Chelsey Cosh's Blog: From Mind to Mouth - Posts Tagged "parks-and-recreation"
Let The Games Begin!
Another year, another PopSugar Reading Challenge!
So far, I'm off to a solid start. Seeing as this challenge is the first for me since BookIt! Reading Club and the beckoning reward of a free personal pan pizza each month from the Hut, I feel a little rusty to the whole thing, but I figure the best way to stay accountable is by doing a monthly recap of my progress. I know I'm not alone in this regard, so it should come as no surprise to readers.
I saw nowhere that said I had to go through these challenge prompts in any particular order, so I've been checking them off somewhat randomly. Without further ado ...
Book #1: A book written by a comedian
I have read my fair share of books by comedians before, most recently Amy Poehler's Yes Please . I've also read Tina Fey's Bossypants and skimmed (but am yet to finish) both Rachel Dratch's Girl Walks into a Bar and Sarah Silverman's Bedwetter . There are countless others, but these are the ones of recent memory.
I wanted to go a little astray with this challenge and choose something that fits the prompt, but not in such an obvious way. However, I didn't want to wander so far that I hated the book and didn't want to complete the challenge, especially not on this first book.
Total disclosure: I love Parks and Recreation . That show brings me joy, but also taught me that being bright doesn't always mean being one-hundred percent confident. The show's protagonist, bubbly workaholic feminist Leslie Knope, a role performed authentically and spiritedly by Amy Poehler, made me realize that I am more like her than even I care to admit. For example, when Leslie gets that big promotion, she's terrified. What should be a moment of joy and triumph is actually a cause for panic. As someone who succumbs to anxiety more frequently than one should, I get that feeling.
Anyway, I love that show dearly and none of that digression matters one iota, other than the fact that any Parks and Rec fan knows that there's never been a character quite like Ron Swanson. I mean, he's the head of a government department with a strictly libertarian attitude toward government as a whole. The actor who portrays Ron is Nick Offerman and, after watching his stand-up on Netflix, American Ham , I figured Nick more than qualified as a comedian. He sure has given me quite a few hearty chuckles and his potty-mouthed serenading also provides a tickle. In fact, Nick decided to take to stand-up to spread his views, particularly the notion of paddling your own canoe.
That's why my first book for this challenge was Paddle Your Own Canoe , by Nick Offerman. Tired of being misconstrued as identical to his Parks and Rec character, Offerman espouses his central values via his book. Sure, the essence of the Ron Swanson character is subtly present and obviously imbued with a little bit of Nick, such as his love of red meat, his carpentry skills, and his belief in self-sufficiency with a toolbox in hand. In the end, Paddle Your Own Canoe is Nick's uniquely whittled tale. By combining his life lessons with a walk through his own experiences from childhood to the Hollywood Hills, Paddle Your Own Canoe is an interesting way to show both a man's values alongside where he came from.
Sure, it's not going to radically change your life, unless you're into woodworking or Chicago theatre productions, but it is an interesting glimpse at how the other half live, and I don't just mean the rich and famous. I enjoyed it a lot and loved seeing those points of convergence between Nick and Ron just as much as those elements of Nick that distinguished himself from that incorrigible Ron Swanson!
Book #2: A New York Times bestseller
This was an easy pick. I use my library frequently and this book fell right into my hands the second I needed something for this prompt. I read her first book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? , and enjoyed it. It was a fun read, a light and fluffy one, and I devoured it in a couple of days, so when I received the follow-up, I was more than pleased.
I expected Mindy Kaling's Why Not Me? to be more of the same. What I received had that same signature style, but with the maturity gathered from a woman in her thirties. The book spoke more from the heart than ever before. I was touched at moments, empowered at others, and almost cried when I read the list of terrifying thoughts that keep Mindy up at night. I have held some of those same thoughts in the seconds before drifting off to sleep, the kind she describes as the thoughts that soak your sheets with sweat, and Mindy humanizes herself here. I don't think I'm alone in wondering the same thoughts as her, thoughts like whether or not you'll forget the sound of a parent's voice after they've passed away.
Mindy also takes a moment to address how far she's come, how she knows she has lucked out to a certain extent, but that the luck would have run out if she didn't apply a strong work ethic to the tasks placed in front of her. She knows that she started off as a ball of nervous energy, certain that she was in the wrong place and that she wasn't up to snuff. Mindy Kaling is neither Kelly Kapoor nor Mindy Lahiri. She realized that the only way you can feel like you deserve something is to earn it. It's okay to want more for yourself, but you have to be willing to put the hard work in to get it.
In summation, Mindy returns to the idea that, no matter what walk of life, we are all human and we're always going to feel a little bit like a fraud. That's because we're all works in progress, or a "Mindy Project", if you will. So take a step in the right direction.
Book #3: A book from the library
This challenge prompt encouraged me to go the extra mile. I didn't just borrow this book from the library; I use my library religiously, so in my particular case, this prompt didn't feel like quite enough to constitute a "challenge" in the strictest sense of the word. To boost this particular challenge, I decided to get a book through an interlibrary loan, thus enlisting two libraries: my local library who submitted the request and the library who owns the book and is lending it to me. Yes, I realize the irony that I chose a book that basically spits in the face of libraries albeit the spitting is done in friendly jest. I chose Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America .
I know, I know -- two Parks and Rec books in one month! I brazenly provided a buffer of a single book. For that, I can only say that I can safely say that this will be the last book written by a cast member from said TV program. (Although, I have been eyeing up both Modern Romance and Gumption ...)
How could I not read this book, though, after that extra effort? I won't make any more apologies. After all, what other book starts with a full-page dedication, the kind you'd expect the character Leslie Knope to write, that thanks "every living creature in the universe except turtles, whom I find condescending"? That is some Pawneean wisdom there. Viewers of the show subscribed to the town's craziness as much as its inhabitants and witnessed the detail that went into the town. You already know about J.J.'s Diner. You already know about the Sweetums factory, "Pawnee's answer t Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, minus the orange dwarves and child abuse." Don't forget the Wamapoke Casino, Li'l Sebastian Memorial, and Kernston's Rubber Nipple Factory!
Yes, Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America offers a proper tour of this town, a love letter to fans of the show who have immersed themselves so much in every episode that the setting itself feels real. You'll taste the local flavour and love the warts-and-all world described therein.
Perhaps growing up in a small town added to my appreciation. I get the pride a community can have in something as simple and unimpressive as a stop sign. I may not be a citizen of that little fissure-laden pin on the Indiana state map, but I see the beauty of a town that is "first in friendship, fourth in obesity." I'm from that place.
Book #4: A self-improvement book
Picking a self-improvement book was a little tricky. I wasn't about to reach a book on how men were from Mars or how to get over my divorce -- none of that applied to me and certainly didn't interest me. I was debating on whether I wanted to know what colour my parachute was.
Then, epiphany hit. Bear with me, folks, because, of this challenge so far, this book has had the most impact.
Let's go back to 2015. Late in the year, I watched Australian actor Damon Gameau's popular documentary film, That Sugar Film . I was so entranced by what I learned that I immediately wanted to take action. I began researching sugar like a mad child and, finally, made the call. For December 2015 and January 2016, I reduced my sugar consumption to the absolute minimum. That's right; all through Christmas, I was sugar-free. Don't cry for me yet, Argentina; I ate my fair share of vegan chips made from ground blue corn. My significant other went along on the ride with me and we found that the body and the mind really does change. In my experience, it's not so radical as described because your body gradually adjusts and it seems almost imperceptible. Yes, seeing a birthday cake on a TV screen still makes me drool for a second or two, but I honestly wouldn't want a slice if it was offered. I've poured fruit juice and soda for others and smelled its aroma as the fruitiness dispersed into the air or the fizz spritzed out the lid as the bubbles popped on the surface... and I felt nothing. Not at first, but with time, sugar lost its hold on me, the grasp weakening with every sip of water and, occasionally, Perrier. I handed After Eights to my mother and, still, with my self-proclaimed weakness to that delicious dairy delight, I moved past it unscathed. Instead, I eat meat and cheese guilt-free and feel happier for it.
I did that because of a movie. Naturally, curiosity got the best of me and I wanted to know more to improve my well-being. That's why I sought out Damon Gameau's That Sugar Book , which Damon proclaims is a companion guide to reinforce and supplement the information provided by the film. It's true that there is a great deal of overlap, but I still benefited from the additional tidbits here and there. In fact, I wished I had read it earlier because the third part of the book (the book is divided into four sections: the experiment; the science; the recovery; and , for those struggling in the kitchen, some recipes) would have guided me better out of the sugar cesspool. Once you make the decision to reduce or remove added and refined sugars from your diet, the "how" is still a serious hurdle. My significant other slept through half of the first weekend, going through withdrawal from the caffeine-sugar combo he was used to chugging back three or four times a day. It's hard as hell to do it, but it is so worth it. As the author Damon Gameau himself writes, "Many would argue that they eat sugar all the time and they are fine, but how many of them have experienced what they are like without sugar? I suspect very few, given how early we begin our consumption and how prevalent sugar is in our food supply." That's one of the most startling realizations about the experiment Gameau underwent. He never permitted himself to consume ice cream or candy or soda or chocolate bars or any of that stuff we instantly know is bad for us. No, he ate the average daily amount of sugar consumed by Australians through allegedly healthy food, like cereal or juice or low-fat yogurt. I advocate everyone who cares about living to read That Sugar Book. That may sound hyperbolic, but if you want to actually avoid killing yourself slowly and damaging your precious body (you only get one!), it is essential to know how food works. For those who want the abridged, bite-size, Coles-Notes version, then absolutely watch the film instead.
And it's not just your weight, if that's what you're thinking. Your body is taking a beating, sure, but sugar is an addictive substance that messes up your appetite, your brain, your liver (Oh, how it screws with your poor liver!), your blood, and your youthful looks. It puts a dent in your body's defence system.
If you're waiting for the world to change, you're going to be waiting awhile. As Mahatma Gandhi said, you have to be the change you want to see in the world. Companies who care about profits have worked on finding that "bliss point" where you keep coming back; it's really no different than cigarettes. (In fact, fifteen percent of a cigarette is sugar.) Big businesses fight nutritional scientists and their research and will pull funding if they don't get the answer they want. If you've been under the belief that somehow boxed cereal is part of a complete breakfast or that soda is okay in moderation, then this book will explain how it's virtually impossible to drink soda in moderation. One look at what dentists call "Mountain Dew mouth" should point you in the right direction.
We need to get together and opt out. As nutritionist David Wolfe once said, "None of us is as smart as all of us." Every person in my life had an eyeroll or a snarky remark when I said I was cutting out the sugar. Some got furious. I can't imagine how my eating habits affect them in the slightest, but they were nonetheless frustrated with me. Damon addresses this phenomenon in his book, but not his film. I wish I had known, so I could prepare for the backlash. My significant other thankfully jumped on board, so I wasn't alone. In That Sugar Book, Gameau writes, "People may scoff now if you remove sugar but it is only because they don't understand. And remember that sugar is very addictive so some people will not go down without a fight. They will defend their addiction to the end because it is like a friend or a lover to them." I don't want sugar to be my lover.
I understand trepidation. I was scared, too, but you're stronger than you know. If you're really hesitant but still want to do something, then at least cut the sugary drinks. Just stop consuming soft drinks; fruit juices; energy drinks; flavoured waters; flavoured waters (FYI: squeezing lemon into water does not count as flavoured water); sports drinks; flavoured milks; and tea, coffee, or lattes with sugar. If you want to go further, then I recommend the book. Eating every two hours during that detox is a great tip I learned long after the fact, so while the movie is the starting point, the book shows the path to take.
Don't say goodbye to your treats because sugar is not a reward; it's a punishment. Say hello to a better life in every conceivable way. I don't know about you, but if a "treat" was going to increase my chances of cancer, kidney failure, and Alzheimer's, I'd say no thank you.
Now, can someone please help me off this soapbox? I have some reading to do.
So far, I'm off to a solid start. Seeing as this challenge is the first for me since BookIt! Reading Club and the beckoning reward of a free personal pan pizza each month from the Hut, I feel a little rusty to the whole thing, but I figure the best way to stay accountable is by doing a monthly recap of my progress. I know I'm not alone in this regard, so it should come as no surprise to readers.
I saw nowhere that said I had to go through these challenge prompts in any particular order, so I've been checking them off somewhat randomly. Without further ado ...
Book #1: A book written by a comedian
I have read my fair share of books by comedians before, most recently Amy Poehler's Yes Please . I've also read Tina Fey's Bossypants and skimmed (but am yet to finish) both Rachel Dratch's Girl Walks into a Bar and Sarah Silverman's Bedwetter . There are countless others, but these are the ones of recent memory.
I wanted to go a little astray with this challenge and choose something that fits the prompt, but not in such an obvious way. However, I didn't want to wander so far that I hated the book and didn't want to complete the challenge, especially not on this first book.
Total disclosure: I love Parks and Recreation . That show brings me joy, but also taught me that being bright doesn't always mean being one-hundred percent confident. The show's protagonist, bubbly workaholic feminist Leslie Knope, a role performed authentically and spiritedly by Amy Poehler, made me realize that I am more like her than even I care to admit. For example, when Leslie gets that big promotion, she's terrified. What should be a moment of joy and triumph is actually a cause for panic. As someone who succumbs to anxiety more frequently than one should, I get that feeling.
Anyway, I love that show dearly and none of that digression matters one iota, other than the fact that any Parks and Rec fan knows that there's never been a character quite like Ron Swanson. I mean, he's the head of a government department with a strictly libertarian attitude toward government as a whole. The actor who portrays Ron is Nick Offerman and, after watching his stand-up on Netflix, American Ham , I figured Nick more than qualified as a comedian. He sure has given me quite a few hearty chuckles and his potty-mouthed serenading also provides a tickle. In fact, Nick decided to take to stand-up to spread his views, particularly the notion of paddling your own canoe.
That's why my first book for this challenge was Paddle Your Own Canoe , by Nick Offerman. Tired of being misconstrued as identical to his Parks and Rec character, Offerman espouses his central values via his book. Sure, the essence of the Ron Swanson character is subtly present and obviously imbued with a little bit of Nick, such as his love of red meat, his carpentry skills, and his belief in self-sufficiency with a toolbox in hand. In the end, Paddle Your Own Canoe is Nick's uniquely whittled tale. By combining his life lessons with a walk through his own experiences from childhood to the Hollywood Hills, Paddle Your Own Canoe is an interesting way to show both a man's values alongside where he came from.
Sure, it's not going to radically change your life, unless you're into woodworking or Chicago theatre productions, but it is an interesting glimpse at how the other half live, and I don't just mean the rich and famous. I enjoyed it a lot and loved seeing those points of convergence between Nick and Ron just as much as those elements of Nick that distinguished himself from that incorrigible Ron Swanson!
Book #2: A New York Times bestseller
This was an easy pick. I use my library frequently and this book fell right into my hands the second I needed something for this prompt. I read her first book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? , and enjoyed it. It was a fun read, a light and fluffy one, and I devoured it in a couple of days, so when I received the follow-up, I was more than pleased.
I expected Mindy Kaling's Why Not Me? to be more of the same. What I received had that same signature style, but with the maturity gathered from a woman in her thirties. The book spoke more from the heart than ever before. I was touched at moments, empowered at others, and almost cried when I read the list of terrifying thoughts that keep Mindy up at night. I have held some of those same thoughts in the seconds before drifting off to sleep, the kind she describes as the thoughts that soak your sheets with sweat, and Mindy humanizes herself here. I don't think I'm alone in wondering the same thoughts as her, thoughts like whether or not you'll forget the sound of a parent's voice after they've passed away.
Mindy also takes a moment to address how far she's come, how she knows she has lucked out to a certain extent, but that the luck would have run out if she didn't apply a strong work ethic to the tasks placed in front of her. She knows that she started off as a ball of nervous energy, certain that she was in the wrong place and that she wasn't up to snuff. Mindy Kaling is neither Kelly Kapoor nor Mindy Lahiri. She realized that the only way you can feel like you deserve something is to earn it. It's okay to want more for yourself, but you have to be willing to put the hard work in to get it.
In summation, Mindy returns to the idea that, no matter what walk of life, we are all human and we're always going to feel a little bit like a fraud. That's because we're all works in progress, or a "Mindy Project", if you will. So take a step in the right direction.
Book #3: A book from the library
This challenge prompt encouraged me to go the extra mile. I didn't just borrow this book from the library; I use my library religiously, so in my particular case, this prompt didn't feel like quite enough to constitute a "challenge" in the strictest sense of the word. To boost this particular challenge, I decided to get a book through an interlibrary loan, thus enlisting two libraries: my local library who submitted the request and the library who owns the book and is lending it to me. Yes, I realize the irony that I chose a book that basically spits in the face of libraries albeit the spitting is done in friendly jest. I chose Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America .
I know, I know -- two Parks and Rec books in one month! I brazenly provided a buffer of a single book. For that, I can only say that I can safely say that this will be the last book written by a cast member from said TV program. (Although, I have been eyeing up both Modern Romance and Gumption ...)
How could I not read this book, though, after that extra effort? I won't make any more apologies. After all, what other book starts with a full-page dedication, the kind you'd expect the character Leslie Knope to write, that thanks "every living creature in the universe except turtles, whom I find condescending"? That is some Pawneean wisdom there. Viewers of the show subscribed to the town's craziness as much as its inhabitants and witnessed the detail that went into the town. You already know about J.J.'s Diner. You already know about the Sweetums factory, "Pawnee's answer t Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, minus the orange dwarves and child abuse." Don't forget the Wamapoke Casino, Li'l Sebastian Memorial, and Kernston's Rubber Nipple Factory!
Yes, Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America offers a proper tour of this town, a love letter to fans of the show who have immersed themselves so much in every episode that the setting itself feels real. You'll taste the local flavour and love the warts-and-all world described therein.
Perhaps growing up in a small town added to my appreciation. I get the pride a community can have in something as simple and unimpressive as a stop sign. I may not be a citizen of that little fissure-laden pin on the Indiana state map, but I see the beauty of a town that is "first in friendship, fourth in obesity." I'm from that place.
Book #4: A self-improvement book
Picking a self-improvement book was a little tricky. I wasn't about to reach a book on how men were from Mars or how to get over my divorce -- none of that applied to me and certainly didn't interest me. I was debating on whether I wanted to know what colour my parachute was.
Then, epiphany hit. Bear with me, folks, because, of this challenge so far, this book has had the most impact.
Let's go back to 2015. Late in the year, I watched Australian actor Damon Gameau's popular documentary film, That Sugar Film . I was so entranced by what I learned that I immediately wanted to take action. I began researching sugar like a mad child and, finally, made the call. For December 2015 and January 2016, I reduced my sugar consumption to the absolute minimum. That's right; all through Christmas, I was sugar-free. Don't cry for me yet, Argentina; I ate my fair share of vegan chips made from ground blue corn. My significant other went along on the ride with me and we found that the body and the mind really does change. In my experience, it's not so radical as described because your body gradually adjusts and it seems almost imperceptible. Yes, seeing a birthday cake on a TV screen still makes me drool for a second or two, but I honestly wouldn't want a slice if it was offered. I've poured fruit juice and soda for others and smelled its aroma as the fruitiness dispersed into the air or the fizz spritzed out the lid as the bubbles popped on the surface... and I felt nothing. Not at first, but with time, sugar lost its hold on me, the grasp weakening with every sip of water and, occasionally, Perrier. I handed After Eights to my mother and, still, with my self-proclaimed weakness to that delicious dairy delight, I moved past it unscathed. Instead, I eat meat and cheese guilt-free and feel happier for it.
I did that because of a movie. Naturally, curiosity got the best of me and I wanted to know more to improve my well-being. That's why I sought out Damon Gameau's That Sugar Book , which Damon proclaims is a companion guide to reinforce and supplement the information provided by the film. It's true that there is a great deal of overlap, but I still benefited from the additional tidbits here and there. In fact, I wished I had read it earlier because the third part of the book (the book is divided into four sections: the experiment; the science; the recovery; and , for those struggling in the kitchen, some recipes) would have guided me better out of the sugar cesspool. Once you make the decision to reduce or remove added and refined sugars from your diet, the "how" is still a serious hurdle. My significant other slept through half of the first weekend, going through withdrawal from the caffeine-sugar combo he was used to chugging back three or four times a day. It's hard as hell to do it, but it is so worth it. As the author Damon Gameau himself writes, "Many would argue that they eat sugar all the time and they are fine, but how many of them have experienced what they are like without sugar? I suspect very few, given how early we begin our consumption and how prevalent sugar is in our food supply." That's one of the most startling realizations about the experiment Gameau underwent. He never permitted himself to consume ice cream or candy or soda or chocolate bars or any of that stuff we instantly know is bad for us. No, he ate the average daily amount of sugar consumed by Australians through allegedly healthy food, like cereal or juice or low-fat yogurt. I advocate everyone who cares about living to read That Sugar Book. That may sound hyperbolic, but if you want to actually avoid killing yourself slowly and damaging your precious body (you only get one!), it is essential to know how food works. For those who want the abridged, bite-size, Coles-Notes version, then absolutely watch the film instead.
And it's not just your weight, if that's what you're thinking. Your body is taking a beating, sure, but sugar is an addictive substance that messes up your appetite, your brain, your liver (Oh, how it screws with your poor liver!), your blood, and your youthful looks. It puts a dent in your body's defence system.
If you're waiting for the world to change, you're going to be waiting awhile. As Mahatma Gandhi said, you have to be the change you want to see in the world. Companies who care about profits have worked on finding that "bliss point" where you keep coming back; it's really no different than cigarettes. (In fact, fifteen percent of a cigarette is sugar.) Big businesses fight nutritional scientists and their research and will pull funding if they don't get the answer they want. If you've been under the belief that somehow boxed cereal is part of a complete breakfast or that soda is okay in moderation, then this book will explain how it's virtually impossible to drink soda in moderation. One look at what dentists call "Mountain Dew mouth" should point you in the right direction.
We need to get together and opt out. As nutritionist David Wolfe once said, "None of us is as smart as all of us." Every person in my life had an eyeroll or a snarky remark when I said I was cutting out the sugar. Some got furious. I can't imagine how my eating habits affect them in the slightest, but they were nonetheless frustrated with me. Damon addresses this phenomenon in his book, but not his film. I wish I had known, so I could prepare for the backlash. My significant other thankfully jumped on board, so I wasn't alone. In That Sugar Book, Gameau writes, "People may scoff now if you remove sugar but it is only because they don't understand. And remember that sugar is very addictive so some people will not go down without a fight. They will defend their addiction to the end because it is like a friend or a lover to them." I don't want sugar to be my lover.
I understand trepidation. I was scared, too, but you're stronger than you know. If you're really hesitant but still want to do something, then at least cut the sugary drinks. Just stop consuming soft drinks; fruit juices; energy drinks; flavoured waters; flavoured waters (FYI: squeezing lemon into water does not count as flavoured water); sports drinks; flavoured milks; and tea, coffee, or lattes with sugar. If you want to go further, then I recommend the book. Eating every two hours during that detox is a great tip I learned long after the fact, so while the movie is the starting point, the book shows the path to take.
Don't say goodbye to your treats because sugar is not a reward; it's a punishment. Say hello to a better life in every conceivable way. I don't know about you, but if a "treat" was going to increase my chances of cancer, kidney failure, and Alzheimer's, I'd say no thank you.
Now, can someone please help me off this soapbox? I have some reading to do.
Wandering Off the Beaten Path To My Own Benefit
Here I go again, tangentially reading. I've come to the conclusion that I have no problem reading a certain amount of books; my problem lies in sticking to PopSugar's official list for this year. I can't help myself from digressing from the list of prompts.
This month, I started reading Alice Miller's The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self . (This book came to my attention after being mentioned on a special edition of the Canadian panel talk show The Talk in which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remarked that it was the book his father gave him in an attempt to teach him about mental illness.) The book seemed a little dry and old, bearing in mind that it all stemmed from a psychoanalysis journal from the seventies.
The one thing I did learn from it that was worth mentioning is the idea of grandiosity and depression as two sides of the same coin; for example, someone who relies upon love by being an achievement-oriented personality is beloved for what they're doing, not who they are, and if eventually they hit upon an area where they are not the cream of the crop (something bound to happen at some point), they will become completely deflated and feel unloved because of this single failure, which could trigger depression. This information wasn't new to me, but it did offer an explanation as to why. As a young child, I was tested and declared officially by the school board as "gifted and talented", so I found this particular section interesting.
Okay, fine, I admit it. That wasn't my only foray away from the beautifully cleared garden path into the wild woods completely unsanctioned by PopSugar. I read Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Gutsiest Troublemakers . Yes, another Parks and Rec book. Ron Swans-- I mean, Nick Offerman writes about a list of great Americans in this anthology of profiles. You've got your usual types, like former presidents George Washington and James Madison, but you also have some unique and interesting choices, like Conan O'Brien, Yoko Ono, Carol Burnett, Willie Nelson, and Michael Pollan. It's equally great to read this book from start to finish as it is to skim from profile to profile. I learned some details about how these great Americans sometimes weren't so great; it's definitely a fair assessment of each one, as unbiased and objective as possible. That's what makes Gumption stand out for me. I'd definitely recommend it.
That being said, we're here to discuss the PopSugar Reading Challenge. And I have definitely done better than February, but not quite as good as January for this third month. Feeling a sense of the first quarter passing me by, I found it easier to shift into high gear. The prompts themselves even motivated me to fly forward through my own procrastination and distraction (non-related books or otherwise).
Book #6: A book that's under 150 pages
Originally, this was going to be my book that I could read in one day. After all, it is basically a children's book. My slow reading got in the way, though, taking me three days to chip away at this itty-bitty literary gem. Yes, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince is a classic and now I know why.
Quite remarkably, The Little Prince explains its own significance. In chapter fourteen, the little prince waxes on about how beautiful the desert is, even as they are in search of water, and explains that part of its beauty is that a well is hidden somewhere there, like buried treasure. Our protagonist takes in his words and realizes that this idea can be applied in a more universal way, that "what makes them beautiful is invisible." The narrator believes that physical, tangible things, the kind of things boasted and shoved upon us by a material world, are often mere shells with no value unless we assign it value. Simply put, "what's most important is invisible..."
It's the love we feel, the laughter we hear, and the connections we form in our heart that transcend the physical object. These are the things worth protecting. It's worth quoting the secret that the fox tells us after the little prince tames him: "It's quite simple: One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes."
I also found it interesting how life mirrors art. The author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is a pilot who crashed in the Libyan desert and had to travel three days in search of help, very much like the narrator in The Little Prince. The parallels don't stop there, though. The narrator talks about how he once had a love for art, but grown-ups stifled his creativity and he moved away from it. Antoine, of course, enrolled in the art school L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts in his younger years, something he gave up when the war started. (That's when he became a pilot.) In a strange turn of fate, after Antoine sustained an injury, he was supposedly forbidden to fly, but nonetheless, he insisted on being given some sort of flying duty. So, in 1944, Antoine set out from Borgo, Corsica, as part of the French air squadron, tasked to fly over Nazi-occupied France.
And no one ever saw him again.
Antoine wrote The Little Prince in 1943 and vanished into the stars (just like the little prince) in 1944. Spooky.
On a more brutal note, there is also a tale of euthanasia here. Certainly, that's not explicitly communicated and perhaps it was never even the author's intent, but, by the end of the tale, I could sense a glimmer of it -- that message in support of dying on your own terms through mercy killing. Oh, I don't want to give too much away, in case some people haven't been lucky enough to discover this brief tale of love and loss. I think I'll zip my lip from hereon.
Book #7: An autobiography
Spanning from her highly unstructured years of home-schooling to her awkward thrust-upon-her-by-chance music college years to her final rise to Internet stardom (and the fallout), Felicia Day wrote her life story, You're Never Weird on the Internet , in the same style for which she is known.
For anyone who doesn't know Felicia Day, it would be worth the time to check her out, either through her Geek and Sundry videos or even her popular Goodreads page.
As someone with a bit of a Type A personality myself, I related to all the micromanaging quirks. In fact, one of the most important chapters (although it wasn't my favourite) was called "The Deletion of Myself" and dealt with stepping back and saying, "No," instead of reaching for every opportunity. In Felicia's case, diving into so much so often had extremely negative consequences, putting her health at risk.
My father has anxiety and depression, so I understand the reluctance to view mental illness as a disease that you need help to fix. That's why page 228 resonated with me: "Imagine saying to someone, 'I have a kidney problem, and I'm having a lot of bad days lately.' Nothing but sympathy, right? [...] Then pretend to say, 'I have severe depression and anxiety, and I'm having a lot of bad days lately.' They just look at you like you're broken, right? Unfixable. Inherently flawed. Maybe not someone they want to hang around as much? Yeah, society sucks."
And she's right. People step back and treat you like you're patient zero when it's mental illness. There's no sympathy for your disease when you can't see it reflected back at them as a terrible rash or an iffy number in a blood test. Either people drop you like a hot potato or they think they can fix you with a knock-knock joke. In my father's experience, you need help and support and even medicine, but you also have to learn to fix yourself. It's hard. No question about it, it's an uphill battle. But it's doable.
Felicia's message ultimately is one of encouragement, for all kinds of people. I think I can sum up her book in this little nutshell from page 232: "You need to be able to feel proud of yourself even if you were living in a tiny hut in the middle of nowhere, taking care of goats. You are unique and good enough JUST AS YOU ARE. As a theoretical goat herder."
Book #8: A book you can finish in a day
I tried reading Ethan Frome , but the clock hit midnight and -- poof! -- the book didn't meet the requirement of this prompt. Sure, it is possible that I could have finished it in a day, but I didn't; if I'm going to do this challenge, I'm going to do it right. So, instead, I moved on to Maria Shriver's Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Went Out Into the Real World .
I read Shriver's book in the span of a few hours. Based on Shriver's commencement speech at Holy Cross, this book doles out little pearls of wisdom that she has gained throughout her life. These pieces of advice are trite, sure, but they are said so often because they are true.
One of her lessons is that "no job is beneath you." She reminds the reader that "starting at the bottom is not about humiliation. It's about humility--a realistic assessment of where you are in the learning curve." Maria details her ill-fated attempts to do the sound on a news program, only to discover that she was utterly incompetent in that regard. Once removed from that, she was able to do field reporting entirely (instead of balancing that with sound). By starting at the bottom, she ended up learning everything there was to know about reporting, which was her true love. She also learned that not only did she not like working with sound equipment, but that she was dreadful at it. Only way to do that was to start by working at the bottom.
To be fair, most of us don't consider working at a news station a lowly job, but there is some truth in that you can learn something everywhere, even if the lesson you learn is that you don't want or cannot do what you're doing at that job. The only way to be certain of that is by doing it.
... which brings me to another piece of advice Maria gives so generously: "Failing is part of learning." We've all heard this one before, so it comes as no surprise. I do like that Maria recognized that college grads do not have that in their brains. They're hardwired to succeed and be whatever they want to be. They believe every inspirational quote that's been thrown at them. There's no problem with believing in yourself; it's admirable and should be encouraged.
But reality sets in and then you're left feeling disappointed that you're not winning awards for just showing up. This naive outlook is extremely common and, when those dreams aren't fulfilled, it can lead to those depressed feelings I mentioned before from Alice Miller's The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self . (See? Sometimes it's good that I veer off of the reading challenge. I may just learn something!)
As Maria puts it, "the hidden message was this: If you fail, shame on you. Well, that's not true."
Even more importantly, she recognizes that work should not be your one and only goal because it won't keep you warm at night. She learned to "quit identifying [her]self through [her] career." You should live all aspects of your life.
... which brings me to yet another gem! "Superwoman is dead . . . and Superman may be taking Viagra." That is how Maria puts it. A little abstract, but the gist is that absolutely nobody can do it all. They cannot be Martha Stewart in the home and kitchen, Jenna Jameson in the bedroom, and Barbara Walters (or whomever fits your field of work) in the office. It is absolutely delusional to think that you can do it all ... right now. You can do it all, sure, but "life is a marathon," as Maria says, and that means that you can do all of those things and more over the course of a lifetime. You can be June Cleaver with your baby for some time, but then you'll have to skip the PTA if you want to be CEO. There's a time for everything and something will always have to give. Do not beat yourself up about it and absolutely do not compare yourself to others. Their priorities are not your priorities; their resources are not your resources. You do what you can with what you have and you never try to match up with anything else around you.
I have been lucky enough to have a good mother who instilled those lessons at an early age. I grew up in a neighbourhood with supremely wealthy folk. I don't think we were in the same tax bracket (but then again, what do I know? Sometimes people foolishly live beyond their means -- another thing I've learned) and yet I never felt less than them because I never compared my experiences and my goals and my worth to anything anyone had around me. The reality is that they are not me. I never played that game.
This game starts young. I can recall vividly how frequently comparisons are made in university, high school, and even elementary school. There is always an air of ridiculous competition. When everyone in my class wanted to know my mark, I didn't want to say it aloud. I didn't want to: a) compare myself to others because, but also, b) give others a reason to compare themselves to me. It may sound arrogant, but I'm just trying to report the facts: I did exceptionally well in school. Anything -- and I do mean anything -- that was thrown at me, I was able to excel at, which left a lot of my peers feeling less-than. That was never my intention. I was just being the best me I could be, but I always felt a little bit bad about it. It's unfortunate, but I have realized since then that it was them comparing themselves to me and I never gave them reason to do so. I almost always encouraged those around me. I was not them and they were not me, and I certainly never asked them to be.
And now, I'm full grown, and most, if not all, of that school pressure has dissipated. Other pressures enter your life, but if you're lucky, you've learned how to deal with them. Sure, I wrote a few books and I'm getting married this June, but that doesn't make me any better or worse than anyone else. I know many unmarried people younger than me who don't work but who have one or two or more children and that has been their priority, not mine. It takes all types to make the world go 'round; it sounds condescending, yes, but it is absolutely not. My mother and Maria Shriver both made it perfectly clear that comparisons are lethal and helpful to no one. The goal is simply to grow you, not you in relation to everyone around you.
The hardest part of this piece of advice (or any advice, really) is internalizing it. It can all feel hippy-dippy and nice but unrealistic, but if you engrain it into your being and live your life in line with it, then it just becomes the truth of your existence. Eventually, the little voice in the back of your head doesn't have to tell yourself to be this way or don't be that way. You just live your life that way, in accordance with those values.
Oh, one last gem: Be smart with your finances. It doesn't matter what you make; you should know where your money is and what you're doing with it, or rather, what it's doing for you. (Again, I've lived my life this way for so long, starting with my first safe at the age of four, that this way of life has just become automatic. But you can always learn more. And I do.)
Maria did say other things in this itty-bitty book, but I only mentioned what I found the most interesting. I bet you if you read it, you'd find something completely different worth quoting.
To be fair, this book was very short. That's why I chose to read it; it only took a few hours. I feel that, given more time and more pages, Maria could have written you a very detailed template-style manual for your life. That's just the kind of woman she is.
The only things I didn't like about her book is that some of her comments, especially regarding her husband, feel painful now. Written far before scandal hit her marriage, there was no way for her to know what was coming to her and what was going on behind her back. I can't blame her for not being psychic, but I also cannot deny that these sections of the book made me a touch squirmish.
So that was this month in reading. I read a great deal, but only three books qualified for the reading challenge. C'est la vie.
Next month could be interesting. I've been skimming the prompts again and have found "a murder mystery" particularly icky. In general, I don't like the murder mystery genre. Whodunnits and detectives and crime stories make me snore. However, I love books like Gone Girl and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo . In fact, The Millennium Trilogy are possibly my favourite books ever, owing largely to the iconic titular character, Lisbeth Salander. Unfortunately for this challenge, I've read all of that series already. I know Gillian Flynn has penned a few more books, but I'm not sure if they're murder mysteries and I don't want to do too much research for fear of spoilers. So, here lies my conundrum. What murder mystery should I read? Send me your suggestions!
This month, I started reading Alice Miller's The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self . (This book came to my attention after being mentioned on a special edition of the Canadian panel talk show The Talk in which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remarked that it was the book his father gave him in an attempt to teach him about mental illness.) The book seemed a little dry and old, bearing in mind that it all stemmed from a psychoanalysis journal from the seventies.
The one thing I did learn from it that was worth mentioning is the idea of grandiosity and depression as two sides of the same coin; for example, someone who relies upon love by being an achievement-oriented personality is beloved for what they're doing, not who they are, and if eventually they hit upon an area where they are not the cream of the crop (something bound to happen at some point), they will become completely deflated and feel unloved because of this single failure, which could trigger depression. This information wasn't new to me, but it did offer an explanation as to why. As a young child, I was tested and declared officially by the school board as "gifted and talented", so I found this particular section interesting.
Okay, fine, I admit it. That wasn't my only foray away from the beautifully cleared garden path into the wild woods completely unsanctioned by PopSugar. I read Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Gutsiest Troublemakers . Yes, another Parks and Rec book. Ron Swans-- I mean, Nick Offerman writes about a list of great Americans in this anthology of profiles. You've got your usual types, like former presidents George Washington and James Madison, but you also have some unique and interesting choices, like Conan O'Brien, Yoko Ono, Carol Burnett, Willie Nelson, and Michael Pollan. It's equally great to read this book from start to finish as it is to skim from profile to profile. I learned some details about how these great Americans sometimes weren't so great; it's definitely a fair assessment of each one, as unbiased and objective as possible. That's what makes Gumption stand out for me. I'd definitely recommend it.
That being said, we're here to discuss the PopSugar Reading Challenge. And I have definitely done better than February, but not quite as good as January for this third month. Feeling a sense of the first quarter passing me by, I found it easier to shift into high gear. The prompts themselves even motivated me to fly forward through my own procrastination and distraction (non-related books or otherwise).
Book #6: A book that's under 150 pages
Originally, this was going to be my book that I could read in one day. After all, it is basically a children's book. My slow reading got in the way, though, taking me three days to chip away at this itty-bitty literary gem. Yes, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince is a classic and now I know why.
Quite remarkably, The Little Prince explains its own significance. In chapter fourteen, the little prince waxes on about how beautiful the desert is, even as they are in search of water, and explains that part of its beauty is that a well is hidden somewhere there, like buried treasure. Our protagonist takes in his words and realizes that this idea can be applied in a more universal way, that "what makes them beautiful is invisible." The narrator believes that physical, tangible things, the kind of things boasted and shoved upon us by a material world, are often mere shells with no value unless we assign it value. Simply put, "what's most important is invisible..."
It's the love we feel, the laughter we hear, and the connections we form in our heart that transcend the physical object. These are the things worth protecting. It's worth quoting the secret that the fox tells us after the little prince tames him: "It's quite simple: One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes."
I also found it interesting how life mirrors art. The author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is a pilot who crashed in the Libyan desert and had to travel three days in search of help, very much like the narrator in The Little Prince. The parallels don't stop there, though. The narrator talks about how he once had a love for art, but grown-ups stifled his creativity and he moved away from it. Antoine, of course, enrolled in the art school L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts in his younger years, something he gave up when the war started. (That's when he became a pilot.) In a strange turn of fate, after Antoine sustained an injury, he was supposedly forbidden to fly, but nonetheless, he insisted on being given some sort of flying duty. So, in 1944, Antoine set out from Borgo, Corsica, as part of the French air squadron, tasked to fly over Nazi-occupied France.
And no one ever saw him again.
Antoine wrote The Little Prince in 1943 and vanished into the stars (just like the little prince) in 1944. Spooky.
On a more brutal note, there is also a tale of euthanasia here. Certainly, that's not explicitly communicated and perhaps it was never even the author's intent, but, by the end of the tale, I could sense a glimmer of it -- that message in support of dying on your own terms through mercy killing. Oh, I don't want to give too much away, in case some people haven't been lucky enough to discover this brief tale of love and loss. I think I'll zip my lip from hereon.
Book #7: An autobiography
Spanning from her highly unstructured years of home-schooling to her awkward thrust-upon-her-by-chance music college years to her final rise to Internet stardom (and the fallout), Felicia Day wrote her life story, You're Never Weird on the Internet , in the same style for which she is known.
For anyone who doesn't know Felicia Day, it would be worth the time to check her out, either through her Geek and Sundry videos or even her popular Goodreads page.
As someone with a bit of a Type A personality myself, I related to all the micromanaging quirks. In fact, one of the most important chapters (although it wasn't my favourite) was called "The Deletion of Myself" and dealt with stepping back and saying, "No," instead of reaching for every opportunity. In Felicia's case, diving into so much so often had extremely negative consequences, putting her health at risk.
My father has anxiety and depression, so I understand the reluctance to view mental illness as a disease that you need help to fix. That's why page 228 resonated with me: "Imagine saying to someone, 'I have a kidney problem, and I'm having a lot of bad days lately.' Nothing but sympathy, right? [...] Then pretend to say, 'I have severe depression and anxiety, and I'm having a lot of bad days lately.' They just look at you like you're broken, right? Unfixable. Inherently flawed. Maybe not someone they want to hang around as much? Yeah, society sucks."
And she's right. People step back and treat you like you're patient zero when it's mental illness. There's no sympathy for your disease when you can't see it reflected back at them as a terrible rash or an iffy number in a blood test. Either people drop you like a hot potato or they think they can fix you with a knock-knock joke. In my father's experience, you need help and support and even medicine, but you also have to learn to fix yourself. It's hard. No question about it, it's an uphill battle. But it's doable.
Felicia's message ultimately is one of encouragement, for all kinds of people. I think I can sum up her book in this little nutshell from page 232: "You need to be able to feel proud of yourself even if you were living in a tiny hut in the middle of nowhere, taking care of goats. You are unique and good enough JUST AS YOU ARE. As a theoretical goat herder."
Book #8: A book you can finish in a day
I tried reading Ethan Frome , but the clock hit midnight and -- poof! -- the book didn't meet the requirement of this prompt. Sure, it is possible that I could have finished it in a day, but I didn't; if I'm going to do this challenge, I'm going to do it right. So, instead, I moved on to Maria Shriver's Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Went Out Into the Real World .
I read Shriver's book in the span of a few hours. Based on Shriver's commencement speech at Holy Cross, this book doles out little pearls of wisdom that she has gained throughout her life. These pieces of advice are trite, sure, but they are said so often because they are true.
One of her lessons is that "no job is beneath you." She reminds the reader that "starting at the bottom is not about humiliation. It's about humility--a realistic assessment of where you are in the learning curve." Maria details her ill-fated attempts to do the sound on a news program, only to discover that she was utterly incompetent in that regard. Once removed from that, she was able to do field reporting entirely (instead of balancing that with sound). By starting at the bottom, she ended up learning everything there was to know about reporting, which was her true love. She also learned that not only did she not like working with sound equipment, but that she was dreadful at it. Only way to do that was to start by working at the bottom.
To be fair, most of us don't consider working at a news station a lowly job, but there is some truth in that you can learn something everywhere, even if the lesson you learn is that you don't want or cannot do what you're doing at that job. The only way to be certain of that is by doing it.
... which brings me to another piece of advice Maria gives so generously: "Failing is part of learning." We've all heard this one before, so it comes as no surprise. I do like that Maria recognized that college grads do not have that in their brains. They're hardwired to succeed and be whatever they want to be. They believe every inspirational quote that's been thrown at them. There's no problem with believing in yourself; it's admirable and should be encouraged.
But reality sets in and then you're left feeling disappointed that you're not winning awards for just showing up. This naive outlook is extremely common and, when those dreams aren't fulfilled, it can lead to those depressed feelings I mentioned before from Alice Miller's The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self . (See? Sometimes it's good that I veer off of the reading challenge. I may just learn something!)
As Maria puts it, "the hidden message was this: If you fail, shame on you. Well, that's not true."
Even more importantly, she recognizes that work should not be your one and only goal because it won't keep you warm at night. She learned to "quit identifying [her]self through [her] career." You should live all aspects of your life.
... which brings me to yet another gem! "Superwoman is dead . . . and Superman may be taking Viagra." That is how Maria puts it. A little abstract, but the gist is that absolutely nobody can do it all. They cannot be Martha Stewart in the home and kitchen, Jenna Jameson in the bedroom, and Barbara Walters (or whomever fits your field of work) in the office. It is absolutely delusional to think that you can do it all ... right now. You can do it all, sure, but "life is a marathon," as Maria says, and that means that you can do all of those things and more over the course of a lifetime. You can be June Cleaver with your baby for some time, but then you'll have to skip the PTA if you want to be CEO. There's a time for everything and something will always have to give. Do not beat yourself up about it and absolutely do not compare yourself to others. Their priorities are not your priorities; their resources are not your resources. You do what you can with what you have and you never try to match up with anything else around you.
I have been lucky enough to have a good mother who instilled those lessons at an early age. I grew up in a neighbourhood with supremely wealthy folk. I don't think we were in the same tax bracket (but then again, what do I know? Sometimes people foolishly live beyond their means -- another thing I've learned) and yet I never felt less than them because I never compared my experiences and my goals and my worth to anything anyone had around me. The reality is that they are not me. I never played that game.
This game starts young. I can recall vividly how frequently comparisons are made in university, high school, and even elementary school. There is always an air of ridiculous competition. When everyone in my class wanted to know my mark, I didn't want to say it aloud. I didn't want to: a) compare myself to others because, but also, b) give others a reason to compare themselves to me. It may sound arrogant, but I'm just trying to report the facts: I did exceptionally well in school. Anything -- and I do mean anything -- that was thrown at me, I was able to excel at, which left a lot of my peers feeling less-than. That was never my intention. I was just being the best me I could be, but I always felt a little bit bad about it. It's unfortunate, but I have realized since then that it was them comparing themselves to me and I never gave them reason to do so. I almost always encouraged those around me. I was not them and they were not me, and I certainly never asked them to be.
And now, I'm full grown, and most, if not all, of that school pressure has dissipated. Other pressures enter your life, but if you're lucky, you've learned how to deal with them. Sure, I wrote a few books and I'm getting married this June, but that doesn't make me any better or worse than anyone else. I know many unmarried people younger than me who don't work but who have one or two or more children and that has been their priority, not mine. It takes all types to make the world go 'round; it sounds condescending, yes, but it is absolutely not. My mother and Maria Shriver both made it perfectly clear that comparisons are lethal and helpful to no one. The goal is simply to grow you, not you in relation to everyone around you.
The hardest part of this piece of advice (or any advice, really) is internalizing it. It can all feel hippy-dippy and nice but unrealistic, but if you engrain it into your being and live your life in line with it, then it just becomes the truth of your existence. Eventually, the little voice in the back of your head doesn't have to tell yourself to be this way or don't be that way. You just live your life that way, in accordance with those values.
Oh, one last gem: Be smart with your finances. It doesn't matter what you make; you should know where your money is and what you're doing with it, or rather, what it's doing for you. (Again, I've lived my life this way for so long, starting with my first safe at the age of four, that this way of life has just become automatic. But you can always learn more. And I do.)
Maria did say other things in this itty-bitty book, but I only mentioned what I found the most interesting. I bet you if you read it, you'd find something completely different worth quoting.
To be fair, this book was very short. That's why I chose to read it; it only took a few hours. I feel that, given more time and more pages, Maria could have written you a very detailed template-style manual for your life. That's just the kind of woman she is.
The only things I didn't like about her book is that some of her comments, especially regarding her husband, feel painful now. Written far before scandal hit her marriage, there was no way for her to know what was coming to her and what was going on behind her back. I can't blame her for not being psychic, but I also cannot deny that these sections of the book made me a touch squirmish.
So that was this month in reading. I read a great deal, but only three books qualified for the reading challenge. C'est la vie.
Next month could be interesting. I've been skimming the prompts again and have found "a murder mystery" particularly icky. In general, I don't like the murder mystery genre. Whodunnits and detectives and crime stories make me snore. However, I love books like Gone Girl and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo . In fact, The Millennium Trilogy are possibly my favourite books ever, owing largely to the iconic titular character, Lisbeth Salander. Unfortunately for this challenge, I've read all of that series already. I know Gillian Flynn has penned a few more books, but I'm not sure if they're murder mysteries and I don't want to do too much research for fear of spoilers. So, here lies my conundrum. What murder mystery should I read? Send me your suggestions!
