Gullibility

Can anyone recommend any books on Gullibility? I am intrigued by this characteristic lately. What makes certain people gullible, while others are almost preternaturally suspicious? Why do some people believe anything they are told - from small little pranks to gigantic lies - while other people search for verification? I think that would be an interesting read.

Putting the "X" Back in Xmas

Guess who has really kick-ass seats to see "A John Waters Christmas?" Damn right! ME! In their infinite wisdom, the Carolina Theatre sent me a postcard announcing the show with a password for the ticket pre-sale. Vee and I will be just a few rows away from the stage for his sure-to-be-tasteless, sure-to-be-amazing one-man show.

In preparation for the event, I will be rewatching some of my favorite John Waters movies and reading his recent memoir Role Models. I just picked it up from the library yesterday! He has such a lovely and familiar writing style. I want to give him a big hug on behalf of weirdos everywhere! See you in December, John!!

The Hunger Games

Based on the recommendation from my favorite Nine-Toed Woman, I read Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy.


You haven't read it? WHAT? Stop reading this ridiculous blog and get on it! I bought the first book as a birthday gift for a friend on the condition that I got to read it when she was done. She did me one better and promptly bought the other two books and loaned them all to me. Now, I have passed along the first book to my (super-rad) boyfriend and then to a co-worker, who burned through it over the weekend and is clamoring for Book #2 (Vee, get readin'!).

While the trilogy is technically Young Adult fiction, the story is about as far removed from a passing-notes-in-the-hall teen soap as you can get. Without giving too much away, the trilogy is a literal and figurative metaphor for war and the effects of war on people. It challenges your perceptions of right vs. wrong, justifiable vs. unjustifiable action, and perception vs. truth. Collins' writing is superbly balanced between light and dark, hope and despair. It's truly a compelling story and TRUST ME - you won't regret reading it.

Thanks for the tip, Alysha!!

Good Things

Even though the blog is the place for venting, thinking too much about those subjects really drags me down. This week, I'm going to try to talk only about positive news and things that make me happy.

1) I have a jade plant in my office and it is growing like crazy. I look at it every day when I get to work. My jade plant totally makes me happy.

2) I love earning trophies on PS3 games. We have over 80% of the trophies for Katamari Forever. Vee and I almost always play that game together and it has given us many moments of shared amusement and a sense of accomplishment. That makes me happy.

3) The flowers in my garden make me happy. We did a lot of work to the backyard last weekend and it looks so nice.

4) I'm reading Love in the Time of Cholera, which is really beautiful. Reading makes me happy.

More to come!

On a Lighter Note

I hope this is true!

"Why The Next Big Pop-Culture Wave After Cupcakes Might Be Libraries"

I'm all in favor of a pop-culture wave that centers around reading instead of frosting. And I say that as a lover of frosting. However, if I could only choose one, well... for chrissakes obviously it would be READING. Jesus!!

Summer Reading!

Much to my book-loving delight, my local library has just reopened after some amazing renovations. Slimer from Ghostbusters would have a hard time hiding in the stacks anymore, not to mention the card catalog has gone the way of the ... card catalog. To kick off a summer of easy-readin', I'm starting with these two great books:

The first is by my very good friend - nay, disgraced evil twin - Andy Schanie. Like movies? Like scandals? Like crazy stories about crazy movie stars? You will love Movie Confidential!


We all know movie stars are crazy. Let Andy tell you just HOW crazy! Seriously, help my bro out and buy his book from Amazon. Word has it that he's got a book tour in the works for August 2010. Stay tuned!


Next up we have a title that the incomparable Vee turned me on to: We Never Learn - The Story of the Gunk Punk Undergut, 1988-2001. Written by New Bomb Turks frontman Eric Davidson, "tour de farce" is really not a strong enough term for this book (and she says that lovingly).


For people who read Please Kill Me and Our Band Could Be Your Life only to wonder "What happened next? What about all the bands they didn't mention?" - We Never Learn is for you. In the words of Michael Hayes, "[They] kept knocking on the door until finally somebody had to answer it right! FINE-LAAAAAY!"

We Never Learn celebrates the underground bands that defied pigeonholing; bands that were more about partying than politics or posturing; bands that went for it, but never really made it. Unless your idea of "making it" entails copious amounts of alcohol, illicit drugs and fistfights, in which case they ALL made it.

There are approximately ZERO "mainstream" bands today that I could give two shits about. We Never Learn summarizes why. To paraphrase one of my favorite lines so far from the book, "Irony" gave everyone something to hide behind because what too many bands (people) feared was taking a chance and looking like a dumbass. The bands profiled in this book took those chances. Unapologetically. I'll always gravitate toward their music over their more successful "alternative" peers. Give me the HONEST dumbass over the ironic poseur any day.