A woman's life through her clothes

16. Read 30 books I haven't read before. (11/30)

Love, Loss, and What I Wore
written and illustrated by Ilene Beckerman

This is a truly charming little book. Ms. Beckerman traces her life from the 1940s to the present through her clothing, from her Brownie uniform to the clothes her granddaughter plays dress-up in. There is something so magical about women's clothing from the 40s and 50s; her descriptions are absolutely enthralling (if you're interested in the history of women's fashion). She talks about her t-strap shoes and Revlon nail polish, her crinoline and her 70s pantsuit.

This book made me wish I had such a personal relationship with my clothing (her mother made most of her clothing when she was a child) and I couldn't help but think about how we are now so removed from the clothing we buy (just like we're so removed from the food and other necessities we buy). I borrowed this book from the library and read it while I did laundry at the laundromat tonight - and I only needed half the time at the laundromat to read it. It's definitely the sort of book you read and the re-read slowly, perhaps not even in order, finding your favorite outfits again and letting them spur you on to remembering some of your favorite outfits and where you were and what happened when you wore them.

It Sucked and then I Cried

16. Read 30 books and blog about them. (10/30)

It Sucked and then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita
by Heather Armstrong

Heather is the incredibly amusing writer of the blog Dooce. Much like Rebecca Woolf's book, Rockabye, Heather's book reads a lot like her blog. Not being an original Dooce reader, I was not along for the ride when Heather was pregnant with her first daughter and went through significant post-partum depression. I assumed the book would give a coherent picture of that experience, but I have to admit that I was disappointed. At times, she will write something like, "And I was no longer throwing one gallon milk jugs at my husband's head" but I didn't recall being told she was doing that in the first place. I feel like the depression was a glossed over in the description of the time it was occurring and I also feel that her hospital stay lacked description. I don't know if this was a conscious choice because these were details she didn't want to include, a writing error, or she doesn't actually remember all of it. I do wish I knew because otherwise, then, I feel a bit disappointed and cheated.

That isn't to say the book isn't an enjoyable read; it most certainly is. However, where I would read Rockabye again, I don't think I would read It Sucked and then I Cried again. That said, I do think it should be required reading for pregnant women. I am very grateful that we have women like Heather out there, talking about these difficult events in women's (and the men/partners' who love them) lives.

He's just not that into you... oh wait, I lied.

Last night I watched He's Just Not That Into You.

I read the book back when it came out:

And, before that, saw the Sex and the City episode that spawned the book that later spawned the movie.  To all of this I will say: it should have stopped with the SATC episode. T

he book isn't bad (although it's been a while since I read it so I'd have to re-read it to form a thorough opinion).  There are a lot of women who are, as the film clearly points out, conditioned to believe that men act like assholes to show you that they like you.  Seriously, isn't it insane when it's worded that way?  But many women believe it's true, telling themselves the man isn't ready for a relationship, has intimacy issues, loves them so much that it scares him, blah blah blahdie blah blah.  (Full disclosure: I have said all of those things myself - at one point, all about the same man.  But in my case it was true.  Ha.  No, we didn't get married, but whatever - I know what I know.) For the woman that still use these ideas regularly, the title of the book alone should have had an effect. 

The film, I am sad to report, completely UNDOES THE WHOLE EFFING THING!  Throughout the whole film, one key character is not into the girl - oh wait, UNTIL HE IS.  Married men never leave their wives - oh wait, UNTIL ONE DOES (albeit because his wife wised up and kicked the lying sack of poo out of her home).  The man who says he does not want to get married will never change his mind and propose - oh wait, UNTIL HE DOES.  It was completely infuriating.  And, to boot, the one woman with a spine (who kicks out her cheating husband) is the most annoying character in the whole film.  That is not good. That said, I don't hate that I watched the film.  It was entertaining enough - it's just really the last 10 or so minutes that undo the whole damn thing.  I want to write a letter to Drew Barrymore and tell her that I'm disappointed in her (she's one of the executive producers).  She should really know better.  This could've been a great female empowerment film but instead ended up reinforcing the worst stereotypes and delusions.  Boo hiss.

Rebecca Woolf is my Oprah (but like new and improved)

16. Read 30 books I haven’t read before and blog about them. (9/30)

Rockabye
by Rebecca Woolf

I promise to make a concerted effort not to squee all over this post.  As stated in my previous post, I have a massive girl-crush on Rebecca Woolf.

Rebecca, long story short:
*Living the cool life in L.A., party girl, scenester
*Pregnant at 23 by guy she'd been dating for a few months
*Kept the baby, got married at 5 months pregnant
*Named son Archer (such a cool name and such a cute kid)
*Writes an awesome blog, Girl's Gone Child, and writes/participates in other sites (Babble, Momversation, HuffPo)
*Now married around five years and has a second child, an overwhelmingly cute daughter named Fable

I said to a friend the other day that Rebecca Woolf is about five years younger than me but I want to be her when I grow up.  Unfortunately, some of it is too late.  It's too late to have a wild time that I won't regret later.  It's too late to pursue everything I want, throwing caution to the wind - and I'm cautious by nature, so that would have never worked.  But I envy that ability of hers. She's naturally beautiful, but also impeccably stylish.  She even posted a makeup tutorial on YouTube (confession: I've been trying her eyeshadow technique over the past two days and love it so far; I even bought new mascara and am going to try some MAC stuff when I have a bit of cash to spare).  It's unfair how pretty she still is when she doesn't yet have any makeup on.  I always feel beautiful when my husband says the same thing about me, but I think he just hasn't seen her without her makeup on (and I'm not sharing).

I found Rebecca through Momversation, which I found through Dooce (whose book, It Sucked And Then I Cried,  I will begin reading tonight).  Rebecca so intrigued me that I went back in her blog archives and read through her whole blog, starting at the first post.  This took a few days and when it was over, I was sad that I couldn't get a new Rebecca fix anytime I wanted. 

So, I read her book. The book reads just like the blog.  If you don't like blogs or Rebecca's in particular, you will not like this book.  She's the type of writer who is totally relatable and who you don't feel bad about agreeing or disagreeing with.  For example, I have always hated the idea of L.A.  I've never been there - drove by it once, but that's it.  As a die-hard NYC fan, I do not have a pleasant opinion of L.A.  Rebecca changed that, though.  I have a respect for the city and those who live there that I didn't before.  I still don't love it, but can really understand why some do.

Rebecca's struggle is the balance of motherhood and individuality and independence - a struggle I have always anticipated myself having.  Her words have quieted many of my fears about wanting to have it all, although I take issue with her claim at the end of the book that one can have it all.  I think that it's been a bit easy for her (though she would laugh heartily at that claim) because she's driven, resourceful, and mainly a really talented writer who's had professional experience writing since she was a teenager.  Not everyone is lucky enough to have their one great talent be one that allows them to work from home - AND not everyone who has a talent like that has the luck or opportunity to make it work out that way.  It helps when you're beautiful and young, too.

But it all only makes me love her more.  She doesn't take anything for granted and feels very lucky to have what she does.  (Did I mention yet that her husband is hot, too?  Yeah, the luck.)  I even envy the names she chose for her children: Archer and Fable.  I'm seriously considering stealing the name Fable because it is the best female name I have heard in a long time.  I worry, though, that I'm just not cool enough to have a daughter named Fable... or that one day, should I be so lucky as to meet Rebecca, I'd have to fess up to stealing the name.  That would suck and ruin any chance at friendship, I'm sure.  (But in this instance, I swear to all that exists, imitation really would be the sincerest form of flattery.)

The thing about Rebecca is that she's truly inspirational.  This is going to sound crazy and beyond cheesetastic, but I feel like I've become a better person just in time since I read her blog and her book.  I feel funnier and kinder and happier.  I feel like she has so much gratitude for everything that it can't help but seep out and that some of it landed on me.  And what, for a writer, could be better than to be able to create change and affect a person?  Not much (other than maybe massive book sales).  And it's not that type of icky, annoying "I keep a gratitude journal" gratitude.  It's naked and honest and sometimes raw, but always beautiful.

So, you know, I know she and I aren't ever going to become BFF or something, but she's changed my outlook in a way that only those types of people can, which is incredible.  And she friended me on Facebook, so yeah, we're like already on the road to being BFF anyway.

One last thing... The last line of Rockabye: I twist my ring and it sparkles in the light of Archer's bedroom and everywhere I look there are rainbows. I don't know if she did this on purpose - she is a writer, so I do suspect she knows this poem - but, for me, this totally chimed of the last lines of Elizabeth Bishop's poem, "The Fish": everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow! (Full text of the poem here.  Do yourself a favor and read it; it's incredible.) Rebecca Woolf creates rainbows.

7 Quick Things... or Takes... or the Tuesday Seven, whatev.

I'm taking this idea from These Little Moments who, in turn, took it from Not That You Asked (which I think is one of the best blog titles I've ever heard - it's so simple yet SO perfect for nearly any blog - because, really, who's asking?).

7 Quick Things (it's more things than takes today) is perfect for me today because my head is utterly swimming with issues and concerns and preoccupations.  (And now I'm really interested in unpacking the word "preoccupation" - it's a job before a job or something that prevents a job... and my preoccupations prevent my work for sure.  Hm.  But I digress.)

One

My sister's dog died yesterday.  He was a stray that my brother-in-law rescued.  When he found the dog abandoned in a warehouse, he was all dusty so they named him Dusty.  The vet told them he was pretty sure Dusty had been significantly abused as a puppy and his jaw had definitely been broken, so for years they cooked soft foods for him like scrambled eggs and boiled chicken.  With time, he grew stronger and grew to love his daily cookies, even asking for them by saying, "I want one."  I swear, the dog talked.  "I want one" sounded like, "Ah wahn wun."  Honest.  He was sweet and loving, letting all the family kids flop all over him and play with his toys. TJ won't remember him but definitely missed him this morning.  He walked around the house with Dusty's regular morning cooking with his hand on his head, which is his sign for, "Where is it (he)?" We'll miss you Dusty.

Two

I feel unqualified to understand what is going on in Iran.  Yes, there was an election.  Yes, the results seem questionable.  Yes, people are rioting and protesting and lives are being lost.  But I feel like the lies told to the American people over the past decade have made us incapable of addressing this intelligently.  Lumping someone into an Axis of Evil doesn't really lead one to understanding.  All I know is that what is going on there both worries and frightens me and I can only hope that the Obama administration is being seemingly quiet on the issue for a good reason.

Three

Candidate Obama stated he was a "fierce advocate" of gay rights.  Soooo... whattup with that?  Yesterday his administration defended the Defense of Marriage Act.  I do not understand what's going on here and really hope they step up on this very soon, like... oh, well, like immediately.  This action and their general inaction is unacceptable.

Four

I nearly devoured a book last night: Rockabye by Rebecca Woolf of Girls Gone Child.  After one evening of reading, I am on page 177 of 283. (I will be done tonight; I'd be done now if I wouldn't get in trouble for reading at work.)  There will be a longer post about her forthcoming, but long story short: she is my current girl-crush.  Like, if she was in BOP magazine, I'd have her picture all over my wall.  I think she is smart, gutsy, beautiful, stylish, funny, and truly inspirational - but really, more on her to follow.  (I am obsessed!) Have I mentioned that her kids' names are Archer and Fable?  Couldn't you just fall over?  I want to name my daughter Fable.

(BTW - check out her current blog post about gun control and the ensuing comments.  Good for her for standing up for gun control and the idea of keeping violent entertainment out of one's children's lives.  It's a shame that she had to close comments.  She even had to take down her Google ads because the posts caused them to switch to ads about guns and gun lessons.)

Five

I wish the ASPCA and State Farm weren't so adept at creating commercials that make me cry.  The woman who lost her home to a storm?  Crying.  The disheveled shih-tzu?  Crying.  They get me every time.

Six

Stuff about my job is going to change and I'm looking forward to it.  That's all I can say about that, though.  I'm not changing jobs, really - just the focus will be shifting and it's a positive move.  That's always a good thing.

Seven

I have a pear and a banana to eat as snacks today.  This makes me happy. Over and out.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

16. Read 30 books I haven’t read before (in addition to the above) and blog about them. (8/30)

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
by Junot Diaz

This is an interesting read - and I say read instead of book because that's exactly what I mean.  Reading this book is an interesting experience.  I know that it's very popular in college English courses right now - especially in New Jersey since a significant portion of the book takes place in Paterson and New Brunswick (at Rutgers) - so as I read it, I was reading it not just as a reader, but also trying to see it through the eyes of an English professor as well as a college student, trying to figure out how I'd teach this book, why I'd teach it, and how students might react to it.

Well, this was not entirely easy.  The book is a little difficult to get into and moves in and out of Spanish (which I don't know).  For an experienced reader, these are not problems.  There are plenty of books that are well worth reading that are difficult to get into at first.  And, as an experienced reader, one learns to just skim over the unrecognized words (whether in his/her native language or a foreign one) as the overall meaning of the passage should make this clear.  I see non-Spanish speaking students having difficulty with this and, as a teacher, I would definitely look up all of the Spanish so I had it notated.  It's undoubtedly important to be able to analyze what's in Spanish so we can figure why it is (there has to be a pattern as to what's in Spanish and what's not - just a hunch I have).

The narrator's identity is not confirmed until the end of the book; however, I had a hunch as to who it was (and was right).  Knowing who the narrator is and why he can tell the story tells a lot about how the story is told and arranged.  It's definitely a book that warrants a second reading because I know there is a lot that I missed the first time through. The dueling characteristics of the weight and support of family form the spine of the story.  It would be easy for students to relate to or understand this troubled, broken family, and there's a useful lesson on the troubles of colonization that could also be covered throughout the reading. 

The structure of the book is complex, moving between characters and locations, but it feels seamless - like the kind of writing any one of us could do if we just took a little time to do it.  It's truly marvelous in that respect. This is definitely a book that's going to sit with me for a few days.  You know, when you read something and it lingers in your mind like a hazy character in the shadows.  That's this book.  If I get to choose novels for my own syllabus in the near future, I will definitely give this one a space.

The hubby bought me a book! (REM: Hello)

The hubby has been obsessed with buying a Nikon D40 since... err, forever.  Since it came out, probably.  So finally he decided to save up, little by little, and get the camera (the store let him do layaway - how cool is that? I love layaway). The hubby didn't know about the camera store we ended up at.  It was actually my idea to go.  Being the daughter of a former pro-photog and friend of many aspiring photogs, I have been going to this camera store for ages so not only did I not mind taking him there, I actually enjoyed it. While the hubby played with the D40 display model, I wandered around the store looking at frames and photo books.  Then, suddenly, my eyes fell to this and I think I squealed:

R.E.M. Hello
photos by David Belisle

A new R.E.M. photo book?  With an introduction by Stipe?  Instantly the camera store disappeared around me as I flipped through the pages of the book, totally immersing myself into R.E.M.-land.  The photos in the book are phenomenal and, apparently, there was a book tour where the photog AND Stipe signed copies.  Ohhh but it was last year and I missed it because I had NO idea it was going on!  *shakes fist at grad school*

So a few days ago the hubby comes home from work and says, "I have something for you.  Sorry it's not wrapped."  (Note: any time I get a random gift and it's not a holiday - and sometimes on holidays - the gift presentation is often followed by "Sorry it's not wrapped." lol)  And there it was, shrink-wrapped, signed by the photog.  The photos are as incredible as I remember from a couple of months ago.  So stunning:

What a lucky wifey I am to have a hubby that not only supports but fuels my Stipe/R.E.M. obsession AND my book obsession! And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go flip through my book.

My post-TV season life should, no, will involve reading

What kind of bookish penguin doesn't write about books all the time?  This slacker, TV addict.

Now that the majority of shows have had their season finales, I find myself with a lot of extra weeknight hours.  Granted, this will only last this week, for now, because for the month of June I'm teaching four nights a week (Monday through Thursday) from 6pm to 8:30pm (and this is after a full 9am-5pm workday). But, for this lovely, shortened workweek, I have oodles of free time.  Sure, I have to finalize my syllabus for next week and also work on my syllabus for August (I will be teaching for three weeks in August, four nights a week, from 6pm to 9:20pm - goodbye free time), but for now I get to... what?  Read?  Write?  Talk a long walk with Oreo?  Perhaps.  I just want to make sure I don't spend this week sitting in front of the television like a drone, which is my default behavior. 

I absolutely adore television, but too much so that when this time of year comes, I actually feel a bit freed. I am trying to read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon but I'm having a hard time getting into it.  Perhaps tonight I will sit down and give it a really fair shake.  I think I associate sitting at home and reading with grad school work and that's why I find it so hard to do.  If I took the book to a coffee shop, I could probably sit there and read the book in a couple of hours. 

Unfortunately, there's our old nemesis again, the required retail experience.  (I have a major issue with how everything these days seems to require some sort of retail purchase, but I have to ponder the idea a bit more before I can write something cohesive about it.) One book I had a hard time getting into a long time ago was Atonement by Ian McEwan, but on the advising of several undergrad classmates, I stuck with it.  The first half of the book probably took me two weeks to get through - and then the second half took me less than two hours, probably.  It was entirely worth the work and the wait.  I'm hoping The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is somewhat similar, although I don't want to get half way through the book before I start enjoying it.  We'll see.  I promise to get on it and report back!

Two books have defeated me before: On the Road by Jack Kerouac and Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. I don't know what it is about On the Road that irritates me so, but it does.  I just cannot get past the first 25-30 pages, despite having tried three times.  I know I'll try a fourth time and now, as a better, more accomplished and skilled reader, perhaps I shall succeed at it. Clocking in at over 1100 pages, (no, that is not a typo), I saw Infinite Jest as a challenge for bragging rights.  An extremely lengthy and difficult read?  Bring it on!  About 30-5o pages later, I gave up.  I think I still have the book around somewhere.  Maybe one day I will still get to it.

For now, though, I'm going after that curious dog night time incident thing.  And probably still watching too much television.

Things I Miss Friday: the summer reading book table

I went to Barnes & Noble last night to pick up a new Star Trek novel for the hubby to read on the plane this weekend.  While walking through the fiction section, I was undeniably drawn to the summer reading table.  I always hated summer break when I was younger because I wanted to stay in school.  The bright spot?  The summer reading list.  I loved going to the library and seeing the display table of all the summer reading options, arranged by grade and reading level.

Looking at the summer reading tables now is like taking a trip down memory lane, remembering the books I read over summers past.  I remember the summer before my junior year, taking the list to the library and deciding I would choose the biggest book on the list (show-off snot that I was) so I chose The Fountainhead.  I loved it, of course, but I haven't read it since and would really love to read it again because I think there's so much more I could get from it now.

I have books I already own on my to-read list (as always) but perhaps I'll take a trip to my local library and peruse the summer reading list to get a fresh idea.

What's on your summer reading list?

The Tipping Point

16. Read 30 books I haven’t read before (in addition to the above) and blog about them. (7/30)

The Tipping Point
by Malcolm Gladwell

I have now officially finished my Malcolm Gladwell trilogy.  It started with Blink a few years back.  Then, earlier this year, I read Outliers and now I have gone back and read his first book, The Tipping Point.

Blink is still my favorite, by far, but each of these books is brilliant.  This book, in particular, could be used in so many fields and practices, that I feel like it's almost dangerous - especially if its ideas were taken into the world of politics.  Sure, plenty of ideas could use the sort of support and word of mouth that brings something to the tipping point, but other ideas might be dangerous that way. Gladwell definitely has a fan for life in me.  He hasn't done me wrong yet.

And now I must decide what to read next.  I can't decide whether I should start His Dark Materials, my Austen collection, or the modern re-telling of King Lear, A Thousand Acres.  I have to see which one tickles my fancy most.  I definitely need a fiction fix, though.  I could also use a good dose of poetry, but I need to be in a quieter state of mind to adequately read a book of poetry and compose a response post.  It's been raining so much lately; I wish I could just stay home and listen to rain while I read.  Unfortunately, that would cause a stop in my paychecks which would then cause me and all my belongings to be out IN the rain after I get evicted.  Not so good.

Whatever It Takes

16. Read 30 books I haven’t read before (in addition to the above) and blog about them. (6/30)

Whatever It Takes
by Paul Tough

This is a book I've been wanting to read ever since I first heard about it last year.  It's about Geoffrey Canada, the head of Harlem Children's Zone and the creator of Baby College, a program in Harlem that teaches new and upcoming parents about contemporary parenting techniques.  The grand scope of Canada's goal is to solve the problem of poverty (how's that for ambitious?) and he determined that the best way to go about this is the "conveyor belt" scenario.  When low-income, inner city young adults are pregnant, he enrolls them in Baby College and they learn about things that middle-class families seem to find out about on their own: why reading to your baby/child is important, nutrition for pregnant women, nutrition for babies and children, the importance of an intact family unit (i.e. two parents), the importance of attending school, the argument against corporal punishment, etc. The conveyor belt continues throughout the child's life (in theory): they (and their parents) are enrolled in the Three Year Journey (like Baby College but with three-year-olds), and then preschool, and then kindergarten and up in the related charter school.  These children would then go on to college, graduate successfully, and bring their success and initiative back to Harlem and other cities.  The idea behind all of this is that low-income children do not have models of success in their lives.  More than half the men they know have been in jail, almost no one they know has gone to college, many haven't completed high school, and many are unemployed and underemployed.  Canada calls it "infection theory" - if he can "infect" the neighborhood with models of success, they will then spur more success, and so on, until Harlem is no longer an impoverished neighborhood. I think his work is brilliant and am happy that President Obama is a fan of this program and wants to expand it to twenty other urban areas (including Camden NJ).  I hope that the expansion can be approved and funded, which will be hard in these times, I recognize - but what better thing is there to invest in than the education of the future leaders and citizens of this country? I highly, highly recommend this book to anyone interested in childhood education.

I love you, except when I don't.

And by "you", I mean student papers.  In theory, I love grading papers.  When I have stacks of short grading to do (say, introduction paragraphs), I really get into it.  But when I have a stack of final papers, even if they're only four pages long (or, unfortunately, less), I just do not relish digging in.  There are just some things that I do not enjoy as often as I love them. Other things I love, except when I don't:

• cleaning
• making coffee
• cooking dinner
• styling my hair
• choosing my outfit for the day
• going clothes shopping
• going out to dinner
• hanging out with people

Sometimes I need and yearn for these things.  Some mornings I love getting my hair "just so".  Other mornings, I wish I could just wear a hat because I cannot be bothered to toy with the hair dryer, round brush, and texturizing cream.  I sometimes love being home by myself, putting on my favorite music and yellow gloves, and scrubbing the kitchen from top to bottom.  Other times, I would rather lie on a crumb-laden floor than take out the Swiffer and clean it.  Of course, at times like those I can call up my sister and have my one-year-old nephew come over since Swiffering is one of his favorite activities (no lie):

That's my nephew on Easter with my Mom's Swiffer... right before he sat on it and broke it (TJ the Destroyer).  (By the way, can you not love that outfit??  He looks like a future Justin Timberlake.) 

Anyway, there was my daily excuse for getting my nephew into the conversation.  Moving along...

So what is it that causes this love vs. avoidance conundrum?  Is everyone so fickle?  I hate to admit it, but even books fall into this.  I adore reading but sometimes it's the last thing I want to do, even if it's purely reading for pleasure - even if it's a book I've been looking forward to.  Is it the behavior of the residual three year old in all of us, defiant even against those things we love?  Or is it something else?  Or is it (*gulp*) just me?

Fahrenheit 451

16. Read 30 books I haven’t read before (in addition to the above) and blog about them. (5/30)

Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury

This book has been on my "to-read" list for a very long time.  I never read it in high school or college and it's one of those books that I feel everyone should read.  It's a little hard to get into in the beginning, but I was really into it after about 40 pages.  It also felt quite timely to read as I watched a video online the other day about one woman at a protest saying we need to get back to burning books, especially "those evolution books".  Eeep.

The main point to the book is really obvious and could be extremely simplistic and overstated but Bradbury does a really excellent job of not oversimplifying his point, instead letting the reader fill in some blanks while he explains other points that one might miss (like how the outcasts "are" certain books - I particularly liked that idea).  The book is definitely a clear warning about where entertainment is heading and how it can be used to keep the general population dulled to the world.  Bradbury's vision of personalized entertainment is quite prescient; I think we truly could be heading to a time where our living room walls are full-sized televisions with characters that we see as members of our family. I've been reading a lot of non-fiction, so taking a fiction break was good.  I'm going to read more non-fiction next, but I'm looking forward to my next dalliance with fiction.

Fat is a Feminist Issue and Bodies

16. Read 30 books I haven’t read before (in addition to the above) and blog about them. (3 & 4)

#3 - Fat Is a Feminist Issue by Susie Orbach

I decided to read this book because I wanted to read Orbach's new book, Bodies (#4 below).  Orbach is a renowned feminist author and scholar, although I have to admit I was not specifically familiar with her work.  However, after reading this book, I realized that I was so familiar with it that it was actually all a given in my life.  This book was initially published in 1978 and hailed as revolutionary at the time.  As I'm reading it, all I could think was, "Really?  This is new?"  It's hard for me to think that during my own lifetime, some/all of what was written in this book was true.  There's a lot about how women are raised to be subservient and quiet and not plan to work.  I read that and thought, "Ha!  Like who?"  But as I read on, I realized that I am fortunate enough to be raised in the evolution and aftermath of this scholarship.  I was not raised to be subservient to a man - quite the opposite, actually.  I was raised to expect not just to work, but to have a career. The book talks about how being fat is a symptom of how women are treated in American/British society, and for certain this is true, but a lot has changed since this book was written.  At times, it was hard to get through because it is just that dated.  However, I was reading it as a foundation for the new book, so it worked perfectly for that purpose.

#4 - Bodies by Susie Orbach

This book talks about how the idea of the body has changed and continues to change in contemporary society.  It talks about how biology is no longer destiny, how people believe cosmetic surgery can fix any aspect of their lives, and how the urge to "fix" one's body is really a symptom of so much more.  This was a really interesting read for me since I have taken drastic steps to change my body - and I have failed to maintain the change, even though I thought I knew what I was signing on for.  This book really led me to think a lot about how I think about my body, why I want to change it - specifically why do I want to lose weight.  It also made me think a lot about the bridal industry (although it's not really specifically mentioned, but who doesn't know a dozen women who all lost or tried to lose weight for wedding) and about how people I know treat their bodies and the food they intake.

It's hard for me not to be judgmental about the way people fuel and feed themselves (and their families, if they have them).  But perhaps a lot of that judgmental energy is because I feel I am unable to fuel and feed myself the way I know I would like to.  But I still feel that there are a good number of people I know who would strongly benefit from some of the knowledge and ideas in this book (and in Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, another favorite of mine that I read before starting the 101 project).

In the end, I can only be responsible for myself and, at best, lead by example.  I know that I feel better - happier - when I am in control of my diet; and by "in control" I don't mean the sort of control that is restrictive and harmful.  I often feel out of control in regards to food, like it is this feature in my life that has a shadowy power over me.  When I am confident that I am eating a healthy diet - one that is balanced and helps me build and maintain a strong body and energy - I feel better overall.  This is my food goal.  I was there once, briefly.  I can get there again.

13. Read Watchmen (Alan Moore).

I finished reading Watchmen this morning.  I've been wanting to read this for probably two years now because a grad school friend of mine wrote a stellar paper about it and often talked of the graphic novel's greatness and importance.  I'll admit, I had to get over quite a bit of the, "Really?  You're taking a comic book seriously?" attitude, but it was worth it.  Now, I did not love this book as much as any novel I've read, but I did enjoy it quite a lot.  The film is being released March 6th and I am really very excited about that; it looks fantastic!

I don't think I'll become a fan of the graphic novel genre overall, but I will continue to work at being more open-minded about it.  Another grad school friend wrote his thesis about Maus and through our conversations, I really gained even more respect for the genre and a strong interest in Maus, specifically.  I and II will both be part of "16. Read 30 books I haven't read before."