Not such a Know-It-All ... *sigh*

During my mother's childhood, her mother used to hide from her children by reading the dictionary in the bathroom.  If I remember the story correctly, she also read a full set of encyclopedias while there.  Either would have taken her years since nine (9) individuals shared one bathroom.  (My grandmother's people didn't believe in higher education for girls.Not uncommon practice at the time. The pity is, she was an actual genius and was always frustrated by not being able to continue improving her mind.)

When Santa was young, his mother bought a set of World Book encyclopedias for him.  Santa was already a really smart kid and read widely.  He read each volume as they purchased it.

My own father read both the World Book and the Encyclopedia Britannica over the course of several years - in the time he waited for us to finish breakfast and head to the school bus.


There is even someone who has read the Encyclopedia Britannica and written a book about it.  A.J. Jacobs did it in one year and did it to recover some of his under used brain capacity.  It is a sweet, self-depreciating book about his adventure.

His goal was to retain the knowledge he accumulated while going through all of the volumes.  And, from the sound of things, he has done just that. Okay, maybe not completely, but he has retained far more than I ever would have.  

Me? Based on my bookshelves, I should be rival to either my grandmother of Mr. Jacobs for smarts.  My father, well, him I never felt I could compete with.

I do own a large, dated, collection of World Books and the following year books.  A set of Popular Science books - projects, I think.  Several dictionaries are spread around the house, but not always for knowledge based reasons.

In my bedroom I use one a rather large dictionary, not to read, to get added lift when I climb into bed.  It is a little high for me and it makes life easier.  I even had a spare five-incher in my guest room in the event a vertically challenged person stays the night. The one in my office is used to prop up my laptop so it is a more comfortable height to work.

Will I ever aim that high?

Probably not.

I wouldn't want to be the know-it-all in my family and have basis to support the claim.

I am sleeping with Ammon Shea ...

In recent months, my MP3 player drowns out someone's  snoring at night ... that's both the good news and the bad news.

I have slept through all kinds of lectures on writing, grammar, and the Lord of the Rings (I'll update for links sooner than later). I stumble upon fabulous audio books at my library and their digital branch ... and much as I hate to say it, but a good title will do wonders to get someone to read/listen.

One thing I know for sure, I sleep better with men (narrators) than women ...

Most recently I have been sleeping to Ammon Shea's Reading the OED.  In all of the collections I have been aware of (sorry to the grammar and syntax police), but I never knew anyone who actively collected words.  I mean the man READS dictionaries for fun. And not the small collegiate dictionary I dragged to the university once upon a time ... but every one he can find.  He even read one that I have in my possession ( Webster's from 1934) ...

The OED (Oxford English Dictionary) is 20 volumes!  Ten hours a day for around a year ... I wonder how many pairs of reading glasses he burned up?

That's determination, drive, and a lot of eye strain.

Smart Granny

Now, my granny was a very smart woman.  She was raised in a time when women didn't pursue higher education.  When a set of encyclopedias found their way to her home, she read all of it.  To me, this was impressive as I only used them to do reports for school and she did this voluntarily.

Anyway, as I digress, and I usually do, Reading the OED is a great read/listen.  There is a lot of humor, fun anecdotes, and you don't feel stupid because the only dictionary in the house is the one by the bed because someone is too short to get into the thing on her own.

Check it out.