Felton Reinstein thought he had it all-a great girlfriend, an athletic scholarship in the bag, and football friends he could totally count on. Wrong Like an elephant storming a house of cards, it all comes crashing down. And it's Felton's fault. Turns out his little brother has taken an impromptu road trip to Florida (aka desperate flight from all the talented people) to make a bid for stardom (aka fronting a hotel rock band with escapees from a retirement community). What's a big brother to do but help pick up the pieces, even if it means giving up all the status, all the glory and once again facing a life of nothing special.
Today on A Diary Of A Book Addict we have Geoff Herbach the author of Stupid Fast and Nothing Special. He shared with us the top ten things to bring on a road trip and a senior superlative.
TOP TEN THINGS TO BRING ON A ROAD TRIP
I am always woefully unprepared when I hit the road. Generally I gain a lot of weight from eating truck stop crap and also have to buy supplies along the way, because I’m not a good planner. So, if I were to think about it ahead of time, rather than taking off half-cocked, these are the ten items I would make sure I had:
1. A cooler for my beer. Just kidding. I’d bring a cooler for yogurt and health drinks and for lettuce. I’d also bring some almonds for heart health and some delicious fruit to tide me over until I can hit the next organic co-op along the way.
2. Stretchy pants. After agonizing over how much I don’t like vegetables, I will need to have stretchy pants, because I will likely freak out after a day, and then I’ll eat pizza and sub sandwiches and many bacon cheeseburgers. If I’m in the south, I will eat cheese grits. My jeans will burst and I’ll need stretchy pants.
3. A harmonica. I’ll use this when I’m singing the fat man blues.
4. Several phone chargers. I spill coffee on everything electronic when I’m road tripping. Phone chargers fizzle fast. I’ll likely need a new phone or two, but that’s a risk I’ll take (won’t buy in advance, due to expense).
5. A paper map. Electronics die when you spill coffee. Paper just looks gross. You can still read a map through coffee stains.
6. A Frisbee. My muscles get all knotted up. Nothing feels better than chasing a Frisbee through the winds of some foreign place (if my heart can take it after all the bacon).
7. Mad libs. These are funny for three minutes. The best three minutes of your trip will be spent creating a dirty mad lib.
8. A friend or two. My friend Sam and I went on a two-month book tour a few years ago. We took lots of hilarious pictures in crazy places – like at crazy Niagra Falls – which made the trip seem fun!
9. Underpants. Remember, you will want a change of underpants at some point.
10. A notebook. The truth about road trips is that much time is spent suffering, confused, wishing you were home. I love that. I would rather suffer than be bored. You get to know yourself when you’re uncomfortable. Bring a notebook so you can keep track of your beautiful monkey thoughts.
That sounds about right.
Geoff
SENIOR SUPERLATIVE
The weirdest thing happened on the way to writing a blog post about what I was like in high school and what I wanted out of life: nothing! (Sort of.)
If you’d asked me my senior year – way back in the days of Lionel Richie and young Madonna – “Herbach. What will you be?” I would’ve taken a long sip of my chocolate milk and said, “Probably an English professor and a writer of some kind.” That’s what I figured I’d do.
Sure, I also wanted to watch TV, break dance, and play professional football. But, I knew, from having not been paid to watch TV that TV watching wasn’t a viable career. I’d had a terrible dancing accident that left me unsure of my qualifications for break dancing fame (spun off a stage). I also knew, from having played against some very good high school football players, that I didn’t like getting my head smashed really hard (and figured pros would probably smash my head harder, even). I was left with my love for books and for writing funny stuff.
In college, though, I forgot after a while. Writing didn’t seem practical. I was also extremely social – wildly, inappropriately social (not gross inappropriate, just inappropriate because all my time was absorbed in messing around with friends instead of studying). I finally figured out (inappropriately) that I should be more practical, should do something that would earn money.
It took me about ten years eating from candy dishes in cubicles for me to remember my high school self. I tried break dancing first, but it hurt too much. Then I started writing again. And so, here I am, doing what I thought I would.
Thank God. Seriously.
Haven't read Stupid Fast yet, what are you waiting for???????
My name is Felton Reinstein, which is not a fast name. But last November, my voice finally dropped and I grew all this hair and then I got stupid fast. Fast like a donkey. Zing
Now they want me, the guy they used to call Squirrel Nut, to try out for the football team. With the jocks. But will that fix my mom? Make my brother stop dressing like a pirate? Most important, will it get me girls -especially Aleah?
So I train. And I run. And I sneak off to Aleah's house in the night. But deep down I know I can't run forever. And I wonder what will happen when I finally have to stop.
want to win a copy of Stupid Fast and Nothing Special? All you have to do is leave a comment answering what is your favorite memory from High School and I will chose a winner on Saturday May 12, 2012
Want to STALK Geoff.......
Buy Nothing Special!
Buy Stupid Fast!
Thank you so much Geoff for stopping by and sharing with us. we look forward to reading more books from you!
7 comments:
Sounds like an entertaining read
I would like to read it :)
Thanks for the feature. I haven't heard of either of these, but they sound entertaining. My favorite high school memory? Well, I was homeschooled in high school, so I guess my favorite memories were those shared with friends that went to public school. I would go to events and things with them, and they always introduced me as "the homeschooled friend" like I had some strange sickness! haha.
I have these books on my TBR list, so thank you so much for the giveaway!! I couldn't see if it was international or not?
My favourite high school memory would be the friendships! I moved areas halfway through my second year and thought that there was no way that I would fit in and make friends. But I did and I'm still friends with them today!! :D
Loved Geoff's list! And his books sound great! My favorite memory from high school - meeting my hubby! :)
This sounds like a trip! LOL
P.S. I'm a Heather hotshot too ;) hello teammate *waves*
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/heatherhildenbrandST
lol would love to read this
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