Back in St. Olaf...

I’m long overdue for a book review, and I’ve a very good one for this entry. During my plane trip for a Thanksgiving with my family back East, I read Betty White’s If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won’t). It’s an anecdotal presentation of her life and career, told in little vignettes of experiences in Hollywood and life. She speaks a great deal about her experiences getting older, with the famous quote “Growing old isn’t for sissies.”


The book is an easy read, delightful, and pretty thought-provoking. I’m convinced that Betty White really is as nice as she seems in most of her TV spots. She always reminds me of my grandma, and I hope that I am half as good and sweet as she always was. Ms. White always seemed very content with her life, and even in her younger days, wasn’t a complainer. Although one could argue that she had very little to complain about, I think that even the most blessed among us often have these “if only” whines, and I think that one of her best qualities is her classy demeanor.

She also explains her long-term career: she said that she’ll never stop working, only cut back. I completely agree with that. We need responsibilities, and we need something to live for. She talks about people that wait to live, that “as soon as” mentality. The problem is, “as soon as” never seems to come for many people.

Her humor is very evident: very self-deprecating, and she speaks about her appearance on SNL. She was asked to do the show a few times before, but turned it down because she worried about the pressure of producing a live show in such a short time. This generation convinced her: Facebook has spoken! Betty did the show.

Definitely a recommended read.

What I've been reading lately

I become so immersed in academic and technical (work) reading that books for escape and fun have become an afterthought. I feel guilty sometimes for picking up a book that's not in some way related to a) academic pursuits or b) required reading for my job. So when I am able to read for pleasure, I find it, well, very pleasurable. My latest pursuits were Persepolis and The Key of Gold: 23 Czech Folk Tales.

Persepolis was very good; I can see why it is so often compared with one of my favorite books, Maus, by Art Speigelman. It is, like Maus, a comic book depicting horrendous real-life events. However, it is told in a very different format. The writer is giving what is basically an autobiography of her life from ages 10-25, whereas Maus is told secondhand, through the son of a survivor. It was very difficult to begin, but as I became involved in the story, I found it difficult to stop.

The Czech folk tales collection was another story. I so wanted to like these, but perhaps I'm just too old and jaded for fairy tales, at least badly fleshed out short stories rather than actual tellings with details and magic. I didn't finish the last two stories.

Next for the reading queue (since it's Spring Break, woohoo!): Smoke and Mirrors, by Neil Gaiman!

I like you!

I miss, miss the library so much when I go a long while without a visit. Things have been so hectic with school and learning to BE a librarian, that I've scarcely entered a real library (but plenty of virtual ones...ahhh the Internet). However, I needed tax forms, so I went to the library the other day looking for a tax sheet to claim my grad school expenditures. They did not have the said sheet, but I was able to download it, so all is well.

While I was there (I can't not look through the graphic novels), I picked up two books: Persepolis and I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence. while I was there. I have not yet read Persepolis, but expect a short review soon (or an Ugh...I really couldn't finish this one).

First off, I'm a big Amy Sedaris fan. I love, love, love the Strangers with Candy series. And by love, I mean I really insanely like it (although I don't own it). The movie version, not so much. It's hard not to hear Amy take on her Jerri Blank persona and voice as you read through her "tips" on first dates and entertaining everyone from the elderly to rabbits (yes, rabbits).

It's an easy coffee table read, or as Amy puts it "This book is so visual, a monkey could enjoy it," and is full of recipes, crafts, photographs, and sketches of party scenes.

The photography in this book is, of course, humorous in the style of innocent tackiness that only Amy can deliver with such sincerity and wide-eyed seriousness that makes you wonder a bit if she is simply being ridiculously ironic and sarcastic or if she truly believes her "advice."
Items such as on a first date: "Don't assume: Don't ask him where he went to high school (Maybe he didn't go), and Don't ask him about his mother (Maybe she's dead)."

The dark humor of SWC is immensely present, but does not magnify or echo the series, which is nice. The picture of Amy dressed as a 60s socialite holding a bong and looking peacefully morose is especially funny.

The last piece is the recipes. While the food is photographed in an unflattering way reminiscent of Lilek's, some of the recipes actually sound good! While some are humorous, such as a recipe for a hot dog that involves step-by-step instructions of how to throw hot dogs into a pot of boiling water, remove, and insert into bun (the first instruction is "wake up, get out of bed"), her cake recipes are homemade and something that I might actually try at some point.