The First 90 Days by Michael D. Watkins

Full disclosure: I was given this book for free when I started my job so I figured that I’d read it and give it a try. It’s about the first 90 days in a new job or new position and the changes that you should expect and tips for how to deal with them. Honestly, I don’t think it’s helpful at all.

Transitions are important, absolutely, and you want to get up to speed asap, but the ridiculously anal way that the author expects you to go about them I think would create more problems than it would solve. For example, you really shouldn’t irritate your co-workers by filling out a little chart of every conversation and the things that you accomplished. The result is that some things are really overcomplicated, and then others are simplified down to the point of annoyance. He also uses all of these various acronyms and mnemonic devices, but it seems like he made them up and they aren’t actually corporate jargon because I’ve never heard/seen of them outside of this book.

Sure these techniques are probably helpful, and it is good to know what to keep in mind when going to meetings and everything, but take it with a grain of salt please!

Then there’s the general structure. Each chapter is started with a story about some hypothetical person who switched jobs or was promoted and did everything wrong. I think maybe 1 out of the 10 chapters involved someone transitioning well, which is just disheartening. And it nearly always was obvious what they did wrong, which makes me question the purpose of these little anecdotes. If you can figure out what they’re doing wrong right away, then do you even need to read the chapter?

So this book has a nice concept behind it, but not implemented terribly well.

"How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury" by Cressida Cowell

I finally got my hands on the finale to the How to Train Your Dragon book series. (It involved sneaking around the kids section of the library trying not to look out of place when I’m about 3 times the size of the rest of the people in there.)

Disclaimer: not the same as the movie. The books and the movies have taken pretty different paths, even though I think they are going to end up in the same place in the end. To be perfectly honest, I love them both and usually I prefer the books but in this case the movies are so well done that I enjoy all of them. To me they’re essentially separate entities, the differences between them don’t detract from the fact that they’re amazing and have dragons!

In the final book of the series there are plenty of characters who come back, which is nice. Seeing as how the book series is 12 books long, there are several characters who come and go, and it is almost a requirement of children’s series that they all make an appearance towards the end. Which is good if you really like a character that appeared in say, Book 6, but haven’t seen them since.

One thing I will say about this book is that it has less sass than the other installments since this one is focused on the plot. The whole point of this book is how Hiccup deals with the upcoming war between dragons and humans, so it is understandable that humor would take a backseat here. But don’t worry, there’s still sassy moments and funny dialogue, it’s just less present than the other books in the series.

And of course it explains why there aren’t dragons around anymore, which is what the entire series has been leading up to. Which is so much more emotional than I thought it would be, the ending in general is really poetic and well written. It blew me away since I was not expecting something like that from this series. A wonderful, heart-felt conclusion, you can really tell that this whole work was a labor of love from Cowell.

Again, I’d like to publicly apologize for having this series take over my life, it means such a ridiculous amount to me. I’m so sad that it’s over, but there’s still another movie coming out!

"Will in the World" by Stephen Greenblatt

As a Shakespeare enthusiast, I was eager to read this kinda sorta biography of the Bard himself. It is vastly different from any other biography that I have read, in that it takes Willy Shakes’s life and also puts it in context with what he was writing at the time. So you have an explanation of what London was like at the time, and quotes from his plays with some guesswork as to where he got the inspiration for the scene or character. The result is that it is partially fictitious, sure, but it also makes for a new and different angle on the man.

The result of this is that the book ends up discussing much more than just Shakespeare’s life. It also talks about England at the time, and what the political and social conditions were. It is essentially new historicism taken to the next level. New historicism is the idea that we are all a product of our situation, literature and arts included, so to truly understand a work you have to first understand the conditions it was created in. This is most certainly an application of that line of thought.

However, that also means that it involves a lot of guesswork. Many of the points that Greenblatt brings up in his discussion are little more than just guesswork. Shakespeare might have been present at this event, he could have known this person, there is a possibility that… and so on. As such, this is not the best book if you want a just the facts account of Shakespeare’s life.

Having said that, I found it to be a wonderful new and different take on the life of the Bard. Bringing in his plays makes it much more personal, since part of the book is written in Shakespeare’s own voice. And the guesswork seems necessary, since we know so little about his life. Greenblatt clearly did his homework and researched the time period rather heavily, so I am inclined to trust his guesses as being reasonable and possibly accurate. There is so little that we know about this man, any possibilities out there can only lead us closer to one of the most influential authors out there.

Find That Dory!

Being the mature and worldly student that I am, my friend and I went to go see "Finding Dory" on Thursday when it came out. It was a bit like a return to our childhood, since we grew up loving "Finding Nemo" and it was finally getting a deserving sequel (enough with the "Cars" spin offs please).

Needless to say we loved it.

The cuteness started with the Pixar short, which admittedly are always cute. "Piper" is a short about a little baby piper on the beach trying to learn how to eat when waves keep coming. It's adorable. And the animation is incredible, the feathers on the bird look amazing! The music as well was stellar, which is crucial since there is very little talking in shorts.

The movie right off the bat was emotional, paraphrasing Dory's life before the events of "Finding Nemo" as she loses her parents and searches the ocean for them. This is made difficult by the fact that she can't remember what she was looking for. Eventually Dory remembers a little bit of where she comes from in the middle of Mr. Ray's class, and insists on dragging Marlin and an enthusiastic Nemo across the ocean to find her parents.

There are plenty of new and old characters in the film, Crush the sea turtle from "Finding Nemo" makes an appearance, and stick around after the film to get a glimpse of the tank gang from the dentist's and their adventures. Marlin takes a more backseat role this time and mostly functions as the voice of wisdom, but it's nice to see Nemo interact with him a little more during the adventure. The cast of new characters includes an octopus, a nearsighted whale shark, and a beluga that can't use echolocation. All of them are charming and quirky in their own way.

Other elements from the first movie are also used, such as the infamous "just keep swimming" song and the fact that Dory can speak whale. It's charming to see more of Dory's backstory and fun to spot the connections between the movies.

It's a very empowering film for neuro-atypical people, since the gang involves Dory, who has short-term memory loss, as the leading lady and various others with some kind of disability. Of course it all works out adorably in the end, with plenty of giggles along the way.

It was a wonderful movie, and would highly recommend for both kids and adults. I wouldn't say that it was better than the first one, but it certainly does not fall far short of it either.

Orlando

tw: the events of Orlando over the weekend

I’ve been thinking for a while about what the best way to respond to the Orlando shooting would be. And as of now, I don’t have a good answer.

To be honest, I’m really tired and fed up with all of this. I’m tired of hearing about mass shootings like Sandy Hook, San Bernardino, and now Orlando. I’m tired of all the hate circulating because of it. I’m tired of having different groups of people being pit against each other on the basis of race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. And how many innocent people need to die before anyone in our government decides to do anything about it?

But I also know that the only way to fight against this kind of hate is with love. Love for each other, love for the LGBTQA+ community, love for people the media will try to pin this on. Yes there is a time and a place for mourning and anger, but ultimately we must respond to this with love and only love, since to respond with hate would put us on the same level as the sicko who caused this in the first place.

I have no idea what will happen as a result of this tragedy, but I do know that everyone needs to help the victims (by donating blood, etc) and stay determined to not let the media cause them to give up on love and the dream of peace, as remote as it is.

“Autobiography of a Yogi” by Paramahansa Yogananda

Not going to lie, the main reason why I picked up this book was because I know that George Harrison was a fan of it. So there’s that. Beatles obsession aside, I also am into spiritual books and books about spiritual people, so I figured that I would like this.

As the title suggests, it is the autobiography of a yogi, the first one written in English I think. Yogananda was also the first one to come to America and spread teachings here, as well as setting up a community in California that then spread. As you can imagine, he has lived a pretty interesting life, bringing together the Eastern and Western schools of thought.

Most of the book consists of descriptions of various other yogis and people that he has met on his travels, such as other yogis and yoginis (female yogis). There is precious little about his own life, the section on America is pretty short, and when he does discuss it he presents his life as leading to something else. For example, he set up a school for boys in India, he does not really say how just says that it happened when he needs to tell a story of a visitor there. Which is all very humble and everything, but I would have liked more insight into what he did, especially while in America. At one point he does not write anything but takes a passage from his companion’s travel journal!

There are sections when it gets heavy and slightly unbelievable, such as when his guru appears to him in a vision and describes the afterlife. Or the very many descriptions of miracles and visions that he or others have. It gets pretty unbelievable, but I also keep a policy where I will not argue with it until I am also an Indian yogi, these are people who devote their lives to God, so I bet that he pays special attention to them and gives them miracles more often.

In terms of the religions here, literally all of them are present. The Bible is often discussed, as well as Hindu teachings. Buddhism and Islam are also mentioned frequently. Literally no matter what your religious background is, you can find something to relate to here. I found that to be really nice, he takes the teachings from multiple religions and brings them all together in unity.

I will tell you right now that this book is not for everyone, it is pretty religious and a little bit out dated since it was originally published in the 40s. But as someone who is interested in religion, I found it to be a fascinating read, and one that I think was well worth having.

Recognizing the Fact that You are an Asshole

I think that probably the most important realization that I have had in my life is the fact that I am actually an asshole. Everyone goes through life thinking that they’re ok and aren’t actively hurting anyone; most people don’t sit there and contemplate how to ruin someone’s day. But as you carry on you realize all of these subconscious opinions or habits that you have, and while you did not form them with the intention of being hurtful, they still can cause pain in others. This can be sexism, racism, or anything really.

At some point everyone has to realize that this applies to them, there is no way to escape this. Literally everyone in the world has inherent biases, and no one is exempt. Coming to this realization is an important point in your development, because then you can commit to making yourself better. That does not mean that it is going to happen instantly, but even once you begin to set down that path you are already a better, more self-aware, person.

Everyone is going down this path together, so do not feel discouraged, you are not the only one struggling through. The important thing is to learn and grow together, because the truth is that this journey never actually ends, people do not just hit a point where they are perfect, it is a constant struggle to be more aware and more conscious of your thoughts and actions. And that is perfectly ok.