my support on loan

currently on loan.

remember the karaoke dred of 2010? or the cringe-inducing subway dance? well... i did it again.

welcome to the We Will Not Be Shushed Dred-a-thon, i mean, Read-a-thon of 2011.

why am i doing this? NY State is cutting massive funding from Public Libraries. how do i feel about this? i think it sucks. do i understand that in hard times everyone needs to take a hit? yes. and when the State is also cutting public schools and other cultural institutions, i feel like there isn't that much room to be crying about it.

but i can't imagine my life without libraries or even less well stocked libraries. i visit mine about twice a week. 94% of the books i've read my whole life have been library books. that's a true gestimation. so when libraries are in trouble, i'd be a turncoat to not support them. groan. grumble. sign me up.

which leads me to the 24 hour read-a-thon.

the rules? over the course of an entire day, someone will be standing on the steps of the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library reading for 15 minute increments. starting at 2:30 a.m. this coming sunday morning, that person will be me.




how'ya like them apples, i mean, steps?


did i mention you have to read for 15 MINUTES?! i could ride to Coney Island on my bike in that amount of time (no i couldn't). i could run a couple of miles in 15 minutes (but seriously no more than two). i could make a sandwich, eat it, and take a nap (if all those things were done super quickly).

anyway, i happily and inadvertenly signed up for a Children's Literature time slot. what child isn't awake at 2:30 in the morning? i'm going to try and read from Fat Kid Rules the World, by KL Going. and i'm telling myself it will be great practice for when i'll be reading my own work in front of hordes (or a few stragglers) of people.

the grand lesson in all of this?

sometimes you have to do things you really really don't want to for the ones you love.