Decaffeinating Brodi

Contest Status: Remember- all people who comment this week get entered into a drawing for an autographed copy of Laurie Halse Anderson's book Speak.

We had a great discussion in the comments section yesterday about what is considered offensive material in Young Adult books. There seemed to be a consensus about graphic depictions of sex and recreational drug use.

A couple of comments mentioned that no matter what happens, it has to feel real, and honest, which is one of my favorite things about Young Adult books. Teens seem to have a knack for sniffing out something that doesn't ring true. There's no fooling them!

Feel free to continue the discussion today, or you may choose to answer this question:

DISCUSSION QUESTION OF THE DAY
What would you like to see more of in Young Adult literature? Less of? Are there any issues you would like to see Young Adult authors address? If you're a parent, what do you want your kids reading?

For those of you who weighed in yesterday, and therefore believe you don't have to comment today, ponder this: Cosmic fortune always plays a role in random chance. I'm not necessarily watching to see if you've commented more than once. But I can't say the same for the universe. The fates are always watching...



Did you dig those killer special effects? I especially love the sequence of the floating eyeball, followed by a cheap naked doll, followed by the spookiest image of all: e=mc2.

Personally, I can think of about a million things scarier than Einstein's theory of energy. In fact, I find it comforting that energy is directly proportional to mass. It helps me sleep at night.

Come to think of it, I can think of a million equations more disturbing. How about that Pythagorean Theorem? I remember having nightmares for weeks after learning that in high school. It was seriously some sort of cosmic joke.

SPEAKING OF COSMIC JOKES

I'm trying (sort of) to cut back on my caffeine intake. So I decided to sample some of that vitamin water that everyone's so hip on these days. Only the store didn't have the regular stuff, so I tried this "Fruit 2 0".

I was feeling rather triumphant, until the jitters started. So I took a closer look at the ingredients in my "water".

Fruit, check.
Water, check.
Vitamins, check.

Buttload of caffeine, checkity check.

Figures.

I can only assume the universe does not want me to quit caffeine. The universe does not trust Brodi, the decaffeinated version.

And who am I to fight fate?