Katy Pine

Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses

gwen — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 08:00:00 +0000

I’ve always wondered what prompts people to write memoirs. It’s one thing to be a celebrity riding the wave of success, but quite another to be a regular Jane baring it all for the judgment of strangers. As a critic for publications as prestigious as The New York Times, Claire Dederer is no stranger to criticism; nor does she seem to fear it. In her first book, Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses, she bravely opens the cloak of privacy to reveal herself to the world. I suppose she is a writer who was ready to tell her own story for once, as opposed to reviewing those of others. Full of sincerity and love, this book is a cleverly written homage to her family, her friends, her marriage, and of course, her yoga.

Those of you turned off by “yoga” in the title should reconsider, as this is nothing like the New Age self-indulgence that has given the ancient tradition a bad reputation. Instead, Dederer loosely ties her yoga practice to the peaks and valleys of her life. In each chapter she recalls anecdotes and tells them in the context of a different yoga pose. This structural device offers comic relief and surprising tangents like this: “Back in college, we used to have a silly rubric: Never have sex with anyone who doesn’t like Van Morrison…based on the fact that [he] is embarrassing, and sex is embarrassing.” Then onto the next paragraph: “And Lion was embarrassing. It made you feel like Van Morrison, all uncontrollable noises and strange eruptions.” These are also moments for the reader to self-reflect, and this is where her writing is most profound and relatable.

Apart from being an extremely talented writer, she is a poster child for the ultimate alternative generation. In typical Northwest grunge fashion, Dederer is admirably cool without trying. Her book is packed with dry wit, self-deprecation, and cultural references that I only understand because of my older, Gen-X sister. After enough time self-reflecting in Seattle, a city known for its constant self-perfecting, Dederer and her husband move to the mountains of Boulder. This is when she dives into the implications of her childhood, the fine line between selfishness and personal happiness, and the pros and cons of moving back home.

These universal and common issues make for a fascinating memoir that only a serious writer could pull off successfully. From beginning to end, this book carries the mantra that life can be as bizarre as putting your feet behind your head, and also as rewarding. Paraphrasing Patanjali in one of his Yoga Sutras: Yoga becomes firmly grounded when it is practiced for a long time, without a break, and with sincere devotion. I’d say that’s true of most good things in life, and why Dederer would choose yoga as the unifying theme for a book as dear to her heart as this. At one point she reflects, “What happens when a generation of children grows up with all these comings and goings; when a generation of children grows up with parents who want to be free, and who think that freedom is movement?” Well, Claire Dederer has personally shown us just exactly what happens, and why she chose to dig her heels in and never give up on her practice.

We sometimes duplicate a review. Click here for another writer's take on _Poser.

Written by: Katy Pine, February 23rd 2011

Self-Defense for Radicals: A to Z Guide for Subversive Struggle

admin — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:02:00 +0000

By Mickey Z.

PM Press

While it’s true that most conflict can and should be resolved with nonviolence, even peace-loving radicals like Mickey Z., the author of this alphabetical guide to self-defense, acknowledge that an absolute aversion to violence is nearly impossible in our war-loving (yet God-fearing) society that seems to tolerate blood-n-guts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

In a country where a woman is raped every forty-six seconds, peaceful resolution can quickly become a warm fuzzy afterthought. The reality is that standing up for something usually requires standing up against something. That something may be a repressive and stubborn government, or it may be a big, scary and armed figure looming in the dark. Either way, knowing how to use your body in emergencies is as important as knowing how to argue for your beliefs in the face of adversity.

Mickey does not discourage standing firm in pacifism, but advocates that we all (especially women, who are statistically at a greater risk of physical attack) prepare for the worst. You may choose not to live in fear of fire, but this doesn't mean you forgo the fire alarm. In this vein, Mickey has armed us with a manual of self-defense techniques cleverly written with the help of motivating anecdotes and quirky cartoons by fellow radical, Richard Cole. Whether it is mustering every bit of might in our bodies to scream and run, or delivering a precise finger jab to the eyes followed by a hard kick to the balls, Mickey supplies us with a handy bag of tricks to use under pressure. The guy knows what he's talking about—with a personal history of martial arts, kickboxing and personal training—he values equally the power of body with the power of mind.

Sprinkled with quotes from Bruce Lee, Emma Goldman, Malcolm X, and others, Mickey Z.'s Self-Defense for Radicals makes for a quick and entertaining read for anyone conscious of the potential danger we face. Pass it on to your mother, sister, daughter, and anyone else whose safety you worry about. It is an empowering statement dovetailing the greater feminist movement, however personally defined. Mickey states that, "many physical attacks are essentially oppressive gestures spawned by a perceived ability to exploit a weaker (sic) gender. Any struggle to eradicate such gestures is by definition self-defense."

Essentially, we can conceive fighting back as feminism in action. Whether you are a practiced veteran of the martial arts, or a ruthless bar brawler, the fight remains the same and there is only one winner. To dive into the essence of this provocative parallel, start with the section "I" for individuality. Then learn and practice tactics like the left hook, the elbow jab, and scan your surroundings to make sure you have access to such multifaceted weapons as a broom, scarf, pocket change, or a hot drink. And remember, “You are the weapon. Everything else is a tool.”

Written by: Katy Pine, January 31st 2010

Bluebird: Women and the New Psychology of Happiness

admin — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:00:00 +0000

By Ariel Gore

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

This short but meaningful book is a smart combination of self-help, memoir, and academic study. Gore does not surmise a remedy for the blues, she does not use her life as an anecdote to overcome defeat or as a guiding light toward beatitude, nor does she use statistics and theory to expose her education. Instead, Bluebird: Women and the New Psychology of Happiness is a collection of wise womanhood, the crannies of optimism that are too often ignored.

With eloquent emotional pacing, Gore forms a convincing argument that happiness, particularly among women, has been historically understudied and oversimplified in her academic field. She asks, “How is it that psychology— once envisioned as a great healing art—has gotten to this place where our neuroses are considered so much more valid than our resiliences?” Gore bravely takes on the secret of joy by combining her personal memoirs with history, science, and first person accounts of real women experiencing real happiness. Her words have the contagious effect of positivism without the obnoxious, evangelistic ethos found so often in the self-help aisle. As Gore says herself, “I don't like to think I'm uncomfortable around cheerful people, but there's something of a missionary vibe here that seems odd…”

Perhaps there are so many of these self-help books because their authors know it's not just the ideas, but the time spent thinking about and interpreting those ideas that can actually improve lives. Just like thinking about food can make you hungrier, thinking about happiness can make you happier. If an author can induce self-reflection, they have done their part. Certainly Gore has, as she encourages us individually to use our hearts and minds to actualize a new psychology of happiness.

Using what she calls a "liberation psychology forum," hundreds of women give verbal and written feedback on issues raised by Gore. Combined, these issues allude to the macro question left open throughout the pages: whether we, at this moment, are living our lives. If our answer is no, this book proposes joy as the powerful tool that can give us “the courage to make the universe we dream.”

What Gore does is play hostess at a dinner party with a dozen fascinating women. She introduces us, and in brief encounters we are told stories of happiness, unhappiness, success and defeat. Before you know it the party is over. You drive yourself home without turning on the radio, just thinking, and you lie awake at night because you feel joy—you feel alive.

Written by: Katy Pine, January 19th 2010

Working Virtue: Virtue Ethics and Contemporary Moral Problems

admin — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 09:00:00 +0000

Edited by Rebecca L. Walker, Philip J. Ivanhoe

Oxford University Press

Working Virtue: Virtue Ethics and Contemporary Moral Problems is a book outlining how virtues can be included in modern ethical analysis. There are multiple ways to apply virtue ethics, or, as the authors like to say, to put virtue ethics "to work." Illustrating the variations are thirteen different authors giving detailed accounts of virtue ethics at work inside schools, hospitals, courtrooms and boardrooms. The chapters test the theory as it relates to war, race, affluence, and the environment. Also important to note is the delineation they make between ethics for personal use and ethics for professionals working in specific fields.

Readers can digest the book in parts or as a whole. The former is ideal for a person interested in methodological instruction, say a doctor looking to include ethical reasoning in their daily encounters with patients. In fact there are several chapters that would prove enlightening if not instructional in the daily routines of heath caregivers. On the other hand, a person will benefit from the book as a whole if they are interested in the revival of virtue ethics as a growing body of theory. For someone with this kind of academic pursuit, Working Virtue offers a thorough and diverse overview of contemporary issues and their need to be understood from an ethical perspective. Nevertheless, this book is of relevant interest to anyone seeking a broader perspective on the universal plight of moral wrangling.

As a philosophical subset, morality is predominantly rooted in three theories. Virtue ethics is one, along with deontology (emphasis on duty and rules) and consequentialism (emphasis on utilitarianism). Generally speaking, the focus of virtue theory is on the human character: if you live with a consistent disposition to behave appropriately, and if your actions reflect this disposition, then you are generally living a good and moral life. The variety of this book's interdisciplinary approach does much to illustrate the difficulty in compartmentalizing these theories from one another, especially when trying to isolate their worldly applications.

Its utility is evident after the thirty-page introduction, in which the editors offer thoughtful analysis of each of the chapters within. They also spend time to qualify and explain the theory's major conflicts and historical predication. While it is unlikely that every topic will resonate to every reader, it is of great importance to see how each falls technically within virtue ethics. From the many authors that make up Working Virtue comes a wealth of knowledge that can help a generation of professional people who seek to be informed by ethical theory and guided by ethical principle.

Written by: Katy Pine, January 1st 2010

It Was Great, But I Was Ready To Come Home

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:01:00 +0000

Directed by Kris Swanberg

The mythical tropical vacation: surfing, tequila, half-naked beauties, sunsets, dancing, delicious food, and life-changing vistas. It Was Great, But I Was Ready To Come Home strips the glorified ideal of self-discovery down to its reality: bugs, dodgy tacos, heat, dodgy people, heat, dodgy beds, and heat.

I watched this film with a half dozen expatriate women living in Mexico City. All of us are travelers; we've backpacked and we have our own stories that could fill up the big screen. So why would this movie be worth watching? Why not just sit around and tell stories about events that actually happened? Because we're not filmmakers. We're not storytellers. And in her first feature film, Kris Swanberg proves she is.

It Was Great, But I Was Ready To Come Home is about a young city girl who goes on a proverbial Costa Rica trip with her best friend. They embark in their rental car with maps, big backpacks, rudimentary Spanish, and some farcical American mores. The dramatic scenery changes from one village to the next, but the plot stays simple: a girl has her heart broken by her boyfriend and goes to paradise with her long-time friend to conquer her demons. Unfortunately, heartbreak is not simple, and tequila does not drive away demons.

Dialogue between the girls reveals two very different perspectives on relationships. The endearing Annie (played by Swanberg herself) has a woe-is-me point of view of someone going through the first big breakup. Her friend, Cam (played by Jade Healy) is more jaded and cynical—someone who has already started closing the door on romantic emotions, and simultaneously, on the pitiful Annie.

This movie is surprisingly good, and extremely indie. It exists somewhere between truth and fiction, scripts and improv, a movie and the looking glass. It is relatable, as there are moments where you want to stand up and say, "Yes! Thank you! It is annoying when your friend is more charming and sexy and happy than you are." Swanberg and her small crew capture subtle and honest moments with characters that are far from glamorous, and as likable as they are unlikable.

Near the end of their trip, Annie walks alone through the village streets to find water for the pitiful Cam. (Ah, how the tables can turn!) There is not much to say about the scene other than that it is perfect. If you have ever been to a place where you don’t look right, speak right, or feel right, you will empathize with our doe-eyed Annie.

We expats laughed a lot, yelled at the screen, and the recently brokenhearted among us even cried. This movie is not about two bubbly friends who travel to an eco-tourist destination, but quite tritely, it's about the universal journey we all share.

Written by: Katy Pine, December 2nd 2009

Road Trip USA: Cross-Country Adventures on America's Two-Lane Highways

admin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:18:00 +0000

By Jamie Jensen

Avalon Travel

The fifth edition of Road Trip USA comes at an opportune time. Gas per gallon is down more than a dollar from last year, and in looking at a line graph projecting the U.S. unemployment rate, if it doesn’t trigger a desire to go on an uphill hike in the Colorado mountains, it exposes that there are plenty of people out there with newly found time on their hands. Time, I say, for a road trip.

What Jamie Jensen does with his colored photographs and charming details is provoke us to stop considering transit as a means to an end. What a concept! Go to an airport and try telling that to someone who is delayed, paying $13 for a tuna sandwich, or trying to sleep curled up in a chair. Leisure travel, as Jack Kerouac knew it, has long been replaced with super-fast and super-boring travel. But as Jensen’s book illustrates, a paper trail remains, and that trail is the two-lane blacktop, the highway, the old way.

If you are contemplating this book it’s likely you are also contemplating a trip of some kind. Unfortunately, time and budget tend to be inversely related (as the aforementioned unemployed can attest). But whatever your distance, Road Trip USA is a helpful tool for every adventurer. The book features eleven routes traversing North-South or East-West, with cross-references, 125 maps, a helpful index, essential tips for food and lodging, and entertaining write-ups on local gossip, lore, and legend. It’s perfect if you are traveling from your armchair too; just consider it a quirky history book.

I tested the book by reading about areas I’ve lived in or traveled through frequently. To my surprise, Jensen highlighted many of the local favorites in addition to must-see novelty. In fact ,I learned about places I had never heard of before. This proved to me that this guy is not only a good writer, but a good talker too. How else would he know about Chope’s in La Mesa, New Mexico?

Road Trip USA hunts down unobtrusive treasures from the past that are often overshadowed by what is bright, clean, and predictable. After reading this book you will never eat fast food again without wondering what you might be missing just down the street. Jensen shows that with a little creativity and an open mind, monotonous transport can easily become a memorable journey.

Written by: Katy Pine, September 18th 2009

Tapologo

admin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:34:00 +0000

Directed by Gabriella Gutierrez Dewar, Sally Gutierrez Dewar

Tapologo is a full-length documentary shot in Northwest Province, South Africa. Directors Gabriella and Sally Gutierrez Dewar chronicle a handful of the 20,000 displaced African refugees in a squatter camp called Freedom Park. Here we are exposed to life and death in a place where fifty percent of the women are infected with HIV.

The film is divided into two parts. Part one opens inside the shack of an emaciated woman receiving care from two local nurses. The woman is dying from Tuberculosis, and for a moment she glances directly into the camera lens with brown eyes that appear to have lost all innocence and hope. As we get to know other patients and nurses who inhabit the park, we see that most of the women have slept with men for money, many have contracted HIV, yet only some are receiving anti-retroviral treatment. All of them are either dying or fighting to survive. Personal accounts from the women are interlaced with stunning visual images that are both emotional and relevant, and the intensity never lets up.

The second part begins with desolate music by Joel Assaizky and shots of people walking across train tracks, sitting on sides of roads, just standing around watching each other. This time is spent contextualizing the squalor of Freedom Park in the apartheid aftermath. In a place where the alternative to starvation is sexual exploitation, it’s impossible to ignore the political history.

Then we learn about Tapologo, a collective of female caregivers who self-organize and treat the hopelessness of their immediate surroundings. Before this network existed, individuals were left alone with their chronic diseases as poverty and pain devoured them. Now these strong women, many of them diagnosed with HIV themselves, have begun to administer anti-retroviral treatment and provide bedside and hospice care. As a result, a community has begun to form, and with the help of Brother Joe, Sister Georgina, and bishop Kevin Dowling (Catholic community leaders and activists who share relatively progressive ideology), Tapologo has begun to break Freedom Park's cycle of poverty, patriarchy and an overall loss of dignity.

One scene in particular illustrates the spirit of this film. A nurse named Thimbi (a former sex-worker and HIV victim) pays a visit to the shack of a helpless woman and her infant. She says confidently, "Filth can make the illness worse," and begins to wash dishes and floors on her hands and knees. For Thimbi and others, volunteering with Tapologo gave them a chance to believe in themselves, to find beauty within, and to be proud of life's small victories. This moment, and this film, is a great reminder to step out of our daily comforts and confront real issues facing real women.

Written by: Katy Pine, June 25th 2009

Fidel's Last Days

admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:50:00 +0000

By Roland Merullo

Shaye Areheart Books

Fidel’s Last Days is a novel about a fictional conspiracy to kill Fidel Castro by applying a poisonous topical cream to his hairline. Supposedly the CIA has attempted to assassinate Castro 638 times, but Roland Merullo leads you to believe that maybe this time, with the cream, the secret society, and the beautiful woman, it will work. It has to.

The story moves effortlessly between Carolina Anzar Perez in Miami and Carlos Arroyo Gutierrez in Havana. Carolina is our likeable protagonist. She is powerful, wealthy, independent, and a trained agent of deceit: “At five foot five and 121 pounds, she could incapacitate a man twice her weight with one kick.” But hold onto your envy, because with that independence comes a concomitant void. Beyond her powerful uncle she has no family, no kids, and no peaceful daily existence. But we can tell Caroline won’t give up her espionage for the life of a “domestic would-be saint.” She’ll never back down, she’ll never fail—she is far too good at succeeding.

Carlos is Cuba’s Minister of Health, and in his opinion the country is sick, its strength ready to give way. He is our portal to Castro’s inner circle, where we see that fear, like a vicious school schoolgirl rumor, has infected contemporary Cuba. The torture, the corruption, the death—it’s real. People tell themselves it’s not so they can walk alone after dark to get milk for tomorrow, but Merullo reminds us that it’s real, and that a land governed by fear is a playground for evil.

When given the chance, Carlos risks his life and his loved ones to fight for his ideals. But he is untrained, paranoid, and disillusioned. So we turn the pages, wondering if he can survive under the weight of his task. Meanwhile, Carolina finds herself in the midst of her own inner turmoil, “being tugged gently back again, not all the way back, but closer, into her Cubanness, one high-heeled foot feeling around tentatively in the old world.” Eventually we don’t know who to trust, or just how much is at stake.

Fidel’s Last Days is clever and sneaky, with provocative characters and a transparent look at Cuba’s messy political calculus. Besides that it is thoroughly entertaining and at times even educational.

Written by: Katy Pine, April 17th 2009