Diana Lee's Posterous

The Whole Enchilada of Me
Diana Lee
Diana Lee

I'm a blogger, writer, lawyer & patient advocate living with chronic migraines, depression, occipital neuralgia & diabetes.

I'm furmom to a kitty called Felix & a Jack Russell Terrier called Maisy. I've been very happily married to their (human) dad since '02. I'm an avid reader, a Liberal policy geek & a Mac fan. I love college sports, especially football & basketball. Eat 'em up, eat 'em up, KSU! I'm addicted to reality TV, much to my husband's chagrin.

My blog Somebody Heal Me blends news, information & experiences about life with migraine disease, depression, chronic pain and other chronic and invisible illnesses to educate, inform and inspire readers. I have the best readers. They give back so much information & support. I also write about migraine-related issues for the Migraine.com blog.

Much as I love the work I do on Somebody Heal Me, I have other thoughts and ideas to share with the wide world out there. Twitter is great for that, but 140 characters is limiting. So those longer thoughts will go right here on Posterous.

Come interact with me. You can get a good idea of my entire online presence by visiting Diana Lee. I spend a fair bit of time on Facebook & a lot of time on Twitter. I'm now on Google+, too. Come look me up & get to know me.

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2012 (2)
2011 (8)
2010 (25)
 

Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin: Review

Heart of the MatterHeart of the Matter by Emily Giffin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A lack of character development was my main beef with this book. After the "incident" I felt like we got a lot more in depth information about the two women, but still not enough about Nick. However, I really liked how she ended the book and acknowledged the complexity involved in such a loaded situation. Most of us say we'd leave, no questions asked. But what about the kids? What about all the years together and the life you've built? I don't know if I could forgive, but I can understand why some people do. Or at least try to.

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Amy & Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout

Amy and IsabelleAmy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout

This is a quiet, melancholy, powerful book.

The story reminds me of how we all think everyone else has fabulous plans on New Year's Eve. A party with dancing and champagne and a kiss at midnight like something you see in a movie. In reality most of us are curled up with a significant other or friend watching a movie with snacks when midnight rolls around. We feel perfectly content to be where we are when we don't compare ourselves to others.

Isabelle thinks everyone around her is living a vastly more interesting, happy life while she is lonely and sad. Though many of us aren't alone as much as she is (as a single mom of a teen daughter) we all feel that loneliness and disconnectedness, but no one talks about it.

The thing I truly loved about the story was that when Isabelle opens herself up to the world and the people around her, her experience in life completely changes even though no major aspect of her life has. Her relationship with her daughter even takes on a different shape because she lets her daughter see who she really is.

It's a surprisingly powerful little novel.

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The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

Some critics recognized Aimee Bender's The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake as derivative of Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. While I don't see a lot of resemblance between the two, they share the themes of experiencing emotion through food and quirkiness. This ought to help you know right up front if it is the kind of book for you. As with Like Water for Chocolate this is a love it or hate it kind of story.

The story follows 9 year old Rose Edelstein into adulthood through all the typical tween and teen experiences of friendship, crushes and family issues while she also deals with a bizarre, isolating secret.

I enjoyed something about the story that is hard to put into words. Something felt very old fashioned about these characters and this story. I had to remind myself it was set in present day many times throughout the book. Ultimately, I loved that almost everyone found a way to a satisfying life despite their personal challenges. Rose is a wonderful main character and despite her always feeling she was an afterthought compared to her older brother, she was truly the rock that held the family together.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake feels very much like an indie fairytale for grown ups. If you let yourself be carried away by the weirdness, whimsy and unknowns, it's an incredibly enjoyable story. If GoodReads allowed members to give half stars I'd rate it a 4-1/2, but I bumped it up to a 5 because I enjoyed it enough to round up.

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Tim Gunn's Golden Rules: Preachy, Dishy Fun

Gunnsgoldenrules

 

Despite its clumsy structure and (often) tedious concept, Tim Gunn's new book is highly enjoyable as a vehicle for revealing Tim's insider stories from Project Runway and the fashion and celebrity worlds. In Gunn's Golden Rules: Life's Little Lessons for Making It Work, Tim offers uses anecdotes from his life to share his version of the "golden rules".

Tim dishes on all kinds of behind the scenes Project Runway moments and shares polite versions of his experiences with many former contestants. Season 4 winner Christian Siriano is just as kind as he seems. Yay! Santino "sucks all the air out of the room." A bunch of designers in season 7 had a completely relaxed approach to the challenges that drove Tim crazy.

Through his own rise into celebrity his proximity to quirky personalities has increased exponentially. Martha Stewart is definitely weird and seems to have a bizarre relationship with her daughter Alexis (the whole "I loathe you but choose to work with you" deal). He was even a fly on the wall for their Thanksgiving meal at the Four Seasons. Yup, Martha and her daughter celebrated at a restaurant that year. American Vogue Editor in Chief Anna Wintour is just as lazy and weird as all the insiders claim. Izzak Mizrahi is a obnoxious, moody queen and a giant pain in Tim Gunn's ass.

I pink puffy heart Tim as a person, but not as a writer or self editor. I'd probably get this from the library or borrow it from a friend. I'm sorry I spent money on it because it's definitely not something I envision myself keeping in my library until the end of time, though the insider stories make it well worth reading.

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