I wonder if Hugh MacLeod will ever stop being able to produce such great stuff; I’m amazed by how prolific and brilliant he has been for so long. Buy the print here.

I never thought of myself as a feminist because I believe in equality.

[W]ho would have thought we’d pay five dollars for a coffee and get our news for free?

You know, people have strong connotations of what women on television should say and what they should wear and how they should look. And I’m just not into it. The Bravo shot of me on the couch? It looks like I had sex with Heather Locklear and five margaritas.

I have a feeling that her new reality show, Kell on Earth, will make for must-see TV.

By and large talent is in such short supply, mediocrity can be taken for brilliance rather more than genius can go undiscovered.

-Charles Saatchi, My Name is Charles Saatchi and I am an Artoholic

Thanks to John Peavoy for the book, which is enjoyable and enlightening in unexpected ways. Saatchi seems to try so hard, which surprises me.

So I reacted with glee that approached the inappropriate when the book form of The Happiness Project debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list upon its recent release. It remains there, again at #2, this week.

I can’t say enough about what Gretchen has done and how much her research, experiences, and insight have resonated with me. Her book was, for me, an unusually moving read. I always think of myself as a particularly grateful person; if for some reason you are very aware of how wretched life can be, it’s difficult not to be overwhelmed with thankfulness on a daily basis when things are not wretched. But somehow, Gretchen’s book deepened my sense of just how good life is, and just how okay it is not to be perfect. The process of striving, learning, failing and succeeding simply must be rewarding. Otherwise, what’s left?

Since reading The Happiness Project as a book, I’ve been possessed with the urge to purge from my life. (If you need motivation to de-clutter in a physical sense, this is the book for you.) I’ve also made something of a game of identifying what I want and what I don’t want. I see women falling over themselves for a watch or a car, and I think, “Do not want.” I observe men going mad for flashy inanimate objects and think, “Can live without.” (I reserve the right to be far too attached to my mobile device of the moment.) But what’s been the real eye opener is what I see in my own life that I want so very much - these things I already have.

This brief video that preceded Gretchen’s recent Today show appearance moved me a great deal. I’ve watched this about six times, and sent it to my best friends. (Grab the tissues if you’re quick to tears.)

Gretchen’s on a book tour right now (I’ll be seeing her in Berkeley later this month), and I highly recommend going to a reading and getting your book signed. It’s a privilege to know her, and a huge blessing to have access to her work.

[I]f the current economic mess in the USA sprang from a Big State Republican’s policies operating with a Congress full of his enemies, why even ask the question if an even Bigger State Democrat can ‘turn things around’ by digging the same holes deeper?

–Perry de Havilland

Some folks has a lot of things around them that shines for other peoples. I think that maybe some of them was in tunnels. And in that tunnel, the only light they had, was inside of them. And then long after they escape that tunnel, they still be shining for everybody else.

I finally saw Precious on Saturday. I still can’t stop thinking about it. That’s pretty much the highest praise I can offer any work of art. It’s not easy viewing, but I highly recommend this study in trauma and humanity.

As I told Amy, I am certain that this crusade is her life’s calling, and that she is the only one who could have written this book. (Which is why she credits me with nagging her to write it until, finally, she did. I suspect that nagging is MY life’s calling, but that’s another post.)

Our mutual friend, author Susan Shapiro, is hosting a reading for Amy’s book this week in New York. Amy is based in LA, and I usually only see her there or in Paris, so I can’t wait to see her shine in a new city. The event doubles as a panel on publishing, and will be the sixth such panel curated by Sue that I’ve attended. It’s always a fun conversation, with great agents, editors, and authors. If you’re in Greenwich Village on Friday night, please join us.

Me and the self-proclaimed Godless Harlot in LA, August 2009

First, I don’t go out of my way to watch this show. I try to catch Seinfeld reruns every night at 7.30 and 9, and this show is on in between, so I keep it on in the background. I kind of like the guy’s attitude; he’d be fun for a conversation. I am mildly irritated by his donning scrubs for his show, and the fact that a cardiac surgeon is masquerading as an expert in all things medical and health-related. (Dr. Scott advised me only to take advice about cardiac surgery, nothing else, from a cardiac surgeon.)

I’m much more annoyed by the fact that ALL of the promos for his show are fearmongering and alarmist. Every one is something like “The diseases your doctor doesn’t know about that COULD BE KILLING YOU RIGHT NOW!!!” or “The SILENT KILLER lurking in your home!!!” or “The SEVEN DEADLY HABITS you do every day that are TAKING YEARS OFF OF YOUR LIFE…AND YOUR CHILDREN’S!!!” I wish I were exaggerating.

But what really put me over the edge was a show last week about a bus driver who is 100+ pounds overweight. He drives a bus 12 hours a day, and relies upon fast food to keep himself satiated throughout the day; his eating at home is not much better. The guy was very brave, admitting that he doesn’t initiate romantic contact with his wife because he hates how fat he is and doesn’t feel manly. Tears were shed. It took a lot for him to go on the show and open up about such private things that many men feel but don’t vocalize.

So what was Dr. Oz’s brilliant plan to get this guy in shape? A raw food diet. If I’d had a tomato in my hand, I would have thrown it at the screen.

I have friends who are raw food devotees, at least some of the time. When they adhere to it, the results are great - drastic weight loss, beautiful skin, clear eyes, etc. I’ve heard and read very persuasive articles about why it’s a bunch of bunk, but I’m not informed enough to make that call.

What I do know is that, even for friends who work from home and have the income to afford the myriad special foodstuffs often integral to raw diets, it’s very difficult to sustain. It’s not a cheap diet, and requires a significant investment of time. The people I know who do raw food often have to take lengthy breaks from it for just that reason.

This guy has an uphill climb as it is to lose more than 100 pounds. He has a sedentary, low-paying job. He needs an eating plan that closely resembles the one he already has, doesn’t require a lot of time and planning, and that is affordable. (I know from firsthand experience that this is possible.) The raw food diet suggested by Dr. Oz is none of those things.

My point: Dr. Oz is using a struggling man as a guinea pig illustration of how raw food diets work, and I think he’s setting him up to fail. I don’t think it’s pre-meditated, so the alternative is that it’s just a really bad idea and demonstrates a lack of coherent thought and judgment. Either way, Dr. Oz is in Room 101 for me now, and I hope that having bored everyone with this blog post, I can stop boring my friends in real life with this topic. The End.

In the cab to my much missed apartment from JFK, my phone rang. It was Karri, my best friend, ringing from Ohio. The moment I saw her name on my iPhone screen, my brain did a quick calculation: Karri had no idea I was in her time zone, she never calls me at 6am California time, and if she did it would not be good news.

“What’s wrong?” I said instead of “Hey, poopy pants!”

Karri’s voice sounded odd, like her breath was caught. “Isabella…”

Isabella is her one-year-old daughter. My whole body tensed.

“Isabella just called you!”

Karri was laughing, not crying. Isabella was fine. There was no emergency. (She felt awful when I told her where my mind had gone.)

It’s such a corny thing to say, but I’d never felt so grateful to have gotten something so wrong. Everybody I love is fine, healthy, here.

Hope 2010 is going just as well for you.