Thursday, 10/22

 Like most children, I blame my parents.

Don't worry; Chicky-Poo and Dar didn't do anything really bad.  I don't have to run to a therapist every week.  I have a healthy & loving relationship.  And I actually really, really like what my parents did to me.

Even if it was turn me into a geography nerd.

That thought popped into my mind as I was leafing through a book I bought called “The Passport Book”.  It's basically pictures of the 200-some passports that exist on the planet, and a a few fun facts about the countries that issue them.  I pick up books like that all the time, and I devour them eagerly.

Thanks, Mom & Dad.

Apparently, my nerd-dom started at a very early age.  According to my mom, when I was a little too young to start school I would longingly stare out the window at all the kids walking to class.  So to make me feel a little better she would read a page or two of a giant world atlas we had, so I would feel like I was learning something even if I couldn't go to school.  As I learned how to read myself, that would be one of my favorite books to peruse, as I learned all about different countries and the people who lived in them

The rest, of course, is history.  And have I ever mentioned that I have AWESOME parents?

8-)

They also introduced me to travel, the other reason “The Passport Book” attracted my attention.  As a little kid I got to go to all kinds of interesting places, and when I was a senior in high school they managed to take advantage of an airline promotion where you could buy tickets and, basically, fly anywhere you wanted within a two-week span.  I realize you could never do that now, but back them we went from Marquette to Houston to LA to Miami to DC to Nashville to Houston and back to Marquette in 11 days.

I didn't need a passport for that, but it definitely one of the things that lit something within me.

So, like many people, I can blame the way I turned out on my parents.  Thankfully, it was in a positive way.  You can tell by the books I still read, even after all these years.

(jim@wmqt.com)