Book Review: Ham: Slices of Life

Ham: Slices of a Life: Essays and Stories by Sam Harris
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The best thing an author can be is honest, and I was in awe of Harris' candor while tackling such a range of themes - there's alcoholism, bullies, diva moments, body image issues, incredible teachers, friendship, romance, the roller coaster of adoption, 9/11, attempted suicide and coming out. Harris is candid about himself, his family, his idols, the situations he's been in, and the situations he's created for himself in a way that's incredibly refreshing.

Two stories really stood out to me. First, "As Good As It Gets," the story about Harris' summer of freedom at Opryland and the isolation he encountered after returning home. "There is nothing wrong with you," might seem like a simple, undramatic thing to say to a teenager, but if his teacher Mr. McDowell hadn't taken an interest, where would Harris be today? What happens to those who aren't lucky enough to have a Mr. McDowell in there lives? His statement that bigotry is driven by "Ignorance. Fear. Also, some people are assholes," is spot on and not said enough.

Second, "The Zoo Story" really hit close to home. I don't have an incredible voice or celebrity friends, but like Sam, I had to convince my husband to give parenthood a chance. Although he was over the moon when our daughter was born, my husband wasn't quite sure what to do with the little crying bundle. As much as he loved her, she mostly made him nervous and panicky.

That first, mostly non-verbal year, I was in my mommy element - I'd read all the books, magazines and blogs; I had ample clothes, diapers and Butt Paste; our schedule was well researched and planned. My husband grew more comfortable as our daughter became more mobile and vocal, and now he's come into his own as "the fun one" while I've been relegated mostly to rule-setting, logistics, and photography.

We didn't have to jump through any hoops to become the happy trio we are today, nor did we have to abide the intolerant opinions of family, and reading about part of that maniac journey in "Better" gives me a whole new appreciation for my relatively easy road. But even when he was young, Harris had a sense that the show must go on, and his ability to embrace life and get on despite its hurdles is a real inspiration.

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Book --> TV Show

Writing HBO AMERICAN GODS pilot with @tordotcom AMERICAN GODS playlist playing to keep me company. j.mp/SeMHHC
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) November 28, 2012

HOW DID I MISS THIS?! SO EXCITED! I'LL BE USING ALL CAPS ALL DAY!

OK, not really. But I will be using them.

A LOT.

In semi-related news, Twitter's new embed comments feature is pretty rad, huh? :)

Book Review: Coraline

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Precocious little Coraline Jones is an explorer. A bored explorer who goes investigating the building where she lives along with her rather inattentive parents and a few unique neighbors.

She discovers a door in her flat that leads to a brick wall. Or at least, it appears to lead to a brick wall. It actually leads to another world (or an "other" world, if you will), which contains slightly distorted replicas of everything in Coraline's world - an "other" house, "other" neighbors, and "other" parents. (The Other Mother might be one of the creepier concepts I've discovered in a children's story.) 

When Coraline returns home from her "other" world explorations, she soon discovers that her real parents are missing and is forced to return to the "other" world to save them.

Gaiman does his usual masterful job of characterization. And he writes it all very matter-of-factly from the child's perspective. There are some brilliant moments in the dialogue between Coraline and the cat. (Gaiman is well acquainted with cats, and it shows.) But my favorite line comes from Coraline herself toward the end of the story:

(view spoiler)[“I don't want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted just like that, and it didn't mean anything? What then?”
 (hide spoiler)]

She's one smart kid. But that's what I love about her: she's smarter and less self-absorbed than all the adults in the book. And she doesn't need any help from them; it's quite the other way around. She's a true children's heroine.

I highly recommend the audio book, even if you've read the book or watched the movie - Gaiman is an amazing reader, and the rat songs that are included really add a whole new creep factor to an already creepy tale.





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Dear Universe

It's only been December for a week. My house is clean, my holiday shopping is done, our health and financial plans have been re-evaluated and re-upped, and we have solidified plans to get the tree and decorations taken care of this weekend.

But, no, I haven't shaved.

Thank you for sending that razor in yesterday's mail--it was just the subtle reminder I needed. Did my husband put you up to it?

Peepisms

My top five favorite Peepisms for the year:

 (1) Remope (Remote)
 (2) Hick up (Pick up) Truck
 (3) Mackey Oney (Macaroni) and Cheese
 (4) Gooble Gobble Guy (Green Goblin)
 (5) Ciderman (Spiderman)

My Tomboy Princess

Dora the Explorer started out simple - ugly purple shirt and orange pants. We used Netflix to give us never-ending and instantaneous access to all things Dora because Emma is obsessed.

So we've just hit some of the more recent episodes, and I've noticed a big change. Dora the Enchantress. Dora the Mermaid. Dora the Princess. Dora as whatever-will-warrant-Nickelodeon-putting-her-in-a-frilly-dress-with-a-crown. After a little research online, I've found that the new Dora won't be exploring the jungle or climbing mountains - she'll be shopping. Shopping. Dora the Accessorizer. I wanted to cry.

Here's the thing - I was certain sure I wanted a boy. A rough-and-tumble, curiosity-driven, I'm-dirty-and-it's-OK boy. Because I'm not comfortable with girly things. I don't shop unless I have to, and if it's clothes, maybe not even then. I don't know the first thing about makeup or fashion; I don't generally do well in malls or hair salons or anywhere you're expected to dress nicely and act appropriately (whatever that means). I was terrified.

And then I met Emma.

I fought the good fight  against the pink, frilly, lacy clothes and the bows and barrettes her grandmothers bought. I purposefully sought gender-neutral toys and refused to buy baby dolls. In the end, I lost these battles - all her dolls were at her grandmothers' homes, her closet was a solid Pepto spectrum, and her hands were always filled with purses and shopping bags.

But I won the war - Emma is into all those girly things, but she also likes playing with trains and cars. She knows as much about the Superhero Squad as she does Abby's flying fairy schoolmates. She examines how things work - cars, bikes, robots anything that moves - and fills her shopping bags with "tools" to help her fix things. The girl will dance around the house in her ballerina dress while wearing a pair of Converse sneakers and a Spiderman hoodie.


She's the best of both worlds. And the old Dora was, too. With this transformation, though, she's off the Netflix list. Carl and I have found some alternatives - The Magic School Bus is dated but better than most of the current shows, and we'll check out the new PBS show called Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, fashioned after Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, when it airs.

Maybe one day it will be profitable for networks to come up with more than just stereotypical girl shows and boy shows. A mama can dream, anyway.

Book Review: Her Fearful Symmetry

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Audrey Niffenegger builds fantastical situations from a perfectly normal, realistic foundation. In Her Fearful Symmetry, twin sisters Julia and Valentina inherit their dead aunt Elspeth's estate, including a London flat (apartment) that overlooks High Gate Cemetery. Their aunt's will stipulates that they must live in the flat at least one year before selling it and that their parents (Elspeth's twin sister Edwina and her husband, Jack) aren't allowed to step foot inside. Nothing strange there.

Except Elspeth is haunting her flat.

From there, the story goes into Elspeth's attempted communications with the living, how the living respond, and learning about the building's other residents. It was a very delicate ghost story, I suppose, and I loved the way Niffenegger described Elspeth's world once she was caught between the living and dead. I also loved the other building tenents - Elspeth's boyfriend Robert, who develops a thing for Valentina, and Martin, an OCD crossword creator, and his radio-personality wife, Marijke.

What I didn't love were the attempts at mystery: Why were Edwina and Elspeth estranged? Why didn't Elspeth want the twins' parents in her flat? What was the big secret about Elspeth that Robert didn't know? And what did Robert mean when he told Valentina that Elspeth wasn't really a nice person when she was alive? Didn't he love her? But the answers didn't offer any real revelations or surprises.

As Valentina became more and more obsessed with Robert and talking with Elspeth, Julia became rather boring to me. I felt like Niffenegger was looking for something for Julia to do, so she decided to pick one of the strongest characters in the book for the girl to visit: Martin.

And I fell in love with the quirky man and his wife.

Martin and Marijke's relationship became way more interesting to me than what the twins or Elspeth's ghost were doing. Martin and Marijke, their incredible love, his impossible sickness, and her unimaginable strength. Now there's the story I want to read. So while Her Fearful Symmetry was beautifully written and introduced some interesting thoughts about the spirit world, I was disappointed in the end.




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