Why am I doing this when I have so much work to do and so little time in which to do it? Why?

I'm making bean soup, which is a totally legitimate excuse for not writing my Theories paper. Right?

Oh, whatever.

I've seen this on a bunch of people's pages, and I've filled out similar things on Facebook. I will take any damn excuse to talk about books. Even if it's just a list of names. Clinical Psychology has not killed my inner English major.

"The Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen authors (poets included) who have influenced you and will always stick with you. List the first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes, and they don't have to be listed in order of relevance to you."

1. Ursula K. LeGuin
2. C.J. Cherryh
3. John Gardner
4. Annie Dillard
5. Lydia Millet
6. Jonathan Lethem
7. Louis MacNeice
8. T.S. Eliot
9. Dorothy Parker
10. David Foster Wallace
11. Stephen King
12. Harvey Pekar
13. Chris Ware
14. Los Bros. Hernandez
15. John Varley

Okay, so I cheated by lumping Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez together. And maybe I cheated by including comics, but I don't think so. Chris Ware changed the way I read. Not just comics, but everything. It's hard to explain, but I promise it's true.

There are a couple writers on my list who I'm tempted to qualify, to specify some time frame in their career or some specific work. But that's not really fair. Their writing something I'm not into doesn't diminish the pleasure I get from reading what I do like, or the influence they've had upon me.

Okay, seriously, homework. Wtf, self.

Why am I doing this when I have so much work to do and so little time in which to do it? Why?

I'm making bean soup, which is a totally legitimate excuse for not writing my Theories paper. Right?

Oh, whatever.

I've seen this on a bunch of people's pages, and I've filled out similar things on Facebook. I will take any damn excuse to talk about books. Even if it's just a list of names. Clinical Psychology has not killed my inner English major.

"The Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen authors (poets included) who have influenced you and will always stick with you. List the first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes, and they don't have to be listed in order of relevance to you."

1. Ursula K. LeGuin
2. C.J. Cherryh
3. John Gardner
4. Annie Dillard
5. Lydia Millet
6. Jonathan Lethem
7. Louis MacNeice
8. T.S. Eliot
9. Dorothy Parker
10. David Foster Wallace
11. Stephen King
12. Harvey Pekar
13. Chris Ware
14. Los Bros. Hernandez
15. John Varley

Okay, so I cheated by lumping Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez together. And maybe I cheated by including comics, but I don't think so. Chris Ware changed the way I read. Not just comics, but everything. It's hard to explain, but I promise it's true.

There are a couple writers on my list who I'm tempted to qualify, to specify some time frame in their career or some specific work. But that's not really fair. Their writing something I'm not into doesn't diminish the pleasure I get from reading what I do like, or the influence they've had upon me.

Okay, seriously, homework. Wtf, self.