Out of the Blue

Last night I finished Michael J. Fox's autobiography, Lucky Man. It is well written, a funny and poignant account of his life. I knew next to nothing about Parkinson's disease, "PD", before reading this book. Fox discusses the beginning of his symptoms, a pinkie that suddenly, out of the blue, wouldn't stop twitching, then the gradual but obvious progression of the disease, and how Parkinson's affected and changed him. He has become a spokesman for Parkinson's, and started his own foundation eight years ago, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, whose mission is to "find a cure for Parkinson's disease within the decade. . .", which has already funded over $120 million in research!

Sometimes I find it difficult to name a new post. If my kids were to name my post, they'd probably want to call it, "Mom's Random Thoughts About Books". They LOVE the word random, and use it often. (Why do they love this word? I suppose you can label almost anything as random, and get a laugh.) While my ideas may sometimes seem to be out of the blue, they are actually related to what I'm reading and thinking about.

I may be able to start The Catcher in the Rye sooner than I thought, due to a schedule change. Interestingly, author J.D. Salinger dedicates this book to his mother!

Three Cups of Tea

There are thousands of blogs about books out there. Thousands! I wanted to call this blog "a blog about books" but the NY Times already uses that logo for their blog about books, Paper Cuts. (I guess I am way behind as far as blogging goes. I admit to being a complete novice--so there's hope that this site will improve as time goes on!) What's the secret to being "original" with words? Is there a way to think up new things, or to present old things in a new light? Has everything already been said? I don't think so. There are many ways of expressing things and many things that may be expressed in a new way (sometimes in a bold way, sometimes in a subtle manner, or somewhere in between). Does that last sentence really confuse you? Is that sentence a result of my tea intake? In order to help me write somewhat original posts, I rely on tea. Three cups of tea over the course of the morning help me to put my thoughts about books and reading into written form. At the very least, I hope I'll be clever enough to win your attention for awhile!

As I have mentioned, I began reading Michael J. Fox's autobiography, Lucky Man. In the book, he is candid and articulate about his life. The title, Lucky Man, says a lot about his attitude and approach to life. Like Lance Armstrong, who battled widespread cancer, Fox sees his disease, Parkinson's, as a gift rather than an awful burden, at least at the time of writing this book, 2002. He doesn't complain about it but sees how it has changed his life for the better. I'm not trying to sell this book to you, but Fox has many interesting and inspirational things to say. Here' s something I want to remember from the book: in a humorous manner, he talks about actors going over scripts and how they only focus in on the size and importance of their own parts. Isn't this so true of us all in a larger context? His honesty draws me in; I also am learning about his world of auditions and acting and his life in general.