I proudly identify myself a voracious reader. Even juggling a packed schedule, I maintain copious magazine subscriptions, a plethora of RSS feeds and favorite blogs, and a keen understanding of the intricacies of the library’s e-media system. As a child, I could always be found with my nose tucked into a book. Grandma Jeanette kept me and my brothers from getting cabin fever (or rotting our brains with TV and video games) during Oklahoma’s most brutal summers – the ones where you would sizzle just stepping out your front door – by feeding us a steady diet of books. She’d haul us to the public library and we’d load up for the week, and I enthusiastically recorded title after title on my summer reading list (with Grandma to vouch for my veracity), in anticipation of the sweet treat awarded with each milestone. Did it take 25 books? 50? 100? I don’t remember exactly. I think the targets moved further apart the older we got, but those Dairy Queen coupons felt like gold coins in our pockets when we finally received them.
Is it any surprise that I ended up working in publishing? When my first college biology class ended my “ER”-inspired fantasy of becoming a doctor, words became my new destiny. If I had a nickel for every time a friend has said I should write a book of my life story (my family can be very entertaining), I would have several nickels. But writing and reading are two totally different animals, as any editor will attest, and aside from my brief forays on the keyboard to peck out these missives to you, my nose remains firmly planted in a book.
The advent of reality TV (confession: a steady stream of Bravo programming is my dirty little secret) has cut into my reading habit a teensy bit. However, I figure working with the written word all day kind of evens the score. If my husband wasn’t such a tyrant with the TV remote and the DVR had never been invented, I would have had more to contribute to the discussion for John Parker’s article in this month’s “As Seen on TV,” page 42. He dug into the lives of some of Oklahoma’s favorite pitchmen and women for a trip across the airwaves of nostalgia.
Another topic near and dear to my heart is real estate (I blame HGTV), and I was immediately hooked by “Housing Market Madness,” page 36. If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, waiting to join the real estate game, it may be time to dive in. I browse real estate listings like some other people browse the obituaries section – avidly, frequently and always sort of expecting to see someone I know. Recently, a familiar facade caught my eye, and I realized it was the house my brother- and sister-in-law owned back when I first met my future husband’s family around 1998. I emailed him the listing with a “Remember when?” kind of note, and when he replied I found out that the house (several owners later) was now selling for double what he’d paid for it in the mid-90s. Wow. Note to self: Get on building that Trump empire, stat.
Finally, Timothy Fields sets the stage for a return to sophisticated fashion when cooler temperatures prevail with “The Luxe of Fall,” page 31. These gorgeous looks have even halfway convinced me to trade in my usual “dressy” Converse sneakers for something a little more refined … at least once in a while.
Until next time!
