Smiling Through Tears

You know those movies that make you laugh and cry at the same time? I just finished watching one of those. It's a documentary called Young@Heart, about a group of seniors in a choir in Massachusetts that sing songs by groups like Sonic Youth and Coldplay and The Rolling Stones and James Brown. Kevin of The Kevin And Bean Show recommended this to me. It's not a vampire movie or a movie about a fat guy doing funny stuff, and still he recommended it. I figured it had to pretty damned good for him to do that, and it was. This choir sings for a group of prisoners and the looks on the faces of some of the inmates are really moving. It kinda breaks your heart. But watching these people in their 70's, 80's and even 90's is completely inspiring. I hope we're all as cool as they are when we get to be their age. 

My First Book Report of The New Year

I just finished a book and I can't stop talking about it. No one wants to listen to me anymore, so my only outlet is this blog. Yup, you're my new victim.

The book is Outliers by Malcom Gladwell. He did a ton of press over the holidays, so you might have heard him. He wrote The Tipping Point and Blink; two books I've heard about but never read. I may give them a whirl now, though.

Outliers is about the widely accepted notion that if you live in America and you're smart and work hard, you too can be an astounding success. Basically Gladwell says that's BS. What a relief, right? He doesn't discount the benefits of working hard and being smart or talented, but his theory is that there's a whole lot more that goes into it -  things that are beyond our control - like when and where we were born, our ethnic backround, the kinds of things we were exposed to at a young age, they way our parents treated us. He dissects the elements that went into Bill Gates success, and shows why he was uniquely poised to do what he did. He explains, based on when they were born, why some hockey players go on to be pros and others don't. He has  theory about why certain countries have more plane crashes than others, and it's fascinating.

Gladwell doesn't write like a scholar. He writes so he can be understood, which I, for one, really appreciate. Since I read The Outliers I've found myself looking at all sorts of things differently, even the path my own life has taken. I call that some good readin'.