Marty (1953) starring Rod Steiger 2/4

Team Saturdazzle: The One With Roasted Hope and the zest of Lemon

Yesterday I posted Ronald Reagan's commencement address from Eureka College when He was President of the Unite States. . Today, I have footage of him while Governor of California performing at a celebrity roast for Bob Hope.

 

***********************************************************************************

 Headline of the week: 

 A Pope Who Ministers to the Suffering? Yup, He's A White Sox Fan.

New York Times 5/10/2025

***********************************************************************************

My Brother texted me during the coverage of the announcement of the new pope that one of my childhood White Sox heroes, Chet Lemon had passed away.  Now, that Dick Allen has been elected to the Hall of Fame, Lemon is one of the best White Sox players to not make it to Cooperstown.  A 3 time all star,  and a World Series  champion with the 1984 Tigers.  Lemon was aggressive at the plate, on the base paths, and patrolling center field.  In the time he played in the MLB between 1975 and 1990 he was 2nd in being hit by a pitch.  He holds the American League single season record for most put outs as a centerfielder (509 in 1997) when he was with the White Sox.

Some of Lemon's leatherwork is in display when he was on the Baseball Bunch T.V. show.  In the episode he works with young players on how to run down a ball and be aware of the fence.  

 

Footage of Lemon's famous catch in game 3 of the 1984 World Series.  

*****************************************************************************

That's all the Saturdazzle I have for today, Hope to be back next week with more.  

Eureka College Commencement Address: President Reagan's Commencement Add...

I shared a clip from this speech last year. I thought it would be interesting to share the speech on it's 43rd anniversary, the year that the average Eureka grad is reaching retirement age.

 

Judson University Choir, Featuring Bob Bennett - "Come and See"

Judson University is located about a mile from my house.  I drive by it 10 to 15 times a week and have seen many concerts and performances at it over the years. I even ran in a 5 k there.   A few years ago I walked into the church I was attending at the time and saw that Bob Bennett was going to be performing a few songs during the service.  

The director of the Judson Choir was also the worship director at this church and Bob and  the Choir were recording a live album together and the director had arranged for Bob to sing at our church that Sunday morning.

I took one or two videos from my phone of his songs and have posted them on you tube and some of them here over the years.  I didn't take this video it was filmed at Judson during the course of making the album.  Now, that the A to Z challenge is over I'd like to have a few more midweek music breaks and thought this would be an excellent place to start.

 

Wordless Wednesday (Sort Of): What's the difference between false advertising and hyperbole?

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, how many rants are 4 worth? I'll just put one short one at the end,  

 The Rant:  I have worked a myriad of jobs and at none of them have I always felt valued.  It is a promise that no employer can keep especially one like McDonalds with a long history of exploiting their workers.  

For More Wordless Wednesday click here   for the Wordless Wednesday blog and here for the comedy plus site.   As I am participating in both places today.  

Breakfast Serials: Marty Television Presentation 1953 Part 1

On April 11th 1955, The Film Marty premiered. It would go on to be nominated for 8 Academy Awards and win 4 Best Film. Best Director: Delbert Mann, Best Actor: Ernest Borgnine and Best Screenplay: Paddy Chayefsky.  

Chayefsky's screenplay was adapted from a television play  he wrote which was performed live in The Philco Television Hour in 1953.  Each Tuesday in May at 6:30 A.M. central I will be posting a section from the television program with some fun facts at the end.  Since I am showing these in serialized fashion, and showing them in the a.m., I am calling them Breakfast Serials.

Marty 1953 Part I

.

Fun Fact:  Esther Minciotti, Joe Mantell, and Augusta Ciolli  who played The respective parts of Marty's Mom ,best friend, and Aunt  all reprised these roles in the 1955 film.  Mantell was nominated for best supporting actor Oscar but did not win.   

Join us next week for another installment of Marty.  

12 New Movies: The Train (1964)

By trailer screenshot (United Artists) - DVD bonus - The Train - US trailer, Public Domain, Link

  As with all the 12 New Movie reviews , I will attempt to do the following: 

1. Rate each movie on a 1 (worst movie ever) to 5 (best movie I have seen) scale.
2.  Provide a 2-3 sentence summary of the movie. 
3.  I will share 1 theme from the movie.  
4. Write one thing I liked about the movie and 1 thing I disliked about the movie. 
5. State who I think would make the best audience for this movie. 

The Train (1964) Rating 3 stars out of 5 

 Summary: At the end of World War II, A Nazi officer (Paul Scofield) attempts to bring a train filled with French art masterpieces to Germany.  The station master (Burt Lancaster) who is also part of the French resistance is tasked to stop the train from getting to Germany. 

Theme: Is art worth dying for?

 Likes: When I heard Paul Scofield (A Man for All Seasons, Quiz Show) was in this film I jumped at the chance to see it.  Scofield does not disappoint. His performances are known for being multilayered and this is no exception.  I also like the fact that this is filmed in black & white.  

Dislikes: This movie did not live up to the expectations I was given on line.  It would have worked as a straight action movie and it would have worked as a straight character study.  It almost works as both and almost is where the disappointment comes from.  

 A Good Audience for this Film:3 audiences come to mind: People who like WW II films, admirers of the films directed by John Frankenheimer, and  people like myself who come running when they hear the name Paul Scofield.  

2025 New To Me Film Update

 I have watched and reviewed 3 films:

Films released from 2009 to 2024                      Watched 0 Remaining 2 

Films released from 1994 to 2008                      Watched 1 Remaining 1 

Films released from 1979 to 1993                      Watched 0 Remaining 2 

Films released from 1964 to 1978                      Watched 1 Remaining 1 

Films released from 1949 to 1963                      Watched 0 Remaining 2 

Films released before 1934 and up to 1948       Watched 1 Remaining 1 

When Corona Is Gone (Original Song)

Around 5 years ago Allen Levi shared this song on you tube. It was April 27th 2020.  We were about  6 weeks into Co-vid lockdown and Allen shared this song from his porch.  I meant to share it last Sunday which was the 5 year anniversary of it's release.  I was just at the end of catching up in the A to Z challenge and finishing the last week up.  Now that the song is 5 years and a week old I'm sure it will resonate just a little differently than it would have last week at 5 ...

      

Team Saturdazzle the one with the 5k and the bobble head

Can't beat fun at the old Saturdazzle

 

Welcome to our first post A to Z Challenge Team Saturdazzle of the year. 

I am on the road today so I am literally phoning this post in. I am emailing this directly to my blog from my phone. 

This morning Amy Charlie and I participated in the Northern Illinois Foodbank 5K. It was a lot of fun. We all finished in less than an hour. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to run the entire race without walking but I was able to.

 

In the A to Z challenge this year in the A to Zs of me J stood for Jester and I was in full jester mode at the race. Where my self designated task was to bring fun and merriment wherever I went. I would make jokes as I passed people and say things like don't these Saturday DMV lines get longer every year. When I ran past the 2 mile marker I told one of the many volunteers encouraging us along the path to ask me to tell her a Broadway themed 5 k pun when she obliged. I said 1 mile more and I'll be less miserable. 

The Jesting did not end after I finished the race.  I waited for Amy to near the finish line and let the audience in on the big reveal...

After the race Amy and I grabbed some lunch and drove to the Rosemont L station where we took a blue line train then a red line train to Comiskey park in Chicago. Now in fairness it hasn’t been called Comiskey since 2003 it’s now on it’s 3rd name change I’ll just call it Sox Park.

 

Today the White Sox played the Astros and despite getting 5 strong innings from their starter and scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the first for an early lead they lost to Houston 8 to 3.

 

This is not what brought Amy and I to the ball park today. Amy went because she’s always up for an adventure and I went for the commemorative Dick Allen bobble head.

 

In The Box

Outside The Box

Photo by John Iacano/Sports Illustrated

The Bobble head was modeled after the iconic 1972 Sports Illustrated cover of Allen juggling in the dugout in his first season with the White Sox.  By the 1970's public perception was already changing about smoking.  Allen was reprimanded by the White Sox for the incident.  The bobble head is true to the SI cover except Allen is not smoking.  

As I’ve said in these pages before, as recently as W is for White Sox fan, Dick Allen is one of the main reasons I became a Sox fan.

 

Allen was at long last posthumously elected to Baseballs Hall of Fame earlier this year. Several members of Allen’s family were on hand today for the celebration and will be in Cooperstown in July when Allen will be inducted into the Hall. It was really quite a day. 

Thanks for joining Team Saturdazzle today.  

A to Z's of Me: A Reflection

The 2025 A to Z challenge is over.  I finished.  My theme this year was the A to Z's of me .  

During the last few weeks of each year I spend a lot of time tinkering with the look of my blog.  I made a text box called Me from A to Z.  It had an attribute of me from A to Z. As I shared in my theme reveal the original 26 attributes were :

Amateur Parodist, Blogger, Christian, Daring do-gooder, Evangelical sans Trump Kool-Aid, 

Father of 3 adult children, Giraffe lover, Husband of one amazing wife, Illinois resident, 

Jester, Kindred spirit, Library lover Middle School teacher, Nincompoop, Original, Poet,

Quintessential worker , RITA (Republican in theory, anyways.) ,Sixty something 

Teller of jokes,U of I Parent - ILL,Voracious reader, Willy Wonka Wannabe, Xenophile ,Yankovic enthusiast ,Zoo attender

I made the list , put it on my blog home page and kinda forgot about it.  As I began to prepare for the challenge I ruminated between several ideas for themes.  I thought about going without a theme

 or even not participating and just concentrating on reading and commenting.  Then I remembered the list.  I hadn't even considered using it for the challenge when I created it.  

 

As I began to prepare posts that matched the titles it became clear that some of those titles weren't going to make it to the final product.  I have emboldened the attributes I didn't use in the list above and the attributes I replaced them with in the links below.  For example in the middle of March I stopped subbing at the middle school I'd been at for over 2 years.  So M for Middle school had to go.  Others were so similar that expanding on them made it seem like I was being redundant.

A was for Amateur Parodist

B was for Blogger

C was for Christian

D was for David Davidovich

E was for Evangelical Sans the Trump Kool-Aid

F was for Father of 3 Adult Children

G was for Giraffe Lover

H was  for Husband of One Amazing Wife

I was for Iguchi Appreciator

J was for Jester

K was  for Kindergarten Clear

L was for Library Lover

M is for Muppet Man

N was for Narnian

O was for Optimist

P was for Poet

Q is for Quintessential Worker

R was for R.I.T.A. Republican In Theory Anyway

S was for Stonehill Fan

T was for Teacher

U was for U of I Parent

V was for Voracious Reader?

 

W was for White Sox Fan

X was for Xenophile

Y was for Yankovic Enthusiast

Z was for Zoo Aficionado

This is the 4th year that I have been copying and pasting the same introduction at the beginning of my posts.  I did use 2 variants of the intro this year: 1 for when I was posting on time and 1 for when my posts were late.  In the latter I would say how many posts I was behind.  I stayed up to date from amateur to Iguchi and caught up at Xenophile and was still on pace when I ended at zoo.  I was late for a little more than 1/2 of the challenge.  The funny thing is I posted on my blog on both the K and the L day which is where I fell behind.  They just weren't A to Z posts.

Being behind didn't bother me too much.  I was always confident that I would finish.  It did impede with my reading and commenting on blogs which was the least I have ever done in all my years doing the challenge.  I did get to more of that in the last few days once I caught up.

Something I did this year that really helped me get to this reflection right away is that from day 2 I built the index of the challenge on my daily post.  So, it was a simple matter of changing the topic from the previous day from "A is for " to "A was for"  and then copying and pasting the whole thing to the current letter.  Today all I did was take my list from the beginning of Wednesday's post  and change is to was for Z.  I'll change them all back to is when I put the index on a page in my blog later this month. 

One thing that surprised me this year was how many of my posts had political or spiritual components.  I guess I shouldn't be so surprised since my theme was me and I do have spiritual and political components.  I did go hard after Trump on 3 occasions and restrained myself from making it four when I was writing X is for xenophile.

There were many posts including lots of A, some of B, and all of C where I reused previous posts, pictures, poems and songs.  Again, with the subject being me, it felt natural to share as many examples of me as possible.  

A is for Amateur Parodist may have been my favorite post this year.   It had links to works by 3 other parodists, examples of some of my older parodies, and 2 that were written while I was writing the post.  I was especially proud of Amlodopine, which is a parody of Yesterday that starts  with someone singing the praise of the efficacy of their blood pressure medicine and quickly changes into a rant of how Trumps first 100 days is making him more  dependent than ever on the medicine. In my mind, the song  became an homage  to the old Sesame Street segment when Kermit The Frog would interview Don Music at the piano and after a little head bashing on the piano due to writer's block  the lyrics of the song would change dramatically from the original.  

I enjoyed participating in the A to Z challenge again this year.  For more about the A to Z reflections click here. To sign up for the reflections click here.For the reflections spreadsheet click here.

Dave Out Loud: Undecided, Undeclared, Unsure Day

Now that the A to Z challenge for 2024 is in it's final hour and my final post dropped early this morning. I think it's apprropiate to go back to 2024 where my theme was holidays especially manufactured ones. On the vowel days I let the vowels pitch me ideas for holidays with their letter in it. This is what U came up with...

We are celbrating the 2nd Undecided Undeclare Unsure Day today. I'll be back soon with a reflection post from the challenge.

Z is for Zoo Afficianado

My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me.  Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day.  Today's letter is Z so let's get right to it shall we?

A was for Amateur Parodist

B was for Blogger

C was for Christian

D was for David Davidovich

E was for Evangelical Sans the Trump Kool-Aid

F was for Father of 3 Adult Children

G was for Giraffe Lover

H was  for Husband of One Amazing Wife

I was for Iguchi Appreciator

J was for Jester

K was  for Kindergarten Clear

L was for Library Lover

M is for Muppet Man

N was for Narnian

O was for Optimist

P was for Poet

Q is for Quintessential Worker

R was for R.I.T.A. Republican In Theory Anyway

S was for Stonehill Fan

T was for Teacher

U was for U of I Parent

V was for Voracious Reader?

 

W was for White Sox Fan

X was for Xenophile

Y is for Yankovic Enthusiast

Z is for Zoo Aficionado

 Today is the last day of the challenge and to wrap things up here is Dave Out Loud reporting from the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicag Illinois.  

Here are some zoo pics from the last year or so

R.I.P.O Rhino In Photo Only 

Indianapolis Zoo  September 2025

Indianapolis Zoo September 2025

St. Louis Zoo March 2024

Lincoln Park Zoo Aoril 2025

Lincoln Park Zoo April 2025

 

Amur Leopard March 2024
St. Louis Zoo

Lincoln Park Zoo April 2024

That's it we've got a polar bear catching some Z's at the Zoo.  No better way to leave an A to Z challenge than that. It's been a pleasure and I'll be back soon for a reflection post.

To get to the A to Z Challenge webpage click here.  

To see the A to Z Master List click here. 

 

Y is for Yankovic Enthusiast

 

My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me.  Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day.  Today's letter is Y so let's get right to it shall we?

 A was for Amateur Parodist

B was for Blogger

C was for Christian

D was for David Davidovich

E was for Evangelical Sans the Trump Kool-Aid

F was for Father of 3 Adult Children

G was for Giraffe Lover

H was  for Husband of One Amazing Wife

I was for Iguchi Appreciator

J was for Jester

K was  for Kindergarten Clear

L was for Library Lover

M is for Muppet Man

N was for Narnian

O was for Optimist

P was for Poet

Q is for Quintessential Worker

R was for R.I.T.A. Republican In Theory Anyway

S was for Stonehill Fan

T was for Teacher

U was for U of I Parent

V was for Voracious Reader?

 

W was for White Sox Fan

X was for Xenophile

Y is for Yankovic Enthusiast

Way back on April Fool's day when I was posting about my being an amateur parodist I mentioned a little about Weird Al and his influence on me.  Today I will be sharing 10 videos of some of my favorite Yankovic songs.  They range from his national T.V. debut on the Tomorrow show to a video my friend Patrick (a hardcoreYankophile) recorded to  concert footage from Amsterdam.  

Some of these may not be among my top 10 favorite Yankovic songs which is one of the reasons why I am not numbering them or ranking them. 

Word Crimes

Ebay

Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota

Another One Rides The Bus

Ode To A Superhero

Hamilton Polka

Don't Download This Song

It's Still Billy Joel To Me

Yoda

The Saga Begins

That's all I have for my penultimate entry in the ABC's of me.

To get to the A to Z Challenge webpage click here.  

To see the A to Z Master List click here.  

Coming up: Dave's taking us to the zoo tomorrow.

X is for Xenophile

 My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me.  Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day.  Today's letter is X so let's get right to it shall we?

 A was for Amateur Parodist

B was for Blogger

C was for Christian

D was for David Davidovich

E was for Evangelical Sans the Trump Kool-Aid

F was for Father of 3 Adult Children

G was for Giraffe Lover

H was  for Husband of One Amazing Wife

I was for Iguchi Appreciator

J was for Jester

K was  for Kindergarten Clear

L was for Library Lover

M is for Muppet Man

N was for Narnian

O was for Optimist

P was for Poet

Q is for Quintessential Worker

R was for R.I.T.A. Republican In Theory Anyway

S was for Stonehill Fan

T was for Teacher

U was for U of I Parent

V was for Voracious Reader?

 

W was for White Sox Fan

X is for Xenophile

Xenophile is the antonym of xenophobe. A xenophile is an individual who is attracted to foreign peoples manners or cultures.  I am a xenophile.  The reason I am a xenophile is pretty straight forward.  God is a xenophile.  As an evangelical Christian I try to emulate God.  Generally this is by imitating Christ, however being a xenophile which is certainly a trait of Jesus is also a trait of God the Father.  

Well you might ask how I know God is a xenophile.  I think there are many ways that I know that but I think John 3:16 provides conclusive evidence of my assertion:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)

 This is the 2nd post I've written this year about John 3:16,  In the first I focused on the love aspect and today's focus is on the world part of the verse.  The Greek word that world is  translated from  is Kosmos.  When it comes to John 3:16 there are many interpretations of what John meant when he used that word.  Two of these interpretations is that world means all of humanity, the other is that world means all of creation. I personally feel that it means the former, however since the latter is all encompassing either definition includes all of humanity.

I have been reading a book about the attributes of God called Knowledge of the Holy. It was written by A.W. Tozer.  Tozer makes it very clear that we are very different than God.  God has always existed. Since God has always existed he was never born and he will never die.   God is all knowing.  Since God is all knowing, he has never learned anything.  There is attribute after attribute of God that shows how different we are from God.  When God says in Isaiah 55:8+9 that my thoughts are not your thoughts and your ways are not my ways he reiterates that in our fallen state that we are different as different can be from the character of God.  

Yet John 3:16 says that God loves the world.  In fact it says that God loves the world so much that he gave his Son.  That makes God a xenophile as he is attracted to foreign people. their manners and their cultures.  God's love for us transforms us and gives us our identity.  When 1 Peter 2:10 speaks of this transformation  it says once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.  God being a xenophile is the first step in our sanctification.

Emulating God in the matter of being a xenophile is why I went to Russia for two years in the early 1990's.  It is why I studied to be an English teacher.  It is why I always try to speak to people in their own language even if it's just a greeting.  It is why I'm not very interested in the MAGA movement because Isaiah 40:15  says that to God all nations are a drop in the bucket.  I've spent more than enough letters differentiating myself from my country's current president, so I won't go any further on the last point.

One of the difficulties I have had with my  A to Z posts this year is bringing them to an end.  I classified my theme this year as autobiography and autobiography never ends.  At least it doesn't end while I am alive to chronicle it.  In the same way these alphabetical glimpses of me are just autobiography in progress.  There is certainly more I can say about being am xenophile and there is more I can live that will further define my view. If my view on this or any other subject seem incomplete it is because I am a work in progress.

To get to the A to Z Challenge webpage click here.  

To see the A to Z Master List click here.  

Coming up: Things Get Weird

 

 

W is for White Sox Fan

I grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.  

We were a family of Cubs fans.  We went to our annual pilgrimage to Wrigley Field each year. My first baseball glove has the cubs logo in the mitt (I still have it by the way). 

I may have stayed a Cubs fan forever if it hadn't been for these three men:

Ray Rayner

 

Dave Roller

This is the story of how a Children's T.V. host, a baseball player and my own father led me to more than 50 years of White Sox allegiance.

Ray Rayner hosted a television show on WGN TV when I was a kid. He had several regular bits he would do on the show: he would feed a duck named Chelveston while he played a popular song (where I ffirst heard American Pie), He would have a  regular visit with Lester Fisher (the director of the Lincoln Park Zoo), He would visit a puppet named Cuddly Duddly at his dog house, and in between these bits he would be a disc jocker for cartoons, (mostly Warner Brothers).  

His role in making me a Sox fan was when he would do the daily traffic and sports reports.  Equipped with a Cubs cap with a White Sox cap sewed in the back of it.  He would show the results of the previous day's baseball games.  He would switch the sides of the cap depending on which team he was reporting on.  This gave me as a child the notion that in Chicago you could like both teams.

Ray Rayner reporting on a Cubs  victory while wearing the Cubs end of his Cubs/Sox cap.

The 2nd person most responsible for me switching my favorite team from the Cubs to the Sox was my Dad.  When I was growing up the White Sox would offer 2 tickets to grade school students who either had straight A's or perfect attendance for the year.  One  l year my sister, who was the year ahead of me  achieved straight A's.  She won the two tickets and My Dad took her to a game to see the White Sox play the Baltimore Orioles.  My sister was 15 months older than me, and I had a brother 18 months younger than me.  By that time I had another brother who was still a toddler.  1 on 1 time alone with my Dad was not really something any of us kids ever got on a regular basis.  So when my Dad took Kathy to a game, I knew that was something I wanted to do as well.  When school restarted in the Fall, I was determined to win a pair of free White Sox tickets to get 3 to 5 hours alone with my Dad.  That year was the only year in my academic career that I ever had perfect attendance.  The next summer My father and I attended my first White Sox game.

Dick Allen only played 3 years on the South side but he made his presence know in a major way.  He hit 85 homes runs in those 3 years and a batting  average over .300 and the best slugging percentage of all baseball.  I remember him hitting at least 1 home run at the game we went to,  I was a White Sox fan after that.  Even without the free tickets my Dad continued to take me to at least 1 game a year through high school.  Dick Allen was my White Sox hero, but certainly not my last.  One of my Cubs hero's Don Kessinger finished his career with the White Sox as a player manager.  Carlton Fisk who was one of my favorite players on an opposing teem came to the White Sox as a free agent when I was in high school.  Wilbur Wood, Bill Melton. Bucky Dent. Jorge Orta. Harold Baines, and the list goes on and on.  Dick Allen died a few years ago but was finally elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame by the Veteran's committee and he will be inducted this year.  

When I think of the White Sox I think back of the 5o+ years of memories I have watching them.  Going to games with my Dad and taking my kids to the games.  Next Saturday I am taking my wife to the White Sox game.  They just happen to be giving away Dick Allen Hall of Fame bobble heads.  My favorite team, my favorite player and my favorite person in the world.  I don't care If I never get back.

V is for Voracious Reader?

A to Z Challenge 2025

The ABC's of Me

V 

Voracious Reader

On April 10, 2017 I started a blog called Writer's Write Readers Read Bloggers Blog.  It was one of many transition blogs I did in between this blog being a home school blog a whatever it is now blog. In my first post at WWRRBB I admitted not having written for a while and how I needed to rectify that.  

Although that particular blog didn't last long, I have been writing faiirly regularly since 2017.  I also said in that post:

I also need to read more. Reading informs and prepares the writer.  I have finished one book this year and that was on January 7th.  I need to make time in the day for it.  I mean how much Netflix can one guy watch?  That's not a rhetorical question, I need answers!!!!

The truth is  I also have read quite a bit since 2017.  In the past couple of years I have struggled in reading.  While I still read a lot of blog posts my book reading is not what it once was.  Like the above example I have only finished 1 book this year. 

April of course is  not a great month to finish books.  I still enjoy reading and I count listening to books as reading.  I have a number of books I have started this year and just  need to dig back in and get some finished.

Here are some of my favorite types of books to read:

Familiar books. I mentioned in my N post that I generally read the Chronicles of Narnia each year.   The past 2 years I have not done that.  It's not that I've grown tired of them.  I'm pretty sure I will never grow tired of them.  Some people don't like reading books  or watching movies over and over.  I can understand and appreciate that.  But foe me rereading books or watching movies again is like visiting friends.  

Familiar authors. This would not only extend to reading  more books by beloved authors, but also reading book about those authors,  or fiction books about those authors or those authors characters.  For example Stephanie Barron has written a number of mysteries s featuring Jane Austen. as the protagonist. One of the books that I started this year and haven't got very far in yet is a book about  a present day woman who discovers letters from one of her ancestors in her attic.  The ancestor? Jo March the protagonist of Little Women.

Children's Books.  Why? Because I was a child and my love for books started when I was a child.  Because I am a parent and I loved reading to my children.  I was literally reading to them before they were born.  Because I am a teacher and I love reading to children because adults in school read to me which increased my love for books.  

Mysteries. I don't like all mysteries, but some of my favorite authors like David Rosenfelt, Bill Pronzinni, and Dorothy L. Sayers write masterful mysteries.

Recommendations from a variety of sources - These sources include but are not limited to book lists, podcasts, bloggers, movies I have seen, books or characters referenced in others books or films.  I started reading Louis Lamour books because Allen Levi wrote a song entitled The Reason I Read Louis Lamour

I like writing about reading. It reminds me why I love to read.  The blogging challenge is almost over and perhaps then I can start a reading challenge of my own.

U is for U of I Parent

A to Z Challenge 2025

The ABC's of Me

U 

U of I  Parent

Today's post will be all pictures and captions.

The U of I Campus July 2023

One of several campus Visits

Lucy and I at U of I's accepted student day
Realizing we  we both brought the same book to read

Goodbye High School
Hello U of I

Obligatory Move-In Pictures

First U of I game

100th Anniversary of Alumni Field

Illinois Proud

Dad's Weekend

Lucy in EveryMan
during Mom's Weekend