"Unbearable Lightness" by Portia de Rossi

I tend to skip by celebrities' autobiographies.  I'd rather not read about how terrible it is to be fabulous.  But my friend recommended "Unbearable Lightness" by Portia de Rossi to me, and, since I trust her judgement, I read it. 

Portia de Rossi is an Australian actress (I had no idea she was Australian) who was in a few movies I'd never heard of, but really hit the scene as Nelle Porter on Ally McBeal.  After 4 years on that show, she won the role of Lindsay Bluth Funke on Arrested Development (great show), and is more recently famous for her marriage to Ellen DeGeneres.  Besides her nationality, I knew all this about her.  And even though I watched some of Ally McBeal and we own all of the seasons of Arrested Development, I didn't know the rest of her history. 

You can read the book to get all of it, but the gist of it is that she learned how to crash diet when she was 12 and started modeling.  Her mom taught her to eat 300 calories a day to lose a pound a day, and after her shoots she and her mom would binge on all the foods she'd missed during her diets.  From there her obsession with her weight and her relationship with food worsened.  As she became more famous, her drive to be thin increased, and she hired a nutritionist to help her learn how to lose weight and keep it off.  She took the tools given to her and twisted them to give her more extreme weight loss, and at one point she weighed a mere 82 pounds. 

De Rossi was frankly honest about her history, and gave the reader a realistic view into the mind of someone struggling from eating disorders.  She made it very clear that anorexia and bulimia are mental disorders, and that the words coming from loved ones to someone with a poor body image can often be blown out of proportion and turned into a sort of mantra that fuels their obsessive behavior.  Critics of the book have said that what her detailed narrative does is provide ideas for people with eating disorders, and that it will just create more problems.  I disagree.  I don't have an eating disorder, so I don't know it for a fact, but to me, what I saw was a very sick woman, and the last thing I wanted to do was become that obsessed. 

Clearly, she is rehabilitated, or she wouldn't have been able to write with the perspective she has now.  She spends time looking back at her life and discussing reasons people become obsessed with their appearance.  She also discusses her struggle with her sexuality, which isn't a subject I care to read about, but in this book, it is given as one of the reasons she became so determined to be perfect.  That part of the book didn't bother me, because I didn't feel like I was being asked to accept her lifestyle, and it wasn't the point of the book.  What I gained from the book was that becoming fixated on something, whether it be a number on the scale or the thickness of your arms or the amount of calories you put in your body, is unhealthy. 

The point is, if you've ever had any struggles with your own body image, or if you have a bad relationship with food, you should read this book.  I can honestly say it gave me a fresh perspective that has changed how I see myself and my relationship food. 

How To Drive All Night

For Christmas this year, we drove to Kansas.  We drive straight through, which is about 20 hours of driving.  If you've ever driven that far with little kids, you'll know that the easiest way to accomplish it is while they are asleep.  So we drive most of the 20 hours during the kids' bedtime.  And this leads me to the subject of this post:  How did I manage to stay awake and drive all night?  Body Evolution Boom.  This is a pre-workout caffeine drink that's equivalent to several Dr. Peppers.  A cup of that and I was wide awake.  And the rest of the car was fast asleep.  To pass the time, I made mental lists on a variety of subjects:

1.  Possible chapter titles for a possible somewhat autobiographical novel about the dangers of dating in Provo Singles' Wards.  Here are a few examples:
-The Live-at-Home Dilemma
-Dating a Bad Boy
-First Date Syndrome
-The Unattainable One
Yes, I have real names to go with all those chapters.  They would definitely have to be changed.

2.  My set list if I were ever to be on American Idol (after they change the age limit and I learn how to sing).  It was mostly inspired by what I was listening to at that moment.  I can't remember most of what it was now, but I think a lot of it was songs by Heart, Bon Jovi, and Pat Benetar.  Oh, and Guns'N'Roses.  And that "Jar of Hearts" song.   

3.  Places I would rather be than in the car driving in the middle of the night with no one to talk to.  The short answer to that would be anywhere, but here are some actual places I thought of:
-Ireland--so green!
-Greece (ever since I read "This Rough Magic" by Mary Stewart.  I want my own little cove with dolphins.) 
-New Zealand, for so many reasons.  I blame Lord of the Rings.
-A Cruise.  No driving.  No dishes.  No laundry.  Warm weather.
-A Bon Jovi concert.  Then I could sing along as loud as I want without waking anyone up.

And then the caffeine wore off, and I was home.

A random assortment of thoughts

Wow, it has been a long time since I blogged.  Oopsy.  I blame my new phone.  I have become addicted to my sudoku app.  Plus I've been reading a whole bunch.  But here are a few thoughts that I would like to mention:

1.  Every month at book group, the time comes when we recommend books for our next read.  It always gets me thinking of my favorite books, so here is a list of what I feel are must reads, but don't necessarily qualify for book group: (in no particular order)

"Beauty" by Robin McKinley (I read it at least once a year.)
"Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging" by Louise Rennison, and all the other Georgia Nicholson books (Please read these books.  You will thank me.  I read these when I've had a bad day and need a good laugh.  HILARIOUS.)
"Archangel" by Sharon Shinn (also the rest of the Samaria series. Romantic, unique and entertaining.)

2.  Shopping this time of year can be frustrating, to say the least.  Here are some things I really wish people would consider while pushing their carts through Walmart:
-The entrances to aisles are NOT places for stopping to chat. 
-Walking super duper slowly down the very middle of the aisle makes it impossible to pass. 
-I see the aisles like the road, and the carts like the cars.  Except, we don't have tail lights on the carts or our behinds.  So stopping suddenly in the middle of a busy aisle instead of pulling over to look at those Santa mugs is dangerous. 
-Pushing a cart into oncoming traffic is like pulling out onto Washington in front of a bunch of cars.  Not nice.
Don't get me wrong.  I love the holidays.  I  just get a little put out when I get stuck behind a slow, aisle hogging, suddenly stopping, cell phone chatting person when I'm trying to get those last stocking stuffers. 

3.  I love Netflix streaming.  LOVE.  To cheer myself up and get a good laugh, I've been watching old episodes of Psych.  My favorite episodes:  The one where Juliet joins a roller derby team (because it's a dream of mine), American Duos (Tim Curry makes everything better), Scary Sherry, the one where Shawn ends up on a Spanish soap, and Black and Tan: a Crime of Fashion (the model one).  Another show that I've been patiently waiting for by mail, but that has had "very long wait" next to it in my queue for 3 months, is Bones, Season 5.  And it is now available for streaming.  I forgot how much I love that show.  Brennen, Booth, Sweets...so good.  This is why I've been so bad about blogging. 

4.  If you're looking for another vampire book series, give "Vampire Academy" a try.  It's not the same old story, and has a different feel than "Twilight."  The writing isn't awesome, but the story is entertaining, and it makes for some fun winter reading.  I'm on the 5th book of the 7 book series.  I'll let you know how I feel about it for sure when I finish all of them. 

That's what's been bouncing around in my head.  I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas.  Hugs and Hersheys kisses from me!

Another show to add to my DVR list

I have a super long list of shows to watch, and I was trying not to add any more.  But then I'd be watching Dancing with the Stars and get distracted by my crossword puzzle, and I'd look up, and it would be the beginning of Castle.  And the 2 minutes I saw before the recording ended were pretty dang good.  So now Castle has been added to my list. 

Let me tell you what I like about Castle:  Nathan Fillion.  He's a GENIUS!  He has a million different facial expressions.  He doesn't even need to say anything and you can laugh for hours.  And then he does say something and it makes it even better.  I love him.  He's the best.  I also love the detectives on the show, of course, and the cases are exciting and interesting.  But mostly I just love the Castle character.  Great show. 

Some firsts I've experienced lately:

1.  I made a tutu.  I have 2 boys.  There's just no opportunity for me to make tutus and fairy princess dresses and things that are sparkly.  But I signed up a while back to play my flute for a church activity, and I decided to play "Flight of the Bumblebee."  I had a little nudge from my friend to dress up like a bumblebee with a tutu.  So I made a tutu.  I forgot to have someone take a picture, but eventually I'm sure there will be another opportunity to wear it and have someone take a picture of me. 

2.  I had my first public barfing incident with one of my kids.  It was bound to happen.  I'm just glad my friend and her mom happened to be with me at McDonalds when Tyler ralphed all over the Play Place.  I stood there in shock next to Tyler, while other moms around us rushed their kids away from the mess.  My friend found the mop guy and her mom handed me a pile of napkins.  It was gross.  For everyone.

3.  I was a PTA mom and helped with the school carnival.  I'm starting to feel my 33 years more and more as I become more involved with school stuff.  I am a card-carrying member of the PTA.  It's a little surreal.  But kind of fun (although I keep hearing that I won't do anything after I'm done with my first kid).  I plan on helping again next year, and when I do, I'm wearing a tutu.

So, not that many firsts, but it felt like a momentous week.  I plan on making tutus for the rest of my Halloween costumes, unless I happen to end up with a girl someday.  Someone's got to be girly around here.

Annoyed

This blog is called Rac's Random Rants.  Well, I need to get something off my chest.  So here's a true rant.  Blogger stinks.  Yes, I am ranting about Blogger while using Blogger. 

I have a family blog, and the number one reason I have that blog is so my parents can ooh and aah over my children and make flattering comments about them.  And for some strange and really annoying reason, Blogger has started up a lovely spam filter for comments.  There is a cute little inbox on my blog settings for published comments, and another one for spam comments.  What's wrong with a spam filter?  Nothing, unless the only thing it filters is my mom's comments.  And the only reason I even know she's making these wonderful comments is because every time someone makes a comment, I get it in an email.  Her kind words about my children don't even make it into the spam inbox, which means I can't mark her comments as "not spam", which means her comments continue to show up in my gmail inbox, but are otherwise lost in cyberspace.  I would love to just turn off the spam filter and not have to worry about people's comments getting tossed like a dirty diaper, but after spending the last 45 minutes clicking on everything I possibly could, I had no success. I am super annoyed.  I have no control over my blog anymore.  ARGH.  Thanks.  I feel a tiny bit better.

An Admission

So...I know in the past I've posted about how I really don't get texting and the whole cell phone deal.  I thought it was such a weird and lame trend, and I felt like it was something I'd never EVER get into.  It's time for me to confess.  I have had my smart phone for about 5 months now, and I feel like I can't live without it.  I LOVE TEXTING!!!  There.  I said it.  Let me tell you why I love it so much. 

1.  No need to interrupt someone's busy day with a phone call they can't answer right then.  I'm a bit chatty, and I tend to waste people's time when I call because I like to talk.  Instead, a quick little text for when they have a sec to glance at their phone.  Easy peasy. 

2.  My kids have a tendency to raise the decibel level the second I pick up the phone.  It is impossible to make phone calls, especially the kind that include pertinent information.  Reading the info is so much better.

3.  I have a QWERTY keyboard on my phone, which eliminates the hitting the key a million times for each letter problem.  It would take me about an hour to text one sentence.  ANNOYING.  Not a problem anymore. 

And that is why now I get what those kids are all excited about.  But one thing.  I don't use those abbreviations.  For one thing, I can't remember what they are.  Also, I think a lot of them are kind of lame.  LOL.