When I was in elementary school I had somehow come to the conclusion that I didn’t like pizza. I was a pretty picky eater and honestly haven’t fully grown out of that.
It turns out that to overcome something you don’t like can just be something that you love. A good partner puts up with stuff that they don’t like to be with the person that they love. Back then, I loved reading. I would absolutely devour books and was constantly begging to go to our local library to get new ones. When the book fair came to school, it was a magical experience for me. When I read, I specifically remember telling people about how I stopped even seeing the words on the page, just images flooding in.
I picked up a lot of new words in my pursuits, somehow earning the nickname The Human Dictionary. It doesn’t sound that bad right now but it stung third grade me. It became clear to my younger self that being well read wasn’t something cool. Even the prizes I got for absorbing volumes of books didn’t even do it for me; personal pan pizzas from Pizza Hut. I didn’t even like pizza! Present me laughs at that. Past mom enjoyed the benefits of my labor.
In 1993, Pizza Hut decided to capitalize on the success of my favorite TV show, X-Men The Animated Series. They were handing out free comics to people who made a purchase at the store. I begged, this time for going to Pizza Hut. She agreed but on one condition, I had to eat the pizza that we ordered. I solemnly agreed. It was in this awkward agreement that I discovered another love, pizza. How had I spent my life avoiding this amazing food? It was lunacy.
I’ve picked up reading again over the last year or so. First with the book The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. Most recently and most impactful, the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I recently finished book 7 of that series and while I wait for book 8 in May, I started author Matt Dinniman’s ‘Operation Bounce House’ to tide me over. It feels good to reignite an old passion. Wish I was earning pizza points though.
What old hobbies have you rediscovered? What book are you reading right now?
Junction Point 