Categories

Our World Photo Gallery


  • Beauty and Danger: California Wildfires 2007

Thought- Provoking

  • Barbara Ehrenreich: Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

    Barbara Ehrenreich: Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
    Read this book. If you’ve ever slogged your way through an endless shift making next to nothing, or, more to the point, if you haven’t, you will be fascinated by Ehrenreich’s three-months-in-three-cities-making-$6-and-$7-an-hour experiment to see if an unskilled single person can make ends meet as a low-wage earner. I’ll confess that I bought this book years ago and only just now read it. I expected it to be Important and Worth Reading, but what I didn’t expect was how much I would enjoy it. Ehrenreich treats her subject with the gravity it deserves, yet writes with sandpaper-dry humor in a deadpan style that perfectly captures the absurdities she and her fellow low-wage earners are forced into as they try to play by the rules while earning only a fraction of the deck. Submitted by Louise Julig

  • Michael Gates Gill: How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else

    Michael Gates Gill: How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else
    Michael Gates Gill was 64 years old, divorced from the wife of his four children and not married to the mother of his fifth, a laid-off ad executive with a dwindling client list wondering if he would be able to make rent the next month. Fate brought him to a Starbucks on the day of a job fair and on impulse he applied for a job. The book chronicles his first year working as a “regular joe,” and the everyday triumphs and struggles that came with it. Plenty of flashbacks (and name-dropping—but he’s got them to drop) fill in the backstory of his former life and childhood. Gill’s gratitude for the co-workers and customers at Starbucks who gave him a second chance comes through in his vivid characterizations and observations. Submitted by Louise Julig

  • Malcolm Gladwell: Outliers: The Story of Success

    Malcolm Gladwell: Outliers: The Story of Success
    Malcolm Gladwell presents a fascinating and provocative blueprint for making the most of human potential. He takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"—the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. His newest book, Outliers poses the question: what makes high achievers different from the rest of us? Gladwell's answer—that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from—may surprise you. The author says that their culture, their family, their generation and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing play powerful roles in success. His book explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band. Submitted by Claire Yezbak Fadden

  • John U. Bacon: Cirque du Soleil: The Spark - Igniting the Creative Fire that Lives within Us All

    John U. Bacon: Cirque du Soleil: The Spark - Igniting the Creative Fire that Lives within Us All
    Frank followed the nondescript men through the white door, unmarked and forgettable on the overactive casino floor. On the other side he found KÀ—a permanent Cirque du Soleil performance in Las Vegas—and the opportunity to redefine himself and his career. "Cirque du Soleil: The Spark—Igniting the Creative Fire That Lives Within Us All" is a whirlwind tour of the shows, people, costumes, make-up and magic of this modern-day circus while reminding Frank—and the reader—how fundamentally important creativity is in all aspects of our lives. As Frank journeys through his personal transformation from uninterested to invigorated, readers are reminded that a few small things can go a long way in reigniting the creative fire that smolders in us all. Submitted by JoAnna Haugen

  • Thich Nhat Hanh: Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha

    Thich Nhat Hanh: Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha
    Thich Nhat Hahn traces the life of Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha after his enlightenment, from birth to death. More than a strict biography, it also relates the teachings of the Buddha as they unfold naturally throughout his life. These are told in very straightforward language without proselytizing, following the principle “Every person should be a lamp unto himself.” There is a great deal of repetitiveness in the story, which can irritate, but think of it as a mantra and it becomes calming. Though lengthy, the book reads quickly due to the simple yet elegant writing, and is recommended to anyone with an interest in Eastern religion or philosophy. Submitted by Louise Julig

  • Richard Preston: Panic in Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science

    Richard Preston: Panic in Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science
    This collection of nonfiction narrative essays by the author of "The Hot Zone" are thought-provoking and deftly written. Favorites were "The Mountains of Pi" about the Chudnovsky brothers, "one mathematician born into two bodies," who built a supercomputer in their apartment to calculate pi to two billion digits, and "The Self-Cannibals" about a little-known genetic disease that causes its victims to compulsively self-sabotage to the extent of mutilation. With compassion and humor, Preston shows the humanity of the victims of this disease and allows us to see them as one of "us" rather than one of "them." The introduction, "Adventures in Nonfiction Writing," is a bonus to anyone interested in the writing process. Submitted by Louise Julig

Related Posts with Thumbnails

« Hope is a clean two-piece suit | Main | The Last Suburban Taboo? »

June 03, 2009

Oh $*%#, I am one of "Those People"

I do not want to be one of Those People. Those People have problems.

Ex-athlete Melissa Neumann suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome I see Those People in the Health section of the paper. People with cancer and Alzheimer’s and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. I think, “That’s really sad. Those poor people.” But what I’m also thinking is that only Those People have those problems. And I am not one of Those People. I am different. Separate. Other. So I don’t have aaanything to worry about. Nope. I am safe in my little world of Otherness.

Lately I am finding more and more of Those People. A woman I met in meditation has a recurrence of ovarian cancer and is undergoing brutal chemo treatments. Another friend suffers side effects of breast cancer treatment including a decreased sense of balance—she’s had several severe falls. Another family’s daughter has been kept home from Junior High since before Christmas with a mysterious ailment that defies diagnosis and leaves her with vertigo, debilitating headaches and stomach pain. And the list goes on from others. Diabetes. Stress fractures. Arthritis.

I have a lot of sympathy for them. Really. But I’m not one of them. Those things are tragic and unfortunate, but they only happen to Those People. And Those People are different from me, right?

Yet a nagging neck injury compounded by disc problems in my back has had me in and out of physical therapy for a year and grasping for help for what I originally thought was a minor annoyance. There are cracks in my Otherness cocoon.

I rail and curse and struggle and thrash to distance myself from Those People. Anything to fend off an identity as one of them. Because I’m not. I can’t be.

I try to think of one thing that they all have in common, that will distinguish them as a group Separate from myself, but the only common thread I can come up with is this: they all have bodies.

I have a body. Damn. Maybe I am one of Those People after all.

Posted by Louise at 02:54 PM in Bodies, People, Thoughts |

| | |

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00e554f8b021883401156fc7b661970c

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Oh $*%#, I am one of "Those People":

Comments

What is this?

  • Thoughts Happen. A lot. How we relate to them and how we act (or don't act) on them is how we choose our reality. Thoughts Happen is dedicated to choosing a reality of kindness, curiosity, and humor, honoring the interdependence of all things. The site publishes essays, profiles of the neighbors in our lives and links to sites, photos, books and music that encourage mindful thought and action.

Facebook

TypePad Profile

Get updates on my activity. Follow me on my Profile.

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Audibly Evocative

  • Coldplay -

    Coldplay: Viva La Vida
    Joyous in a way that sneaks up on you, these life-affirming tracks are also infused with some of the most lush and infectious use of strings in recent memory.

  • Everything But the Girl -

    Everything But the Girl: Walking Wounded
    Like a sourball dipped in confectioner’s sugar. Smart, bittersweet lyrics and sonically engaging electronica wrapped in Tracey Thorn’s deliciously luxuriant vocals.

  • David Gray -

    David Gray: Life in Slow Motion
    The soundtrack of time's passage. Of memory. Of a closed door with a key sitting in the lock.

  • Eurythmics -

    Eurythmics: Touch
    More here than just the well-known singles. Lennox soars on "No Fear, No Hate, No Pain (No Broken Hearts)," roars on "Regrets," and is at her ethereal best on "Aqua."

  • Turtle Island String Quartet -

    Turtle Island String Quartet: The Art of the Groove
    Jazz string quartet. 'Nuff said.

  • k.d. lang -

    k.d. lang: Hymns of the 49th Parallel
    Canada’s reigning chanteuse channels her country’s top songwriters, bringing her unique style and power to works from Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and others.

Archives

More...