I Gave In

    I feel like a schmuck, but I finally have to admit it: I gave in on a book that I was reading. It sucks, because I was inspired to read it and parts of it were interesting and enlightening, and I really wanted to get something meaningful out of it, both for the sake of the purpose of the book and so that I could really cement my connection with the person who suggested it to me.
    The only explanation that I can give is that it's just too much to deal with at this point. That sounds ridiculous in a way given the topic of the book and what it could mean to me, but sometimes even something is too much. And I know that the person who recommended it wasn't saying that it was guaranteed to work [generically], or even that it was all that likely to work for me. But I just so wanted it to work, and immediately. Prehaps that was my problem? A marked lack of patience for letting the process occur naturally?
    There were two unforgettable things in the book (OK, two things that I got out of the 2 chapters that I did read). First, the concept of "swing"--in rowing, the athlete's idea of zone is referred to as "swing", where you let the boat do what the boat does and just stay out of its way. If you struggle and make a huge effort to make the boat go fast, you get in the boat's way and end up working at cross-purposes and you go slower and actually have to work harder to do it. But if you swing, you're working with the boat, with the current, with with with with... and it happens because all of those elements want it to happen. How excellent would it be to achieve swing in one's own life?
    And the other thing that I got out of that book? Lacerations and contusions. It was narcolepsy on paper! I have made it through several years of advanced education in some subjects that are fucking dull without falling asleep while reading. How could I have read an entire year of Torts and stayed awake throughout, but not managed to remain conscious through even a section, much less a chapter, of this book? I can't fathom it. I literally did not read this book even once without falling asleep. I had it checked out from another library since May. I renewed it so many times that I eventually couldn't do it anymore in my capacity as "patron"--I had to do it at work from the admin. side. I waived two overdue fines. Overdues! ME! And finally I just had to return it because it felt like it was taunting me. "Think you're so smart, so on top of things, prissy bitch? Ha! You can't even read me!" OK, it wasn't really that bad, but the thing annoyed me so much that I had to make it go away.
    I will read it. Someday. I swear--I can't let a book get the last laugh.
    So. My review of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen is rather incomplete, but pretty much heartfelt. I hope to link back to this post someday with a second and final version of my review, having read the whole thing.
    I'll add this last paragraph as a sort of balm to my ego. I recently (while planning the new blog template) read three blogging books. I didn't review them because I hadn't read every word of each one, and I think that my reviews do imply that the target books have been read thoroughly. However, I think it's worthwhile to share what I got out of them. The weblog handbook : practical advice on creating and maintaining your blog by Rebecca Blood provided a great deal of background information on the history of blogging, the culture of bloggers, and the etiquette and appropriateness of blog behavior. We blog : publishing online with Weblogs by Paul Bausch, Matthew Haughey, and Meg Hourihan is more practical and less textbook sociological, offering a reasonable amount of HTML assistance intermingled with what could almost be termed a defense of the blog culture. Finally, Blogging : genius strategies for instant Web content by Biz Stone brought it all together. It was exactly what I'd been looking for when I picked up the three books, and I wish I'd started with it rather than reading it last. Yes, it included the history and meaning of blogging. And it was chock full of cautions against the nasty stuff that people do on their blogs without thinking about it first (tons of which I've done and later regretted it--why doesn't anyone tell you that stuff before you start, rather than when you're simply looking to change your template?!) But what makes this book invaluable is that it gives, in the most idiot-friendly manner, absolutely complicated, cool, totally-customizable formatting advice that anyone could follow. HTML and CSS. And an explanation of why each is valuable at different times, in different ways, for different people.
    So. If you want to learn more about why you're blogging, or if you want to do it better, or if you already know a lot but want to know more, Stone's book will help. And it's damned funny, too. Highly recommended. (The others are at least a Recommend, but if you buy Stone, I'd just check the others out from your local library.)