Good Reads: Never Have Your Dog Stuffed

A few weeks ago a coworker at my "day job" foisted a couple of books on me. She used the old line "You'd really like these," and I ended up with them, obligated to read and, of course, report that I liked them. I love reading; books are my favorite method for escaping my own life (which, despite my own better judgment, I still seem to be trying to do). Yet, I am always wary of books given to me by others. Like the kid at the lunch table who gives away his dessert without bargaining for it, I have to wonder what is wrong with it. It's clearly not your prize treasure because you are willing to risk handing it to me. There's also this freaky thing: I feel like I am peering into your skull when I read what you read.

Hesitations aside, I picked up Never Have Your Dog Stuffed the biography of Alan Alda (M*A*S*H star "Hawkeye") today and have gotten about halfway through. He's funny, quirky, intelligent and I think we share a similar disregard for other peoples' rules. So far it sounds like he'd do just about anything to follow his dream of being an actor. That's something I admire. The biggest difference between us seems to be that, at the age of twenty something, he still had that feeling of invincibility that only toddlers and lunatics seem to be able to muster. He never grew out of it, I suppose, and I doubt I ever had it. This whole "making it on your own as an artist" thing scares the crap out of me!

I am engrossed in figuring out how he managed to stay so insanely confident of success. I have been told before that learning about other artists is helpful to my own success, but it never really occurred to me to REALLY try until I met this HUGE ego of Mr. Alda's in his book. I suppose I'll let you know how the dissection of his words go. In the meantime, I am curious; what keeps the fear monster at bay for you when you want or need to accomplish a daunting task? I'd love to hear how other people operate.

Nee-ner-nee-ner!