Books I'm Reading 15) Always Looking Up by Michael J Fox
http://www.amazon.com/Always-Looking-Up-Adventures-Incurable/dp/1401303382/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243257791&sr=8-1
It's hot tonight. Stifling hot, so I figured I'd take the opportunity of sitting in my bedroom/sauna to finish off this book. A while back I read Lucky Man and I have to admit a certain level of interest just based on that, but I read it because I'm constantly amazed by how someone who has faced living with Parkinson's for nearly two decades now can still be so optimistic.
I'm not an optimistic person and to read the little stories that Fox tells, well to be honest, they kinda make me want to smack him. The last thing an angry person wants to see is a happy person and despite my lack of degrading neurological illnesses, I'm still kind of an angry person.
But I did like this book. At times it's disjointed. It jumps between different periods in the life of someone who's been in the public eye for, well for quite a long time. I mean hell, my kid may not know the reference to the "Barack to the Future" t-shirt, but I do. The temporal confusion aside, the stories are heartwarming and the lessons numerous. If only I can make myself remember them tomorrow given that it's 3:30 and I'm still a little drunk.
But it's also the story of being able to triumph over adversity not by doing something gargantuan. I mean he is, the foundation he has is doing astounding amounts of work to find a cure for Parkinson's but this book is more a reflection. An appreciation of so many things that we do in our lives and take for granted. It's an appreciation for memories and experiences that bring meaning to life. And in that it's a great book and a great inspiration to take stock of my own life.
One thing I do have to remember though. It's been stuck in my head since I came across it in this book, there's a section where Fox talks about making the decision to leave Spin City. He was at a beach and saw this turtle. For whatever reason, that idea of a "turtle moment" sticks with me. Perhaps in part because it reminds me that sometimes the random does have to have a pull in our lives. That sometimes it pays to be fate's bitch.
It's hot tonight. Stifling hot, so I figured I'd take the opportunity of sitting in my bedroom/sauna to finish off this book. A while back I read Lucky Man and I have to admit a certain level of interest just based on that, but I read it because I'm constantly amazed by how someone who has faced living with Parkinson's for nearly two decades now can still be so optimistic.
I'm not an optimistic person and to read the little stories that Fox tells, well to be honest, they kinda make me want to smack him. The last thing an angry person wants to see is a happy person and despite my lack of degrading neurological illnesses, I'm still kind of an angry person.
But I did like this book. At times it's disjointed. It jumps between different periods in the life of someone who's been in the public eye for, well for quite a long time. I mean hell, my kid may not know the reference to the "Barack to the Future" t-shirt, but I do. The temporal confusion aside, the stories are heartwarming and the lessons numerous. If only I can make myself remember them tomorrow given that it's 3:30 and I'm still a little drunk.
But it's also the story of being able to triumph over adversity not by doing something gargantuan. I mean he is, the foundation he has is doing astounding amounts of work to find a cure for Parkinson's but this book is more a reflection. An appreciation of so many things that we do in our lives and take for granted. It's an appreciation for memories and experiences that bring meaning to life. And in that it's a great book and a great inspiration to take stock of my own life.
One thing I do have to remember though. It's been stuck in my head since I came across it in this book, there's a section where Fox talks about making the decision to leave Spin City. He was at a beach and saw this turtle. For whatever reason, that idea of a "turtle moment" sticks with me. Perhaps in part because it reminds me that sometimes the random does have to have a pull in our lives. That sometimes it pays to be fate's bitch.
posted by rpalmeira at 6:23 AM
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