I feel like I'm always waiting for things to settle down into some kind of a routine, or thinking that at some point in the near future money will resolve itself into always being available, or that I will suddenly become more responsible or motivated or capable than I already am- all of this as if by magic. 

I think there's a phrase for this... pipe dream, maybe?

So my latest efforts have been directed toward a reading event at my store celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday. While I am excellent at this sort of thing, I found it ironic that we were promoting literacy through Dr. Seuss; though his goal in writing was to create interesting stories that children would want to read. Everyone seems to remember Dr. Seuss stories fondly from their own childhoods, certainly most American children know who the Cat in the Hat is. What I find so strange is that often we regard these horrifically complicated and beautifully tongue tying stories as stories to read aloud to kids. On Sunday I read "Happy Birthday to You", which I had never read before. It was thousands of pages long, including millions of words, and about a third of the way through it I was not certain that I would still be capable of using my voice by the time the story was over. Thank god I have a working knowledge of rhythm and could kind of rap the story, otherwise I think my brain wouldn't have allowed my mouth to form the bizarre syllables that Dr. Seuss demands from his patients. 

Also, Dr. Seuss made up so many words, how on earth could this have been acceptable for children learning to read to attempt to understand? I doubt many parents knew what the hell was going on in the supposedly wonderful book they had just given to their child! Don't get me wrong, I love Dr. Seuss. In fifth grade I dressed up as the gentleman to give a biographical presentation of one of my favorite authors. 

That brings me to a second observation- Dr. Seuss was a man, not a cat, or an elephant, or anything else. If someone dresses up as Dr. Seuss they are dressing up as a man from the middle of the previous century with a beard. I heard lots of people tell their kids we were dressed up as Dr. Seuss because we had tall red and white striped hats on. The Cat wore the Hat, not the man. Ok, fine. I'm a snob.

Here's a picture...

Things 1 and 2 are some of the best characters ever created in a children's story. Their proper names are probably something like Trouble and Mischief, and after reading about the ways they wreck those poor kids house, it's a wonder that parents let their kids be exposed to that lunacy. Also, doesn't the cat constitute a stranger, yet don't we hate the fish who demands that the cat leave from their house? I'm confused at what I'm supposed to take away from this tale...