I'm not supposed to be like this, but it's okay

(This could also be titled "All sorts of awesome."  Take your pick.)

I'm in love with 600 Hours of Edward by Craig Lancaster.  It's easily my favorite book of this year... and sure, the year isn't over yet, but this is my blog, and I can make whatever declarations I want.  (I  love the word "declarations.")

Not that this is pertinent or anything (I love the word "pertinent"), but Eric usually brings me flowers for the girls' birthdays, because he is awesome like that, but this year, what with a generally hectic week leading up to and after Abby's birthday, he gave me an e-book of my choice instead.  Flowers are pretty, but I think I like the e-book idea better.  For one thing, it lasts longer than a week.  For another, a girl can NEVER have too many books.  (I love the word "books.")

Moving right along...

I'm not going to write a book report, and anyway, if you want that sort of information, you can just click the link above and Amazon will happily tell you everything you need to know, and you can read other people's book reports, and even a sample chapter (which I recommend you do).

But!  Some things you should know about Edward: He is awesome (I also love the word "awesome").  He's OCD and has autism spectrum disorder, so there's a lot of counting and routine and mostly self-imposed isolation that he can't seem to actually uphold.  He watches Dragnet every night at the same time (but only the color episodes), and he really likes REM and Matthew Sweet. He prefers facts and right hand turns, and he has a two-drawer filing cabinet filled with letters of complaint that he writes but does not send (anymore).  And looking back, Edward can fit how his life changed into 600 hours (or 25 days, in case you're not up to doing the math yourself).

I was pretty sure Edward and I were going to get along from the get-go (seriously, go read that sample), but then I found this passage (which I would feel badly about copying here, except it's on Amazon, so I assume it's fine.  However, if Craig Lancaster tells me to take it off, I will be all like, "Hey, Craig Lancaster!  I really love your book!  And also, you make me want to move to Montana." And then I will take it off, because I'm very obedient that way), and I knew Edward was my new best friend:

"I think my letters of complaint to Garth Brooks were entirely justified.  If you look objectively at country music, you cannot come to any conclusion other than he ruined it.  He also ruined a lot of pop music, especially when he pretended to be that Chris Gaines person and when he covered that song by Kiss. I merely wrote to him and let him know about the damage he was doing, because I thought that maybe he didn't know and would stop if he did.  I had to write to him 49 times before he wrote back, but it wasn't really him.  It was his lawyer."

Word up, Edward.  Word up.  We need more of you in this world.

Now that I've finished the book and thought about it for a week, I'm rereading it.  And highlighting all my favorite passages.  I love highlighting my favorite passages.  It's a very good project.

Clearly our song for the day must be REM's "Wrong Child," but you know what I've learned?  There is exactly one link on YouTube, and THIS IS IT.  Unfortunate, because that song is one of my favorites (I'm not supposed to be like this, either), and the quality isn't that great, but what do you do?