Obsession(s)

Okay, so anyone who knows me knows that I might have an obsessive personality. When I find something I like, it quickly turns to love, then, of course, even more quickly to an obsession. Luckily, I get over these obsessions, or I would still be obsessed with Mousercize, My Little Ponies, Rainbow Brite, and Strawberry Shortcake in addition to all of the thousands of obsessions over the years.

So, what follows is a list of my most recent obsessions and why I have become infatuated with said items/people:

1. Augusten Burroughs: I put off reading Running with Scissors for many years because, as snooty as it sounds, I often question books that are instant bestsellers and made into movies in no time flat. I have been proven wrong. I read Running with Scissors and liked it, so my helpful friend Jess gave me all five of his other books (four more memoirs and a novel).

What I was not expecting was that I would LOVE LOVE LOVE his other books. My three favorite are definitely Possible Side Effects, Magical Thinking, and Sellevision. So, naturally, I started stalking him. I went to his website, and googled him to read all the many articles that have been written about him. Through this, I found that the family he wrote about in Running with Scissors is suing him because, essentially, they claim that while they ARE crazy, they are not AS crazy as he made them out to be. Lame. Reading his blog also led me to my next obsession:

2. Reading memoirs: From stalking Augusten Xon Burroughs (yeah, I know his middle name and I know that his real name is Christopher Robison. Sad, but true.), I learned that his best friend is also an author who has had two memoirs published. So, I went and bought A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel. Oh. My. God. I read it in one day. So I ran back and got her second memoir, She Got Up Off the Couch. Both are written in the voice of a young, sassy, unpredictable girl. I love that little girl. THEN I learned that Augusten Burroughs' brother, John Elder Robison, published a memoir about not being diagnosed with Asperger's until he was 40. Look Me in the Eye was awesome as well, and I was officially hooked on memoirs.

So, I was strolling through Schuler books the other day, and, lo and behold, they are making a new section to house their expanding memoir collection, and I found another great memoir: My Lobotomy by Howard Dully. Talk about heart-wrenching. This book is about a boy who had a totally unnecessary lobotomy when he was TWELVE years old. In his forties he decided to do some research to try to discover why and how this could have happened to him. A great read. And just when I thought my memoir obsession was losing steam, I got another lead in an interesting place.

3. Beautiful People / Simon Doonan: I was flipping through the cable TV guide, and I saw that a show called Beautiful People, produced by BBC2, was about to come on. I love those crazy Brits, especially the funny ones, so I turned it on. Words cannot express the hilarity of this show. It is about a slightly fey (light-in-the-loafers type fellow) window dresser for Barney's New York remembering his childhood as a slightly fey boy growing up in the 90s in dreary old England. And, of course, he has fantastically crazy family and a lovely accent, and I love him.

I watched the credits and learned that the show was based on Simon Doonan's memoir Beautiful People: My Family and Other Glamorous Varmits, so in a matter of moments, I snatched the book up and devoured it in a day and a half. I might be slow on the uptake, but it turns out Simon Doonan is the artistic director for Barney's New York, and he is the fabulous and flamboyant talking head who regularly appears on VH1 programs to say hilarious, snarky things while adorned in a loud, garish outfit. I love him!!!!

And yes, my friends, all of these books are available to borrow! :)