Is it an addiction yet?

I have been wandering through YouTube now that I realize there is loveliness hidden there. Take these gems from Billy Collins:

Some Sweet Talk

And this cool animation:

Fun with silly quizzes

It's odd what these quizzes can measure. Here are three tests to determine which novel/poem/work of literature I (evidently) am:

First, Which Literature Classic Are You?



Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose. You are a mystery novel dealing with theology, especially with catholic vs liberal issues. You search wisdom and knowledge endlessly, feeling that learning is essential in life.
Take this quiz!


And now Which Book Are You?

A Clockwork Orange
You are 59% Great Book

A Clockwork Orange is perhaps one of the most bold works of literature ever penned. It charts a lengthy although ultimately circular change of character, concerned with a protagonist who is truly 'fucked up'. Despite the best attempts at the outside world to change him, he remains as he is. Chaotic, passionate, vivid and robust - you are the proud and destructive Clockwork Orange. You are a wild person, often driven by impulse and prone to ignore rationality over raw passion. You are intelligent, and well aware of the weaknesses of your personality, but you are also aware of the strengths. Where others are prone to indecision and a lack of originality, you are bold, imposing and often artistic. You can be violent, not neccessary physically, but certainly emotionally - imposing your will on others through aggressive dominance. Clockwork and Orange are not words which traditionally go together. Clockwork is a mechanical method of creating artificial movement, where an Organe is an organic creation. Trying to force one to work with the other will always be foolish. Alex, the main character, is something of an Orange. He is an organic person, growing and changing - even evolving - but ultimately sticking to his nature as an orange. The clockwork seems to represent the word around him, trying to change him and force him into a certain way of life - perhaps for his own good - but ultimately doomed to fail. The freedom of individuals to make choices becomes problematic when those choices undermine the safety and stability of society, and in A Clockwork Orange, the state is willing to protect society by taking away freedom of choice and replacing it with prescribed good behavior. In Alex’s world, both the unfettered power of the individual and the unfettered power of the state prove dangerous. Alex steals, rapes, and murders merely because it feels good, but when his violent impulses are taken away, the result is equally as dangerous, simply because freedom of choice, a fundamental element of humanity, has been taken away.

And, finally, The Book Quiz.

You're Mrs. Dalloway!

by Virginia Woolf

Your life seems utterly bland and normal to the casual observer, but
inside you are churning with a million tensions and worries. The company you surround
yourself with may be shallow, but their effects upon your reality are tremendously deep.
To stay above water, you must try to act like nothing's wrong, but you know that the
truth is catching up with you. You're not crazy, you're just a little unwell. But no
doctor can help you now.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

So... The Name of the Rose, A Clockwork Orange, and Mrs. Dalloway. I wonder what this really says about me?

Introducing the book

I don't usually do much browsing at YouTube, but I really laughed at this one...

Reading

I am not sure how some of these literary bloggers read as much as they do and how they can afford to get books when they come out in hardback, but I do envy their apparently copious amounts of time to read. I read quickly, but I have to steal time by reading in line at the bank or waiting for kids while they're in some activity. It cuts into my social life, but I try to read every chance I get.

I just finished a couple books and will get back to you with some thoughts on them this weekend. I am still unpacking books to put in my new "library" and I'm amazed at what a bibliophile I am. It looks like a used book store.

I can't wait to be surrounded by my books and my music.

In the meantime, I have vowed to get through a good portion of my "to be read" stack of books before I buy any more. I just need several days of uninterrupted time...

What Kind of Reader Are You?

I don't do many of those web quizzes unless they have a literary bent. I admit I loved finding out What Kind of Reader I was.

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm You're probably in the final stages of a Ph.D. or otherwise finding a way to make your living out of reading. You are one of the literati. Other people's grammatical mistakes make you insane.
Dedicated Reader
Book Snob
Literate Good Citizen
Non-Reader
Fad Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz