Comments on: Positive Positions Perhaps http://benpollock.com/brick/2010/01/06/positive-positions-perhaps/ Muse on News by Ben S. Pollock Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:27:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Bruce Oakley http://benpollock.com/brick/2010/01/06/positive-positions-perhaps/comment-page-1/#comment-20540 Bruce Oakley Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:53:18 +0000 http://benpollock.com/brick/?p=1741#comment-20540 Ehrenreich made the talk show circuit a couple of months back to discuss her book. Unfortunately, like many reasonable ideas in sound-bite land, when stripped of nuance and bulk, if you didn't listen with full attention, you heard "I wanted to be grumpy and people wouldn't let me." We have similar difficulty addressing many big ideas, such as when people who've faced it all their lives talk about racist or sexist undercurrents. Many people then think that means they're "playing the victim card." Of course, she wasn't saying anything so simple as "no one let me be grumpy," but rather that fairy-tale notions of life impair us. I expect the book offers many gripping examples of how vibrant life can be when seen without the dimming effect of rose-colored lenses. Reminder to self: More books, less television (and when television is about books, seek source). Happy new year. Ehrenreich made the talk show circuit a couple of months back to discuss her book. Unfortunately, like many reasonable ideas in sound-bite land, when stripped of nuance and bulk, if you didn’t listen with full attention, you heard “I wanted to be grumpy and people wouldn’t let me.”

We have similar difficulty addressing many big ideas, such as when people who’ve faced it all their lives talk about racist or sexist undercurrents. Many people then think that means they’re “playing the victim card.”

Of course, she wasn’t saying anything so simple as “no one let me be grumpy,” but rather that fairy-tale notions of life impair us. I expect the book offers many gripping examples of how vibrant life can be when seen without the dimming effect of rose-colored lenses.

Reminder to self: More books, less television (and when television is about books, seek source).

Happy new year.

]]> By: Ben http://benpollock.com/brick/2010/01/06/positive-positions-perhaps/comment-page-1/#comment-20539 Ben Thu, 07 Jan 2010 05:59:27 +0000 http://benpollock.com/brick/?p=1741#comment-20539 A comment from Lana Flowers via Facebook: "I love Stephen King. The man can write, even after he ditched the Bolivian marching powder, booze and Richard Bachman. I am compelled to read Under the Dome. Oooh. Trap a bunch of people under a clear dome so they cannot get in or out, and neither can goods or food. When resources get thin, see what characteristics emerge. Hell yeah." A comment from Lana Flowers via Facebook: “I love Stephen King. The man can write, even after he ditched the Bolivian marching powder, booze and Richard Bachman. I am compelled to read Under the Dome. Oooh. Trap a bunch of people under a clear dome so they cannot get in or out, and neither can goods or food. When resources get thin, see what characteristics emerge. Hell yeah.”

]]> By: Ben http://benpollock.com/brick/2010/01/06/positive-positions-perhaps/comment-page-1/#comment-20538 Ben Thu, 07 Jan 2010 02:35:13 +0000 http://benpollock.com/brick/?p=1741#comment-20538 A comment from Dwain Cromwell via Facebook: "I found 'Duma Key' compelling." A comment from Dwain Cromwell via Facebook: “I found ‘Duma Key’ compelling.”

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