Josh Hanagarne's Blog, page 9

George Orwell Complimenting His First Wife

I’ve been reading Orwell biographies.

George Orwell, that is, champion of clear, concise prose, man of ideas, and, as you’re about to see, hopeless romantic.

Biographer Gordon Bowker quotes Orwell complimenting his first wife, Eileen:

“She was a good old stick.”

We all dream of someone saying this about us, yes? Go on, it’s okay to swoon a little.

Do You Have A Favorite Book Title?

Hi all, I was on Twitter today and saw a tweet by an author I love, John Corey Whaley. His upcoming book Noggin officially has my vote for best title ever. I don’t even know why. Noggin. I say it and I laugh. I see it and I laugh. It makes me feel good to know that there is a book out there called…Noggin.

Anyone else have a nomination for a best title? I know it’s a daunting prospect, but bite down and believe.

I Got My Pet Sematary Mittens! At Last!

Hi all, if you were following me back in July, you remember my plaintive cry for scratch-proof airplane mittens. My Tourette’s had gotten a bit unruly on an airplane and left my exquisite visage hideously marred. Nations wept. Gone were the fabled flawless cheeks, the unmarred simian brow, etc, etc.

The howling for mittens has worked! My friend Angela Lovell, whom I met at the Mark Twain House in Hartford, responded to my love for Pet Sematary with a couple of knitted zombie animals. Behold!

The cat has a dangling eyeball. His nametag says “Church,” which was the name of the cat in Pet Sematary. The back of the nametag has the phone number 555-1408. 1408 was another Stephen King story I loved.

And:

This undead canine looks a little less grim at first glance. But! That’s his exposed brain up there! Ooooooooo, doesn’t it give you chills?

If you happen to see me on an airplane and I’m wearing these, now you’ll know.

X Files Fans, Help Me

Hey all, I saw that Gillian Anderson–she’s done a ton of work but everyone I know just calls her Scully–is going to be authoring a series of sci-fi novels. Or at least, co-authoring.

I love what I’ve seen of The X Files (about halfway through the episodes on Netflix, long way to go) but I’m not over the moon about this announcement. If it produces more great books, sure, I’m in.

For you X Files nuts, I’d love to hear about your favorite episodes.

Also, Mulder’s clothes are so bad, but not as bad as Scully’s. Seeing what they’re wearing is often my favorite part of every episode, and I don’t even notice clothes for the most part.

Tourette’s Update

Hi all, a few of you lovely souls have been asking how I am. Specifically, how the Tourette’s has been. In a word, BLAH. It currently makes it hard to type, read, or do much that I want to do.  But it will pass, as it always does, and I’m still able to lift, which is still how I deal with just about everything.

I have managed to read a couple of books recently, though.

Night Falls Fast – Understanding Suicide by Kay Jamison. A beautiful and heartbreaking work. I picked it up while working as part of a suicide mitigation research team with an emphasis on jumpers. I’m adding this to my very short list of books I have enjoyed, despite their unbearable subjects. The Noonday Demon is also on the list. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs Of A Boy Soldier as well.

I also just read S, by JJ Abrams. Still processing it. Quite a trip. Anyone reading anything good?

And as always, thank you for your concern and support. You are appreciated. Onward.

The Best Gift You Can Give Your Body

Hi all, if you’ve followed me for a while, you’ve probably heard me talk about how I do most of my strength training alone in my back yard. I fell out of love with gym culture a few years back. However, it’s cold and nasty in Salt Lake, Gold’s Gym was running a good special, and I’m now back in the swing of things and enjoying it well enough.

It’s resolution time for many people. I can tell. The gym is absolutely swarmed with new folks trying to turn it around. Most of them look miserable while they’re there. They’re trying to do so much, all at once. By February it will look like a ghost town again, sadly. 

But I saw something recently that made me very happy. A group of older men, ages 50-70, all training together. And they were there together when I was last a gym regular, five years ago. They’re all moving well, looking good, and they seem happy. We all talked and caught up and talked about goals. They each agreed that simply aging well had become the most important physical goal, and they’re doing it.

The days pass regardless of whether we’re in shape or not. It doesn’t take much to feel better.

If you have this goal, and you’ve struggled to maintain a routine in the past, I’d simply encourage you not to try to do everything all at once. No going hardcore or cold turkey or all the way. Just pick one small habit and change it. Give it a few weeks. Then, if all is going well, add another small habit. It can be as simple as writing down workouts, subtracting 100 calories a day, going to bed an hour earlier. Just pick one thing and try it.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed. It’s easy to feel like you don’t know what you’re doing when you see all the meatheads grunting and scowling at themselves in the mirror and you’re not as big. Keep in mind that there’s someone out there bigger than them, lifting more quietly, who is way stronger.

One habit, that’s it. And one good habit lends itself to more. And that’s what will help you look forward to exercise/training. And that’s the best gift you can give your body.

If you’re looking for something for your mind, I’m rereading Man’s Search For Meaning by Victor Frankl. Still the best.

One habit. One.

Letters For Kids With Tourette’s Update!

Hi gang, per the usual, I overestimated my ability to do a lot of things very quickly. However, even thought I got behind, I believe I’ve written and mailed all of the letters.

If New Years comes and your child didn’t receive a letter, it means I got scatterbrained and it fell through the cracks. I underestimated the response this would get and I’m sure I wasn’t as vigilant as I’d like to think I was.

Also, some of you wrote to me but didn’t include an address! If you think that might be you, please check the email you sent to me and have a look.

I’ve already started hearing back from some of the kids. It’s been the most fun I’ve ever had. You’ve all done ME a favor. Also, I included my cell # in the letters. If you’re okay with it, and you think it might help, please tell your kids that I expect to hear from them.

thanks!

Josh

 

Dorothy Parker And The Dorkiest Birthday

Hi all, I recently wrote a holiday blog for Bookreporter.com. The assignment was to write about a memorable holiday experience either giving or receiving books.

My piece about me and Dorothy Parker was published today. Click that link and lose yourself in the bliss of about 200 words.

Fighting Hunger With Holiday Haikus

Hi all,

Today is the launch of Penguin Random House’s Holiday Haiku campaign. If you tweet a short haiku on Twitter and use the hashtag #HolidayHaiku, PRH will donate one dollar (up to $2000)  to City Harvest, an organization dedicated to feeding the hungry in New York during the holidays. Read more here.

If you’re going to do a haiku, here’s the format: three lines, with five syllables in line one, seven syllables in line two, and five syllables in line three. Simple enough. OR IS IT???

I was asked to write a haiku about a very short romance. Here goes, but I’m no poet, so be gentle.

Snowflakes on her book

I read over her shoulder

Laughed at the same time

Give it a shot! Put your poem in the comments if you’re feeling sassy!

Josh

Letters For Kids With Tourette Syndrome Part 2

Hi all, if you requested a letter for your TS child, they should all be mailed by Friday afternoon. If you still want one, please send me an email by clicking on

Then email me a mailing address, the child’s age and name, and tell me a little bit about how the kid is handling his or her condition.

thanks!

PS: this is an open-ended offer. It doesn’t end with the holidays. I’m always here.