Favorites

I have a hard time picking favorites. At the beginning of the year, I tell my students they can ask me anything, and I always get questions like What's your favorite book? Your favorite song? Your favorite mythological creature? There's other questions as well, but those ones make me think. And what I've decided is: it depends.

On some days, when I'm feeling reflective and quiet, Gilead by Marilynne Robinson is my favorite book. On some days (like today) when I'm trying to distract a four-year-old with a broken candy bar (gasp!), my new favorite might be Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which is an entirely different kind of story. On different occasions, I might feel like listening to Florence and the Machine, or the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, or (occasionally) the first CD I ever discovered on my own (Jagged Little Pill, during middle school, in case you wanted the complete record). Favorites are hard to pick! Even favorite colors depend on context, it seems (for the four-year-old? flaming red. for my writing room? green is supposed to be soothing...).

Yeah. If it's a favorite, I answer based off of mood.

And my favorite mythological creature? Dragon.

For now.

* If you watch this, you will get an old song stuck in your head. Plus thunder! You have been warned.