My Rant about Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs

I'm not sure what to say about this book and I have to do a presentation on it! For me, it seems like Klosterman is really young and goes on tangents about topics that really aren't of interest to me personally. It's hard to get excited about things that I don't like - like television shows. I have two shows I like to watch. That's it. I'm not a big TV fan. Anyway, he goes on and on about this MTV show (which I'd never heard of - sorry I'm aging myself with this post!!) and he knows all the characters from every season and what gets me the most about him? He uses these on-screen personalities to typecast his own friends and acquaintances he meets. As though they aren't written lines to say and things to do that create reality drama....for pete's sake is the viewing public so dense they think this stuff is "reality" - puhleeez!!! Reality is dull and boring. If you had a web cam on me all day, you'd die of boredom. I think that's the case for most people because our lives just aren't that dramatic. It is when the drama occurs that we get stressed out and wish to go back to being dull again. Am I wrong?

And I suppose it's just difficult reading him after a spending a semester with 19th century writers. I love Dickens and the Bronte sisters and Austin and all of those writers who really told a story well. I mean Klosterman isn't on par with any of my fave authors of that century nor the last. And I'm reading some good authors right now for my memoirs class that just blow me away - Russell Baker is a wonderful writer and so is James McBride and they are current century authors!

I have to finish this book over the weekend and come up with something for a presentation. Ah me!! Ok, so I shall get off my pity pot and try to find something of value. I think I'll read Lee Gutkind's book "The Art of Creative Nonfiction" and perhaps find some art in what Klosterman is doing. I just need to figure out what I'm going to say when I get in front of ya'll next week!! YIKES!!!

Laughing

Some of your posts are hilarious and make me laugh out loud. Very healthy in this day of dire news being doled out across the airwaves. I love to laugh. I hate how I look when I laugh but c'est la vie! I haven't laughed very much this week. My job is on the line. Literally I could be out of work by the end of this week. It wouldn't be the end of the world but it would be pretty stressful getting out there and finding something else. I've been with my company for eight years and have had some really good experiences and gotten sorta comfy in what I do. So this week has been tough. My manager of four years was layed off, then my good buddy who has been my source of technical knowledge for the last six years was also layed off, and then my husband comes home saying his job isn't safe either...aaaack! I just want to scream: WHAT IS GOING ON WITH OUR COUNTRY!! Is is the bad news feeding the bad news? Has the 24-hour cable news networks finally spun us into this downward spiral of negative information? Who knows? I'm just tired of the negativity! I think it's time to skip the news and just watch American Idol. Oh - it's on now! Bye

Slim Pickins'

My mom is pulling together a bunch of stories about dating after 70. She is 86 now and has a lot of funny moments to write about. Like the guy Walter who picked her up for her date wearing a U-Haul uniform. Now to understand the humor in that, you'd have to know my mother. She grew up during the depression. In the midst of it, she was snatched up by her aunt and brought to Boston to live the rest of her young life. She took private voice lessons, attended the New England Conservatory of Music, went to poetry readings, went to college, and essentially lived a life of refinement from 14 onward.

When she decided to write these short stories, she had a hard time coming up with the title. I told her to call them Slim Pickins' because there were few guys in her age group from which to choose. She's decided to accept that fact and simply be happy alone. I think she still wants to have a 'significant other' but she is pragmatic. She can't take care of another man. She's done enough of that, first my dad when he was dying and then her third husband Don who slowly died from emphysema. She has done her share of care taking and is ready for someone to take care of her.

But her stories are funny and I hope we can get them published for a large audience to enjoy them. After all, with our population aging, they could be quite the hit!