24 Hour Marathon Book Swap and Readings

I took Ever to a 24 hours marathon book swap and live reading event. 

The event was held in a small side room at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas. Hundreds of books covered the wooden beams, benches and floors of the little room. A dozen 30-something-year-olds were crowded around, chatting with one another giving the room a mindless drone of voices. 
In one corner, an upright piano encased in books stood with the keys exposed, almost as if someone was going to sit down at any moment and play us all a tune. Opposite of the piano was a large prism fish tank that seem to be housing one single sea animal of very unusual characteristics. Was it a fish? Lobster? Sea Horse? It had spikes and what looked like spindly legs and it was bright orange, whatever it was. 

Ever and I came prepared with three books to swap. As we graced the front steps of the building, Ever decided he wanted to keep the book he brought to swap, so now we had just two books to swap between the two of us. 

Apparently, that didn't change anything because we left the event with seven books between the two of us.  We would have taken more, but we had no more room in our arms! 

After a good half hour of us browsing, someone plunked out four notes on the piano, giving everyone else in the room a silent cue to find a seat. Ever and I followed suit. 

A very nervous man started talking and explaining his reading choice for this evening. I don't know what it was. It wasn't all that interesting, and while he wasn't a bad reader, it was really not that intriguing nor memorable and he didn't really read with much excitement. 
But, as he read, I realized just how much I adored having someone reading to me! I had forgotten just how much I loved having my mother read out loud to me when I was growing up. 

Kudos to whomever it was who decided to host this giant book exchange! Ever and I are such old souls, and we totally nerd out about going to events such as these! 

The seven books we ended up taking were: 

• A book depicting every Vogue cover from when it first started to 2010
• A book on 100 famous architectural places (This book has lots of photos! My favorite)
• How to Win at Poker (Ever's pick)
• A book on King Tut (Ever's first pick of the night)
• A book about a Nazi trial (Ever's pick)
• A book Ever picked solely based on the cover. It had Ronald Reagan in the cover art. 
• I can't remember the last book. Sorry. (It was one of Ever's)

At the end of the night, as we headed back to my car, we passed this statue. Ever takes one look at it an announces,

"I could probably climb that."
"Hand me your books and prove it"

He made it pretty high up and then panicked a little because a car drove by. Trust me, NO ONE cares if you are a little boy climbing a stature at 10pm at night in Dallas. No one. 
It's my goal in life to keep everyone as daring and youthful as possible for as long as they will allow me to help them stay that way. For Ever, that mean encouraging impulses such as climbing public art. I mean, I still do it at twenty-two. Why shouldn't he at eleven? 

Don't forget to play, folks.
Stay curious.