I've Been Tagged... And Other Childhood Niceties
Like a month ago, my friend Katy sent me what she referred to as a "blog tag." The premise being that she makes a post and then I post the same list of ten questions and answer them (think: survey but with better title). So here it is in all it's glory.
Note: The fact that 'books' are the subject makes me feel a little self-conscious. As a writer, I always feel embarrassed by how little I actually read. My new belief (or my thinly-constructed justification argument) is that reading isn't mentally engaging enough for me (or mentally engaging in the right ways for my mind to stay occupied), but I'll get more into that later.

1. One Book that Changed My Life: As lame as this may sound, it may very well be "Dave Barry's Complete Guide To Guys." I read it in high school and, up until that point, I believed all books to be boring... one of the least entertaining mediums out there. But this book made me laugh out loud. It engaged me from the very beginning and kept me engaged. It may have been one of the first--if not THE first--book I ever picked up, read, and (most importantly) FINISHED in my life. It was one of those books that make you say "Hey... I could write a book like this," and I don't think HighSchool!John ever thought that before. Plus, it has a diagram of how men use public restrooms. Classy.
Honorable Mention: Stephen King's "On Writing".

2. One Book that You've Read More than Once: I think the Harry Potter series is probably what I'll go with here. I rarely read books more than once... and rarely watch movies more than once... and rarely play a video game all the way through more than once. It's nothing against any of these genres, I just feel I have a good grasp on everything that happened the first time I read/watched/played. But I think I read the Potter books (1-4) again before the fifth book came out.

3. One Book You'd Want on a Desert Island: Katy said the Bible... and that's actually a really good choice for me, too. It's a dense book, full of things to read and reflect upon multiple times. But I hate stealing answers, so my answer is probably the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. I'll give you three reasons: 1) Dense book, lots to re-read and reflect upon; 2) If I ever get picked up from that island and have all the plays memorized, people will mistake me for someone who's smart; and 3) A book of plays means that I could have my own theatre on the island... with me playing all the different parts. How much fun would it be to be both Hamlet and Ophelia if there was no one there to mock how stupid you look?
Honorable Mention: The Dictionary. For reasons 1 and 2 listed above, plus it would take a REALLY long time to read all the way through.

4. One Book that Made You Laugh: Lots of books I read make me laugh out loud... so I'll give you the most recent one that I've read that really made me laugh hard. Katy was on the right tract by giving a David Sedaris book, but she gave the wrong one. The correct answer is "Me Talk Pretty One Day." Laugh out loud funny. I tried to read a section to my sister once and couldn't make it through it.

5. One Book that Made You Cry: My checkbook! HA! I slay me. In all honesty, it's probably the most recent Harry Potter book. Let's not talk about why.

6. One Book You Wish Had Been Written: It's not a book, but I'm uber pissed that I wasn't the one who created the Star Wars universe. Granted, I probably wouldn't have had the brains to create my own special effects company (and then video game company... Remember Maniac Mansion? Who doesn't!!!), but if I were to have written the prequels to my already successful franchise, I wouldn't have sucked so much ass at it. I mean, stereotyped new characters, horrible 'love scene' dialog, and a nonsensical leap through time from one new movie to the next (How come Anakin was the only one who got older?) AND from the new movies to the old (How come Darth Vader was so rusty with the lightsaber when fighting Luke?... I mean, just look at all the cool moves he had in the new movies, did he forget how to twirl the saber? Is it because he's more machine now than man? Twisted and evil?), and you've got the makings of a recipe to sink your franchise! If it wasn't for the amazing Knights of the Old Republic storylines (and the games in which you'll find them), the cute and clever Lego Star Wars, and the constant DVD updates to the originals, this would be a dead franchise indeed. I've got an idea... give me a few hundred grand and let me explore the darker side of Star Wars: How would a Boba Fett/bounty hunter movie strike anyone? How about a Knights of the Old Republic movie? The storyline from the game is almost good enough to be a movie anyway. I've already said too much about something that's not a book... and, moving on...

7. One Book that You Wish Had Never Been Written: In college, I was chastised by my entire class for hating Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth." One of the things that pissed me off most about that 'discussion' (if you can call a group beratement lead by the teacher a discussion) is that I couldn't actually make it far enough in the book to have intelligent arguments. The best I could do is to say that I HATE any book or movie or anything that tries to tell me how hard it is to be in the 'rich' and 'upper-class' crowd. I find nothing more mind-numbingly boring than reading about how every move they make has to be calculated or else they'll be shunned by their "friends." I've, frankly, never been the type to care... so the book can not possibly speak to me on any level. Additionally, I hate the book for that one day in class where I ended up looking like the bad guy for thinking a book was boring. Excuse me!

8. One Book That You're Currently Reading: This is us getting back to what I mentioned in the introduction. The book I was most recently reading (just finished not too long ago) is called "Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter" by Steven Johnson. His book is a fascinating study of pop culture and, in it, he concludes that things such as Reality TV, Video Games, and even the internet have allowed more 'classic' forms of entertainment to become multi-layered and re-viewable. He said that reality TV has trained our eyes to look for non-verbal communication and honest emotion on television. Additionally, TiVo and DVD recorders/players compounded with internet chat-rooms/discussion forums have allowed TV and movies to become so complex that we have to watch and re-watch just to catch everything. I'm butchering his argument here a little, and I apologize to Mr. Johnson... but my ultimate point here is that books don't actively engage my mind in the way video games do. With a game, you are allowed freedom of movement along a narrative and even the freedom to drastically change the narrative almost whenever you want. It was this point (of his) that first got me REALLY thinking about why I prefer games to books. I think the book's fixed narrative is what turns me off. If I don't like where the book is going, there's nothing I can do besides stop reading. I have no recourse of action--I can't change the narrative if what I'm thinking is more interesting to me--everything's already taken care of. That's why, while the written page will always be around, I think a more interactive story-telling is REALLY the future of stories. And I think, right now, video games are the only place to find such a thing. We'll see.

9. One Book You've Been Meaning to Read: Up until recently, I would've said that DaVinci Code book (over-hyped!). But since I read the last "must-read book," now I don't know what all the kids are talking about anymore. I suppose I feel like I wasn't forced to read the "classic" books that everyone else seemed to have been forced to read in high school... so if I were to pick one book, it would probably be "Catcher In The Rye."

10. Now Tag 5 People: This is where Katy and I will differ. She actually tagged people, but I don't know five people who blog anymore. Had this been 2004 (the year of the Blog), I would've had plenty of candidates. But, as it is, people have been turned off to the voyeuristic thrill that is exposing your inner-thoughts to complete strangers on different continents. What has the world come to if I can't explain my fear of water to someone in New Zealand? For shame, America... for shame.