This I Believe April 15, 2009

The personal philosophies of remarkable men and women

 

Forward: Studs Terkel

Edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman

 

Genre:  Inspiration

 

ISBN:  978-0-8050-8658-4

 

Intended Audience:  Aged 14 and up, just because of the nature of the stories.  Suitable for all ages, but under 14 might not fully understand or grasp the concept of ones belief or care to read about it.

 

Summary:  The book is a collection of essays written by people who represent all walks of life.  Every essay is between 350 and 500 words, and is the writers’ individual response to the statement: This I Believe.  The book is based on the NPR series popular in the 1950s, and contains essays from the original series as well as new essays from figures today.  From Albert Einstein to John McCain to Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller, every essay digs deep into the soul of the author’s beliefs, and makes you think about your own personal beliefs.

 

Review:  I suggest everyone read this book one essay at a time, one day at a time.  In order to truly digest each essay as an individual piece of work, they need to be pondered on for at least a day.  You will find yourself thinking of the essays, and coming back to certain ones that stick out to you, and in order to absorb them all individually they need to be read separately.  I love the concept of getting someone as famous as Bill Gates and a normal high school student and having them write an essay based on the same question and publishing them together to see the differences and similarities.  This is something every person can do, and after reading, I think you’ll be inspired to write your own “This I Believe” essay.  

 

Rating:  4 out of 5

Maya April 13, 2009

“All is maya, illusion.  Things are not as they seem.  We humans do not know a damn thing.  About anything.  A scary thought, but also, in a way, a liberating one.  Our highs, our accomplishments, are not real.  But neither are our setbacks, our mushkala.  They are not real either.”  -Eric Weiner, The Geography of Bliss

Sundays at Tiffany’s April 12, 2009

What if your imaginary friend from childhood was your one true love?

 

Authors: James Patterson & Gabrielle Charbonnet

 

Genre:  Fiction

 

ISBN: 978-0-446-19944-5

 

Intended Audience:  Females aged 30 +

 

Summary:  Jane Margaux’s mother, a famous Broadway producer, only makes time for her daughter once a week for their Sunday trips to admire the jewelry at Tiffany’s.  Being the classic attention-deprived child, Jane seeks attention and friendship through her imaginary friend, a handsome, caring, and funny man named Michael.  Michael “leaves” Jane on her 9th birthday, promising that she’ll soon forget all about him, but Jane, even in her twenties, is unable to forget her perfect imaginary friend.  One day Michael re-enters her life, and their bond is as great as it ever was, but Michael has come back for a reason, which Jane will eventually find out. 

 

Review: Let me just start by saying that I love James Patterson novels.  With that being said, this was the worst book I’ve ever read in my entire 22 years of living.  I was a bit turned off by the un-original title, but decided to give it the benefit of the doubt since James Patterson is (generally) a good author.  Upon reading, not only did he basically copy the title, but he also stole the entire idea of finding solace and comfort in the jewelry store from Truman Capote!  It is literally exactly the same idea as in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  

My dislike of the book is probably partly my fault because I didn’t read the byline before purchasing.  ”What if your imaginary friend from childhood was your one true love?”  The closest I ever got to an imaginary friend was when pet rocks were cool in the 4th grade, and that lasted about a week.  I’m not a big fan of those things that can never, will never happen, so therefore, find it nearly impossible to enjoy an entire novel about an imaginary friend/lover.  

My third severe issue with the novel is Michael and Jane’s friendship when she was a child.  Michael is a grown adult, and Jane is under the age of 9, but yet they’re best friends and Jane never wants to be without him.  Alright.  I know we’re delving into the complete absurd here, but if you’re going to have an imaginary friend, wouldn’t he be your same age, and not the age of your parents?  The 20 year age gap just takes the novel to a new level of creepy. 

Overall, the novel had a weak storyline, unoriginal ideas, and was poorly written.  This could have been classified as a young adult novel based on the structure and vocabulary.  While it’s nice to have an easy read every once in awhile, teetering the border of 3rd grade reading competency levels just leaves you feeing ignorant and unfulfilled.

 

Rating:  0 out of 5

Happiness April 5, 2009

The question is:  Are you happy?

 

As simply as I can put it, yes and no.  Somedays I feel like I could probably be the most unhappy person in the world, and other days I feel near contentment with my life, which is the closest to happiness I’ve felt in a long time.  I think happiness is such a simple thing that seems nearly impossible to obtain, and we spend our entire lives in its pursuit.  I don’t think anything changes in my life to make me  wake up and feel happy or unhappy, it’s just my state of mind on that particular day.  I have felt, though, that I feel more extremely now that I am not in a relationship.  When I’m happier, it’s more intense than it was when I was in a relationship, and when I’m unhappy, it’s much more extreme.  I think that’s just related to the fact that I’m dealing with my emotions on my own, and I don’t have anyone to pawn my unhappiness on or to console me when I’m upset. 

 

On days that I wake up and feel near contentment (I say ‘near’ because I have yet to feel complete and utter contentment ever in my entire life), I feel like everything is alright, and I am for the most part happy.  I’m thankful that I have a job, and friends, and a family that loves me, and I just generally view life optimistically.  I would rate my happiness on these days at about a 7.

 

On the days that I wake up and feel unhappy (more often than the latter), I feel like my life is pathetic and has no meaning, and I just contemplate over and over again all the things that are “wrong” about my life.  So these thoughts just fester in my head all day, and I have no one to vent to, which just adds salt to the wound.  And even if I did call someone up to discuss my current state of mind, I don’t know what I would say because 90% of the time I can’t even pinpoint one thing that I’m unhappy about.  On days like these (today), I just have a pessimistic outlook on everything, and I feel like nothing I do is really going to change anything about my life because everything is just so far out of my reach.  These days I would rate my happiness at about a 3.  

 

So how do you alter your current situation when you feel unhappy and terrible?  Here’s what I’ve found.  Surround yourself with happy people.  Force yourself to be happy around them, and try as hard as you can to have a good time when you’re with them.  Try to think positively about the ways you can change your situations that you’re thinking negatively about.  And as corny as it sounds, listen to happy music and read positive books.  Jack Johnson is my artist of preference.

 

Here’s what it comes down to.  I don’t really know what true happiness is.  I was telling my sister just the other day that one of the happiest memories I have was a Memorial Day weekend when we were in Siesta Key, and Teresa Loucks and I were swimming in the water, and a dolphin came up and was swimming less than 10 feet away from us.  Don’t ask me why this is one of my happiest memories, but I remember it so vividly, and I remember wanting nothing more than to just stay there in the water with the dolphin.  But can that really be considered happiness?  Because the moment faded in about 20 minutes, and real life resumed, and I don’t remember my state of happiness the rest of the day, or even the rest of the weekend.  I think happiness is relative, and life’s too short to spend your life doing things that make you unhappy.  Complaining and whining doesn’t do anything but spread the unhappiness.  Be proactive and change the things that need to be changed.  And start searching for what makes you happy, and seize any moment to have to do something that will make you happy.  Even if it is just for a moment.