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Favorite?

djmatticus38 Comments

What’s with all the favorite questions lately?  Pick your favorite movie…  Pick your favorite holiday…  Pick your favorite B-Comedy actor/actress…  Pick your favorite blogger…

Can you be a little more specific please?  “Favorite” is such a hard thing to pin down.  Is that my favorite from the last five minutes?  Is that my favorite within a very specific sub-genre from the last five minutes?  Is that my favorite that I own and consume regularly within a very specific sub-genre from the last five minutes?  I don’t know about the rest of the blogosphere, but we here in the kingdom find it very difficult to say that anything is our favorite one thing.

Well, except the wife, of course.  That goes without saying…  What?  I just said it?  Oh, I guess I did.  So, I guess that guess without saying whether I say it or not.  Okay, I just confused myself.  And I’ve managed to write 150 words without really getting to the heart of today’s post.  So, without further ado:

My Favorite Story From When I Was A Child

Wait, before I actually start, how are we defining “child” today?

I guess that doesn’t matter.  And I said without further ado so I’m better get on with this…

The Indian in the Cupboard series, The Plant that ate my Socks, the Narnia series, the Bunnicula series, the Maniac Magee books, the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy (and all the rest involving those characters), The Hobbit…  And those are just the ones I can remember right now as I’m typing this up.

Did these stories influence the person I am now?

Of course!!  Everything we read affects us.  Everything we read we learn from.  We learn a little more about ourselves and we, hopefully, learn a little bit more about the world around us.  We gain knowledge.  We work our imagination.  We grow.  We adapt.

Even when you read something that isn’t well written, isn’t entertaining, and doesn’t pique your interest, you are still learning something about yourself, aren’t you?  I would challenge you all to test that theory, but I like you all too much to subject you to bad writing on purpose.

Hmm, though, if you’ve made it this far into the post, perhaps it’s too late for that…

Alas, I digress again.

I am the writer I am today, the Jester and Scribe of The Matticus Kingdom, I am the person I am today because of the stories I read and loved as a child.  If I hadn’t read them I would be something else entirely.

Like a mime or clown or something…

38 thoughts on “Favorite?”

    • The affect is less and less as we age, though it never truly goes away, because it has to contend with everything else you’ve read before it. So you were impacted by the happy books of your impressionable childhood than you are by the twisted things you are reading now. That’s my theory anyway. What do I know? I’m just here to entertain you. 😛

      Reply

      • I think we do learn from reading and sharing experiences
        But something’s in this world can be difficult to share
        Especially if it’s beyond beliefs,But actually true
        Unfortunately I did not read many books as a child
        I learned more about myself over resent years
        With kindness to others and devotion to my belief
        and learning from others like yourself
        Thank-you for entertaining us all in your kingdom
        Have a fantastic Easter Monday

        Daniel angel from Cape Cornwall

  3. Well done. I think we do take a bit of all that we read and make it our own. It is definitely how I think I have learned and grown over the years. It is hard to be tied down to a favorite. Why limit yourself to a favorite song, movie, or book, they all have something to offer. I was thinking that your theory of reading something bad on purpose to see the benefits of just reading. I think it would work. I think that I have gained so much from reading all of my life, I would rank reading as one of the most important things a person can do. I could no sooner choose a favorite book as I could a favorite thought. Thank you for the deep thoughts this morning Matt. 🙂

    Reply

    • As always, happy that you found some value in my ramblings. Not sure I’d consider them deep thoughts, especially compared to what you always come up with, but coming from you I may have no recourse to argue against it. So, thank you.

      Reply

  5. Yes! It also depends on what your definition of “favorite” is. Is it enough if you’re fond of something? Is that a favorite? Or is it more like it’s something you feel you can’t live without? Does it count if it was a favorite a long time ago but not necessarily where you are now, today, this second?

    Love the Indian in the Cupboard!

    Reply

    • Yep, if I rewrote the post now, the list of stories I would include would be completely different, just based on what I can remember this time around.

      Indian in the Cupboard was a great series. I had plenty of inspiration for playing when I was younger after reading those books. I kept opening boxes, and cupboards, and closets, waiting for the things I’d left inside to come alive. And when they didn’t, I made them come alive anyway.

      Reply

  7. When I read “The Boxcar Children” when I was 7 years old, it started this niggling thought in my head that someday I, too, would live in a boxcar. The thought grew, and now I live, from time to time, in my tiny little vintage Airstream deep in the woods. Close enough to a boxcar for me!

    Reply

    • Okay, that’s awesome!
      For me, it would be the Calvin and Hobbes strips. One day I want to live with a forest in my backyard, where I can walk off the back porch and disappear into the woods if I feel like it. I’m not there yet, or anywhere near there, but hopefully one day I’ll get to realize that at least part time.

      Reply

  10. I loath the favorite question too b/c I love things intensely. So they are ALL my favorite. But as a child, ONE of my favorite books was “The Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden” & “Joshua Fortune” – I remember ending those stories and just starting again.

    Reply

  13. Another great post. I can see where it is difficult to choose. You are a talented writer for sure and I love to read your stuph.

    Please don’t laugh. This is a sentimental favorite. Rupert the Rhinocerous. It was a “you skipped a page daddy book” when I was 1 or 2. He never did say if he skipped it on purpose to see if I was paying attention.

    I was fortunate to work in 2 bookstores over 6 years. Loved the perks of reading for free. If I win the mega lotto, I’m keeping the pink streak in my hair and opening a bookstore.

    Reply

    • I worked in a book store in high school for a few months. One of my favorite jobs so far…
      Thank you for the praise!
      I’m not familiar with Rupert the Rhinocerous, so I’m going to have to be checking that out poste haste.

      Reply

      • Flattery will get you everywhere 🙂 yes, awesome is my middle name! I made a deal with him; if he went out for track, he would get the whole cs lewis series. My babe was such a book addict that i needed to give him a little incentive to step outside his world inside books. Plus he was super talented at sports (is there anything this mom will say her kid is NOT brilliant at?) So we made the deal, he ran for a season, won a whole bunch of ribbons, the season ended, he said where’s my books, he got the books, and never wanted to run track again. But he runs now, funny enough, and hikes long distances, and rode his bike across the country, so I guess it wasn’t all for nothing.

  15. Bunnicula! So started my life long love of bunnies! 13 buns later, and I’ve never given any of them celery!

    Reply

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