Stuff I’ve Been Reading -- The 2017 Backlog - Part 2

My dog convinced me to write this. First he said it’s too stuffy inside and made me go out and now that I’m out here, it’s so nice that I have no choice, but to try and continue the spree where I left off, talking more about all the books I read last year. But first a little more about the books I’m reading this year. I’m really enjoying Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life, which unlike other self help books has no interest in brevity or in not including a helpful bible tale in each chapter. His biblical examples, which you might think preachy or to which I might be condescending are actually well thought out, sometimes even descending to the level of definitions to prove his point, teaching me that the word “sin” means to miss the mark, a much better definition than whatever I had previously. He also talked of cleaning your desk, cleaning your house and really reaching a spotless and maybe peerless level of organization. I took this far too much to heart and piled item after item on my desk, assuming that I’d smash the trash so that I could get to work, instead I just took a week off work for pretty much no reason, ignoring my responsibilities, columns, videos, etcetera, just kinda floating along, focusing on my diet and trying to get more walking in than usual. Even that last one is kind of a lie. I only walk when I have a destination, something to look forward to, even if it is just getting to the end of this column and maybe someday finishing with my massive 2017 book backlog, until then, we’re talking books, books and more books, because this…. is the stuff I’ve been reading.

Books Read
Fear of Music
Five Great Short Stories
Delivering Happiness
Sucker's Portfolio
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
R.E.M.: Inside Out: The Stories Behind Every Song
Letters by Kurt Vonnegut
The Martian

Comic Books, Art Books & Graphic Novels
Deadpool, Volume 4: Deadpool vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.
Deadpool: Flashbacks
Botticelli to Braque: Masterpieces From the National Galleries of Scotland
Deadpool, Volume 1: Secret Invasion
Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy
Jewel City: Art from San Francisco's Panama-Pacific International Exposition
J. M. W. Turner: Painting Set Free

Deadpool, Volume 4: Deadpool vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. - Written by Brian Pusain, friend of Sara Silverman, star of her not very funny Sara Silverman show and occasional and funny guest star on The Big Bang Theory apparently wrote Deadpool for a while and really excelled at it. All I remember from this one is it being a non-stop roller coaster ride as Deadpool takes on S.H.I.E.L.D. demanding payment for an unpaid bill. It was like an entire comic book based on that scene from Better off Dead -- you know -- “where’s my two dollars!?”

Fear of Music - I love these little 33 ⅓ music books. I learn so much detail about the album and usually they do a song by song breakdown where I listen along to each song over and over as I read the section. It’s the only way to really get into a piece of music, to focus on the lyrics, to get inside the album. I also like the way sometimes the authors go off the rails and tell about their own personal experiences with the album, for example in this one I recall the author explaining for pages about the meaning behind the corrugated metal cover, mainly that because it was three dimensional he could feel it. He could feel the music.

Five Great Short Stories - I don’t specifically remember any of these five great short stories by Chekov, but I do remember that they were pretty great. The daily comings and goings of the peasant people. Much like Solzhenitsyn & Dostoyevsky, Chekov is another classic author who I worried I might get, but when it comes down to the reading, we’re just like peas and carrots. If you can tell a good story, you’re a-okay in my book, and Chekov certainly can no matter if it’s packaged in a dusty old tome or in yet another $1.99 dover thrift edition.

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose - Very much enjoyed Tony Hsieh’s book about San Francisco startups and the founding of Zappos, the shoe-store version of Amazon. Hseih talks about his positive attitude, commitment to customer service and continues to double down, betting on himself and his team again and again, taking incredible risks like even selling his awesome sounding bar and offices that were once above the AMC14 on Van Ness in San Francisco. I’d be more bummed for his loss if the book had a sad ending, instead he sells Zappos to Amazon who allows it to continue on it’s own focusing on customer service and shoes, but now based out of Las Vegas instead of San Francisco, because it’s cheaper.

Sucker's Portfolio - I’d had this small portfolio of unpublished/collected Vonnegut works on my shelf for a while and I finally had time to give it a read. None of the stories really made an impression on me, but it’s always such a pleasure to spend time with Vonnegut. He really is more like an old friend at this point, having read almost everything he’d ever written and even a few of these interview with Vonnegut books that keep coming out. Hell, I even read his letters. A very special soul, Vonnegut always seems so understanding with his characters, they all mean to do well, even when there are unintended consequences.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... and it's all small stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life - I’d always flipped through this book before, read little sections and moved on, but I decided to finally sit down and read it cover to cover. It’s a good read, very positive with a lot of good habits and examples that overlap with the other self help books. It still doesn’t rival the simple advice I saw in a YouTube video recently, that he himself said he cribbed from his therapist, whenever your mind is spinning out of control with bad thoughts, say to yourself -- is this useful? And if it’s not, cut it out. Seems simple, but is really good advice, just like the advice contained in this book.

Deadpool: Flashbacks - Another Brian Posehn written classic, it’s always good when Deadpool time travels, no matter what the reason. It just means there’s a whole ‘nother time period for Deadpool to mock and insult. How does he manage to be so well prepared with puns and innuendos no matter what the period? He must be incredibly well read or at least watch a lot of television.

Botticelli to Braque: Masterpieces From the National Galleries of Scotland - Yet another large scale art book that I bought at the De Young Museum in San Francisco and read cover to cover so it could be included in last year’s spree which I never wrote. While I do prefer seeing an artist’s work in chronological order as complete as possible, I did enjoy this survey of various masters collected by the National Gallery of Scotland, touring during their renovation. The amazing thing about living in San Francisco and having access to a great art gallery like the De Young or the Legion of Honor is that the art comes to you. You just have to wait and just enjoy the best of other museum's collections like a spinning kaleidoscope of wonder.

Deadpool, Volume 1: Secret Invasion - Aliens invading Earth and they decide to clone Deadpool. Good idea for the healing factor, bad idea for everything else. Very much enjoyed this light Deadpool romp, again by Posehn, which even got the merc with a mouth involved in the Marvel main story of Secret Invasion featuring those dastardly shapeshifting skrulls. Deadpool takes care of business, as per usual.

Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy - Okay, so there wasn’t a lot of story in this one, but I did enjoy reading about the people who made the storyboards while I flipped through. Apparently Joe Dante, director of Gremlins and Small Soldiers was one of the artists on the film coming up with several of the major concepts and designs. Think he was the “young kid” on the team who was just happy to be there. Really amazing to see the various directions that Star Wars could have gone and to see your favorite characters develop from the earliest beginnings.

R.E.M.: Inside Out: The Stories Behind Every Song - Spoiler alert: I’m a die hard R.E.M. fan and had a great time reading this book. Like the 33 ⅓ books, I listened to the songs while I read about them learning a few facts here and there but mainly being forced to focus on the lyrics on every song, allowing me to remember some of my favorites and even a few I’d forgotten. A noble edition to my R.E.M. shrine.

Jewel City: Art from San Francisco's Panama-Pacific International Exposition - I’m also a pretty big fan of the Pan-Pacific Exhibition of 1915, which took place 100 years before I arrived in San Francisco and celebrated the completion of the Panama Canal. It was also a coming out party for San Francisco and a reminder that the city while damaged during the earthquake, wasn’t completely wrecked. They transformed what is now the Marina into a huge exhibition with beautiful, but temporary paper-machie like buildings that made it look like Epcot Center. This is where San Francisco got it’s famous “Palace of Fine Arts”, the only surviving piece of the exhibition (though it was also built out of cardboard and glue and later had to be completely rebuilt). I could obviously go on and on about this exhibition because during the year 2015, I was fortunate enough to see an exhibit about the exhibition at the California Historical Society, as well as at the Legion of Honor and the De Young. The De Young went above and beyond, re-assembling almost of all of the artwork from the exhibition -- a monumental task considering that some of the artwork was temporarily stuck in America as the first World War was heating up -- some of the delays were accidental, but still others were intentional to protect the artwork. The exhibition was a resounding success and to celebrate, I bought this rather large art book that I later read.

Letters by Kurt Vonnegut - I buy a lot of letters books. I can’t stop. I just know I’ll see another in a thrift store or a friends of the library bookshop and it will jump into my cart and refuse to get out. Usually I’m pretty good and will flip through and read some letters. I think I read one or maybe both of Hunter S. Thompson’s letters all the way through, but that was easier because it was Thompson and he’s always entertaining -- even in his letters. Vonnegut was much the same way. As always I’m desperate to spend more time with my old friend, even if to do so I have to try and understand why people didn’t read his books right away, how much he had to leave his family to find work and how that distance eventually led him into the arms of another woman. Our heroes are our heroes, but they’re also human. Reading their letters can be a good way to remind you of that.

J. M. W. Turner: Painting Set Free - Another artist not properly recognized in his time, J.M.W. Turner painted such great paintings of light that people thought he was losing his mind (and maybe he was). Brighter, brighter and brighter, he would illuminate his paintings, mainly of boats and water, until they glowed. I’ll bet he would have loved photoshop. Like so many others, the brilliance of his work stood out over time. He just kept painting them the way he liked them and now his later -- madder -- works are some of my favorites, just showing that there’s no accounting for taste and that good art will rise in time.

The Martian - Really enjoyed the movie The Martian, and after watching it a few more times I thought I’d try the book. Even though scientists have long since ruined my dream of growing potatoes on Mars (there are no nutrients in the soil), I was still thrilled to join a very scientific man and his journals. The book mainly focuses on the perspective of the man from Mars as he continues to science his way out of seemingly insurmountable problems. Just like the movie, the part that impressed me was his disciplined approach to problem solving. Even when things seemed impossible, he stepped back, thought it over and found a way. Inspiring book and movie. Enjoyed reading it on the glowing backlit kindle, the perfect compliment for its scientific attitude.

I guess that’s about it for this makeup edition of Stuff I’ve Been Reading. I’d estimate I still have 2 to 2 ½ more of these makeup columns to do until I’m caught up and can focus on reading for this year. Obviously expect my first couple months to be book light until I can clean off this backlog and start finishing books for the future. My goal this year is to read 100 books. It seems a little far fetched, but then again last year I did read 86, I just didn’t write the columns for them. This year I hope to do better. Until next time… this has been -- Stuff I’ve Been Reading!