(no subject)
Ohhhhhhhh right
Naked-David Sedaris
Mostly about how Sedaris spent a good part of his 20's hitchhiking across the United States, almost got killed in the process, kept doing it until he almost got killed again, then stopped. The title story is about a time he spent a week at a nudist colony. Amy Sedaris was just a ridiculous as a kid as she is now, everytime she makes an appearance in one of his stories its really funny. David Sedaris himself is a very cool guy, he lives in a much more accessible world than most people. He says he has never even been on the internet, doesn't have a cell phone, and has never written on anything but a typewriter that he hauls all over the place.
He is undistracted by the bullshit, he isn't updating his fucking facebook status from his cell phone, he is observing and participating in what is going on around him. I can't explain why, but to meet someone who is technologically retarded is extremely refreshing to me. I have found enjoyment in dropping off the radar, I find myself turning my phone off and leaving it for awhile, I spend days off the internet... and it is so fucking nice. I feel like I'm turning this into a preachy thing, so I'm going to move on to..........
The Tales of Beedle the Bard-J.K. Rowling
I stayed away from this book for a long time because I thought it was just a way for Rowling to make some extra cash while she writes her wizarding world encyclopedia and collects royalties from mediocre Harry Potter movies. Turns out the book is only $7.50 and all proceeds go to the British orphans. Aw how sweet, and since I am a prick and like to rag on Twilight versus Harry Potter stuff whenever I get the chance, here it is, Team Edward People you should just move along right now: hey there, if you want to flush some money to a good cause, give it to this one. Not Stephanie Meyer, who gives portions of her money to Abstinence Education and Gay Rehabilitation Camps. Okay okay, I don't know if that's entirely true... but Mormons are supposed to give part of their income to (ahem) noble causes and those seem to be the popular ones at the moment.
I read the book in about a half-hour, the stories were interesting to read because they relate to zomg the Deathly Hallows, and the Dumbledore commentary afterward made me miss the intense (and sort of scary) escapism a Harry Potter book brings.
I Am America (And So Can You!)- Stephen Colbert
I think Stephen Colbert is a genius, but I can only take him in small, half-hour doses. This book is funny, but it gets tiring after awhile. He says that AARP sounds like the noise an old man makes when he is getting up from a beanbag chair, and now whenever I see anything related to the AARP I think of that and laugh. That's what I got from this book. I would actually reccommend the audio book if anything, because I he really is a full-package kind of person. I think that is the first and only time I would advise getting an audio book over the real thing.
Barrel Fever-David Sedaris
This book is mostly fictional stories and then a group of essays. The fiction, though interesting, was clearly written when he was a horny teenager... but there is also a lot of growth in his writing as you progress through the stories. I think his family are more interesting characters than the ones he comes up with, but whatever. Who am I to judge????
His essays are relatable, he writes a diary about working as an elf at Macy's over the holidays and yeah I think you know where this is going. The main point that he makes much more eloquently than I could is... that you live your life hoping that people are unique and interesting. Then the more service you do, the more you realize that people are unoriginal and very very similar.
I'm sure that anywhere a person works there is the standard joke(s) that customers make throughout the day. The funniest part is that every single person thinks that they are the first person brazen enough to tell it to your face. When I do happen to stumble across a suitcase full of millions of dollars and can put in my two-weeks notice at Starbucks, the shit-eating grin is going away and I'm really going to take a monstrous piss on some yuppie assholes' days.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep- Philip K. Dick
I'm trying to find good science-fiction, and this book along with Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein are monuments amongst pebbles in sci-fi. These are examples of why science-fiction is such a great genre sometimes, and when I finished both of these books I had to just sit for awhile and think. What the fuck is reality and where do we fit as humans in a progressively digitized world? Is there any intrinsic value in artificial life that is equal or superior to human life!!!!!?!???!?? I don't fucking know, but some people treat a broken cell phone or iPod like it's the death of a pet or a good friend. Is that bad though (yes, it's very bad if you have any semblance of a soul in your body but from a stuffy philosophical standpoint... WHY??)!?
People will put their iPods or iTunes on a randomizer and say that it "knows" them too well. I don't get it though, it's playing a random selection of songs that is chosen from YOUR FAVORITE MUSICIANS. Maybe they're just being really gay, or maybe they are putting too much value on spontanaiety and chaos. Hey that's kind of like religion... I wish there was some way for me to ground this "argument," but I don't really know where I'm going with this, except into some strange nerd orbit.
The movie based on this book is Blade Runner, which I saw for the first time after finishing this book. It is very different, the philosophy is there but it is subtle. It's a sci-fi action sort of thing, but it is beautifully shot. Every dystopian movie after it has copied its portrayal of the city of the future, and it's really funny in a sort of pathetic way. I wouldn't say the book is better or worse than the movie, but I will say that they are very good companions to each other. If you haven't experienced either of them, I would highly recommend it.
I haven't been in the mood to read lately so March will probably be a lot smaller. Unless, you know, it isn't.
Naked-David Sedaris
Mostly about how Sedaris spent a good part of his 20's hitchhiking across the United States, almost got killed in the process, kept doing it until he almost got killed again, then stopped. The title story is about a time he spent a week at a nudist colony. Amy Sedaris was just a ridiculous as a kid as she is now, everytime she makes an appearance in one of his stories its really funny. David Sedaris himself is a very cool guy, he lives in a much more accessible world than most people. He says he has never even been on the internet, doesn't have a cell phone, and has never written on anything but a typewriter that he hauls all over the place.
He is undistracted by the bullshit, he isn't updating his fucking facebook status from his cell phone, he is observing and participating in what is going on around him. I can't explain why, but to meet someone who is technologically retarded is extremely refreshing to me. I have found enjoyment in dropping off the radar, I find myself turning my phone off and leaving it for awhile, I spend days off the internet... and it is so fucking nice. I feel like I'm turning this into a preachy thing, so I'm going to move on to..........
The Tales of Beedle the Bard-J.K. Rowling
I stayed away from this book for a long time because I thought it was just a way for Rowling to make some extra cash while she writes her wizarding world encyclopedia and collects royalties from mediocre Harry Potter movies. Turns out the book is only $7.50 and all proceeds go to the British orphans. Aw how sweet, and since I am a prick and like to rag on Twilight versus Harry Potter stuff whenever I get the chance, here it is, Team Edward People you should just move along right now: hey there, if you want to flush some money to a good cause, give it to this one. Not Stephanie Meyer, who gives portions of her money to Abstinence Education and Gay Rehabilitation Camps. Okay okay, I don't know if that's entirely true... but Mormons are supposed to give part of their income to (ahem) noble causes and those seem to be the popular ones at the moment.
I read the book in about a half-hour, the stories were interesting to read because they relate to zomg the Deathly Hallows, and the Dumbledore commentary afterward made me miss the intense (and sort of scary) escapism a Harry Potter book brings.
I Am America (And So Can You!)- Stephen Colbert
I think Stephen Colbert is a genius, but I can only take him in small, half-hour doses. This book is funny, but it gets tiring after awhile. He says that AARP sounds like the noise an old man makes when he is getting up from a beanbag chair, and now whenever I see anything related to the AARP I think of that and laugh. That's what I got from this book. I would actually reccommend the audio book if anything, because I he really is a full-package kind of person. I think that is the first and only time I would advise getting an audio book over the real thing.
Barrel Fever-David Sedaris
This book is mostly fictional stories and then a group of essays. The fiction, though interesting, was clearly written when he was a horny teenager... but there is also a lot of growth in his writing as you progress through the stories. I think his family are more interesting characters than the ones he comes up with, but whatever. Who am I to judge????
His essays are relatable, he writes a diary about working as an elf at Macy's over the holidays and yeah I think you know where this is going. The main point that he makes much more eloquently than I could is... that you live your life hoping that people are unique and interesting. Then the more service you do, the more you realize that people are unoriginal and very very similar.
I'm sure that anywhere a person works there is the standard joke(s) that customers make throughout the day. The funniest part is that every single person thinks that they are the first person brazen enough to tell it to your face. When I do happen to stumble across a suitcase full of millions of dollars and can put in my two-weeks notice at Starbucks, the shit-eating grin is going away and I'm really going to take a monstrous piss on some yuppie assholes' days.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep- Philip K. Dick
I'm trying to find good science-fiction, and this book along with Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein are monuments amongst pebbles in sci-fi. These are examples of why science-fiction is such a great genre sometimes, and when I finished both of these books I had to just sit for awhile and think. What the fuck is reality and where do we fit as humans in a progressively digitized world? Is there any intrinsic value in artificial life that is equal or superior to human life!!!!!?!???!?? I don't fucking know, but some people treat a broken cell phone or iPod like it's the death of a pet or a good friend. Is that bad though (yes, it's very bad if you have any semblance of a soul in your body but from a stuffy philosophical standpoint... WHY??)!?
People will put their iPods or iTunes on a randomizer and say that it "knows" them too well. I don't get it though, it's playing a random selection of songs that is chosen from YOUR FAVORITE MUSICIANS. Maybe they're just being really gay, or maybe they are putting too much value on spontanaiety and chaos. Hey that's kind of like religion... I wish there was some way for me to ground this "argument," but I don't really know where I'm going with this, except into some strange nerd orbit.
The movie based on this book is Blade Runner, which I saw for the first time after finishing this book. It is very different, the philosophy is there but it is subtle. It's a sci-fi action sort of thing, but it is beautifully shot. Every dystopian movie after it has copied its portrayal of the city of the future, and it's really funny in a sort of pathetic way. I wouldn't say the book is better or worse than the movie, but I will say that they are very good companions to each other. If you haven't experienced either of them, I would highly recommend it.
I haven't been in the mood to read lately so March will probably be a lot smaller. Unless, you know, it isn't.