David Sedaris: The Secret to Getting Along with Your Family

Award Winning Humorist and Lifelong Runner

I Run, Therefore I Am-Nuts!

by Bob Schwartz

 



"Why we carbo load, fartlek train, hit the wall... and love every minute of it".

Bob Schwartz delves into the world of training, racing, the mindset of the distance runner, the multiple skills of runner's, motivation and recovery, the marathoner, injuries, aging gracefully, competition and effort. This book is hilarious! Whether you are a novice runner or a professional marathoner, this book is for you. Schwartz nails the ins and outs of running and how being a runner is more of a lifestyle then a sport. Unless you are a runner, you would think that his encounters and rational are exaggerated, but being a runner myself, I felt comfort in knowing that I am not alone. As an added bonus, B.K. Taylor's illustrations appear in the beginning of each chapter. Although not your ordinary book on running, this book is a serious look at the total running experience in an honest and comical way. Most running books are stuffy and clinical and humorless, but not this one. Schwartz is able to capture the pitfalls of running, that we do not always hear enough about. He's earnest and funny all at the same time.

Highlights include:

• The intricate art of drinking on the run from paper cups
• Trying to reacquaint fingers to toes after years of tight hamstrings
• Hitting the wall
• Having your heart flutter with the newest cushioned training shoe
• Discovering cross-training contraptions designed to strengthen your gluteus maximus
• Getting excited about the latest flavor of energy gel on the market

If you love this book, you should also check out the sequel I Run Therefore I Am- Still Nuts!

• Suffering from RWIA, otherwise known as running watch information addiction
• The addictive nature of high-intensity interval training
• The depths of despair upon learning your favorite shoes will be discontinued
• Embracing the saving grace of age-graded race time calculators
• Attempting to run with a reluctant canine companion
• Trying out running in the oxymoron of barefoot shoes

Visit Bob at www.facebook.com/runninglaughs, www.runninglaughsblog.com, & @runninglaughs.
Available at bookstores everywhere. Human Kinetics Publisher

Click here to preview of some of the hysterical chapter illustrations from the book. BK can be reached at bktaylorstudio@comcast.net.

Post-it Note Diaries: 20 Stories of Youthful Abandon, Embarrassing Mishaps, and Everyday Adventure, Arthur Jones

Everyone has time to read a Post-It, right? Based on Arthur Jones’ popular Post-It note reading series, this book collects 20 weird, hilarious and true personal stories from people like John Hodgman, Chuck Klosterman, Kristen Schaal, Mary Roach, and Andrew Bird, and illustrates them all out on Post-It notes. It’s a fun and fresh take on the graphic novel — though, if any of your friends have severe office shell shock this holiday season, we might suggest something that doesn’t involve the little yellow stickies.

Passive Aggressive Notes is now available in the United States and Canada, and under the title Your Mother Doesn’t Work Here in the United Kingdom and Australia. (The titles and covers are different in order to confuse you.)

The Darwin Awards

* A couple of years back I owned a few volumes of The Darwin Awards and haven't heard much about them until recently. Below is the official website for the Awards and a link to the movie. I actually watched the movie last night and it was pretty decent. The best part for me was seeing different parts of San Fran and beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

website:

A Chronicle of Enterprising Demises Honoring those who improve the species... by accidentally removing themselves from it! http://www.darwinawards.com/

book:

The Darwin Awards Evolution in Action by Wendy Northcutt

movie:

The Darwin Awards by David Arquette, Josh Charles, Kevin Dunn, and Nora Dunn

http://darwinawardsdvd.com/

Bill Hicks

*I met with my friend Jim yesterday and he highly recommends I watch this DVD and read this rare analysis of Bill Hicks. Having limited knowledge of Hicks, I will be plunging in head first and hoping to get a glimpse of this amazing man's life and comedy.

book:

One Consciousness: An Analysis of Bill Hicks' Comedy

by Paul Outhwaite

DVD:

Bill Hicks - Sane Man [2005] DVD

Bill Hicks (II)

Death To "Chick Lit"

* I cannot tell you honestly the last time I read a "chick lit" book, so when I stumbled upon this title I laughed out loud riotously. How funny is this title?

Death by Chick Lit

Lynn Harris

Synopsis:
Someone is killing off the competition in the world of chick lit, and would-be author Lola wants to find the killer--and hopefully a book deal will follow. But as Lola digs deeper, the stakes get higher in Harriss hilarious look at the cut-throat world of publishing. taken from:www.powells.com

Lynn Harris site: http://www.lynnharris.net/books/deathbychicklit

Eric Wight

My Dead Girlfriend (Comic)

by Eric Wight

Synopsis

Finney Bleak lives in a world of horror--literally. His family are ghosts, his classmates are monsters, and Finney is the most normal kid in school. But within the halls of Mephisto Prep, normal is the new weird and Finney dangles from the lowest rung of the social evolutionary ladder. Then along comes Jenny. Smart. Beautiful. And totally into Finney. Only problem is, she's kind of dead. Jenny may be the ethereal object of Finney's affection, but their corporal differences keep them apart. As if young romance wasn't awkward enough, try getting frisky with a ghost. Just how far will Finney go to be with his true love? Let's just say not even Death can stand in his way.
taken from: http://www.tokyopop.com
Browse Series: My Dead Girlfriend

about the artist: ERIC WIGHT is a professional animator and illustrator whose clientele includes Warner Brothers, Walt Disney, Cartoon Network, Universal Studios, DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and HBO.

Dark at the Roots

I came across a few funny interviews and video clips about this book and author that I had to share. Hysterical!

Dark at the Roots: A Memoir

by Sarah Thyre

about the book:
Given the nickname “Family Liar” by her father around the time she started talking, Sarah Thyre was the second of five children to be born into a southern family of Roman Catholics. Confused by this endearment, but eager to live up to it, Sarah quickly managed to get herself into precarious situations.
about the author:
Sarah Thyre is an actress and writer who has appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and Strangers with Candy, and performed her own work at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theaters, Sit’n’Spin at the Comedy Central Stage, and on Public Radio International. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Andy Richter and two children. http://www.darkattheroots.com/
audio clip: http://www.darkattheroots.com/audio.html
video clip: http://www.darkattheroots.com/video.html

David Sedaris

I just read an article that has been sitting in a folder for over a year. The reason I did not discard this clipping sooner is due to the author. I was on a David Sedaris kick about a year ago and read three of his books (Me Talk Pretty One Day, Naked and Holidays on Ice) over the Christmas break from school. Sedaris is totally hilarious and fresh. I recommend him to anyone who has a dysfunctional family and needs a good laugh.

Here is the link to the article:

Reflections Suitable for Framing A family of experts.

by David Sedaris

February 27, 2006

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/02/27/060227sh_shouts

Judging a Book by the Cover

The Spellman Files: A Novel

by Lisa Lutz

I am not a fan of Janet Evanovich's books or the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series, so I probably would not read this mystery/adventure. I love judging a book by the cover and the cover alone on this book is priceless. This book received mixed reviews on Amazon, but 3 1/2 stars in the Picks & Pans Books section of People magazine (By far one of the greatest gossip magazines ever!). If you decide to tackle this one, shoot me a comment.

Week Twelve, Book Thirteen

Adverbs: A Novel by Daniel Handler

Review: This was by far one of the biggest let downs of the past few months for me. I thought that I had stumbled upon a novel that would be 1. a fast read and 2. a side splitting funny story about love. Instead, I was stuck with a 272 page tome about "nothing", "nothing" you say, yes, "nothing". I could not connect to any of the characters, let alone did I even care about any of them. The only reason I picked up this book in the first place, the fact that the author is actually Lemony Snicket, writer of a sequence of children's novels collectively entitled A Series of Unfortunate Events. I do not know, maybe I missed the boat on this one, but I did not enjoy this novel at all and I only finished it because I thought that it was going to get better as I read and low and behold, I was wrong. Okay, so here is "the light at the end of the tunnel"... he mentions in a chapter entitled "barely" a great album, Sandinista! by The Clash. If you do not know this double CD, then you have to check it out. This has got to be one of the most underrated records of all time. As for me ever picking up another Daniel Handler book, I doubt it! I have to stick to his Lemony Snicket books, they are definitely worth the read. The movie Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events by Jim Carrey, Liam Aiken, Emily Browning, and Kara Hoffman is actually even a better choice.

Here are two fun soundtracks that came out of that movie:
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Thomas Newman
The Tragic Treasury: Songs from a Series of Unfortunate Events by Gothic Archies, Stephin Merritt, and Lemony Snicket

A Conversation With Daniel Handler
(taken from: http://www.powells.com/)
Can you describe the pleasures you find in writing novels for children and adults, and how, composition-wise, these endeavors differ for you?
"I don't find any difference — whatever I'm writing, I engage in the usual sporadic research, the wiggy, baggy first draft and then heaps of rewriting. But it seems worth noting that Adverbs focuses on love — the emotional terrain that's more or less absent from the Snicket books."

books to check out:

Watch Your Mouth

The Basic Eight

Daniel Handler: The Real Lemony Snicket (Inventors and Creators)

Series of Unfortunate Events #12: The Penultimate Peril
by Lemony Snicket

Week Eleven, Book Twelve

Culture Warrior

by Bill Oreilly

Review:
I read this book in three sittings and really felt inspired to hit the Internet and read as many political blogs that my tired eyes could take. I was very surprised at the amount that exist and just how passionate some people really are when it comes to chatting about politics. I guess I just really relied on TV and print media for my political education, but now have a new source that I will be tapping. For obvious reasons I think that this book is well written like all of O'Reilly's books and a quick read nonetheless. I especially loved the chapter on "The Battle for Christmas". Since I used to teach in a Catholic School and now teach in a Public School, it really hit a nerve. No matter what your political beliefs are, you are still able to take something away from this book. Since, we are in the midst of "war" and an upcoming "election" I plan on reading more political books and reviewing them in this forum. So, if you have any recommendations, shoot me a comment.
"Culture Warrior" - Free



"For a variety of reasons that I will explain, I have chosen to jump into the fray and become a warrior in the vicious culture war that is currently under way in the United States of America. And war is exactly the right term. On one side of the battlefield are the armies of the traditionalists like me, people who believe the United States was well founded and has done enormous good for the world. On the other side are the committed forces of the secular-progressive movement that want to change America dramatically: mold it in the image of Western Europe. Notice I did not say anything about “conservatives against liberals.” This is not the real culture fight, as I’ll make clear. The talk-radio mantra of the left versus the right doesn’t even come close to defining the culture war in America–it is much more complicated than that." * excerpt from the book
funny video: http://www.jimmyr.com/blog/Colbert_on_Oreilly_Factor_18_2007.php

Sites to check out:

http://www.billoreilly.com/
http://www.foxnews.com/oreilly/
http://www.tv.com/the-oreilly-factor/show/10688/summary.html
http://www.klif.com/listen.html
http://www.talkradioinsiders.com/profiles/profile.html
http://velvethammer.wordpress.com/

Week Ten, Book Eleven

Chuck Klosterman IV:

A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas

by Chuck Klosterman

Chuck Klosterman IV Consists of Three Parts:
THINGS THAT ARE TRUE
THINGS THAT MIGHT BE TRUE
SOMETHING THAT ISN'T TRUE AT ALL
Review: This book is full of Profiles And Trend Stories:
Britney Spears, Radiohead, Billy Joel, Metallica, Val Kilmer, Bono, Wilco,
The White Stripes, Steve Nash, Morrissey and Robert Plant. I loved the Morrissey article, it was unique and enlightening. Val Kilmer is officially in my mind a "freak" after reading about his ranch lifestyle and connection to Christian Science. Interestingly enough, Klosterman had opinions and theories on everything from monogamy to pirates. I thought I would start reading his earlier works, but am glad I started with this collection, since it was full of old and new articles that may have appeared in GQ, SPIN, The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The Believer and ESPN. Rock on if you can't stop reading about music and pop culture.

Check out these articles by Klosterman:
The Rock Lexicon, May 2005.
Off the Record, Jun 2005.
Howling at the Moon, Aug 2005.
Off the Wall, May 2005.
Bending spoons with Britney Spears, Nov 2003.
Boycott the Olympics, save America, Aug 2004.
Multiple choices, Dec 2005.
The secret lives of t-shirts, Jan 2006.

Consumer Products

Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated Into What America Eats by Steve Ettlinger

"...the uber-iconic food product, the archetype of all processed foods."

A pop-science journey into the surprising ingredients found in dozens of common packaged foods, using the Twinkie label as a guide.
http://www.twinkiedeconstructed.com/Twinkiewebsite/Welcome.html

other books by this author:

Beer for Dummies
The Pocket Guide To Nuts & Bolts
The Restaurant Lover's Companion:
A Handbook for Deciphering the Mysteries of Ethnic Menus
Kitchenware Book
The Hardware Cyclopedia
The Complete Illustrated Guide to Everything Sold in Hardware Stores and Garden Centers
The Complete Illustrated Guide to Everything Sold in Marine Supply Stores
The Complete Illustrated Guide to Everything Sold in Garden Centers
(Except Plants)
100 Pieces of Folk Wisdom for Pregnancy and Parenting