Wednesday, September 27, 2006

I love banned books

I love books. I think I love them more than I love some people. My son came home today with his Weekly Reader(there's a blast from the past), and in it, there was a discussion of the American Library Association's Banned Books Week. I didn't think of it too much for a while. But tonight I got to thinking that here I am, in the 21st century, hearing about books getting banned. So I went to the ALA's website to see what some of these horrific books were. And I was truly shocked. The entire Harry Potter series? We have read those together. Of Mice and Men? Captain Underpants? The Catcher in the Rye? As the list went on, it made less and less sense. Huck Finn. To Kill A Mockingbird. Brave New World. James and the Giant Peach. Slaughterhouse Five. Tom Sawyer.
This isn't the whole list, obviously. Which is sad, that there are so many that I can't even name them all. I looked at my bookcase, and thought of books I have either owned or read. They'd have to burn down my house, then burn me at the stake. The book I'm reading now, which I got for my birthday, would make some of these guys hair fall out. I love that the ALA brings the idea of the banned book to the fore every year. This is the 25th anniversary of Banned Books Week. I wish to make some suggestions for future book banners who approach the ALA, and save us and them a lot of time. If you don't think the book is appropriate for your child, DON'T GIVE IT TO THEM! Parents do have a certain amount of control, after all. If your kid reads something you find offensive, don't freak out. Talk to them, and explain why you think it's inappropriate. Takes away the feeling of forbidden fruit. And for crying out loud, if you don't want to read something, that's fine. But quit assuming that no one else should read it either. So you don't want to read the works of the Marquis de Sade, maybe I do. I'm a grown up, you don't get to pick my reading material. good night and good luck...stimp

Monday, September 11, 2006

Today

A great many words will be said today, some sincere, some expedient. I am going to add my words to the flood, and hope they will be sincere, and not noxious.

I live in Ohio. I knew no one personally who perished this ugly day, five years ago. I have some friends, who had some friends, but that is not the same thing. It is not the raw pain of the loss of someone you loved. As a matter of fact, not being involved and all, I can't imagine why life didn't go on. I was safe, my loved ones were safe, just mourn and move on, right?

Nope, I got it wrong. There has never been a day that hasn't been touched by what happened. I lost what little safety I thought I possessed. Because if it can happen there, it can happen anywhere. I don't send my family out the door now without saying "I love you", because you never can be totally sure if they're coming back. I lost my freedom. I never used to worry that an unpopular opinion could be possibly seditious. I can't go anywhere now without looking over my shoulder. I haven't slept properly in five years. I see our lives, my life, being whittled away into little fear boxes, where as long as we toe the line and don't make waves, we won't have to fight them here. People die every day to avenge the deaths of those who died today, world without end. There is no safety, no ending, only a never ending parade of lies, death, and passing the buck.

So this morning I watched the replay of the Today show an MSNBC, the original, honest to goodness broadcast from that morning. I was in chemistry class when it happened originally, and I saw nothing of it until later. It was a weird experience. Looking at the clock and remembering "This is when I was in chemistry class, this is when I went to Arby's between classes and found out what was known, and watched a massive building collapse, this is when I called my dad to find out what the hell was going on. " I went to my next class, took a quiz, started taking notes like normal. I only really got scared when they interrupted class to close the University, by order of the Governor. And it was a like an armed camp getting my kid out of daycare. Or him asking me, at all of 4, why all the grownups were scared.

A lot of perfectly ordinary days have passed since that day. My kid is now 9, I am going to be 40. We live our lives basically just as we did before. But nothing is different, and nothing is the same. It has been like being dropped on a new planet since then. I cried again today when I saw the remembrance. But to be honest, I think I have been weeping inside since the original occurrence. good night and good luck...stimp