Hipster Shrugged

If you've read Ayn Rand...or seen any number of press clippings about people of one party or the other "Going Galt" (eye roll, please)...then you're familiar with Atlas Shrugged.

 If not, stop right now and read it. I'll see you in a month or so.

Ok, you don't have to read it and - full confession here, I *GASP* skimmed and even skipped parts of the Galt monologue. (Note to Rand, when Kerouac signs up for his "how to edit" class, please join him.)

But I loved it. I immediately connected with Dagny Taggart. Maybe it was living in a house full of incompetent men who thought they made the world turn. Maybe it was being surrounded by the same in college. Maybe it was her (impeccable) style or complete disregard for the status quo. Rand once described Dagny as "myself in a bad mood" and I felt that's accurate of me, too. Get me wound up and I'm not afraid to stomp all over toes and then check out because I'm infuriated at your complete incompetence.

Anyway...so then there's the Hipster movement. You know those guys. You don't? You've missed the "Hipster" trend?

Enlightenment can be found at google, my friend.

At any rate...the two have combined to produce an amazing twitter feed:

http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23HipsterShrugged

with some of the best here:

http://www.juliansanchez.com/2010/08/27/hipster-shrugged/

and my favorite:

@normative Who is John Galt? Oh, you probably haven’t heard of him, he’s really obscure. #HipsterShrugged

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

Ok, it's no secret I love this series and by this point, if you're on the bus then you KNOW and if you're still waiting for the bus I really don't want to spoil all of the greatness that develops over the course of the 1st fifteen books by over-sharing for the latest installment.

So.

Let's just say that this one contains Morelli being off-again but maybe not for long, Lula wearing inappropriately appealing clothes, Ranger being...yummy, Connie being all kinds of kick-ass, Vinnie finding amusing new lows and Grandma Mazur made me laugh so hard I fell off the couch.

And now, Gentle Readers, I have a question...if *you* were casting for the silver screen adaptation of the series, who would you pick?

I'm on board with everyone but Katherine Heigl.... Anne Hathaway is the right age/looks/body type ...Jeanine Garafalo or Sandra Bullock, had it been filmed when Evanovich sold the rights (1993) but you know who would be great (even though she'd have to dye her hair?) Alyson Hannigan.

Is it just me, or does she look like someone who keeps a pet hamster and her gun in the cookie jar?

Happy Vesuvius Day!

 http://www.j-m-w-turner.co.uk/

The first book I ever reviewed was about Vesuvius.

The Gift of an Ordinary Day by Katrina Kenison

(my own image)

I am lucky to have found this book while my son is still so young. Kenison is at the other side of parenthood: one son entering high school as the other prepares to leave it. She throws another wrench into the works by determining that *now* is the perfect time to move from the only home their sons have ever known.

We follow the entire family on their journey from cozy home in a familiar and friendly neighborhood through a period of unrest; the old home sold before they had a new one picked out and Jack (the younger son) rebels in a way that only 13 year old boys can.  There are flashbacks, anecdotes, revelations and insights. I found myself pulling quotes to keep in the back of my head, most timely:

"The thoughtful life is not rushed."

Before long, Henry, the oldest, starts looking at colleges. Kenison starts taking a long hard look at what nurturing means when your children no longer need nurturing.

Ultimately, the family lands in a small town in the mountains, in possession of a house they're not entirely sure what to do with and surrounded by strangers. Well, they are strangers until a shop keeper becomes a friend and points out that there are partners all around, waiting to help...and by the close of this particular chapter in the Kenison's lives there are new friends and partners filling it. 

This book does not drip with sentiment, or preach about how your life should be lived. This is a woman sharing her journey towards balance. I do not think that you need to be a parent yourself to read it. I think anyone who has...well, lived, can relate to the events and emotions. And everyone can relate to how charming life because when even ordinary days are viewed as gifts.

Generation A by Douglas Coupland

I love Douglas Coupland. I have since my (old boy)friend told me to read Generation X because "the dude who wrote that writes like you speak." Have you read Generation X? No? I'm sorry, I can't be friends with you anymore.

Kidding.

Maybe.

Ok - so here's why I love Coupland (and this book) - in a numbered list:

1: he's not afraid to give one of the main characters Tourette's and then put us inside her head.

2: and then he puts us inside the heads of the other main characters so we can see how they react.

3: he gives characters "normal" jobs (Harj works in an Abercrombie and Fitch call center in Sri Lanka) and then he makes them LOVE them.

4: he uses healthy/healthful correctly.

5: he takes a concept like "the bees are dying" and speculates about what happens when they've been gone for half a decade and then 5 unrelated people get stung.

6: he goes there. The things the rest of us think about for half a second and then dismissed are fleshed out into actual plot points of brilliance. (example: brain masturbation.)

7: rapier wit and keen perception and a complete disregard for maybe offending some people (or groups of people.)

8: he keeps giving and giving and then just when you think "aaahhh....I see where you're going" he opens a conversation that wasn't on your radar.

9: he commands the English language in a way that is modern but not trendy and will therefore still be relevant decades from now.

10: he's just awesome. Need proof? Have you read Generation X? Jpod? Shampoo Planet? No? What are you waiting for?

You can start anywhere, really. But this is the newest and so it is fresh. Falling into a Coupland hold wouldn't be a bad thing. Operators are standing by!