The secret life of our parents….

My Mom is 84 so she has been around a very long time. Now in her later years she is less active and spends most time at home watching TV and reading. It seems my passion for the Dodgers rubbed off on Mom and now she watches every Dodger game, all 162, on television. She has favorite players, namely Jamey Carroll, and understands much of the game strategy. She will say things during a game that amaze me and make me proud of how well she picked up the best game ever….no, it is not football.

However, I did not write this to be proud of her baseball acumen. I am writing this because I am shocked at her choice of reading material. Here is an excerpt from the book on her coffee table….

Branded as a runaway white slave, golden-haired Caroline Fane had come with her rogue lover Justin from the dangers surrounding them in England to the unknown perils of America. She had put her fate in his powerful hands, made his love more precious to her than life itself. But now she saw this man who possessed her being and intoxicated her with every excitement of spirit and flesh being tempted by the naked lust of an exquisite half-Indian girl, who seductively led him down a path of insatiable desire. And now Caroline herself became helpless captive to a ruthless savage chieftain who forced her to submit to his carnal appetites, plunging her into a degradation far beyond her darkest nightmares.

OMG….how can my dear Mother read this trash…lol. I guess this is the norm for those who love “Romance Novels”. The cover of the book should be rated at least R. The book itself should be rated XXX. She doesn’t seem to blush while reading so I guess it doesn’t bother her to read about “insatiable desires and submitting to carnal appetites”.

I will stick to my mystery crime thrillers while Mom is reading her trashy novels. The neat thing is we both enjoy what we read and that is how it should be! You rock Mom…..

A great start to a new year….

A Boeing 747-400 can hold 416 passengers. This last year the number of faithful Old Enough To Remember (OETR) readers would fill 20 full 747′s, 8,200 views. Those who searched and found OETR most often search for 50′s diners, peggy sue’s, Chucko the clown or Camp Anza. The most visited sites in OETR were History of Camp Anza, Favorite 50′s style restaurants, Number One songs from the week, Stroll down memory lane and Rarely heard oldies.

Thank all of you for reading. This year make it a plan to tell a friend or two about the fun we have here. For those who read but don’t post (BS for one) put your fingers on the keyboard and share. You don’t have to be older than dirt, like some of us, to participate. I might have owned 23 cars in my time (a current series is running each week about the cars in my life) but if you only owned a few, tell us about them. My first was a 1958 but it would be cool to read about someone whose first car was a 1979 or 1981.

I am writing this first post of 2011 in the home of my dearest friends, Johnny D and Kathy.
They are keeping me nice and warm with this fire. The system they use to heat this large house, with a 26 foot ceiling, is amazing. It is quite an art to keep the correct fire going to radiate heat to the rooms and walls. Of course at night, they lock my door so the heat doesn’t get there (just kidding). We brought in the new year with a nice hour in the hot tub with Champagne and then, after watching Dick Clark bring in the new year, Johnny D asked what do you want to do now. I said, “Let’s watch Titanic.” We finished watching Titanic at 3:30 AM….did I mention it is my all time favorite movie?

I have written about books from time to time. One post asked what was the first book you read. I recall posting a photo of the cover of The Raft, which was my first book. I mention books because Johnny D and Kathy gave me a new book for Christmas.
What a great book! Last night I read until past 1 AM and can’t wait to get back to this thriller by Vince Flynn. So now I ask of the OETR readers, especially those who have never replied, what is the book you are currently reading or intend to read soon?

Margaret, a faithful OETR follower, said to wait until after the first of the year for a new quiz. I acknowledged her request but have been thinking of new quizzes for 2011. Stayed tuned. For now, it is time to read a few more pages before Johnny D wants to head to Best Buy and seek out an iTunes expert (aka iTunes geek) so he can make his iTunes as bitching as mine…..lol.

Friendship and Books

My best friend in the world is known on OETR as Johnny D. We were having a great conversation today and the subjects were golf, Droid’s and then books. I can’t recall how the subject of books came up (Johnny D says the name of this blog should be Old Enough to Forget…and he is right…I forget how we got on books).

I knew he had bought his lovely bride of 42 years a Nook from Barnes and Noble a few months ago and then he mentioned he had one too. I asked if you could get older books for the Nook, and the first author that came to mind is Lee Child, an author I recently discovered. Incredibly, Johnny D said he was reading Lee Child’s first book, The Killing Floor. Wow.

What are the odds of that? They are pretty long, I’d say. We continued to discuss the books written by Lee Child and I had to bite my tongue not to tell him about something in the book he is reading. He was wondering why a certain event happened, an event that has yet to be fully revealed. I know, I know….lol.

It was nice to talk about books after knowing each other for so many years. In high school we might have discussed Moby Dick or Catcher in the Rye but we probably never got to that since we would have been talking baseball or girls, probably the latter first.

I enjoyed out chat very much. Afterwards, I went to a driving range and worked on some things we discussed about golfing. I had to call him from the range for more advice. By the time I left, I think I might have found something that will help cure my slice. We shall see.

I must leave you all now and get back to reading. It is not a Lee Child but I have three of his ready to go. If you have not read any of his books, give him a try. My mom has read two while recovering from her broken ankle and she likes him a lot.

Good reading to you all…..

Has anyone read Lee Child?

I am a huge James Patterson fan but I have read all his books. I also like Patricia Cornwell and some others but I am up to date on their books. So I went looking for some new authors. The owner of a used book store I use recommended Robert Tanenbaum but I didn’t much like his style.

Then I noticed a book at Costco by Lee Child and gave it a try. It was called Gone Tomorrow. I loved it and have since found 6 more of the Jack Reacher series. I am currently reading Killing Floor, his first book with Jack Reacher. I will be finished with it soon. I hope to find the second in the series (Die Trying) so I can read them in order.

Are there any other Lee Child fans out there? If not, what are you reading these days?

Time Enough At Last….

I was watching a show on TV today during which someone brought up the ending of a famous Twilight Zone episode with Burgess Meredith. I remembered the episode right away but had not seen it in… what, fifty years….omg.

I am an avid reader and try to read a couple of books each month. Last year I was able to finish 25 books, mostly fiction. This year I hope to add a few non-fiction along the way. James Patterson, Jeffrey Archer, John Steinbeck and Nicholas Sparks are among my favorites. As a kid in school, I remember reading my first John Steinbeck book, “In Dubious Battle,” and absolutely loving it. I love going to Monterey, where the famous Canary Row is located. Many times I have walked along the railroad tracks from a motel in downtown Monterey to Canary Row. The sounds at night are incredible along the wharf and the beauty during the day is impressive.

I bring this up because in the episode of Twilight Zone, called “Time Enough At Last,” from 11/20/59, Burgess Meredith plays Henry Bemis, a bank teller. However, he is not very good at it because he is always trying to read a book while serving customers. His true passion is the printed page. He is in the middle of “David Copperfield” while helping one customer and he short changes her, again, as she tells him. Henry wears “coke bottle” glasses and his eyes look like they will pop out of this face at any moment. He wants to read while working because his wife will not allow him to read at home.

Henry is called into the President’s office and is told, in no uncertain terms, if he is found reading on the job again, he will have all day long to read when he loses his job. Henry tries to explain why it is he has to read at work but the President agrees with his wife and sends Henry back to work. As he does many days at the bank, Henry uses his lunch hour to get into the vault and read.

On this particular day he is reading the newspaper with a headline: “H Bomb Capable of Total Destruction.” Then the vault begins to shake and sure enough, the bomb has exploded but he is safe because of being in the vault. The next scene shows Henry among the distruction ready to kill himself with a handgun when he suddenly looks up to see……

Well, if I tell you too much it will ruin the brief clip that is shown below. Maybe you will recall this, the 8th episode of the first year of Twilight Zone. What a great show it was all those years. By the way, this ending is rated the 7th most popular of all time on the Twilight Zone.

First Book You Remember Reading (Besides See Spot Run)

The true and thrilling story of 34 days at sea on a rubber raft.

Seeing this book cover brought back some good memories. This is the first book I can remember reading. I have no idea how old I was. The book was written in 1942 but I probably read it about 1956. I could always picture that cover in my mind when I would think of this book. I should find a copy and read it again. Amazon has 5 used copies, but they are all at least $18 for a paperback copy. This book certainly held it’s value!

What was the first book you can recall reading?