--Hey, did you hear about this study in which the researcher found that, over the course of a life, people are generally happiest at the beginning and ends of their lives? The middle age, not so much. Says the study author Andrew J. Oswald, “It might be useful for people to realize that if they are low in their 40s that this is normal. It is not exceptional. And just knowing this might help.” Which I thought was a very nice way of looking at it. [via the Washington Post]
--I just finished Joshua Ferris’s Then We Came to the End. I love this book so much, it makes me want to go to my Goodreads list and rejigger all my other reviews. It reminds me of a Christopher Guest mockumentary, that snarky-sweetness.
--I’ve been thinking about putting together a soundtrack for Practically Perfect, a song per chapter. (No, I’m not being sly with any news—the film options are indeed available if’n you’re interested—but a woman has to procrastinate doing her actual work in some manner.) It’s harder than one might think. On the one hand, if you listen to a song in the right mood, you’ll almost always find a way in which it could relate to a chapter. On the other hand? Listen a little harder and you’ll find that you might be suggesting something about yourself that’s not exactly true. Go ahead. Try it.
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Grab it like you want it.
Grab it like you want it.
About Me
- Jennifer
- Charlottesville, VA, United States
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Real-Life Pals
On Happiness/ Self-Help
Not to be Bossy, but...
5 comments:
I cannot buy any more books. None! And yet I read this and guess what I just ordered?
"Then We Came to the End." You got to me in under 30 words.
Desmond Dekker's "The Israelites" would go in mine, with the REAL lyrics, not the "baked beans for breakfast" lyrics. And Paul Simon's "Peace Like a River." Does it matter that I wrote an entire chapter with Led Zeppelin's "Houses of the Holy" cranked to eleven?
I want to know your soundtrack! This is a serious thing!
Funny story about "Then We Came..." Based on rave reviews on several book blogs, I bought it as a gift for my husband, who happens to work for a marketing firm almost exactly like the one in the book.
But before he had a chance to crack the cover, it was pre-empted by my 14-yr-old, who opened the book because of its cute Post-It Notes cover (yes, the cover DOES matter...to teenagers at least) and kept reading because it was "just like The Office, only funnier."
I'm sure all this would make book purists roll over dead but: kid read the book. Works for me.
Cranked to eleven, Jessica! I'm working on it--so far it looks very She Came From the Nineties.
I hope I didn't oversell Then We Came to the End. That is awesome that your son read it, Trace. Okay, we guys read it, then we'll have a little discussion about that last line.
I saw that article about people's depression peaking in their 40s - specifically at age 44, which is what I'll be on my next birthday (gulp!)
I enjoy reading your blog, and I'll definitely check into "Then we came to the End".
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