Unasked-For Book Reviews

 This is an amazing interview. It's a long read, but well worth it. I love reading and hearing about creatives' process, but also the story of how people got where they got in life.  As with many people, Ms DuVernay's journey is not a straight line. It's a circuitous path, but with clear intention. The thing about successful people (who have integrity) that is a constant, and Ms DuVernay's no exception, is not allowing fear to prevent them from opportunities, learning all they can about areas of interest, treating all experiences as learning opportunities, a willingness to collaborate, and understanding that opportunity, though it can be offered and fall into your lap, usually does not. You have to be the agent of your own opportunities. Another constant is a willingness to give back to others and pay it forward; offering other opportunities to others. Kat Williams (though incredibly funny, also very logical and analytical) describes that as a formula of the univers...

  My latest read is Redshirts , a Novel, by John Scalzi. I really enjoyed this book a lot.  For those who are not fans of Star Trek, and who have no knowledge of the ongoing joke about crew members who wear red shirts, let me break it down for you with an anecdote. So, in the early aught's I was in my early/mid 20's and was living with my parental units.  My dad had the entire series of the original, classic Star Trek on DVD. Now, I had watched classic Star Trek randomly when it was on TV, or when my parents were watching it; as my dad is a Trek fan. However, I had never sat down and watched every episode of the original series, certainly not sequentially. So, I decided that I was going to watch all of the original series during my free time. I've always been a fan of the Trek, but at the time, was more familiar with The Next Generation crew. There are several take-a-ways from watching the original series: 1. The stories are quite good. Good in the sense that they are lik...