Friends —

Let’s have a chat. It’s about a 2018 goal of mine: perspective.

As you may know, last week I had food poisoning. It kicked off with my violently throwing up while sitting on the curb in the grass, thrashing around like a wounded bear in a trap, and in general feeling like a wild animal in search of survival for a brief, but hellish 5 hours. Wah-WAhhhhhhh. The upside is, after the daggers of hot abdominal pain ceased, I felt grateful for all the things.

Case in point: I developed a cold over Christmas while in Savannah. I was so damn happy it was not accompanied by throwing up in public, I didn’t care. Constant sneezing, a runny nose, and a wicked headache? Sure! Thanks, can I have some more?

In other news my to-do list is long and my eyes are covered with cucumbers by 8 pm each night. I’ll take it.

Enough about that, we have another holiday upcoming.  Most likely I will be happily at home. It’s New Year Day I love. Day one of the year will find me at lunch celebrating with the Italians. They do love their lunches.

And you, what will you do with yours?

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Rather than a round up of links this week, I thought I would do a roundup of books I dearly love.

Because: Why Not?

Portrait of an Addict as a Young man: A Memoir — Non-fiction and I was riveted. Bill Clegg tells his story with honesty and humility. A true insight to the life and thoughts of an addict.

A Confederacy of Dunces  — My favorite fiction book of all time. Written by John Toole and shortly after he committed suicide partly due to the depression and paranoia he suffered due to his “failures.” When going through his apartment, his Mom found it discarded in a closet. She read it and loved it. She shopped it around to publishers and everyone passed, but Tulane University took a chance. It won the Pulitzer. Fuck yes it did. I love this book.

You Are a Badass — Originally gifted to me by a fellow badass, I couldn’t put this book down and I’ve read it multiple times since. Jen is the best friend you want around to support you while giving you a loving kick in the ass. She does not sugarcoat a thing, and delivers all her ass kickings with a huge dose of humor. You’ll find no judgement here. Just someone that truly wants to see you live your best version of your life. She’s a gem. Highly recommended read.

Glass Castle: A Memoir — Non-fiction and a testament to true survivorship. Jeanette Walls is everything in a writer I hold dear. Honesty with true grit. No apologies and humility. I’ve read this countless times over the years but never seem to have a copy on hand — I give them away on repeat.

You Can Heal Your Life — Louise Hay was writing and talking about self-help before it was hipster cool and I was still in grade school. This book is super woo woo and she talks about healing herself from cancer based on her thoughts. Shrug, sounds good to me! There’s lots of self love in the pages and I have read this one numerous times.

Ciao for Now!