Another Reason to Hate My Life
594906
I was fifteen years old in July of 1970 when I bought a ticket to see Jimi Hendrix (and Jethro Tull, Ten Wheel Drive and others I don't remember.) at Randall's Island, a soccer stadium in the shadow of the Triboro Bridge in New York.

I hadn't seen him before and was as anyone would imagine, thoroughly pschyed.

But can you dig this? I had a 2AM curfew and Jimi did not show until, I was told, 4AM. I had to go home! A few weeks later he was dead. Dead! I still can't believe it.

Now this album comes along with the same band (Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell)that played Randalls, a similar song set, and it is just unbelievably great.

I suppose I should be happy to have it, but as good as it is (A brilliant version of Foxy Lady, much better than any other in my collection; A "Machine Gun" that makes the Band of Gypsies sound like the stoned-out poseurs they certainly were, and on and on.) it cannot help but remind me of what I missed and how much I miss Jimi.

But don't let my misery dissuade you from enjoying this wonderful perfomance by the greatest guitarist ever (To paraphrase the British writer Martin Amis, there are certainly other rock guitarists with greater technical skills, but none has ever played so brilliantly with so seemingly little effort.) buy it, you'll love it!
291019
Theres a lot the anecdotal information regarding lifes complexities. I cant bring myself to finish it. Sometimes things in life cant be changed by simply thinking more positively. Really bad things happen. Its important to ride the emotions and then reflect. I dunno. Lots of simplistic advice. I wasn't expecting that much based off the title.
3859849
I gave one start only because I had to give a start to start a review. This was the absolute worst thing I had ever had to suffer through reading. I had to read because my kid wanted to read them and I have to review that crap. They need to be set on fire and then the ashes set on fire again. I feel less intelligent for having read this. I wish I had borrowed it from the library so as not to have given any additional money to this author
4568835
I could write pages and pages of how much I hate this book right now, but I've run out of motivation to even complain anymore....

I like the book for its information about the tools that are useful for making stuffed animals, what they are used for, and why they are nifty to have around. I learned a few new things from the first section of the book.

I really hate and loathe the first project, the Fish, because I cannot figure out how to attach the head properly onto the body. I have made three of these fish in three days, and I have tried multiple ways to attach the head, and it always turns out... messed up looking. I want to throw this book into the snow and leave it there to rot, but I won't because I feel like I can still learn from the book, and it was a Christmas gift so that would be rude to the person who bought me it....

I had problems with the first two fish until another review alerted me to the fact that the head pattern piece is printed with 1/4 inch seam allowance and the other pieces are not. This was obviously a mistake on the author's part, as she states in her book that every pattern piece is printed the correct size (minus the Dinosaur) and that we would need to add the seam allowance. The third fish I cut out the head pieces without adding any seam allowance, which makes the head look like it would fit on the body, but I still can't figure out how to attach the head to the body without the head being too small, looking weird, or showing the seam.

Unfortunately, the (vague) instructions and photos do not offer me much assistance in this dilemma, as there are no close-up photos of the sewing process or anything - just "this is what it will look like when you finish" photos for certain steps. It shows the head attached but not *how* to attach it properly. After six different attempts at attaching the head to the body in different ways (even cutting out the head a different shape for one attempt), I still can't get the head to look correct when attached to the body....

At this point in time, I'm giving up on the Fish. I don't know if it's me or the book. I've made several other stuffed animals successfully in the past and have never had as much trouble as I am with this Fish.

EDIT: I finally found a video review of this book that discussed problems with attaching the head to the body as well, which led me to looking up something called "easing", which is apparently how you attach the head to the body successfully. This Youtube video showed me how to "ease" two pieces of fabric together:[...]

I've finally successfully attached the head onto the body. I never knew about this "easing" thing! It's a bit wonky looking still, but it's successful regardless. Phew! And thank you to the author for commenting on my review and offering help. I will definitely be e-mailing you if I have any problems in the future. Thank you! :)
4781936
I hate reading and I read this whole thing, that should give you some pretty good insight in my opinion.
2557637
Heart breaking...the things this poor girl went through! At the hands of her own father!!.another reminder that my life isn't all that bad.
2101475
I've been looking at this book to read for the past year or so and each time I went to buy it something kept holding me back.  So when I finally found it at my local library, I took the chance on getting it knowing that I wouldn't be out anything if it was horribly bad.  And horribly bad it was.  Both Andrew and Miranda drove me up a wall.  Each was whiney and selfish and their constant lack of consideration for other people was enough to make me want to scream.  Andy ends up abandoning her whole life and throughout the book complains that she doesn't have a life.  If you hate your job that much then please just quit and get it over with.  Miranda, on the other hand, seems to find herself so high and mighty that she hires personal "slaves" to take care of her every whim.  The whole story line tends to grow very old, very quickly.

Furthmore, the people of the magazine industry should take a look at this book and see just how shallow they are.  If I ever had to work with people who felt that if I didn't dress a certain way, with certain brand then I should be fired, I would gladly see my way out.  Additionally, this book illustrates just why anorexia and bullimia are so popular among the younger generation of America.  If these are the younger generations role models, our country has a lot to work on.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, not even for a beach read.  The only reason I gave it a two was because I liked the cover and thought Andrea's boyfriend sounded cute.
3695129
the author reminds us that life is never what we would like it to be, but rather a mix of good and bad, ups and downs. no matter how hard we try we rarely have any control of life's outcomes.

billy_white2000@yahoo

Bill White

billy_white2000@yahoo
3896033
Rambling. . . I read this excessively long story waiting for "something".  I feel sorry for myself.
3250700
Uhhhh they made me get this for my anger management groups. I dunno man. It's alright I guess. Doesn't help me, and they cover themselves by saying like "it won't work if you don't do it right" and all that. As an engineer I kind of dislike sociology / psychology to begin with though, so I'm biased. I guess if you're one of those neurotic people who doesn't really have anger issues but needs stuff like this to feel better, then it would help you. If you actually hate the world, it'll probably just make you feel stupid, like "am I really having to sit here and read this" kind of thing, perhaps sometimes wanting to throw it out the window.
3335609
I remember you telling me you hate your life, and it seems that things have changed since then.
3431523
The reason why every page of this book made me so angry is because it reflects a reality for the same things that I have for too long been chastised for daring to mention. The author should be nominated for a Pulitizer. To say the least.
28302
I hate this book...I disliked My Name is Lucy Barton and was foolish enough to think that this might be better....but it's just a continuation of loneliness, sadness, hopelessness, regret,not to mention Boring dialogue ....one big bummer Part 2.... I cannot continue to read this and will be requesting a refund.
4283491
Living with the regret of believing this book was going to be one to read. I read an interview Bailey had with David Sedaris and purchased this book to read on the plane. I was looking for honesty from this memoir but this reads like a hateful rant. If you enjoy an author mentioning his brothers acne in every chapter, this one is for you. I never connected with Bailey as the author and felt, when I finished, that he owed me ten dollars and three hours of my life back.
1484485
blood. offense. more blood. Pregnant women being terrorized. still more blood. A scathing attack on Welfare. Gallons, rivers, oceans of blood.
Something horrible having to do with coat hangers.
Blood again.
The above was not so much an account of things found in this book so much as it was a list of the things I always enjoy reading about.
Oh yeah, and they are all in this book.
Thank you, Mr. Wrath (may I call you, Mr. Wrath?), for writing a book that is at once gory, scathing, intelligent, and angry, and which features a character we can really get inside the head of.
That last sentence was constructed poorly.
4205151
I only made it about halfway through this thing before the mental illness was just too much for me to stomach any longer.  ANYone who believes that killing and war is something to enjoy and it's ok that I die bcz I'm doing something that I enjoy (direct quote about his own brother's death) needs serious mental help. The far-reaching scope of this piece of Americana is one I am thankful to not be a part of, yet horrified to know that these are my countrymen and women. The women who boast about the handsomeness of their husbands, uncles, and fathers perhaps should find something more important in life to focus on when describing an ideal partner. I actually wanted to watch this. I love stories of our military men and women, their bravery and sacrifice have always been near and dear to my heart, even if their politics are not. I could not, in good conscience, watch another second of these poor brainwashed people love war and it's destruction.  "Thank God he was incinerated and didn't feel a thing."  I don't know about you, but I would like to think that God would have preferred no war.  God had nothing to do with incinerating that man.  smdh
732882
I am all for the idea of being more positive and I believe that being positive can bring better things into your life, and it can improve your health.  I even believe that attitude has the ability to determine whether or not someone recovers from an accident or illness.....to a point.  However, this woman believes that wrong thinking causes things like baldness, MS and cancer, all diseases really.  Hmmm, so when someone gets the flu it's not germs that are making them sick, they had bad thinking.  Cancer patients, according to this book, your cancer is your fault too.  I'm sorry, but I don't buy into this blaming the victim bosh.  I cannot imagine ever letting my friend who has MS see this book and get told that her disorder is a result of her thinking.
Bad things happen to optimists too.  If you want to improve your life through positive thinking, look elsewhere.  This book has a horrible ideas for those who are suffering.