blue artichoke: Alphabetical Happiness

I can't believe that not a single one of you has a self-help book to recommend to me. Are you ashamed to admit you read self-help books, or do you think I'm so perfect that I need no improvement? Those are your only two options; choose one. Did you choose Blue Artichoke perfection? Thanks, but my bent pinkie fingers and poor memory keep me from achieving perfection, also my tendency toward inattention. Long ago, I ripped Authentic Happiness from audio CD to my computer and today transferred it to my fauxPod so I could listen to it while I worked solo all day. It wasn't until a few hours into the book that I realized it seemed really disjointed. I looked at my fauxPod and discovered that the chapters were reordered alphabetically when transferred! I finished listening to it that way and wondered how many other books could be improved upon by organizing chapters alphabetically instead of numerically or chronologically. I suppose I'll have to actually read the book as it was written to see which version I prefer, so that's another book added to my summer reading list.

Getting to Know All About You: What keeps you from achieving perfection?

Comments

I don't read self-help books, so I can't recommend one. I read a financial planning book, though, which I will sum up here and save you $27.99 (plus applicable taxes): start a retirement fund and have contributions automatically taken out of your account to go into it.

I have two books you could read. One is How to Become a Perfect Person in Just Three Days. Kill two birds with one stone.

The other is Cross-Country for Dummies, though it's as of yet unfinished ;-)

I am held back from perfection due to a variety of things:

Battlescar Galactica -- my scar from heart surgery
Battlescar Sciatica -- my scar from back surgery
Excessive amounts of body hair (eww!)
Living outside the "normal" lifestyle
Not eating that many vegetables

The list could go on and on...

Posted by: Red Momo | May 12, 2007 08:43 AM

I also do not read self-help... though the crazy aunts gave me Dr. Phil's book "Love Smarts" or some such... it is one of those "Your poor pathetic fool that can't get a date" books... Thanks Aunts!

What keeps me from perfection? I guess to summarize... I am my own worst enemy...

:) Got your call... I will email or call a little later... have a guard party I have to go to tonight....

Posted by: Blue Grilled Cheese | May 12, 2007 03:55 PM

Procrastination and a weakness for simple carbohydrates keep me from perfection. I adore self-help books. I have read so many MBTI books that there are entire chapters that I've practically memorized. (Some people think that MBTI is sheer quackery, and I agree to a certain extent. However, MBTI is a good way to deal with difficult people.) MBTI is worth knowing about as long as one accepts its limitations. Do books by Miss Manners and personal finance books count as self-help? I like those, too. Following the tragic events of 5/11/2002, I read the works of Dr. John Gray with a bitter sense of irony and nausea.

Posted by: black cake | May 13, 2007 02:51 PM

MBTI = Myers-Briggs? How does that help you deal with difficult people? Personal finance and Miss Manners books definitely count as self help. Send titles!

Posted by: Blue Artichoke | May 13, 2007 04:54 PM