My weird doll-like soul mate

When I was a kid (an only child), I read a lot (surprised?), and did the majority of my reading alone once I was proficient enough. I read all the time. I would read walking down the street. I would read in class (and what teacher can find it in him- or herself to yell at a kid who willingly reads books like they're going out of style?). I read at night and would be so absorbed that I couldn't tear my eyes away from the book long enough to turn on the lights, and so would just move closer and closer to the window in order to get the light from the street lamps.

I also had a whole collection of unique pronunciations for words in my head, pronunciations that were often incredibly wrong. For example: chaos. I knew what the word meant and if someone said "chaos" out loud I knew what that meant too. Somehow, though, I didn't associate the spoken "chaos" with the written "chaos," and so when I read the word "chaos" in a book I did not hear "kay-oss" in my mind: I heard "chouse." I recently admitted this to some friends, who laughed at me and asserted that I must have been a "special" child.

It is a funny mistake, but it's also good to know that I wasn't the only one. This means it's a condition and I'm going to get a government grant to do research into it. My husband admits to the same error. More importantly, there's now an unofficial celebrity spokesperson coming out for our cause: Christina Ricci of all people, the actress who looks like a sweet/creepy goth doll.

Hubby sent me a link from a segment of the Conan O'Brien show in which the strange little elfin actress admits that she too stumbled over "chaos" in her silent reading, imagining it to be pronounced "cha-hos."

How about we do a little logic equation now: 1. Christina Ricci made up her own pronunciation for "chaos" when reading as a child. 2. I made up my own pronunciation for "chaos" when reading as a child. 3. Ergo, I am destined to become as famous as Christina Ricci. (What? No, I didn't fail out of first-year philosophy! Um, well, no. I didn't actually take that class at all. Shaddap, the logic equation still stands!!)

Here's the link: http://www.nbc.com/Late_Night_with_Conan_O'Brien/video/index.
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