I’ve been catching up on my reading lately. Mostly, I have been reading teen fiction, courtesy of my daughters. I am now reading the Uglies series by Scott Westerfield. Actually I’ve finished reading Uglies already and am now on the second book, Pretties. I’ll post a review of Uglies soon.

In the meantime, here are two books that I just finished:
Marked by P.C. Cast & Kristine Cast.

Betrayed by P.C. Cast & Kristine Cast.

The next book, Chosen, is due to come out the first week in March, so I’ll be sure to get the book , but I will probably have to wait in line behind the girls to read it. Bummer.

One of the best finds from our Las Vegas Vacation.

Jade is a huge fan of the tv series One Tree Hill and she has gotten me hooked on watching it too, as improbable as the plot is. Now where do you ever find high school kids who seemingly live independently and pretty much do whatever they want without parental supervision? Well, on TV, apparently. In this show called One Tree Hill.

One Tree Hill is shot on location in Wilmington, NC, at the EUE Screen Gems Studios, the largest studio in the U.S. outside of Los Angeles, CA. Since we spent our last weekend at Wilmington, NC, we couldn’t pass up the chance to tour the set of One Tree Hill. The people attending the tour were mostly teenage girls like mine and their parents. I think I only saw a few adult only couples. The rest were like us, moms and their teenage girls.

Photography is not allowed inside the soundstage where all the sets are, photos are only allowed outside the buildings which are not very interesting in themselves. Inside, the stage, if you’re a fan of the show especially, is very interesting and brings to life some of the sights that have come familiar to you from the series. Some photos of what to expect can be seen on their website, but as the tour guides said, the sets change all the time so what you see may be different the next time around.

The tour, which lasts about an hour to an hour and a half costs $12 for adults and $5 for children under 12 years old. Tours are conducted on Saturdays and Sundays at 12 noon and 2 p.m. during the months between May and September. The tours are conducted by students from area colleges who are majoring in media communications or film. The girls and I concurred that they could do with a little bit more training, but they are an enthusiastic group and that more than makes up for their lack luster presentation.

This issue can be so funny if it wasn’t for the deeper implications it raises. Here is an article about another book that is being criticized for a word used within the first pages. What one word could possible raise such a ruckus? SCROTUM. Did that shock you? Did it offend your moral sensibilities to hear the word?

It doesn’t really do anything for me but apparently it raises the hackles of some people. I have to admit that I hadn’t read the book yet, but I will just to see what the fuss is about.

The children’s book written by Susan Patron, The Higher Power of Luckyis this year’s Newberry Medal winner and it is recommended for children from grades 4-6. The story is about a 10 year old girl named Lucky whose mother is struck by lightning and dies. Lucky’s father then asks his ex-wife to take care of Lucky while he is off elsewhere. This is about Lucky and her friends going through the usual angsts of growing up, and growing up without her real parents at that.

The fuss about the book comes about from the reference to the dog’s scrotum being bit by a snake (sounds pretty funny to me) at the beginning of the story. Apparently, because of this word, the work becomes unsuitable for reading aloud, and some would even insist not suitable for reading in silence either. Because of the S word. I do not understand what is so wrong with the word. It is the correct term for that body part, right? That body part does exist and not just an imagined perversion, correct? So you would call your head a head, your arm an arm and not think twice about it; so why not call a scrotum a scrotum? I tried to think of other euphemisms (some have suggested it could have been implied in another way) but could only come up with balls. How about you? How many other ways can you call “the thing”?

I know many of us were raised with funny (and I really do mean funny)
ideas about sexuality, but I would like to think that as we grew older and more educated that we have shed some of the puritan ideas we have about sex. I remember my mom having a hard time explaining sex to us and even referred us to the dictionary when cornered with a word she couldn’t explain without blushing. I’d like to think I’m a little better with my girls. At least they know their ‘thing’ is called a vagina and not ‘pek-pek’. OK, my mom will argue that pekpek is a word. Yes, but it’s a ilocano/filipino word and even at that it is not the proper name for the proper name is also considered vulgar even in the Philippines. Thank goodness for a second language to mask our inhibitions about calling body parts their proper names! But really, what is it about calling IT by it’s proper name? Why is that bad?

Besides, most kids nowadays, unless they have been cloistered, will know all these terms by the time they are 9 or sooner (and at least 10 euphemisms to boot). At least mine do… and sometimes in a second language, even!

Words are only dirty when you make them to be.