Because he's good enough and smart enough...

[siren_of_psych]

The following is an excerpt from Al Franken's book, Oh, The Things I Know! which Tristan read aloud to me this evening with minimal help. The words that I gave him a tad bit of help by helping him break down the words, etc, are in bold. All other words he fired off like a sixth-grader. Tristan is six. He was so cute. He came over and asked to read the beginning of the book. When he finished this intro. he gave me a high five when I said, "This is a grown-up book, Tristan," and he responded, "There aren't even any pictures in it!" What a kid thing to say. But he was so cute. He told me that the book contained three "books." When I asked him how he knew that he said, "Oh, I was just looking at it yesterday when it was sitting on the couch." A six-year-old who browses through Al Franken books! Damn!!!

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"I've never met you. I don't know much about you. But I do know that you have unlimited potential. You can do anything you really set your mind to. And be anything you really want to be--What a crock, huh?! Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat this. Your life is going to have a lot of ups and downs. Some of you who read this will have miserable lives and be disappointments to your parents, your children, your spouse, and to yourself. And to some extent, to me. Because, after all, you've read this book, or at least this part of it, and still made a mess of things. But I'm not here to add to your burden. No, I'm here to lighten it--with wisdom, with humor, and with a firm belief that no one piece of advice works for everyone."