2002-09-23 ~ 6:48 a.m.

BAN BANNING NOW!!!

HOLY SHIT! I am offended. NO..... ME!!!! I'm OFFENDED!!! I am never offended. Nothing offends me.

OR SO I THOUGHT!!!!

There is now one thing that offends me, and that is the Top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books 1990-2000. Books that have been challenged (usually by parents) to be banned from libraries.

It........is.........OFFENSIVE. And by offensive I mean COMPLETELY IDIOTIC!!!

Children are playing video games with blood and guts and gore, and there are parents challenging "Of Mice and Men"???

Don't get me wrong. I have no problem with video games. I mean, if I ever have children, I like to think that I'll be able to restrict their video game and TV intake, but "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"? I swear to GOD, I'll give my kid 100 bucks if they show even an inkling of interest in the classics. As long as my child isn't CALLING anyone "Nigger Jim" I think I'd be quite alright with that. And, HELL, my kid will probably have so many black friends he will be one of those few white kids allowed to say "nigga". HOW......in the WORLD.... is a Mark Twain classic STILL in the top five of most challenged books?

I think the only book in the Top 20 that makes any sense to be there is "Sex" by Madonna, and I still proudly own my copy. (Complete with original binding and CD.)

No, I will never understand censorship. Out of everything we have to worry about, I don't see how a child reading is a bad thing. It seems to me it's only a shame when you restrict a child's reading.

Ok... let me vent some more because I still can't fathom this list. "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" was my hands down favorite book in the 4th and 5th grade. Sure, she talks about having her period, but this was valuable info for me at the time since I hadn't gone through it yet. NOT TO MENTION, the fact that schools has so-called "sex ed" classes just to discuss this topic, but whereas the classes are cold and meaningless, this book puts it into a personal perspective for a child. Judy Blume, who, when I was a child, was the most brilliant author of the time (to me) is listed FIVE TIMES! Stephen King is listed only three times. Again, I LOVE Stephen King, but am I the only one who sees a discrepancy here? "BLUBBER"! How in the hell do you challenge "Blubber"???

Many of the books deal with racism and homosexuality. At a superficial point, I can almost understand. I choose not to. There is a no dignified reason to want to ban "The Color Purple."

The very book that I learned about sex is on the list. #76, "Where Did I Come From" by Peter Mayle. I found a little humour in that.

But what truly offended me the most is not that "A Light In The Attic" by Shel Silverstein was #51, or that "Flowers For Algernon" was #47.

What truly offended me is that these books, some of which defined me as a child, are listed BEFORE #57.......

"The Anarchist Cookbook."

Call me old fashioned.

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