Yes Please? Yes, Please.

I am not very funny in person (maybe not even in writing) because I'm not quick witted and I easily succumb to "the pressure"; Take that however you will. 

I'm shy and quiet, but not too quiet...like an awkward interjection of weird comments and then genuine laughing at my own comments and then eerie quiet. I emotionally flood(?) very quickly. I will think of a clever (or just really mean) comeback a week after a conversation. 

I do, however, love to laugh. I try and surround myself with the funniest and most entertaining people in the room so that I can smile and laugh until my face and gut hurt.* I have the funniest friends on the planet.

 

*That's not actually entirely true. In groups of strangers, somehow I find the saddest, most talkative people who will immediately accept me and let me console them. As I pretend to listen to them talk, I watch the funny people and laugh from outside the circle. <insert pathetic emoji here>

A fantastic book I just finished reading was Amy Poehler's Yes Please. It makes sense that I loved this book because it was similar to (but also different than) her good friend Tina Fey's Bossy Pants. In fact if I were asked the question "If you could have lunch with anyone famous, who would it be?" I would choose Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and if she would join us, Ellen Degeneres. 
What an amazingly funny group of smart women. They could be my life coaches.

And that is what this book did: It made me want to be an amazing woman.

Sure, Amy is funny, creative, and you can see the result of years of experience in the writing. There are plentiful LOLs to be had while reading, but there were also several chapters that I ended with tears in my eyes.

Any woman could relate to some of her experiences and at the end of the book, you're left to think about how impressed you are with her and how you want to be stronger and wiser. (and how you wish you were friends with Amy)

Aside from entertaining stories from the entertainment industry, some of my favorite chapters were:

 plain girl vs. demon

This chapter cleverly explains the story of how a demon shows up in every girl's room one day. The age of the girl varies, but the demon's arrival is inevitable. The demon is the bad voice that points out all of your flaws. She says you're too fat, or too ugly, too tall or too short.

"if you are lucky, you can live a life where the demon is generally forgotten, relegated to a back shelf in a closet next to your old field hockey equipment. You may even have days or years when you think the demon is gone. But it is not. It is sitting very quietly, waiting for you. This motherfucker is patient."

Moral of the story, love yourself. Even though the demon never goes away, you can talk back to it and tell her she's wrong.


sorry, sorry, sorry

A lovely chapter about learning when to apologize. Many women, including me, apologize way too much for things we don't need to be sorry about. And then, there are those times, when you really should put your neck out there with a sincere, heartfelt apology because after all the anger subsides, you know you were wrong.

Reasons we cry in an airplane

Just a random list among the chapters, but very funny.


partner in crime

A chapter dedicated to Tina Fey. I want to write all of my friends chapters in my fake book. I miss writing in yearbooks. That's when my skills peaked.


i'm so proud of you

A funny story about someone dismissing Amy's feelings to cover their mistakes.

"This is the part where you apologize to me," I said, getting angry. "You guys screwed up and this is where you make me feel better about it."

...and more advice from her therapy sessions. I will use some of this advice at work.

This chapter also talks about crying. As one who cries for anything (emotionally floods easily), I wish I didn't. I hate that is my go to reaction for almost everything.
That's why I have to act too cool for school more often than I'd like.

time travel

"The only thing we can depend on in life is that everything changes...Change is the only constant. Your ability to navigate and tolerate change and its painful uncomfortableness directly correlates to your happiness and general well-being."

Amen.
I love to time travel.

my boys

A chapter dedicated to her sons and the orphans in Haiti.
I know...but it's great. I heart it so much!





I don't get to read much, but I'm so glad V bought this for me. It was just a random present he thought I'd like from a Target run. I knew it would probably be good, but I was sad when it was over.
I need to watch the rest of Parks and Recreation and practice ways to be a stronger, kinder, wiser woman.
Like most strong, kind, wise women who inspire me, she worked beyond hard to get where she is today.

Stars. They really are just like us!