Henrietta’s cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can’t afford health insurance.”

I’m now on chapter eight but I am already into the book and find it hard to put down!  I take it with me everywhere - even reading it between high school visits if I’m lucky enough to find I have a few minutes to spare or waiting for a college fair to begin.  When I do finish The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks I know I’m going to regret not being a GW student so I could join in on the discussions!

Lit(erature)- (indie/alternative) Rock Part Two will come very soon - until then I hope you can find time to read for pleasure - and feel free to comment (nobody does) especially if you want to have blog comment book club with me - I'd love it!