Just A Little Red

Confessions Of A Bookaholic – Diary Of A Mad Diva

Posted on January 4, 2015 by DMW

I’m not sure if there are any Joan Rivers fans that are going to read this blog post, but while I don’t consider myself a fan of hers, this book made me laugh. And laugh. And laugh again. And now my husband is reading it (and while I suggested it, for once I didn’t need to convince him – I just had to let him read the first page). For a laugh-out-loud read – look no further than this book, whether you are a fan or not. (Though if you are easily offended, make sure you know what you’re getting into…) 😛

“Diary Of A Mad Diva” By Joan Rivers (July 1, 2014)

Rating: 4.5 Out of 5 Stars

Anais Nin, Anne Frank, and Sylvia Plath wrote the world’s most famous diaries. And where are they today? Dead. But the world’s other great diarist, Joan Rivers, is alive and kicking. And complaining.

In the extraordinary tradition of “The Habit Of Being: Letters of Flannery O’Connor” and Geroge Orwell’s “Diaries” comes an intimate and enriching glimpse into the mind of the most illuminating woman-of-letters of her generation – the provocative exploration of an age in which she has lived on and on and on.

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Posted in Book Reviews, Books, review, Reviews | Tagged "diary of a mad diva", "joan rivers", "politically incorrect", diary, humor, satire | Leave a comment

A Brand New Year: Reevaluating And Setting Goals – My New Year’s Tradition

Posted on January 1, 2015 by DMW

I don’t celebrate a lot of holidays, but New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are actually the holidays I probably look forward to the most. When it came to family holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter etc. the days themselves could be hard, and I would need to distract myself. Other holidays just didn’t matter or I didn’t celebrate for whatever reason. I raised myself since… well since forever. And I haven’t lived with my parents or had even a superficial “this is my parent” relationship with either of them since I was fifteen. Now I’m thirty… it’s crazy to me that all of that was half a lifetime ago… But I digress. I am always working on myself – trying to be healthy and happy and balanced and the best person that I can be. And New Year’s allows me to reflect and reevaluate (two of my favorite things – I’m weird).

Every year I do a kind of inventory. First I look at my year and how I did with the goals I set for myself, as well as the bigger picture. Like I may have set five small goals that were all about an unofficial larger goal – and I look at both. Then I look at what matters to me the most, the things I need to work on, all of those big abstracts and all of the stepping stone goals that can help me achieve them. But my Type-A, list-loving, Excel using (understatement) self took it to a whole new level two years ago (2013), when I set out to accomplish fifteen things, and tracked it every day for the entire year. One thing I realized that I wasn’t loving was that there didn’t seem to be a balance AND I left a lot of important stuff out.

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Posted in Holidays, Life, Personal | Tagged "New Year's resolution", "personal growth", "personal improvement", 2015, balance, career, Excel, goals, health, list, New Year's, resolutions, spreadsheets | Leave a comment

Dear 2014: It’s Been Real

Posted on December 29, 2014 by DMW

In my last blog post of the year, I can’t help but reflect on 2014. What a year… I’ll be honest, because it’s hard not to be, this year kind of sucked. I mean it wasn’t my worst year of all time (I’m not sure it even ranks) but it has been the worst year in a long time, definitely the worst year since I met my husband (to clarify, my husband is in no reason why this year has been so icky). It wasn’t that the worst things that could happen, happened this year – just that it was two things after two others (because most of this stuff was simultaneous) from January until, well, hopefully the loose ends of 2014 will be resolved within the first few weeks of January.

I don’t look at bad experiences as meaningless or terrible. I view them as tests or opportunities to learn, grow, overcome… etc. But sometimes the sheer volume of stuff at once makes you think they are also somewhat gratuitous.

In January two big things happened: first I was diagnosed with a bone marrow disorder, which is one of those complications you can get years after you have finished an intense chemo regimen (as in my case: 2009-2010) that required blood treatments at our local cancer enter every other week. The treatments weren’t about pumping poison in to me, but about taking substantial amounts of blood out of me, and giving me other things via IV (healthy stuff though) because of everything they were taking out of me. It’s not like giving blood, it’s an entire day thing and leaves me wiped for two to three days after IF I don’t have some kind of reaction or get sick. If I do, then add major aches and minor fever to the next few days. I seriously hate going, but as the year has passed, I find myself needing these treatments less and less. Right now it becomes a thing every six weeks, which is so much better than every other week. In my dreams, I only have to go two to four times a year, but honestly I will take whatever I can get.

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Posted in home, Life, Love, marriage, Personal, Relationships | Tagged "bad year", "bone marrow disorder", "hard year", "home repair", "job search", "life setbacks", dealing, finances, health, loss, medical, money, unemployed | Leave a comment

You’re So Sexy… What, Am I Being Punked?

Posted on December 28, 2014 by DMW

This may embarrass my husband (Roy), but when have I ever shied away from something uncomfortable? All right, don’t answer that. I recently read a blog post that a friend reblogged (and that I hope I successfully reblogged… it’s my first time and it’s not a wordpress blog) about what men really think of their spouses.

See, Roy always tells me that I’m beautiful and sexy, and it has left me thinking one of two things (and sometimes both). 1. What is he smoking? 2. Does he have a vision problem? I mean he isn’t a good liar and he seems completely sincere, so what else is there to think?

You see, I am not pretty. At least I don’t think so. I have scars all over my body from various surgeries or other medical mishaps. I have always been under 110 pounds, but when my kidneys failed I gained over 100 pounds within a few hours time (seriously no joke, it left me hospitalized for almost two weeks as doctors tried to get all of that fluid off, though they only got about 70 pounds off at first) leaving my skin stretched so now my face looks much fuller compared to the rest of my body that has returned to its normal size, and there are folds in my neck that were never there before, and because of my kidneys my gut will always be somewhat distended. If I wear a tight shirt and didn’t try with all my might to suck it in, I would look like a skinny person with a small baby bump, and yet I will never be pregnant. These are the things I hate how I look in the last five years. As far as things I have always hated: my nose and my teeth rank right up there. I have a very Roman nose that I got courtesy of my great-grandmother on my mother’s side – it reminds me of a witch’s hooked note without the warts. Bad genetics are also responsible for terrible teeth. I was born without a few in the back, and have a brittle bone condition that also affects teeth, which means orthodontics would not be such a great idea, even if I had the money to do something… and crooked teeth are never in style.

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Posted in Beauty, Love, Personal, Relationships, Romance | Tagged "body image", "not pretty", appearances, beautiful, fantasy, husband, marriage, perception, sexy | 2 Comments

When Did I Get So Sporty?

Posted on December 27, 2014 by DMW

So, there are many things that I thought I would never do. I thought I would never climb a mountain, and I haven’t. I thought I would never get over my fear of heights, and I haven’t. I thought I would never have my own country, or at least be President of one, and I haven’t… yet. And I also thought I would never have anything to say about sports, but that is one thing that has been proved wrong! (Trust me, no one was more shocked than I was.)

I don’t like sports. In fact, between my prissy girlfriends and my prissy gay friends, I am proud of the fact that I am still the unsportiest person I know. I feel like I earned that status, and it was hard work. But now that title is in jeopardy because a few days ago I realized two things. One: I like to watch tennis. Two: I like to watch hockey. What the hell is going on?! (Sorry, I usually loathe double punctuation but this situation is different.)

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