When I fake-graduated in May, Kevin bought me a graduation gift. This was a very sweet gesture, since as a fellow grad student and labmate, he understands more than anybody that I have, in fact, NOT graduated - actually, I am nowhere NEAR being done with my thesis. That's because I have many distractions. Like cleaning my room. And going to Mexico. And now, thanks to Kevin, reading 1001 books. Well, not all at once, I have before I die....
I wonder why these people decided to name a series of guides "1001 ____ to read/do/see before you DIE." It seems too fatalistic to me. Why not ".....in the next 50 years"? What happens when I've read all 1001 books?
Well, I've decided to try to read a book a week and see where I stand. The suggested books are divided into time periods, and while I have already made a sizeable dent in the 1800s, 1900s, and 2000s, I have woefully neglected the pre-1700s and 1700s. So this week's book is Aesop's fables. When I have kids I'm gonna read them the real thing. They leave all the good stuff out of the illustrated childrens books! Sections like "Aetiologies of the Animals" and "Bathroom Humor" and "Jokes about Bald Men." I'm not even kidding.
