I was listening to NPR "Talk of the Nation" on the way to work today and they were talking about what books influenced you. It got me thinking... don't worry, I'm being careful :)
The first "real" book I read was "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, I don't remember which. But I thnk one that influenced me quite a bit was "Catcher in the Rye" by I don't remember who. And it didn't influence me in the way you're probably thinking. It was required reading for my 10th grade English class and I remember disliking it very strongly. It seemed like the whole book was about glorifying this bratty, arrogant, self-absorbed, kid. I really didn't like the thing, but my teacher thought it was wonderful. So, the influence was more in what happened arround the book than the book itself. It was the first time that I realized that my teachers really didn't know everything. That it was OK for me to disagree with them.
So, that was my deep thought for the day. I have to go run errands now, but when I get back I'm going to try to post about at least what happened on Friday at the convention. There may or may not be pictures right away, but there will definatley be more posted when I get home tonight. It's a pain to upload pictures from work (where I am right now) so it'll probably wait untill I get home where it's much easier.