that girl allison
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Choose love.
One of my girlfriends suggested I get into Gabrielle Bernstein a while ago and last week I read her book, Spirit Junkie, and loved every second of it. Yeah, yeah, it’s all about creating the life of your dreams and basically motivational speaker (as that’s what she now does!) but I guess I related to her because a lot of her story takes place when she’s my age (I don’t think she’s too much older now though).
She also has free podcasts to download on iTunes. I’ve downloaded them all and use them first thing in the morning now (to start my day off with positive intentions) and at night (to release anything that may have happened during the day).
I could go on and on but I might sound crazy. I just really enjoy her and her non-religious spirituality. It’s inspiring, and hopeful.
I just ordered her first book, “Add More -Ing,” online and until that arrives, I’m going to enjoy some chick lit with Laura Dave’s novel, “The First Husband.”
I was resolute in trying to read more this year (because I fell off the literary bandwagon in a major way last year) and so far it is going well.
I finished reading The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin, this weekend and I have to say that I liked it a lot. It wasn’t all Pollyanna-And-Life-Is-Wonderful. She had resolutions to keep each month that she thought would help her be happier and be more presently appreciating her already-happy life more than she had been. She also had a lot of statistics and scientific data from the plethora of research she did before and during her project.
Before she planned out her monthly resolutions, she made a list of her 12 commandments, one of which was “Be Gretchen,” and stop trying to be someone she wasn’t (and to stop trying to force herself to like things that she wished she liked). This made me think about if I was “being Allison” often enough.
I often feel bad that I don’t like going to museums and viewing art and paintings more. I think I should. But I don’t - I mean, sometimes I do, but more often than not, museums bore the hell out of me. I used to feign interest in football when I had friends who spent every Sunday in bars watching the games, but I gave that up after my bar-going days had ceased. Everyone is telling me to watch “House of Cards” and “Breaking Bad” but after watching an episode of each (or half an episode), I was bored by both. A vast majority of TV shows just don’t do it for me.
So what does make me happy? Theatre. Going to the occasional movie. Cooking. Organizing my apartment (yup). Reading. Long walks around New York. Yoga. Running. Coffee shops. Writing. Concerts. Guitar. Music. Eating out. Making smoothies. Tea. Green Day. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists. Weezer. John Lennon. The Beatles. Strawberry Fields. Blueberry bagels. Farmer’s markets. My friends.
I’m sure there are a host of other things too, but those are the ones that come to mind first, so I’m assuming those are the most important. So, as much as I wish I loved art, and museums, and popular TV shows, and see popular movies, but I don’t.
And that’s OK. It’s OK to “be Allison.”
Happiness is…. This is what I’m currently reading and I’m definitely enjoy it. Who couldn’t use a little bit more happiness in their life even if they’re already happy?
My office manager sent out an email to the office last night asking if we wanted to pool our money to buy our chances at winning tonight’s megalotto (I think it’s $550 million?). I’ve never played the lottery (except if you count when I was 7 and used to convince the guys at 7-11 to sell me those scratch-off BINGO cards) and I think it’s usually a waste (and by usually, I mean always) and I hate wasting my money.
But how stupid would I feel if one of our (now) 108 chances won and I hadn’t put in my $10? Yeah, I’d feel like a jackass. So, as long as I’m one of 18 people who can feel either really, really, really happy, or like a wasteful dope, I’m mostly OK with putting my money down.
So, for this night, I feel the above quote from Eat, Pray, Love is highly relevant. You have to play to win. That being said: I’m expecting to wake up tomorrow and still be mostly-broke.
Lastly: May the odds be ever in your favor.
I’m only up to chapter 4, but it’s incredibly compelling so far. Emily Giffin hit the Bryant Park Reading Series this afternoon with Katie Lee to talk about her newest book, Where We Belong. She seemed like an incredibly down-to-earth person as she talked about being a writer, the book, what she did before she was a writer (“I was a lawyer in the MetLife building so I’d often come here [to Bryant Park] to escape my day.”), and took questions from the audience.
To be honest, although she’s my favorite chick-lit writer, I’d never been dying to meet her (unlike how I was just dying to meet, say, Adam Rapp). I didn’t have anything against meeting her but it just wasn’t high on my list of Things To Do. I loved her books, and that was enough for me. But I had time today so why not, right?
After 45 minutes of talk-back, a line formed and Giffin signed books and took photos with fans. I decided at the last minute to get a picture with her. One man brought all of her past books for her to sign, heh. Why didn’t I think to do that?! Just kidding. We took a picture together, she signed my book, and she told me she liked my iPhone case (it’s a black and white photo of John Lennon - major points for her in my mind!), and that was that.
I’ll let you know what I think of the book once I finish it!
Emily Giffin’s newest book, Where We Belong, is set to be released on Tuesday. I’m a fan of her books, so obviously I’m excited for this one too.
She’s doing two signings/readings in New York City; one is on Tuesday at the Upper East Side Barnes & Nobles and the second is the Bryant Park reading series on Wednesday at 12:30pm.
My thoughts on Giffin’s last book, Heart of the Matter.
What I’m Reading Right Now: The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau and HTML & CSS: Design and Build Websites by Jon Duckett. Chris Guillebeau gave away a bunch of copies of his newest book, The $100 Startup, and I was lucky enough to be one of the chosen few. It’s been incredibly inspiring thus far.
HTML & CSS is an awesomely written book that I was given yesterday for my birthday because I’d mentioned that I’d wanted to re-familiarize myself with HTML and finally learn CSS. I got through the first 250 pages last night and became reacquainted with HTML and now I have to dive head-first into learning CSS, which I have absolutely no experience with. I’m a bit scared, but this book is fantastic so I have no doubts that I’ll learn how to use it easily.
I highly recommend both of these books.
True story: When I was out of work briefly in 2009, I sent out an email to all the industry types I knew and asked if they needed any freelance help. A producer I’d met in college wrote back and said yes. She also lived quite close to me on the UWS. It was kismet! What was she so busy working on? Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin’s upcoming concert tour. I ran minor errands (like returning Lupone’s shoes, etc) but then one day the producer called and asked if I could pick something up from her apartment and hop on a train out to Stony Brook, on Long Island, to the Staller Center and help with tech rehearsal for their first concert. Well, yes, of course. I grew up in Stony Brook so it was easy to get out there. I was picked up at the train station and driven to the Staller Center where I ran minor errands again and then stood in for Ms. Lupone when they tech’ed songs like “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.” I even got to throw my arms up.
This, of course, isn’t in Lupone’s memoir but it’s my first memory when I think of her. I never did get to meet her unfortunately though because I stupidly didn’t stay for the concert (I had a date, or something stupid that night). I saw her performances in both the 2009 revival of Gypsy and Sweeney Todd (though I hated that revival), though I never really garnered an appreciation for her until reading her memoir (pictured above).
It took me several chapters to get in to but after her work with The Acting Company, I started to become more interested in what she had to say. Don’t get me wrong, the fact that she was part of the first drama class at Juilliard is great, but it wasn’t incredibly fascinating to read about. I had no idea she was such a “working actor,” as it’s often called, and I also had no idea she’d been screwed over so many times by Andrew Lloyd Webber, among others. If ALW hadn’t been conniving, I would have seen Lupone as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard in 1994 instead of Glenn Close. I loved reading about her method when she got into it, and her immense appreciation for the theatre as an artist.
I’d recommend this book for any theatre person. Click here to watch a video of Lupone reading a passage from the book at Borders in Columbus Circle last year when she began her book tour. Next time I have the opportunity to see Lupone perform, I’m pretty sure I’ll be paying better attention when she’s onstage.
(photo via)
I was so excited when I heard that they were making Something Borrowed into a movie. I loved the book - and Something Blue, and Baby Proof, and Love the One You’re With, well, you get it - and I thought the movie would be great.
Well, the trailer came out today and honestly, I think it looks like your typical overproduced shitty Hollywood Rom Com. I didn’t feel like the book was a Rom Com at all. There was nothing funny about it. I think this would’ve been a great indie film with lesser known stars - or stars with real talent (Maggie is pretty good, but Kate leaves much to be desired).
I don’t think I’ll be paying to see this, at least not more than $6. Now I know how people feel when they’re upset because Hollywood has butchered a favorite book of theirs. I hope I’m wrong about this being a waste though.
(via littlelg)
I’ve read a lot of books this year. Let’s recap.
- The Kid (Dan Savage)
- The Art of Nonconformity (Chris Guillebeau)
- I Got the Show Right Here (Cy Feurer)
- The Year of Yes (Maria Dahvana Headley)
- Send Yourself Roses (Kathleen Turner)
- The Accidental Billionaires (Ben Mezrich)
- I Don’t Care About Your Band (Julie Klausner)
- I Love Everybody and Other Atrocious Lies (Laurie Notaro)
- Heart of the Matter (Emily Giffin)
- The Heart Says Whatever (Emily Gould)
- Bringing Down the House (Ben Mezrich)
- The Lost Continent (Bill Bryson)
- A Little Bit Married (Hannah Seligson)
- Committed (Elizabeth Gilbert)
- Wishful Drinking (Carrie Fisher)
- The Joy Diet (Martha Beck)
- Nobody Likes You (Mark Spitz)
Looking over those titles, it reveals that I read the same books over and over again. It’s all chick-lit and memoirs, except for one. What can I say, I favor non-fiction over fiction. My favorites would probably be Nobody Likes You (obviously), A Little Bit Married (it was really interesting), The Accidental Billionaires (even though I’ve been told that it’s all made up), Send Yourself Roses (if you’re a theatre person, read this book), and I Got the Show Right Here (see previous).
I’m working on “Not Since Carrie” right now (it’s really interesting, but written really dryly) and I already have a stack of new books to read this year including This is Where I leave You, The Hunger Games, Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea, Good in Bed, And The Band Played On, Eating Animals, Naked Lunch, Patti Lupone, Kingdom Coming, and The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, and a few other Bill Bryson books too.
Let’s see if I can get through all of these books before I head down to the Strand again.
