More About Books

Apparently this is not the first blog post I've written titled More About Books. Huh.

My book club decided to read 10-10-10 earlier this summer. Let me clarify: someone in the book club chose 10-10-10, and the rest of us had no choice but to read it. Well, I guess we had the choice to not read it, but that's kind of rude - and sure, some people chose to not read it and not attend book club that month. I, on the other hand, begrudginly decided to read this self-help book with a "life-transforming idea" even though I knew I couldn't attend book club. I've only read one other self-help book (Who Moved My Cheese? I'm pretty sure my dad gave it to me when I was in turmoil in college) so I figured I could give another one a shot.

And wouldn't you know it? It was OK. Not spectacular. I did like that it gave structure to making big life decisions - and even some smaller decisions - that ISN'T asking friends & family for advice, or something more elusive like "look into your heart." Suzy says that you just ask yourself "how is this going to play out ten minutes from now (immediately), 10 months from now (near future) and 10 years from now (distant future)?" And this makes total sense to me. Should I stay in my apartment or look for a house? Should I stay in my job or look for a new one? Should I eat those cookies? Etc. The framework is great - and super helpful. I've already used it a couple times.

But here's where it fails me - I can't live my life this way all the time. Those cookies I mentioned earlier? Here's how that plays out:
10 minutes from now - my mouth and my stomach will be so very happy.
10 months from now - I probably won't remember those cookies, and I might have gained a pound or two.
10 years from now - I will weigh over 200 pounds.
But I ate the cookies anyway. Because they were delicious.

The failure of the book was the examples. Suzy has a gazillion friends, all of whom have used 10-10-10 a number of times to great success. AND SHE TOLD US ABOUT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. I got the point by page 50, and still had to slog through 100 more. This could have been a pamphlet instead of a book - but then, how would Suzy make any money?

10-10-10 - C+

What Does This MEAN!?

There's this song I hear on my radio station once a day - it's Bonnie Raitt's Thing Called Love. And in the song are these lyrics:

"I ain't no porcupine, take off your kid gloves."

WHAT!? Are you kidding me!?

Kid gloves are made of super soft leather, from young goats or sheep (ah yes, that's where "kid" comes in). They are a symbol of elegance and wealth -

AND SHOULD NEVER BE USED TO HANDLE A PORCUPINE!

Jeesh.

bad lyrics - C+

Plants vs. Zombies

You wanna know what I'm doing when I could otherwise be blogging?

PLAYING PLANTS VS. ZOMBIES.

I love this game so hard. I played on my friend's iPad one weekend, and had to have it. I think I bought it for my computer less than a week after that magical weekend of playing it non-stop on the iPad - but if I hadn't been able to find it for my PC, I was seriously considering buying a iPad. That is how much I love this game. It is also how addictive my personality is. It's a good thing I don't gamble.

PvZ is my kind of zombie game. It's cartoon-y and the plants have faces. It's the kind of zombie game you can feel good about letting your eight-year-old play, because there's no blood and gore - although limbs do fall off, and if you fail, a big screen pops up that reads:


So maybe that's not great for kids.

I am hoping that there's a second edition, because I've almost beaten the first PvZ. And I'll be jonesing before too long.

Plants vs. Zombies - A

Wow.

Remember when my blog was awesome? I'm doing some redecorating in my apartment, and I thought there was a digital version of a picture I wanted somewhere on my blog (there is, in this post), so I had to go back and look. And sure enough, my blog used to be awesome. AWESOME. But I can't tell you the last time by blog was awesome - 2008, maybe? And every time I try to turn over a new leaf (another new leaf), I blow it.
And let's not pretend that asking you, my faithful readers, for suggestions helps. Because it doesn't. I've already tried that.

So hang in there. One day, I'll become inspired again, and perhaps reestablish a little bit of awesome.

The good ol' days - A
by blog's current incarnation - D