Dar Williams, a folk singer whose popularity began in the coffeehouse and folk festival scene of New England in the early 1990's, wrote these words: "And when I talk about therapy, I know what people think/ That it only makes you selfish and in love with your shrink...."
I ruefully smile at these lyrics as I go about my review for Andrew Seubert's new book, The Courage to Feel: A Practical Guide to the Power and Freedom of Emotional Honesty. Andrew Seubert, co-founder of The ClearPath Healing Arts Center in Corning, NY, has been a licensed psychotherapist for the past 25 years. He and his wife, Barbara Hale-Seubert, practice out of offices in Mansfield and in Corning, and I daresay have probably worked with a great number of the folks in the Twin Tiers. Lately, Andrew's expertise has lead him to more seminars and workshops where he trains other therapists, as far away as Holland and England.
Perhaps I'm not the best person to write this review, because I'm not sure how many people will take me seriously. Why? I am completely biased. I've known Andrew, and his family, for almost a decade. I think Andrew is a great person, and an amazingly talented, effective therapist. I've already learned the techniques he outlines in his book, most of them in the privacy of Andrew's office and in my own life as I struggled to grow through very rocky soil. Therefore, I can't come to this book with a fresh perspective. I read it as one cheering Andrew's success, hoping that it is everything he wants it to be, and also as one for whom the explanations for these concepts are already well-ingrained. For me, this book is a refresher course as much as anything.
On the other hand, maybe that makes me particularly well-suited to recommend this book. After writing several articles in the last year in which I publicly disclosed my struggles with manic-depression (bipolar disorder), I have had a staggering number of people call, email, or come to the store to ask advice on books on mental health, and to thank me for speaking up. While I can now speak up about my feelings and experiences, suggesting books that give good advice to people in dealing with their feelings is difficult at best. Each person, each family's situation is so different. The Courage to Feel, however, allows me a more solid recommendation, since it is advice for everyone to use.
Seubert's book is exactly what the title describes it to be - above all else, a practical guide to feeling our feelings, which takes a great deal more courage than most of us imagine. After all, feelings are just there, right? They happen to us, they're part of life, and growing up means learning to deal with them - essentially, at least for most of us, that means shoving them away, tuning them out, so we can deal with life. Not so fast, Andrew says. That is not really dealing with feelings at all. Feelings are life: they are the vital energy that keeps us engaged with ourselves, the people and the world around us. When we shove them aside or tell ourselves they're not important, we are missing crucial messages that are built into our physiology for essential reasons. And most of us were never taught to interpret those messages, or, in fact, to "deal" with them at all.
Most of The Courage to Feel shows us, step by step, in clear, practical, down-to-earth words, how to unpack the years of feelings we've stuffed away, and how to begin to learn from our feelings now, in our day-to-day lives, instead of pushing them into the background like some kind of dirty secret. Andrew explains how we will find incredible energy in this process, a new passion for our relationships and our work, better physical health as well as mental and emotional renewal. There are many books out there, and practitioners, who promise the same kind of things, but that are too easily dismissed as "New Age" or "psychobabble." I believe you'll be really pleased with Andrew's style. There is very little of the language that makes therapy-shy people squirm. For those who need the imaginative, there is the fable of Simon the Turtle woven throughout the book to guide their way. For those who are more business-like, trained as we are for most of our lives to respond to steps and outlines and how-to's and outcomes, Andrew also provides this.
So which is it? Am I an excellent choice for this review, or should my thoughts on it be taken with a grain of salt roughly the size of Rhode Island? I once asked Andrew a similar either/or question, when I was struggling to decide which part of my life was most real - the achiever or the hospital patient. The simple wisdom is an answer that applies much more universally, to many situations, to many a person, place or thing - "you're both".
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Dear Authors and other bookstore friends
We are really excited to tell you about a big event for which planning is already well under way! On Saturday, October 17th, we are co-sponsoring a large, community literacy event at the Wellsboro Fireman's Annex. We're partnering with the teachers' union and the education support staff union for the Wellsboro Area Schools to create a day completely focused on celebrating reading, literature, books, and writing.
The bookstore will host a large used book sale, featuring thousands of hardcover and softcover books and lots of fantastic deals on our overstock. Tables full of these books will take up the center part of the large space available at the Annex. There will also be a couple of tables, for a silent auction on collectible/out-of-print books, especially some of regional interest.
Then, all around the outside of the room, we'd like to have authors who are excited to spend a day talking to people about their books, their writing process, and the joy of reading. Authors will only be charged $10 for a table/space. Any profit you make from sales that day will be your own; you will be completely in charge of your own money that day. We will not ask for a commission or percentage; you will keep your own cash box and figure out your own sales tax. You won't need to pay anything additional for all the great advertising and publicity this event will provide you!
During the day, we'll have book-related games, food sales by local nonprofit and school-related organizations, a read-aloud corner where local dignitaries and area personalities will take turns reading to their audience, door prizes, live radio broadcasts with two different radio stations, and more. The teachers' unions will be holding a large "Chinese raffle", selling tickets for chances on a wide selection of donated goods and services.
The money raised will benefit the bookstore, several school organizations and clubs, area nonprofit organizations, the teachers' unions' community literacy projects, and the high school library inventory.
We plan on advertising in many local and regional newspapers, with local Chamber of Commerce newsletters and emails, via Internet media like facebook and Twitter, through the bookstore, the schools, the network we have with the ABA/NAIBA/IndieBound organizations to which we belong, on our blog and our website, on invited writers' blogs and websites, through local and regional television and radio, and much more. The more writers who come, the bigger the impact we can make and the wider the word spreads.
October is an incredibly busy time in the Wellsboro area, with hundreds of tourists coming to see the foliage, to shop the quaint New England-esque village and to enjoy the crisp, lovely outdoors.
We hope you will join us in what promises to be a wonderful event.
Please let us know as soon as possible if you are able to attend, so that we may better plan. If you have more questions about the event, or about area accomodations, don't hesitate to ask.
Look for more details, coming soon, to www.wellsborobookstore.com, http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com, www.facebook.com/kcbookstore, and/or www.wellsboropa.com
Sincerely yours,
Kasey Cox and Kevin Coolidge
From My Shelf
87 Main St
Wellsboro, PA 16901
(570) 724-5793
The bookstore will host a large used book sale, featuring thousands of hardcover and softcover books and lots of fantastic deals on our overstock. Tables full of these books will take up the center part of the large space available at the Annex. There will also be a couple of tables, for a silent auction on collectible/out-of-print books, especially some of regional interest.
Then, all around the outside of the room, we'd like to have authors who are excited to spend a day talking to people about their books, their writing process, and the joy of reading. Authors will only be charged $10 for a table/space. Any profit you make from sales that day will be your own; you will be completely in charge of your own money that day. We will not ask for a commission or percentage; you will keep your own cash box and figure out your own sales tax. You won't need to pay anything additional for all the great advertising and publicity this event will provide you!
During the day, we'll have book-related games, food sales by local nonprofit and school-related organizations, a read-aloud corner where local dignitaries and area personalities will take turns reading to their audience, door prizes, live radio broadcasts with two different radio stations, and more. The teachers' unions will be holding a large "Chinese raffle", selling tickets for chances on a wide selection of donated goods and services.
The money raised will benefit the bookstore, several school organizations and clubs, area nonprofit organizations, the teachers' unions' community literacy projects, and the high school library inventory.
We plan on advertising in many local and regional newspapers, with local Chamber of Commerce newsletters and emails, via Internet media like facebook and Twitter, through the bookstore, the schools, the network we have with the ABA/NAIBA/IndieBound organizations to which we belong, on our blog and our website, on invited writers' blogs and websites, through local and regional television and radio, and much more. The more writers who come, the bigger the impact we can make and the wider the word spreads.
October is an incredibly busy time in the Wellsboro area, with hundreds of tourists coming to see the foliage, to shop the quaint New England-esque village and to enjoy the crisp, lovely outdoors.
We hope you will join us in what promises to be a wonderful event.
Please let us know as soon as possible if you are able to attend, so that we may better plan. If you have more questions about the event, or about area accomodations, don't hesitate to ask.
Look for more details, coming soon, to www.wellsborobookstore.com, http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com, www.facebook.com/kcbookstore, and/or www.wellsboropa.com
Sincerely yours,
Kasey Cox and Kevin Coolidge
From My Shelf
87 Main St
Wellsboro, PA 16901
(570) 724-5793
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Free Your Neck, and the Rest Will Follow!
Kasey Cox
For nearly the past decade, the following books have been sitting on my shelf: Taking Control of TMJ: Your Total Wellness Program for Recovering from Temporomandibular Joint Pain, Whiplash, Fibromyalgia, and Related Disorders, by Robert O. Uppgaard, D.D.S.; TMJ: The Self-Help Program, by John Taddey, D.D.S.; and Fibromyalgia and Chronic Myofascial Pain, by Devin Starlanyl and Mary Ellen Copeland. As you may have deduced, I suffer from chronic jaw, face, neck and back pain. So, from time to time, when my neck or face is especially troubling me, I get one of these books down, begin reading about exercises and treatment options and muscle insertions, and … zzzzzzzzzz. The next thing I know, I wake up, drooling on the book, with a giant crick in my neck.
While my jaw problems may be a little more unusual, I’m certainly not alone in my complaints about neck, shoulder and back pain. As we spend more time on the computer and phone, our work days taken up by long drives and even longer lists of emails in the inbox, our collective shoulders can handle less weight. (And you thought it was just the economy weighing on you.) The truth is, chronic pain is not just an annoyance: it’s distracting, fatiguing, depressing. If only we could “fix it”, we could live happier, more productive lives, both at work and at home. Like countless advertised products in our society, many books (as well as exercise tapes, doctors, therapists, classes, supplements, and spiritual rituals) promise quick relief. I’ve tried several of them; you may have, too, to varying degrees of success. As for me, I’m still looking for longer-term solutions.
When DiaMedica Press recently sent me a review copy of their new book, The Neck Pain Handbook: Your Guide to Understanding and Treating Neck Pain, by Grant Cooper, M.D. and Alex Visco, M.D., I felt fairly skeptical. I’m pleased to tell you, however, that this slim but efficient volume is NOT just another snorefest, nor is it “Neck Pain for Dummies”. Both of these physicians specialize in spine and musculoskeletal medicine. In their preface, they explain how they decide to co-author this book to address the increasing number of patients coming to them with neck pain, whether occasional nuisance or debilitating presence.
In a mere 126 pages, divided into four main sections, these docs cover learning the basics about the neck – including the nattily-titled chapters “Learn to Appreciate Your Neck” and “When Good Necks Go Bad” – how to care for your neck, when it’s time to see a doctor, and various treatments available. They advocate a more conservative approach first, including waiting before getting an MRI, unless you have one or more of the “red-flag” symptoms they list, which might indicate a much more serious ailment, such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, or severely impinged nerves. Drs. Cooper and Visco list some of those red-flag symptoms not to scare people, but in order that the reader, too, may determine when it’s time to insist on more attention from the doctor.
Otherwise, the chapters on taking care of your neck include such keywords as posture, computer work station, stretching and strengthening exercises, Thera-Bands, movement, posture, exercise, walking, and posture. The drawings of key neck muscles and joints, as well as photos of people sitting at their desks, talking on the phone, or doing the recommended exercises are helpful. Discussions about trigger points, injections, X-rays, and the efficacy of oral medications and/or supplements add to the text without bogging the reader down in too much medical jargon.
The author’s bottom line, and conclusion to the book, gives me a lot of hope – the reminder that neck pain is usually very responsive to treatment, over time and with the correct diagnosis, AND the reminder that above all, I must respect my neck. Forget the current rude saying, “Talk to the hand.” My new mantra is “respect the neck.” Or, “free your neck, and the rest will follow.”
Hobo says he enjoys sticking his neck out for his friends, family, and fans. If you’d like to stick your nose, or your neck, into Hobo’s old business, check out his archived articles at his blog, http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com. Stop by the store this summer when Hobo’s around, and he’ll tell you exactly where he likes his neck scratched. Look for Hobo’s new line of fashion neckties, available at Garrison’s Men’s Shop this fall!
For nearly the past decade, the following books have been sitting on my shelf: Taking Control of TMJ: Your Total Wellness Program for Recovering from Temporomandibular Joint Pain, Whiplash, Fibromyalgia, and Related Disorders, by Robert O. Uppgaard, D.D.S.; TMJ: The Self-Help Program, by John Taddey, D.D.S.; and Fibromyalgia and Chronic Myofascial Pain, by Devin Starlanyl and Mary Ellen Copeland. As you may have deduced, I suffer from chronic jaw, face, neck and back pain. So, from time to time, when my neck or face is especially troubling me, I get one of these books down, begin reading about exercises and treatment options and muscle insertions, and … zzzzzzzzzz. The next thing I know, I wake up, drooling on the book, with a giant crick in my neck.
While my jaw problems may be a little more unusual, I’m certainly not alone in my complaints about neck, shoulder and back pain. As we spend more time on the computer and phone, our work days taken up by long drives and even longer lists of emails in the inbox, our collective shoulders can handle less weight. (And you thought it was just the economy weighing on you.) The truth is, chronic pain is not just an annoyance: it’s distracting, fatiguing, depressing. If only we could “fix it”, we could live happier, more productive lives, both at work and at home. Like countless advertised products in our society, many books (as well as exercise tapes, doctors, therapists, classes, supplements, and spiritual rituals) promise quick relief. I’ve tried several of them; you may have, too, to varying degrees of success. As for me, I’m still looking for longer-term solutions.
When DiaMedica Press recently sent me a review copy of their new book, The Neck Pain Handbook: Your Guide to Understanding and Treating Neck Pain, by Grant Cooper, M.D. and Alex Visco, M.D., I felt fairly skeptical. I’m pleased to tell you, however, that this slim but efficient volume is NOT just another snorefest, nor is it “Neck Pain for Dummies”. Both of these physicians specialize in spine and musculoskeletal medicine. In their preface, they explain how they decide to co-author this book to address the increasing number of patients coming to them with neck pain, whether occasional nuisance or debilitating presence.
In a mere 126 pages, divided into four main sections, these docs cover learning the basics about the neck – including the nattily-titled chapters “Learn to Appreciate Your Neck” and “When Good Necks Go Bad” – how to care for your neck, when it’s time to see a doctor, and various treatments available. They advocate a more conservative approach first, including waiting before getting an MRI, unless you have one or more of the “red-flag” symptoms they list, which might indicate a much more serious ailment, such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, or severely impinged nerves. Drs. Cooper and Visco list some of those red-flag symptoms not to scare people, but in order that the reader, too, may determine when it’s time to insist on more attention from the doctor.
Otherwise, the chapters on taking care of your neck include such keywords as posture, computer work station, stretching and strengthening exercises, Thera-Bands, movement, posture, exercise, walking, and posture. The drawings of key neck muscles and joints, as well as photos of people sitting at their desks, talking on the phone, or doing the recommended exercises are helpful. Discussions about trigger points, injections, X-rays, and the efficacy of oral medications and/or supplements add to the text without bogging the reader down in too much medical jargon.
The author’s bottom line, and conclusion to the book, gives me a lot of hope – the reminder that neck pain is usually very responsive to treatment, over time and with the correct diagnosis, AND the reminder that above all, I must respect my neck. Forget the current rude saying, “Talk to the hand.” My new mantra is “respect the neck.” Or, “free your neck, and the rest will follow.”
Hobo says he enjoys sticking his neck out for his friends, family, and fans. If you’d like to stick your nose, or your neck, into Hobo’s old business, check out his archived articles at his blog, http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com. Stop by the store this summer when Hobo’s around, and he’ll tell you exactly where he likes his neck scratched. Look for Hobo’s new line of fashion neckties, available at Garrison’s Men’s Shop this fall!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
"Surviving" Summer Reading
Kasey Cox
While the kids, parents, and teachers are counting down the last few days of school, bookstores and libraries are getting ready for the influx of questions about books for summer reading. Most kids have summer reading that they’re “supposed to” do, whether by parental encouragement or by teacher mandate. For the lucky kids, this summer reading is not a chore, because they’ve discovered the joy of the reading. For other students, reading is more difficult, but I’m a firm believer that people just need to find a story that interests them. One of the first questions I ask reluctant readers is: “What do you like? What are you most interested in?” I don’t mind if the answer is a game or a TV show, since we can still work with that. I want to know what they like about that story – because there’s the hook.
One book which reigns high on the list of hooks for reluctant readers is Gary Paulsen’s young adult novel, Hatchet. This Newbury Honor book had its 20th birthday in 2007, and at that point, it had sold over 4.5 million copies. Hatchet is the story of Brian, a teen boy whose parents have recently divorced. He’s headed to northern Canada to spend the summer with his father, a mechanical engineer working with oil companies in remote locations. For the last leg of the trip, it’s just Brian and the pilot of the little Cessna. They crash. Brian has next to nothing to use for survival, except a hatchet. It’s a great story, the kind of story many of us find ourselves caught up in, whether it’s Tom Hanks marooned in the movie Castaway, or silly old TV series like Gilligan’s Island, or more gruesome events from history like the Donner Party. We like survival stories – adrift at sea, settling the prairies, captured as a prisoner of war, crashing in the mountains.
We’re lucky, then, to have so many stories like this to read (even if the people in the stories aren’t always so lucky). History itself is filled with such stories, especially American history, as our ancestor immigrants carved out new lives in harsh, strange places. And then there are the people who like to live even closer to the edge, the mountaineers and the extreme sports enthusiasts. In searching for more stories like this, I recently found Norman Ollestad’s memoir, Crazy for the Storm. Norman’s experience at age 11 reads like a version of Paulsen’s Hatchet. The book opens with the crash scene – Norman, 11; his father, 43; Dad’s girlfriend, Sandra, 30; and the pilot of a little Cessna, crash into the San Gabriel Mountains in California during a storm. At 8,600 feet, on steep slopes of almost shear ice, Norman is the only one left uninjured. His father and the pilot are dead. Sandra is gravely injured. It’s snowing. I won’t tell you the details that Norman relays in what people are lauding as beautiful, terse, Hemingway-esque prose, chapter by chapter, as he got down the mountain. I will tell you I couldn’t put the book down. I honestly read it in one sitting, from the middle of a sunny Sunday afternoon until late that night. I had to know how he did it.
Norman attributes his survival to his relationship with his father. In alternating chapters, this well-crafted memoir takes 11 year old Norman down the mountain, and relates growing up with his father who was constantly pushing him to surf, ski, play hockey, and hike remote areas almost as soon as he could walk. I have to admit, at first I was annoyed with the chapters reminiscing about younger life with Dad, living on the infamous Topanga Beach in the 1970’s, a crazy drive through Baja California. I wanted to get back to the mountain survival chapters. As I continued to read, however, I realized that young Norman’s experiences with his father – from being strapped to his father’s back as a toddler while Dad went surfing, to being ferried constantly to black diamond ski slopes for competitions – WERE part of his journey down that mountain.
So, if the kids are clamoring to see the twenty-third reincarnation of “Terminator” this week at the Arcadia, maybe you should let them go. Then you can use that as a segue to read and talk about some great books together. Challenge yourself and your family to have adventures together this summer, both on the page and in the outdoors.
Hobo likes hiking, but spelunking scares him. He’ll be helping kids survive summer reading by making some appearances at the bookstore. Watch for his schedule at his blog: http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com. Surf on by to see him.
While the kids, parents, and teachers are counting down the last few days of school, bookstores and libraries are getting ready for the influx of questions about books for summer reading. Most kids have summer reading that they’re “supposed to” do, whether by parental encouragement or by teacher mandate. For the lucky kids, this summer reading is not a chore, because they’ve discovered the joy of the reading. For other students, reading is more difficult, but I’m a firm believer that people just need to find a story that interests them. One of the first questions I ask reluctant readers is: “What do you like? What are you most interested in?” I don’t mind if the answer is a game or a TV show, since we can still work with that. I want to know what they like about that story – because there’s the hook.
One book which reigns high on the list of hooks for reluctant readers is Gary Paulsen’s young adult novel, Hatchet. This Newbury Honor book had its 20th birthday in 2007, and at that point, it had sold over 4.5 million copies. Hatchet is the story of Brian, a teen boy whose parents have recently divorced. He’s headed to northern Canada to spend the summer with his father, a mechanical engineer working with oil companies in remote locations. For the last leg of the trip, it’s just Brian and the pilot of the little Cessna. They crash. Brian has next to nothing to use for survival, except a hatchet. It’s a great story, the kind of story many of us find ourselves caught up in, whether it’s Tom Hanks marooned in the movie Castaway, or silly old TV series like Gilligan’s Island, or more gruesome events from history like the Donner Party. We like survival stories – adrift at sea, settling the prairies, captured as a prisoner of war, crashing in the mountains.
We’re lucky, then, to have so many stories like this to read (even if the people in the stories aren’t always so lucky). History itself is filled with such stories, especially American history, as our ancestor immigrants carved out new lives in harsh, strange places. And then there are the people who like to live even closer to the edge, the mountaineers and the extreme sports enthusiasts. In searching for more stories like this, I recently found Norman Ollestad’s memoir, Crazy for the Storm. Norman’s experience at age 11 reads like a version of Paulsen’s Hatchet. The book opens with the crash scene – Norman, 11; his father, 43; Dad’s girlfriend, Sandra, 30; and the pilot of a little Cessna, crash into the San Gabriel Mountains in California during a storm. At 8,600 feet, on steep slopes of almost shear ice, Norman is the only one left uninjured. His father and the pilot are dead. Sandra is gravely injured. It’s snowing. I won’t tell you the details that Norman relays in what people are lauding as beautiful, terse, Hemingway-esque prose, chapter by chapter, as he got down the mountain. I will tell you I couldn’t put the book down. I honestly read it in one sitting, from the middle of a sunny Sunday afternoon until late that night. I had to know how he did it.
Norman attributes his survival to his relationship with his father. In alternating chapters, this well-crafted memoir takes 11 year old Norman down the mountain, and relates growing up with his father who was constantly pushing him to surf, ski, play hockey, and hike remote areas almost as soon as he could walk. I have to admit, at first I was annoyed with the chapters reminiscing about younger life with Dad, living on the infamous Topanga Beach in the 1970’s, a crazy drive through Baja California. I wanted to get back to the mountain survival chapters. As I continued to read, however, I realized that young Norman’s experiences with his father – from being strapped to his father’s back as a toddler while Dad went surfing, to being ferried constantly to black diamond ski slopes for competitions – WERE part of his journey down that mountain.
So, if the kids are clamoring to see the twenty-third reincarnation of “Terminator” this week at the Arcadia, maybe you should let them go. Then you can use that as a segue to read and talk about some great books together. Challenge yourself and your family to have adventures together this summer, both on the page and in the outdoors.
Hobo likes hiking, but spelunking scares him. He’ll be helping kids survive summer reading by making some appearances at the bookstore. Watch for his schedule at his blog: http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com. Surf on by to see him.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Absinthe & Flamethrowers
Kevin Coolidge
“It was dangerous lunacy, but it was also the kind of thing a real connoisseur of edgework could make an argument for.” Hunter S. Thompson
“It’s a man’s world”, but I disagree. Day by day, our nation becomes more a mother’s world—safe and secure, a world more comfortable and soft around the edges, and with fewer outlets for risk. Gone is the vast, wild country. It has been replaced by shopping malls, bans on dodge ball, and government intrusion, a Nanny State.
There’s an instinctive desire for freedom and adventure. People take risks. They risk money. They risk reputation. They may even risk their very lives. All for many reasons, sometimes for no apparent reason—are such people acting illogically? According to William Gurstelle, author of Absinthe & Flamethrowers: Projects and Ruminations on the Art of Living Dangerously, the answer is no.
Taking risks proves your mettle, increases your confidence, and creates self-reliance. A person who does not take risks is unlikely to make it to the top. It is true that many thrill-seeking personalities, however, have shorter-than-average life spans. Can you learn to live taking risks, without falling off the edge? Certainly, there is a middle ground, the art of living dangerously.
William defines artfully-dangerous activities as: 1. Having a short learning curve, meaning no long-term or expensive training; 2. Human focused, meaning no complex machines (no parachutes, and no aqualungs); 3. Inexpensive, as high cost can take away the human component; and 4. Involves reasonable risk, since a little danger adds spice but too much danger makes your HMO even harder to deal with.
Before I continue this column, here’s the first of several warning required by the lawyers, my editor, and your mother. Many of the activities and projects in this book include an element of risk that simply cannot be avoided. Consider yourself warned. If you do not agree, please skip to the sports section. If you do read the rest of the column, it is essential to understand that you and you alone are responsible for your choice to live dangerously.
Scared? Should you read on? I’d tell you to plunge in, but it truly depends on your tolerance for risk. William is the author of several do-it-yourself books, and he emphasizes safety. The projects are well thought-out, well-engineered and engaging, but an element of risk remains. These projects, however, aren't for everyone, but even if you decide against participating, the read will do you good. After all, you never know when you might need to know how to make black powder, rockets, fuses, and your very own flamethrower. My editor encourages you to check your local fire codes. Your mom called and said you can't BBQ without burning the chicken, and you want to build a flamethrower???
In addition to projects, several dangerous practices are described—such as drinking absinthe, driving fast, and eating fugu, or Japanese blowfish. Remember that self-portrait by Van Gogh from that 8AM Art Appreciation class in college? The one where he sliced off his ear in a fit of rage? Van Gogh was a clinically depressed, social outcast who drank a whole lot of absinthe. The author also includes information on knife throwing, bullwhips, and Bhut Jolokia, a pepper so hot it makes your typical habanero look like a bell pepper.
Should you never smoke, gamble, speed, or drink, or is it acceptable as long as your pursuits don't bother anyone else? "Living dangerously is an art, a learnable and improvable skill that, when done well, enhances life without cutting it short," writes William Gurstelle. Perhaps, danger is a rite of passage. Many great scientists, politicians, writers and inventors were skilled at living dangerously. It's becoming harder to legally make and do interesting things. There's too much fear of terrorism, too much fear of litigation, too much fear of fear. Curiosity is a powerful need that only gets satisfied at a price. The more curious a person is, the more they are willing to pay that price. The edge, there’s really no way to map it, because the only people who know where it is, are the ones who have gone over…
Dancing with the Green Fairy? Or Pyrotechnic fun? Email me at frommyshelf@epix.net While you are waiting for your eyebrows to grow back, explore past columns at http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com I double dog dare ya. Have you had your own adventure with the supernatural? I’m starting a book on what’s weird in Wellsboro and the Twin Tiers. Ghosts, haints, spooks, and creepy tales, drop me an email and share your weird story.
“It was dangerous lunacy, but it was also the kind of thing a real connoisseur of edgework could make an argument for.” Hunter S. Thompson
“It’s a man’s world”, but I disagree. Day by day, our nation becomes more a mother’s world—safe and secure, a world more comfortable and soft around the edges, and with fewer outlets for risk. Gone is the vast, wild country. It has been replaced by shopping malls, bans on dodge ball, and government intrusion, a Nanny State.
There’s an instinctive desire for freedom and adventure. People take risks. They risk money. They risk reputation. They may even risk their very lives. All for many reasons, sometimes for no apparent reason—are such people acting illogically? According to William Gurstelle, author of Absinthe & Flamethrowers: Projects and Ruminations on the Art of Living Dangerously, the answer is no.
Taking risks proves your mettle, increases your confidence, and creates self-reliance. A person who does not take risks is unlikely to make it to the top. It is true that many thrill-seeking personalities, however, have shorter-than-average life spans. Can you learn to live taking risks, without falling off the edge? Certainly, there is a middle ground, the art of living dangerously.
William defines artfully-dangerous activities as: 1. Having a short learning curve, meaning no long-term or expensive training; 2. Human focused, meaning no complex machines (no parachutes, and no aqualungs); 3. Inexpensive, as high cost can take away the human component; and 4. Involves reasonable risk, since a little danger adds spice but too much danger makes your HMO even harder to deal with.
Before I continue this column, here’s the first of several warning required by the lawyers, my editor, and your mother. Many of the activities and projects in this book include an element of risk that simply cannot be avoided. Consider yourself warned. If you do not agree, please skip to the sports section. If you do read the rest of the column, it is essential to understand that you and you alone are responsible for your choice to live dangerously.
Scared? Should you read on? I’d tell you to plunge in, but it truly depends on your tolerance for risk. William is the author of several do-it-yourself books, and he emphasizes safety. The projects are well thought-out, well-engineered and engaging, but an element of risk remains. These projects, however, aren't for everyone, but even if you decide against participating, the read will do you good. After all, you never know when you might need to know how to make black powder, rockets, fuses, and your very own flamethrower. My editor encourages you to check your local fire codes. Your mom called and said you can't BBQ without burning the chicken, and you want to build a flamethrower???
In addition to projects, several dangerous practices are described—such as drinking absinthe, driving fast, and eating fugu, or Japanese blowfish. Remember that self-portrait by Van Gogh from that 8AM Art Appreciation class in college? The one where he sliced off his ear in a fit of rage? Van Gogh was a clinically depressed, social outcast who drank a whole lot of absinthe. The author also includes information on knife throwing, bullwhips, and Bhut Jolokia, a pepper so hot it makes your typical habanero look like a bell pepper.
Should you never smoke, gamble, speed, or drink, or is it acceptable as long as your pursuits don't bother anyone else? "Living dangerously is an art, a learnable and improvable skill that, when done well, enhances life without cutting it short," writes William Gurstelle. Perhaps, danger is a rite of passage. Many great scientists, politicians, writers and inventors were skilled at living dangerously. It's becoming harder to legally make and do interesting things. There's too much fear of terrorism, too much fear of litigation, too much fear of fear. Curiosity is a powerful need that only gets satisfied at a price. The more curious a person is, the more they are willing to pay that price. The edge, there’s really no way to map it, because the only people who know where it is, are the ones who have gone over…
Dancing with the Green Fairy? Or Pyrotechnic fun? Email me at frommyshelf@epix.net While you are waiting for your eyebrows to grow back, explore past columns at http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com I double dog dare ya. Have you had your own adventure with the supernatural? I’m starting a book on what’s weird in Wellsboro and the Twin Tiers. Ghosts, haints, spooks, and creepy tales, drop me an email and share your weird story.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Love and Murder
Kevin Coolidge
“There's some illogical part of me that still believes if you want superman to show up, first there's got to be someone worth saving.” Jodi Picoult
I’ve always loved comics. I love the swiftness of the narrative, how the action and the graphics grab you and suck you into the story. I remember discovering Superman, and Batman, and my favorite, Spiderman. I remember the excitement of getting a new issue every week. I remember the unlimited fantasy, anything could be imagined, anything could be drawn—there were no boundaries…
I still love the idea of comics, and although I don’t read them anymore. I still read the occasional graphic novel. A graphic novel is basically a comic book, but it is longer with a more complex storyline, similar to a novel. So when I heard that novelist Jodi Picoult was writing a Wonder Woman graphic novel, I decided to check it out.
Jodi Picoult is a bestselling author with over a dozen novels, and in 2003 she was awarded the New England Bookseller Award for Fiction. Jodi Picoult experienced a nice taste of writing comic books for her novel The Tenth Circle, which is how DC Comics found her.
Wonder Woman is not a character that has ever appealed to me, or to most of the guys I know. I've always liked the potential of Wonder Woman. Although she’s a woman, the comic has never had a female writer. I thought perhaps that an award winning novelist and a female perspective could be just what Wonder Woman needed for a fresh reboot.
After reading Wonder Woman: Love and Murder by Jodi Picoult, I feel that DC Comics’ game plan was to use her bestselling status as a marketing tool. The concept of using an established character writer may have worked if Picoult was allowed to write her own story, but instead she is thrust into a dictated plot, an already establish story arc and the crossover Amazons Attack, which you have to buy if you want the end of this story. It’s like having books one and three finished in a trilogy, but asking another author to write book two.
Nevertheless, its obvious Picoult has done her homework. She’s known for doing extensive research for her books—such as living with an Amish family for Plain Truth and going on a ghost-hunting trip for Second Glance. Still, I feel that Picoult fails at capturing Diana’s character. She acts like she has just arrived from Paradise Island: she has to learn about latte terminology, the use of money, and how subways work, even though she’s been on Earth for years.
For someone who has never written super-hero comics, Picoult manages to cram a lot of hackneyed clichés. Granted, Picoult wasn’t given a lot of room to establish brand new comic book conventions, but I found that Picoult’s voice in Wonder Woman sounded much like any other comic book writer – though this is as much compliment as criticism. If Picoult’s goal was to try her hand at the comic book genre, she succeeded in producing a standard representation, hackneyed, ham-fisted clichés included--Her mother’s convenient resurrection being just one example of a typical tired comic book convention. If Picoult hoped to bring something fresh to the Wonder Woman saga, this Amazon missed her mark.
One place Picoult really does a great job is in the light tone and putting Wonder Woman in a “Man’s World.” I find it amusing when the Amazonians destroy the Washington Monument because it’s a phallic symbol, but I was disappointed when the story ended on a cliffhanger. There is no resolution. I expect some kind of resolution in a graphic novel, and it left me feeling frustrated.
I’d love to see Jodi Picoult do a graphic novel where she has more creative control. She has the experience and talent and I wonder what this woman could do if loses the bustier…
Love? Or Murder? Email me at frommyshelf@epix.net Dying to see past columns? They are laid to rest at http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com Catch “Hobo Finds A Home” now available in “Manga” style, and coming soon…Hobo Anime, in 3D Dolby Surround Sound. Sorry it’s going to be in Japanese but the DVD will be available with English and Croatian subtitles…
“There's some illogical part of me that still believes if you want superman to show up, first there's got to be someone worth saving.” Jodi Picoult
I’ve always loved comics. I love the swiftness of the narrative, how the action and the graphics grab you and suck you into the story. I remember discovering Superman, and Batman, and my favorite, Spiderman. I remember the excitement of getting a new issue every week. I remember the unlimited fantasy, anything could be imagined, anything could be drawn—there were no boundaries…
I still love the idea of comics, and although I don’t read them anymore. I still read the occasional graphic novel. A graphic novel is basically a comic book, but it is longer with a more complex storyline, similar to a novel. So when I heard that novelist Jodi Picoult was writing a Wonder Woman graphic novel, I decided to check it out.
Jodi Picoult is a bestselling author with over a dozen novels, and in 2003 she was awarded the New England Bookseller Award for Fiction. Jodi Picoult experienced a nice taste of writing comic books for her novel The Tenth Circle, which is how DC Comics found her.
Wonder Woman is not a character that has ever appealed to me, or to most of the guys I know. I've always liked the potential of Wonder Woman. Although she’s a woman, the comic has never had a female writer. I thought perhaps that an award winning novelist and a female perspective could be just what Wonder Woman needed for a fresh reboot.
After reading Wonder Woman: Love and Murder by Jodi Picoult, I feel that DC Comics’ game plan was to use her bestselling status as a marketing tool. The concept of using an established character writer may have worked if Picoult was allowed to write her own story, but instead she is thrust into a dictated plot, an already establish story arc and the crossover Amazons Attack, which you have to buy if you want the end of this story. It’s like having books one and three finished in a trilogy, but asking another author to write book two.
Nevertheless, its obvious Picoult has done her homework. She’s known for doing extensive research for her books—such as living with an Amish family for Plain Truth and going on a ghost-hunting trip for Second Glance. Still, I feel that Picoult fails at capturing Diana’s character. She acts like she has just arrived from Paradise Island: she has to learn about latte terminology, the use of money, and how subways work, even though she’s been on Earth for years.
For someone who has never written super-hero comics, Picoult manages to cram a lot of hackneyed clichés. Granted, Picoult wasn’t given a lot of room to establish brand new comic book conventions, but I found that Picoult’s voice in Wonder Woman sounded much like any other comic book writer – though this is as much compliment as criticism. If Picoult’s goal was to try her hand at the comic book genre, she succeeded in producing a standard representation, hackneyed, ham-fisted clichés included--Her mother’s convenient resurrection being just one example of a typical tired comic book convention. If Picoult hoped to bring something fresh to the Wonder Woman saga, this Amazon missed her mark.
One place Picoult really does a great job is in the light tone and putting Wonder Woman in a “Man’s World.” I find it amusing when the Amazonians destroy the Washington Monument because it’s a phallic symbol, but I was disappointed when the story ended on a cliffhanger. There is no resolution. I expect some kind of resolution in a graphic novel, and it left me feeling frustrated.
I’d love to see Jodi Picoult do a graphic novel where she has more creative control. She has the experience and talent and I wonder what this woman could do if loses the bustier…
Love? Or Murder? Email me at frommyshelf@epix.net Dying to see past columns? They are laid to rest at http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com Catch “Hobo Finds A Home” now available in “Manga” style, and coming soon…Hobo Anime, in 3D Dolby Surround Sound. Sorry it’s going to be in Japanese but the DVD will be available with English and Croatian subtitles…
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Doing it all, undomestically
Kasey Cox
As colleges around the country hold their pomp & circumstance celebrations, and high school graduations wait just on the other side of this calendar page…. and with the intense competition for jobs, and the dark views of the economy … perhaps now is not the time for me to tell you how much I loved a book that recommended stepping back from working your ass off.
I know that right now every graduation speech, every career counselor, every recruiter is going to tell you that in order to succeed, you’re going to have to work even harder, longer, and smarter than you’ve ever worked before. Certainly, many people are finding themselves working longer hours, whether they are recent graduates looking to impress a new boss, or an experienced worker with a new second job because a spouse was recently downsized. Some people who had been planning on retiring soon are finding that they’ll need to work a few more years than originally planned. I’m sympathetic: small business owners are putting even more hours themselves, and farming out fewer hours to other, part-time help.
So maybe it’s not a great time for me to recommend a fluffy story about a high-powered career girl who has to give it all up, but then realizes her life is better for working less.
Or maybe it’s the perfect time.
Hollywood recently discovered British “chic-lit” author Sophie Kinsella, producing a movie based on the first of Kinsella’s “Shopaholic” books. Perhaps Touchstone Pictures was hoping to make a movie as successful as the 2001 adaptation of Helen Fielding’s book, Bridget Jones’ Diary. Although the “Shopaholic” movie was amusing, and the books even more so, I think the producers missed the mark. Their timing, as well as their choice of Kinsella novels, seems rather poor in taste to me, if you’ll excuse the pun. I think the best Kinsella novel for this summer is The Undomestic Goddess.
If you’ve ever been a workaholic, a perfectionist, or a driven Type-A dude, you’ll really appreciate Samantha Sweeting, who is on the cusp of being named the youngest-ever partner at Carter Spink, high-powered London law firm. While her small apartment languishes under piles of empty take-out boxes and boxes of unopened junk mail, Samantha toils away more than fifteen hours a day, seven days a week, permanently attached to her Blackberry and cell phone. She’s brilliant, she’s determined, and she’s so stressed-out that she makes an enormous error that costs her clients 50 million pounds. Fleeing in mortification, Samantha runs, ending up on a train to the countryside. Exhausted and lost, she knocks on the door of a large country estate, gets mistaken for the interviewee from the Housekeeping Agency, and….
Okay, so the premise is a little far-fetched and the plot rather heavily engineered. What redeems this novel from the bin of just-another-beach-read is that there is nothing unrealistic about the character of Samantha Sweeting. Sure, Samantha is a comic character who begins to understand what is really important in life, and what brings deeper satisfaction and balance for the long-term. We could read that lesson in many a self-help book or hear it in a myriad of greeting cards: experiencing it yourself, however, sinks it home. If you love to read, sometimes experiencing feelings vicariously through a character is the next best thing. The Undomestic Goddess reminded me to slow down, enjoy the taste of food thoughtfully prepared and enjoyed with loved ones, the importance of taking time off.
I think that’s where we are right now. Yes, we may need to work hard, perhaps harder than ever to “get back on track.” Or maybe we’ll realize, as Samantha does, that the old track wasn’t so great after all. Perhaps less money but more satisfying work will fill our days. Food and friends instead of adrenaline and fancy toys. Coming out of crisis mode and into the good life that’s been here all along. That’s why I came home to the endless rolling hills of our home. Here’s to the good life, and to you, wherever you may find it!
Read all about how Hobo found his home in his children’s book, cleverly titled, “Hobo Finds A Home.” Read excerpts from his forthcoming book, containing his household tips and favorite recipes, at his blog: http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com. No Blackberries or chipmunks included. Martha Stewart and Opal Mehta, eat your heart out! Hobo knows the good life, and it doesn’t include plagiarism or jail time. He takes stock in the love of his fans.
As colleges around the country hold their pomp & circumstance celebrations, and high school graduations wait just on the other side of this calendar page…. and with the intense competition for jobs, and the dark views of the economy … perhaps now is not the time for me to tell you how much I loved a book that recommended stepping back from working your ass off.
I know that right now every graduation speech, every career counselor, every recruiter is going to tell you that in order to succeed, you’re going to have to work even harder, longer, and smarter than you’ve ever worked before. Certainly, many people are finding themselves working longer hours, whether they are recent graduates looking to impress a new boss, or an experienced worker with a new second job because a spouse was recently downsized. Some people who had been planning on retiring soon are finding that they’ll need to work a few more years than originally planned. I’m sympathetic: small business owners are putting even more hours themselves, and farming out fewer hours to other, part-time help.
So maybe it’s not a great time for me to recommend a fluffy story about a high-powered career girl who has to give it all up, but then realizes her life is better for working less.
Or maybe it’s the perfect time.
Hollywood recently discovered British “chic-lit” author Sophie Kinsella, producing a movie based on the first of Kinsella’s “Shopaholic” books. Perhaps Touchstone Pictures was hoping to make a movie as successful as the 2001 adaptation of Helen Fielding’s book, Bridget Jones’ Diary. Although the “Shopaholic” movie was amusing, and the books even more so, I think the producers missed the mark. Their timing, as well as their choice of Kinsella novels, seems rather poor in taste to me, if you’ll excuse the pun. I think the best Kinsella novel for this summer is The Undomestic Goddess.
If you’ve ever been a workaholic, a perfectionist, or a driven Type-A dude, you’ll really appreciate Samantha Sweeting, who is on the cusp of being named the youngest-ever partner at Carter Spink, high-powered London law firm. While her small apartment languishes under piles of empty take-out boxes and boxes of unopened junk mail, Samantha toils away more than fifteen hours a day, seven days a week, permanently attached to her Blackberry and cell phone. She’s brilliant, she’s determined, and she’s so stressed-out that she makes an enormous error that costs her clients 50 million pounds. Fleeing in mortification, Samantha runs, ending up on a train to the countryside. Exhausted and lost, she knocks on the door of a large country estate, gets mistaken for the interviewee from the Housekeeping Agency, and….
Okay, so the premise is a little far-fetched and the plot rather heavily engineered. What redeems this novel from the bin of just-another-beach-read is that there is nothing unrealistic about the character of Samantha Sweeting. Sure, Samantha is a comic character who begins to understand what is really important in life, and what brings deeper satisfaction and balance for the long-term. We could read that lesson in many a self-help book or hear it in a myriad of greeting cards: experiencing it yourself, however, sinks it home. If you love to read, sometimes experiencing feelings vicariously through a character is the next best thing. The Undomestic Goddess reminded me to slow down, enjoy the taste of food thoughtfully prepared and enjoyed with loved ones, the importance of taking time off.
I think that’s where we are right now. Yes, we may need to work hard, perhaps harder than ever to “get back on track.” Or maybe we’ll realize, as Samantha does, that the old track wasn’t so great after all. Perhaps less money but more satisfying work will fill our days. Food and friends instead of adrenaline and fancy toys. Coming out of crisis mode and into the good life that’s been here all along. That’s why I came home to the endless rolling hills of our home. Here’s to the good life, and to you, wherever you may find it!
Read all about how Hobo found his home in his children’s book, cleverly titled, “Hobo Finds A Home.” Read excerpts from his forthcoming book, containing his household tips and favorite recipes, at his blog: http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com. No Blackberries or chipmunks included. Martha Stewart and Opal Mehta, eat your heart out! Hobo knows the good life, and it doesn’t include plagiarism or jail time. He takes stock in the love of his fans.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)