I have been reading quite a bit lately, so I thought I would try my hand at some book reviews, starting with my most recent read: Serendipity: A Novel by Louise Shaffer.

Serendipity - Louise Shaffer

A charming story about 4 generations of women, from New Haven to New York. Told from the perspective of the youngest, Carrie, in 2008, shortly after her mother passed away. Carrie had not known her grandmother, due to a riff in the family that was not talked about. Her mother’s passing found Carrie being all on her own, and obsessing about where she came from.

The reader gets to know several lovable characters as the pieces of the puzzle of the secrets and history of Carrie’s family get revealed. Old Uncle Paulie, the 83 year old, older brother of Carrie’s grandmother, who is still as sharp as he ever was and moved to a nursing home only to keep a friend company. George Standish, another man in his 80′s who had been Carrie’s grandmother’s gay best friend and musical conductor through the hay day of Broadway theatre in the 60′s and 70′s. Mifalda, Carrie’s paradoxically humble and proud Italian-American great-grandmother. Lu Lawson, Carrie’s grandmother, a great star of the Broadway stage, who lived her life exactly as who she was, with no apologies. And Bobby Manning, Carrie’s eccentric father, who lived hard, writing smash hits for the Broadway stage, and enjoying his successes, dying too early when Carrie was a small girl.

I fell in love with all of these characters that Louise Shaffer painted so beautifully through this character driven story, with the intrigue of family secrets, personal discovery and growth and most importantly, love and forgiveness. Serendipity: A Novel is a wonderful, and quick read, that is a great escape on a Sunday, sunny afternoon.

I’ve been having some fun playing with Google Suggest to see what others are searching. Some of them are so funny. I thought I’d start a series on the funniest ones I encounter, starting with the questions of the ages: “why”:

The top suggestion is the standout one for me: “why can’t I own a canadian”? with the runner up being “why are canadians afraid of the dark”. What the…? Who is it that wants to own me and my people, and why do they thing we are afraid of the dark?!?!?

I’m looking forward to watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution this Friday (March 26th, 2010 @ 8pm PST) on ABC, and it’s not just because of my fondness of British chefs. Jamie Oliver is a man driven by passion, a passion that matters. If you haven’t heard what he is on about, I recommend his TED talk. Be sure to watch the bit starting at 11:14 of the video clip with the kids who do not know which basic vegetables are which.

It is shameful to know that the children of today are predicted to be the first generation to have a shorter life span than their parents! Fortunately, there is plenty we can do to improve our chances: be mindful about what we put in our mouths, and work to clean up the food production and distribution systems. Mr. Oliver will likely get this message across far more effectively than I, so tune in tomorrow evening with me (I’ll likely be tweeting about it).

If you are looking for a teaser for the show tomorrow night, watch the trailer for the show.

http://www.richardsonpictures.co.uk

I’m watching Dan Hill on The Hour right now. He was just discussing one of his father’s parenting techniques that is absolutely brilliant. Every time Dan asked his father for something, his dad made him write a letter. By encouraging Dan to clearly articulate his justifications for needing a raise in his allowance, or that shiny new bike, Mr. Hill instilled invaluable skills in his son. I’m going to have to remember this one! Not only will my kids gain lessons in communication and persuasion, but I’ll be able to get some down time when they are off writing these letters. Brilliant!

Did you watch The Colbert Show last night? I’ve been a fan of Colbert’s since he first spun off Jon Stewart‘s nurturing wing. I like Colbert so much that I got up early to brave the crowds and mud to see a taping of his 2010 Vancouverage last month. Check out my pics from that Vancouverage event, if you like.

Anyways, I got off topic there… last night Colbert had Annie Leonard on as his guest. The interview struck a chord with me and I immediately went off to youtube to watch her very well made, and well thought out short  film (20 minutes), The Story of Stuff. Released in 2007, the film has had millions of views, and has incited many conversations across the web. I’ll admit, I’m a little late to the game here, but it’s still awesome, and worth spreading the word about!

The film has a beautifully simple style with Leonard exploring the material economy (how stuff follows through the system of extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal) while hand drawn illustrations support her points as she talks. Delving into each of the 5 pieces of the story, Leonard uses effective statistics to illuminate the real costs of our stuff consuming system.

Wasteful linear system

Calling this a system in crisis, Leonard explains how stuff gets from the natural resources of the Earth to our homes, and then off to the landfills. The crisis is that we have a  linear system with finite inputs cannot last forever, though we continue to to consume as though it will. There are many limits to this system, as well as many hidden costs that do not factor in the the price tags of that shiny new thing at the mall.

Lenoard’s description of our system of stuff is not shocking. We are all aware that we only have one planet, and we are using it’s resources at an alarming rate to fulfill our insatiable desire for more and more stuff. We do stick our heads in the sand, and some folks are more entrenched in the system than others, but the truth of what we are doing to our home, society and ourselves cannot be ignored all of the time, at least not by me.

What I find shocking is the fact that this system was designed and completely premeditated. After WWII that US government, and corporations wanted to jump start the American economy. Politicians, economists and businessmen came up with this hyper-consumptive model, that has wastefulness built into it as every step as a means to make more money. Leonard quotes Victor Lebow, who is often credited with the invention of consumer capitalism to drive the point home:

Our enormously productive economy… demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption… We need things consumed, burned up, replaced disguarded, and at an ever-accelerating rate. – Victor Lebow

I am shocked! My life-long love-hate relationship with stuff and consumption was pre-meditated by some old white men in the 1940s!  I, and pretty much everyone I have known are on what Leonard call the “Work-spend-watch treadmill”, where we work hard to earn money to buy stuff, which tires us out so we watch TV, take in messages about how lame our lives are because we don’t have a bunch of stuff, so we go out to buy more to feel better, which means we have to go work harder to afford the stuff we bought. Yikes!

But there is hope!  Leonard is hopeful in the knowledge that there are people at every stage of the linear system working to improve how stuff moves between people. People who are trying to convert this wasteful linear system into a productive cyclical system. Really, if we want our species to continue so that our children’s children may have fruitful and enjoyable lives, there is no other choice. We each have to do our part to clean up the system that is no longer serving us well (did it ever?). The best place to start is to inform ourselves, and act accordingly. So, watch The Story of Stuff, and pass the message along!

Happy cyclical system

You can watch the movie via you tube below, or watch it on the dedicated The Story of Stuff website where they have chapter navigations control built right in to the videos!