Troy’s Book Club: If You Try To Please Everybody…You Will Lose Your Ass

A few years ago, while on assignment for a local magazine, I had the opportunity to meet, and photograph Stephen Einhorn, a MKE-area businessman. It was pretty common for these assignments to end with an exchange of business-cards. This time though, was unique in that Stephen gave me a book – a book that he wrote, joking that he had plenty of copies to go around!

The entire title of the book is “If You Try To Please Everybody…You Will Lose Your Ass: Jokes and Reflections on Business and Life.” This is a fun, light read, with a format that is easy to mosey through. Each page is a joke, followed by a particular lesson. All these jokes and lessons are spread across chapters like “Behavior Counts”, “Value Added”, “Worry and Guilt”, and a few more besides.

I think it’s really neat that Stephen wrote this book, as many people comment about wanting to “write their memoirs”, but only a fraction follow through. And while wanting to tell your life story is neat, fewer people talk about wanting to write a book that is all about what they’ve learned in life, the values they’ve developed, and a whole lotta jokes beside. So, my hat is off to Stephen. He did something really kinda neat here, and I’m just bummed it took me so long to get around to reading it. Ah well, that is just how it goes sometimes.

day 3483

day 3483

this week I’m missing

someone to touch ev’ry day,

someone to touch me

Troy’s Book Club: A People’s History of American Empire

This book was particularly good to read this Fall, as we are still adjusting to a new POTUS, and his rampant nationalism. As much as he yells “Make America Great Again”, it’s imperative to really understand what is in America’s history…and there are >many< blemishes.

Howard Zinn is a writer I’ve often heard about and one I’m glad I finally got to read. This graphic-adaptation of his book was real interesting and made me a lot more informed about my country’s history. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about what kind of country the United States really has been.

You can get this from my favorite local bookstore, Boswell Books.

 

day 3481/day 3482

day 3481
Mom pedaling hard,
two kids on the cargo-bike,
one holding flowers

+++

day 3482

plastic cup rattling,

creaking from some of the trees:

speaking for the wind

Troy’s Book Club: A Wrinkle In Time

Having heard lots of Twitter-chatter about the upcoming movie adaptation of A WRINKLE IN TIME, and how many women I knew who held great affection for the book, and yet I’d never even heard of it. I had to see what it was all about.

Turns out the thin novel by Madeleine L’Engle is about a young girl, her oddly mature younger brother, and a friend of hers, as they travel the universe trying to find her father who’s been missing for years. It’s a neat bit of whimsy, fantasy, hope and love, and learning to believe in yourself.

I will admit though, that I was a bit disappointed when I came to realize the book was more a “first chapter” in a few-book story, than a completely self-contained story. As I was reading and getting closer to the end, I was wondering, “wow, how is the author going to wrap this up?” and then suddenly the book was done.

I’ll probably go to see the movie when it comes out, just to see how it translates to the screen. Should be pretty neat, I think.

day 3480

day 3480

tonight’s reflection:

moonlight on water is an

aphrodisiac

day 3476/day 3477/day 3478/day 3479

day 3476

as I ran, I watched

the sunlight creep down the bluff,

bringing the morning

+++

day 3477
his clothes were dirty,
he talked to himself, fidgeted,
seemed so very lost

+++

day 3478
that nice morning run
is already a week past;
need to get moving

+++

day 3479

pages of intent:

all sorts of exercise plans;

now to follow through.