Humbled AND Tagged!

Corey, of The Drowning Machine, has honored and humbled me with a Premio Dardos award in his post today. Being tagged for any award is an honor. But when it comes from someone you really enjoy reading (and miss when he doesn't post in awhile :-), then it's easy to humble any curmudgeon (like me). BTW, Corey's ether contributions do live up to the description (by way of  K-Squared Ramblings) he cites in his post:

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"recognizes the values that each blogger shows each day in their efforts to convey cultural ethical, literary, personal, etc. values… in short, it demonstrates his creativity through his vibrant thoughts, which remain innate within the letters, torn between his words."

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If I am anywhere near that neighborhood, I'll die wax happy. And, it is a great way to start the season of Spring! Of course, our weather here has a wonder sense of humor--by way of the temperature dropping and rain in our weekend forecast. So, to state the rules of this meme (for which I'll credit Holger Haase):

The Rules are:

1) Accept the award by posting it on your blog along with the name of the person that has granted the award and a link to his/her blog.

2) Pass the award to another five blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgement, remembering to contact each of them to let them know they have been selected for this award.

I've checked that first one. Now, to the second. I'll nominate in the spirit of this award meme:

• Gay at Words in Place because of her always interesting written work, posts, and because her About Me byline is so good: Wife | Mother | Writer | Painter | Jewelry Maker | Sister-in-Crime
• Vérité Parlant at Whose shoes are these anyway? because of her truth-saying talent, prose, and life verve (and my new daily fix)
• Darrin of Darrin Defined because he is a husband and a father and can lighten up, have fun, and enjoy life! I just wonder how he does it?
• Ny of NYNOTES  because anyone that can list Heaven Must Be Like This by The Ohio Players and the Random House Japanese-English/English-Japanese Dictionary as favorites is worth keeping an eye on
• Sarah at The Fox And The Hounds because she looks good in funny hats and thrives in a house full of boys

Thank you.

The One Day Read

The late Michael Crichton, besides being a very successful author and one of the first progenitors of the hybrid genre known as the techno-thriller, holds one other unique distinction for me. He wrote the first book I read, no--consumed, in a one day period. I believe every avid reader, early in their genesis, collided/merged/plunged into that one book (like no other before it) and could not break away till it was read to the last page.

That one novel/hardcover/paperback became for the individual their first black hole experience in readership. For me, the event horizon came with Mr. Crichton's first published book (at least under his real name), The Andromeda Strain. There have been others, but this one was my first (did that make me a virgin to that point? No, don't answer that.)

I remember it fondly, still. It was early 1970, and I was home sick from high school (10th grade). I lived at that time with my maternal grandmother, along with her youngest, my uncle. He was a reader, like his sister, my mother. I was bored being home and went looking for something to peruse and found this 1969 hardcover. I started it around 10:30 in the morning, and finished it just after 11 PM (I did take fitful breaks, but it kept pulling me back in). If my wife reads this, she's gonna complain that I'm being nostalgic once more (but, so what?).

So, my questions to you:

1. what book was it for you?
2. when was it?
3. fiction or non-fiction?
4. hardcover or paperback?

Corey's Important Post

What fresh hell is this?

After returning from performing three days of my civic duty in Jury Duty, I couldn't have found a more timely post than this one from Corey Wilde's blog. He eloquently highlights Banned Books Week and its celebration of "the Freedom to Read" by the American Library Association. This is an important observation that, unfortunately, requires a constant and vigilant reminding to all. Kudos to the ALA, and to Corey who posted this.