Category Archives: books

50 Book Challenge Update

Well, I’m currently on 15 out of my 50 books (I’m counting two crappy half-read books as one read book).  Not too shabby.  Mind you, I have about  10 or more books on my bedside to start up, not counting my regular book club reads (which I should be starting on Monday).  I also have about 5 books, at least, that I’m in the middle of.  Part of me wants to just finish those so I can mark them read and get them off my floor already.  Either way, not too shabby.  It’s a good start at least.

So this last book I read I nearly couldn’t put down.  It’s about the hooking up culture of today’s high schoolers and college kids.  It’s by Laura Sessions Stepp and it’s called Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both.  While there are parts of what some of  those girls (and boys) said that you can’t help but relate to – like the I’ll make time for boys/guys later, first, it’s school and career and the if we end it before anyone says “I love you” we’ll come out of this unharmed beliefs –  there are other parts of the book, in fact, the majority of the book, that you just read and shake your head.

You can’t help but wonder how these young ladies (and men) are going to turn out in the end.  Or more importantly, you can’t help but wonder how society is going to have to change when an entire generation is used to instant, meaningless, zoned-out gratification; when they’re used to leaving when things become uncomfortable or no longer fun and engaging.  Neither the men or the women of this generation seem to have much confidence or self-respect for themselves or for others.  Without basic (sober) boy-girl interaction how can they learn basic social skills necessary for the workspace?   When they are finally ready for settling down, how will this all play out?  Fascinating stuff.

If you have younger siblings, nieces, nephews, family friends, daughters, sons, I urge you to read this book.  Learn how to talk freely and openly about love and sex with them.   I plan on sending this book on to the young woman I used to babysit (an 18 year-old that told me on my list visit with her that she doesn’t like girls because they’re “mean” – how sad).  Laura Sessions Stepp did a great job of getting the girls to share their stories and their beliefs behind their actions.  She does an even better job in her letter to mothers and daughters in offering up some great suggestions.

Check it out.  You might be shocked, but you’ll be a better person, mother, friend, aunt, or sister for it.

Books A’ Plenty

I love to read. For the most part, I love me a good, quality chicklit book. Now of course, many chicklit authors detest that moniker, but well, it works for me. Lately, I’ve been working on starting up my business. At the same time, I’ve been reading quite a goodly amount of business-related books. Either way, it all works for me. Afterall, I’m working towards that 50 book challenge (no doubt that I’ll make it, if not even exceed it, but 50 is a decent amount to shoot for).

At this point though, I seem to be brimming over with books. I probably have about 15 or so books at my bedside – and yes, many of them, I’m in the middle of. I also have books that I need to read so that I can interview the author. Then there are the books that I’m using as research so that I can teach my workshops and well, get paid. And lastly, there are the books (some autographed, some not) that I’m collecting for giveaways on my website.

The other day, this arrived from an agent that’s advertising with us to be used as giveaways and well, I think there just might be such a thing as too many books…

Too Many Books

Reading is Sexy

Reading business books is sexier still, but I um, seem to have a bit too many books right now.

Not too long ago, I rediscovered the library. And then, joy of joy, I learned that you can request books and they’ll just deliver it to the branch of your choice! You don’t have to go beyond the front desk to get them!

Well, I’ve recently gotten into women in small business types of books. Once I hear about one, I go ahead and reserve it. Then I hear about another one and I reserve that one too. I (oh so wrongly) assume that since they’re currently loaned out that it will be a while until I see it. Yeah, not the case.

Not counting my current book club book (which I lent to a friend since we share a library system and all the books were checked out), I have five books out! One chick lit – Meg Cabot’s Queen of Babble, two on business – Ladies Who Launch and Rules for Renegades, one on blogging – The IT Girls Guide to Blogging with Moxie, and the Secrets of the Millionaire Mind (at the recommendation of a friend). I also have two short and simple books on networking that I ordered from Amazon – The Savvy Gal’s Guide to Online Networking and Table Talk.

Yikes! When exactly will I be reading all of these books???  I’m halfway through Queen of Babble, a third of the way through LWL and just started the online networking book over lunch.  And did I mention that I just found three more books (!) while cruising around Amazon that I’ll probably be adding to my Christmas list?

Well, I’m nothing if not well read!  Good thing I enjoy reading, that’s for sure.  Sorry, must run, I’ve got some reading to do…

Ladies Who Launch – the Book

Women approach change, creativity and business quite differently than men. 

I’ve mentioned a few times now how I’m intrigued by the whole Ladies Who Launch process. I’ve finally decided that I’m going to go ahead and sign up for the January incubation class and I’m so excited. So very excited in fact, taht I went out and immediately picked up their book (of the same name) at the library. What I was ringing felt so right and so insightful that I immediately ran out to the bookstore and picked up yet another copy for my girlfriend. Yes, it’s that good!

Women tend to treat creative projects and new businesses like their children; they become emotionally attached. They fall in love with their ideas and with making them happen, and are unlikely to give away equity in their own businesses or projects easily. They will sacrifice extreme growth to retain sole ownership because they define themselves through their projects and derive extreme personal fulfillment from them. They view relationships emotionally; responding to what feels right as opposed to what looks right on paper.

Talk about ringing true.  I feel like I could have written that myself two years or so ago when I first started up my site.  Now, not so much since I’ve been working more on separating myself from the public face of the site.  I’m much more behind the scenes now.

But now, now I’m ready to move on to bigger and better and start something new.  In  fact, I’ve decided that this week, I’m going to focus on the business side of things.  I know that with this being year-end and the holidays it’s a very busy time for people.  So I don’t necessarily expect a slew of folks to come knocking on my door right now, but that doesn’t mean that I can slack off!

With the new year comes new beginnings and resolutions.  It’s a time when people focus on making changes and I’m going to be ready for them.  Which of course means that I need to get focused and get organized.  I’m going to start with my desk, move on to the wine (yes, we have that much wine just lying about in shipping boxes) and the rest of the office until I can think clearly again.  From there, it’s off to create a simple logo, get started on a website, get my paperwork in order and go!

Mind you, I’ll also be getting ready for Christmas and all the shopping, decorating, wrapping and baking that that might entail.  I’d also like to add some plug-ins to my blogs (both this one and the group one on my site) and play around with things a bit.  But for the most part, the remainder of this year will be spent getting my shit together.  How’s that for affirmations?!?

I Love Meg Cabot!

No matter how you slice it, I love me some chick lit and I love me some chick flicks. And well, Meg Cabot totally rocks. I just now finished Size 14 Is Not Fat Either (yes, I read it all today!) This is the second in a three part series (Big Boned is out now). Once again, I’m glued to the bed, turning page after page, just knowing that Heather is going to get into some sort of huge mess, all the while rooting her on (is that form of root correct or is some whacked out spelling?). Just enough suspense that I just can’t bear to put the book down – so much so, I made a crockpot dinner just so I wouldn’t have to take time out to cook.

I’ll admit that I’ve never read any of The Princess Diaries, but I did see the movies and loved them! My favorite Meg Cabot books are the ones she writes entirely through text message and email. She has such a style that you’re able to read an entire book written in short hand, slang and incomplete sentences and yet not miss anything in the storyline. That to me is just genius.

She’s just wacky enough that you can’t help but want to hang out with her. Just check out her blog and her Youtube videos. I assure you, you’ll want to be her friend too.

ETA:  Had to edit out the video since it was messing up my page format (I thought I had a media plug-in, but I guess not – or it didn’t survive the WP upgrade). 

Let’s Go Meet Crazy Aunt Purl

If anyone would like to join me at the Grove to see/hear Crazy Aunt Purl later today, you’re more than welcome.  We can do dinner or drinks or coffee too!  And if it helps to motivate and excite you, she’ll also be doing a raffle for a divorce gift basket (as seen here).

Come on, what could more fun, inspirational and social to do on a Thursday night?  You’ve got better plans?  Did I mention she’s crafty?!?

Thursday, October 11, 2007 at 7:30 p.m.
Los Angeles: Barnes & Noble at The Grove [Google Map]
Reading, Q&A session and book signing

I’ve Gone Blog Wild!

What’s not to love right?  You get to babble on about whatever topic happens to be on your mind, or you get to profess to being an expert at something, anything and people read it.  On a good day, people even comment on what you’ve written.  Sadly, those days seem to be too far and few for my tastes, but hopefully moving to this new URL will help give me a jump.  I promise, I don’t bite and I won’t invalidate your thoughts – I’m good like that.  Honest.

Thanks to Andy Wibbles and his book, Blog Wild, I’m learning so much more about the blogosphere.  More importantly, I’m learning how to use a blog to enhance your business (more on that another day).  But better still, I’m learning that you can use a blog as your business site instead of designing a full on website.  This has me very intrigued, let me tell you.  This is definitely something I’ll be exploring in more detail over the next couple of weeks.

Not only do I enjoy writing blogs, but I also enjoy reading blogs.  I love poking around from blog to blog and having that voyeuristic peek into someone else’s life.  I haven’t gotten around to updating my blog links yet (though it’s on my list of things to do and will hopefully be done before this goes live), so until then, I thought you might like to check out a couple of my favorite blogs to frequent.

CityView – a friend of mine writes this blog.  She’s super busy starting up her own photography business and might not update as much as some folks prefer, but who cares.  She’s a talented photographer and she has a lot of whimsy in her photos.  She also shares some fun sites from around the web.

How About Orange – speaking of sites that CityView likes to share…she led me to this crafty gal.  Check out the post around her condo, she’s got some style.  She tends to kill her plants, but that doesn’t stop her from trying again with a new batch.  For that inner CraftyGrrl you’re hoping to embrace, she’s got quite a few fun tutorials on her site as well (just in time for the holiday season *hinthint*)

Mighty Gal –  I’ve been a fan of her Mighty Goods site with all the fun gadgets and what not.  But I have to say, I like reading about the day to day stuff.  And for those of you that seem to hit the occasional brain-fart when trying to come up with a blog topic or something fun to write about, check out her No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for your Blog.  It’s just got enough to spark those writing cells up again.

ljcblog –  yet another crafty gal.  Though this one loves food – especially fun foods – and travels a lot.  She’s always got a fun story, a new product or some great photos to share.

Mom-101 – I found this blog just a month or so ago when researching the recent Blogher conference.  While mommy blogs typical aren’t my thing (child-free here), she’s got a wealth of knowledge on a variety of topics.  She’s really knows a lot about the blogging world.  And you know what?  She makes being a mom sound fun (sometimes exhausting, but rewarding and fun).

Snarkspot – What’s not to love, it’s Jennifer Weiner?!?  She sounds like everyone’s best friend and her day to day stories just crack me up.  Even if I didn’t love her books, I’d have to love her blog.

Crazy Aunt Purl – I’ve been linking my site’s blog to her for quite some time now, but only recently have I started to read it myself.  I don’t know what I like more, that she can make sitting in traffic on the 101 funny or that she’s crafty?  I’m bound and determined to learn how to knit, so you never know, I just might see her at the next Stitch & Bitch (she’s a local, Valley girl).  Speaking of being local, she’s got a new book out and will be at the Grove Thursday, Oct 11th.  I’m hoping to stop buy and get a couple books signed (hoping to do a giveaway on our site).

This is by no means my definitive list – I keep changing things up – but it’s a good list to get you started.  Hope you enjoy these blogs as much as I do.

A Thought About Thoughts

I found this in a friend’s journal a while back and had been holding onto to it knowing that when the time was right, it would touch me.

“It isn’t the things that are happening to us that cause us to suffer, it’s what we say to ourselves about the things that are happening. That’s where the suffering comes from.”

Now I don’t, by any means consider myself to be suffering or even to woe is me, have suffered. Looking back, even through the stumbles, the challenges and the losses, I’d never say I’ve suffered. I don’t have any regrets. I figure that life is what you make of it. As far as I know, I might not be the person that I am if I hadn’t experienced all that I have; the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows. But strangely, this weekend at book club (The Usual Rules by Joyce Maynard) this message reached out to me on some level.

I lost my mom when I was young. I’m sure it was a very painful experience. In fact it must’ve been painful enough that I’ve blocked out 6 or so years of my childhood (3 years old through to 3rd grade). But I can also honestly say that I really didn’t miss my mother all that much. I mean, I’m sure that I did miss her, just in ways that I didn’t realize at the time. But really, it’s hard to miss something that you never had, you know? I really don’t believe in a heaven or a hell, I strongly believe that my mother has always been a part of my life and was and is always with me.

I honestly believe that I am the strong, nurturing, caring, confident person that I am because of my loss. I’m sure, that while I may not remember my early teachers, I can remember the impact that my teachers had on me during those years and they’re influence is one of the reasons that I went into teaching. I’m also fairly certain that I went into the mental health field because I wanted to be able to help people to help themselves. I don’t want anyone to ever think that they can’t overcome anything that life throws at them. There’s just no need to suffer when you can create whatever life you want.

So instead of focusing on the challenges and stumbling blocks that life throws your way, take a moment to see the opportunity. There is power, much power in both your thoughts and beliefs. So think it, believe it and be it. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather think myself in a happy, joy & love-filled place than think myself in a place of pain and suffering. Choose wisely and don’t be afraid to help yourself (or to ask for help) in creating the life that you want for yourself.

Wow, this went to a totally different place than I had originally planned to go. Guess I had something on my mind afterall. There just might be an edit waiting to happen in here so don’t be surprised.

I Think the Universe Has a Message For Me…

And it’s not to eat tostada pizzas all day long. Sadly, it’s not. Earlier today, I met up with Megan Crane to interview her for my website’s blog. I brought the recording equipment with me so we can hopefully run it as audio and not have to transcribe it. So we’re sitting at CPK, chowing down on our salad pizzas (tostada pizza YUM!) making small talk, just fine and dandy.

The waitress comes and clears away the plates and we set up the recorder and the mics. I through it on to do a test to make sure the controls are right and boom, we’re off! We’re talking, we’re laughing, we’re getting some really good, really casual, really breezy, quality stuff. Then I look down to get a time check and fuck a duck! I managed to re-pause the machine so nothing, and I mean NOTHING recorded!

Then, on the way out (here’s where I really go “what the fuck?”) I get into my car and realize that I can’t find my cell phone. Now obviously, I know I had it considering it rang mere seconds before we started the interview. So I tear apart my pockets and my backpack and then run back upstairs. Of course, it’s no where to be found. So I head back down to the car, check my backpack again, reach into a pocket that I already checked at least twice and there it was (boy am I grateful that it wasn’t gone).

So obviously, the Universe is trying to send me some sort of message through my cell phone. For those of you counting along, this is like the 4th time I’ve misplaced or forgotten my phone in less than a month. So what’s the message? Disconnect? Communicate by not speaking? Don’t talk on the phone any more? I have no idea, but it’s something. And I better figure it out before my phone disappears for good!