Things I Should Not Know

Here's today's topic, courtesy of Adam: Things You Should Not Know

What should I not know? Maybe I'll just start with a list:

• anything Paris Hilton is doing
• how many partners Anna Nicole Smith has had
• the autopsy report of any celebrity
• whether or not the tennis player chooses to be with a twenty-year-old woman or a forty-year-old woman
• who could be a good fake pirate (does "good" really belong in the same sentence as "pirate"? Other than _Pirates of the Caribbean_ and Jimmy Buffet songs, aren't pirates known for murder, rape, and theft?)
• who weighs the least in Hollywood today (at least, what woman since men's weights aren't reported)
• who has reported to rehab this week
• how much Britney's hair went for on E-Bay

Things I should know:

• where the opening is on my coffee mug (not much was coming out and I realized I was holding it backwards--what a goober!)
• how to write effectively for different audiences
• how to create a comfortable yet challenging environment for teaching writing
• how to help non-writers become writers
• that crappy first drafts can lead to strong publishable drafts
• that immersion in a literacy-rich environment creates a playful attitude toward literacy
• that publication is a necessary part of writing, even though not every text should lead to publication
• that apparently the backspace key on this laptop can't be depressed for multiple backspaces; instead, I have to lift and depress again for each backspace. What's up with that?
• that other people are typing faster than I am; I feel like I'm falling behind (that apparently, I have an unacknowledged competitive streak)
• that everyone's here this morning--Yay!

Guilty Pleasures

I confess: I love certain celebrity shows. I like _Family Jewels_ with Gene Simmons. I like the way the family picks on Gene, making fun of him and the love that is apparent in that house despite the affluence. I also liked watching _The Osbornes_ when it came on, but part of the fun was trying to figure out what Ozzy was saying. He usually seemed to be talking over a fuzzy fast-food microphone that periodically cut out.

_Law & Order_ shows, both the series and all the legal and criminal shows, such as _Forensic Files_, _Snapped_ (about women who murder--which alarms Wes, I think), and _City Confidential_. My brother is a cop, but he rarely talks about his day. He has had every kind of training they offer and now trains others. He's a sniper and a member of the SWAT team, but my fascination with criminal behavior occurred long before his career.

I love reading murder mysteries, trying to solve them, plotting my wits against detectives and criminals in print. I even like the old ones, such as _Lady Audley's Secret_, trying to understand people's reasons for behaving in certain ways.

Okay, I'm fast running out of juice. I'm ready to read the words of others, but I guess we haven't yet recruited other people to the blog. I miss Latahshia, Diana, and all the others who posted to the blog last summer. We need a new cohort of posters this year.