Bossypants

I doubt there are people alive today who haven't heard of Tina Fey, former Saturday Night Live writer and creator of 30 Rock, or her equally renowned biography Bossypants. The cover alone, of this New York Times bestseller, puts a smile on my face.

Seeing as I'm not American and don't have the pleasure of watching SNL on a weekly basis, I was first confronted with the delightful Mrs. Fey when someone told me I had to watch 30 Rock because it was basically tha bomb (typo intended). Seeing as I'm always on the lookout for a new show, I followed her advice and haven’t looked back since.

30 Rock is based on her experiences while working on SNL. This show is silly yet realistic, outrageous yet relatable, the writing is excellent, the acting phenomenal (gotta love Jack Donaghy) and the characters are truly one of a kind. This show has it all really, if slapstick and crazed / neurotic people are your thing.

What I love the most about this show is the Tina Fey's character Liz Lemon, who tries to keep the writers, actors and her boss from causing total mayhem while at the same time trying to have some kind of (love) life, queue Jon Hamm, sigh... Anyway, this probably says more about me than I'd care to admit but I so totally get her. Despite her own freakish issues she is constantly mobilized to solve other people's crisises when all she want to do is watch TV and eat donuts. What's wrong with that? And yet, she still has a masochistic need to be needed, to be the puppet master because sometimes your inner control freak simply gets the better of you. Been there, done that.

So when the brilliant Fey's biography came out, I just had to read it. I tried waiting until the paperback edition but I just couldn't wait that long. Bossypants isn't a classic autobiography, it filled with chronological anecdotes from her youth, SNL, honeymoon, 30 Rock and naturally some life changing affirmations. Tina is just how I imagined her to be: self-deprecating, wise and above all honest.

Bossypants is a very funny memoir full of interesting behind the scenes gossip, musings on what it's like to be a female comedy writer and a little intimate details that make this book a joy to read. It's easy to relate to Tina Fey who is also a wonderful writer and someone every woman would want as their best friend basically. All hail Tina Fey!

Mindfulness

Thanks to the numerous tests, doctor’s appointments and meds that could have become fatal in hindsight, my panic attacks have been going through the roof lately. They started with mild hyperventilation about three years ago and whenever you least expect it, usually while doing the dishes or watching TV, they’ll pop up and hold you hostage for a couple of days.

These past few months I’ve been hyperventilating more than I care to say and on Friday I had a major panic attack seeing as I wasn’t supposed to take the meds my new doctor prescribed but naturally I had already taken them. I eventually got over it and forced myself to leave the house, something which has become stressful in itself at times.

Over the years I’ve become very sensitive to stress, emotional and physical ailments, unexpected events and even things I don’t particularly want to do are able to cause severe inner turmoil. I have a habit of ignoring all these things until there’s no escape and my body just shuts down, queue dizziness, nausea, chest pains and the feeling that I'm being suffocated, in other words a classic panic attack.

Now the new meds I got on Thursday were supposed to slow down my heartbeat, lower my blood pressure and basically calm me down, easing the blood flow to my head and making the noise in my ear less prominent. It actually worked until I read the accompanying leaflet which said it could be fatal for people who have or had asthma (that would be me). Needless to say, I didn’t respond well to that information.

Sadly, my tendency to hyperventilate isn’t something you can cure; only manage by being aware of the warning signs, avoiding stress and simply saying enough is enough. I’ve been advised to do more yoga and maybe try mindfulness to clear my head of negative thoughts which is why I’ve been meditating and breathing my ass of this weekend. It’s weird to think how something so easy (for some at least) and vital can be so hard for others, making me cherish every slow breath and moment of silence, even if it only lasts 8 seconds.

Soup Swap

This week I went to my very first Soup Swap, an American trend where you get together with a few friends and exchange soup. Over the years I have mastered the art of making soup for just two people but apparently when others makes soup, they make several liters otherwise what’s the point? Seeing as we have no freezer to store our remnants in, I make sure never to go overboard until this week when I finally got a chance to use “the big pot” to make a shocking 3 liters of soup!

Now the concept behind Soup Swap is instead of freezing the remains of your own soup, you take them with you to a Soup Swap gathering and well, swap them for other flavors. We all make enough soup for the other participants, roughly a liter each. I thus brought three containers of luscious cheesy broccoli soup with me and came back with recipes and cucumber, roasted tomato and banana soup. We’ll be having soup all weekend now, thanks to my fellow domestic goddesses.

Nancy Mitford

My quest for "quality" chick lit has lead me to several 1950s and 1960s romps. Of all the titles that have now found there way to my wishlist, none are as pretty as these Nancy mitford reissues by Penguin.

Thursday's trailer

Great Expectations

I've taken some time off this week to get a little writing done, consult some more doctors and attend my very first Soupswap (yes, it's exactly what it sounds like).

I'm actually really looking forward to locking myself up in our dark little study, just me, gallons of coffee, Molly and a blank computerscreen. What could be better? I just hit the 25,000 word mark so I'm on a roll.

"Slumming"

This week I indulged in some mindnumbing entertainment: chick lit and a thriller. Ok, I have to admit that both novels were predictable, lacking depth and eloquence but they were fun, sassy and made you want to finish them in one go which I almost did. I truely understand why people read this stuff and you shouldn't mock something before you've tried it.

What strikes me the most about non-literary novels is their lack of description, atmosphere and setting. It's all about dialogue and action, which I have to admit are things I also crave in a novel. Throw in a little character development and I'm one happy bunny.

First up was Sophie Kinsella's Remember Me. I had read one of her books last year when I was in a rather abysmal mood and truth be told, she lightened my day. I wouldn't dream of starting on her Shopaholic series but I'll give her standalone novels a go whenever the mood strikes me (which is once a year apparently). The novels starts off with Lexi, a twentysomething girl with an average job, great friends and a deadend relationship. Queue a slippery surface and some stillettos. She wakes up in hospital and three years have gone by. Apparently she had a car crash and can't remember anything that has happend from the crash until her stiletto slip up. Three years of her life: gone. Besides getting her driver's license, she has also lost touch with her friends, become a fahionista, her own boss and most shockingly has gotten married fulfilling every girl's dreams (in chick lit that is). Will she remember her past? Her husband? And naturally her lover? Ok, this book was cliched, predictable and flawed but also sassy, relatable (my inner Carrie Bradshaw hasn't died on me yet) and great if you're looking for nothing more than a book that'll put a smile on your face.

Next up was the thriller: The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly which was recently turned into a movie. Despite having read Stieg Larsson Millennium trilogy, I have to admit that I've never read a lot of thrillers / crime novels. I don't know why really. Anyway, Michael Haller is The Lincoln Lawyer simply because he works out of the back of his Lincoln, deep right? He has to defend Beverly Hills pretty boy Louis Roulet who supposedly beat up and threatened to kill a prostitute, something he naturally denies or we wouldn't have this novel. Haller investigates, discovers ties to a former case, Roulet confesses (it happens 1/3 through the novel so it isn't that big of a spoiler) and threatens Michael who is left with lots of ethical, judicial and parental dilemma's. It was all pretty straight forward stuff, lots of courtscenes, an ex-wife or two and some snappy dialogue. Oh and there's a slight twist at the end. I don't know if I'll read another novel by Connelly, it wasn't bad but I wasn't impressed either. That being said, I am secretly eyeing up a few crime novels, just to broaden my horizon.



So my slumming experiment wasn't a total loss. I'll never become a convert to Chick Lit or Thrillers but neither am I opposed to reading one once in a while. Sometimes it's good to lower your expectations because you just might be in for a lovely surprise.