um, first love? that is the topic? seriously?
My first thought was, no way am I actually talking about first love. Thanks to facebook, all my "secret first loves" are a bit too close for comfort. I am not nearly as brave as a fellow blogger who expertly outlined crush after crush....in detail.
Maybe I can talk about first love once removed...as I watch my kids go through their first love and cringe. So far so good, but I won't talk about them- that is far from fair. Just because I mine their lives for article fodder, does not mean I can just spill their love secrets on my blog. Even slightly disguised, that would not be right.
But then, I remembered a first love that won't make me blush, books.
I can shamelessly confess my love affair with books. The words, the structure, the feeling and the ability to vicariously escape into new worlds. Just like love, I fall into books too easily.
boring, but I feel like I dodged that bullet! :)
Inside, Outside, Upside Down was one of my very first favorites
"mama, mama I'm going to town, inside, outside upside down"....think that line was prophetic! I have certainly been on a bumpy ride.
Watership Down totally captured my imagination, read and reread it throughout junior high...and other times...
Great Gatsby and then Zelda's biography...and then a stream of other biographies....
Gulping down book series, picking up books outside my comfort zone and then falling in love all over again...
or not. There have been books I have physically thrown, either they scared me to death, or I was so mad at how it ended.
Using books as my first love isn't really cheating, this lasting love of mine is the epitome of true love. The phases of love; initial chemistry, physical attraction, deep emotional attachment. I go through all those stages with books...yes, even physical attraction- I am not sold on ebooks, I like the experience of flipping pages and carrying books, in fact, I get practically giddy at library book sales.
There is often a dark side to love too. Now that I am a full-time freelancer, I experience book lust, all my writer friends with their publishing contracts.. book deals...me, with my rejection pile growing....but all's well, my love is strong.
ed gorey...dr.seuss...roald dahl...(and quentin blake) ..lois lowry..
their worlds are now mine,
love changes you.
OH love of books / reading!! What a great take on this weeks theme. My first love would be a love for singing and the reading came a little later on for me.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Jenn.
Great job and thinking out of the box. Great read and will tweet.
ReplyDeleteMy kids have thankfully embraced a love for books as well. Great post!
ReplyDeletewow i loved watership down too!!! it made me look at rats TOTALLY different way! : ) "just like love I fall into books too easily" HOW TRUE! so many different facets of LOVE..like this blog for instance!!
ReplyDeleteYep! You dodged the bullet . . . but so did I. ;)
ReplyDeleteJoyce
http://joycelansky.blogspot.com
Haha...I couldn't write about my "first love" either because of FB! Some people are too close for comfort.
ReplyDeleteI may have to follow you in talking about my love for books, especially 'The One', the book that was my first love. I still have book lust for that one now, after all these years :)) I loved this post, and I can totally understand why you wouldn't 'name names' *wink*
ReplyDeleteSafe choice right? But I do understand!
ReplyDeleteThis is a good choice. Mine in this sense would have been music.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I love books. I have them piled up all over the place. lol
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've got an unquenchable love for books too. PS - I made 'safe' choices too.
ReplyDeletebooks are a close second as the love of my life. Music is always first though. :)
ReplyDeletewww.kateescapenj.blogspot.com
Books have always been a love of mine, too, Sylvie right from when I was very young and would lie in bed on a Saturday morning reading while the rest of the family was asleep. My arms were cold and numb but I didn't care. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI love the different angles this topic has brought out. It doesn't have to be a person, it can be lots of things (my post happened to have both!)
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I'm adding your blog to my "must follow" list.
Great take on the First Love theme. This challenge is becoming even more challenging. My First Love GBE 2 blog is here: http://myheartblogstoyou.blogspot.com/2011/06/one-moms-first-love.html
ReplyDeleteOh YA...Stuart Little !!! my first crush in Kindergarten...and I have never looked back..One love that has never let me down !
ReplyDeleteWay to handle the topic! Well done. :O)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great and unique take on this post! Reading is the best!
ReplyDeleteI right with you with mine being the love of the library. No one can be without books. I don't ever desire to write one, but I always want to be able to read as much as I want. That's true love.
ReplyDeletePam
http://apiratelookspastsixty.blogspot.com/2011/06/first-love-not-what-you-expected.html
So, you've had a love affair with books! I love it...I get excited when I go into Borders. When I get a new book, I feel the pages and even love the smell of them. E-books are not for me. This was a really great twist on first love.
ReplyDeleteI feel you! I don't even remember a time when I didn't have a library card. Books carried me through the pain. As a child, books brought me knowledge of a world waiting for me and also gave me a superior vocabulary and comprehension.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely LOVE books too. I have all my life and mentioned them in my own first love post. They were where I found what I thought Prince Charming should be like. LOL Great post!!
ReplyDeleteKathy
http://www.thetruckerswife.com/