My Hero!

Last night I went to a book reading and signing with Heather B. Armstrong. She is the blogger behind Dooce.com, which is Positively my favorite blog (you can find a link on My Blog List conveniently located to your right). I check Dooce.com at least five times a day and gobble up absolutely everything she writes so you can imagine my excitement when I found out that not only was she releasing a book, but she would be doing a reading in New York City! If you can’t imagine my excitement then I’ll just tell you that I did a little jig that looked like a combination of Lord of the Dance and an epileptic fit.

So her new book is called “It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, A Breakdown, and A Much Needed Margarita”, a heartwarming and hilarious story of Armstrong’s first pregnancy, becoming a new mom and her subsequent battle with postpartum depression. All these topics are a little foreign to me as I don’t plan on having any babies for a long while (Matt and my parents are breathing a collective sigh of relief right now). In fact, almost everything Armstrong writes about is foreign to me as she is an ex-Mormon, living in Utah with her husband and daughter. But I find her writing to be original, hilarious and interesting. And regular! I know that sounds more like a characteristic you would want in a bowel movement, but when you fall in love with a blog you appreciate when there is something new for you to read everyday.

Well if I was a fan before last night, now I am a super fan! I was in awe of Armstrong. She read two wonderful passages from the book, which were so clearly written in her voice. She didn’t have a gimmick or a shtick. She isn’t packaged or pushing some kind of agenda. She just is who she is and people came from all over to see her. It was pretty amazing. So Heather B. Armstrong is my hero! I not only respect her candid and humorous writing style, but she has this “take it or leave it” attitude that I think is a must when you write about your personal life. On the other she still to seems kind, real, and approachable. She has managed to build a career on being her self and I think that is pretty damn cool.

And to put the cherry on the sundae that was this excellent evening, I had great company at the event. I went with a friend, who happens to be a fellow blogger, and we swooned and grinned at Armstrong and then we both clammed up as we handed her our books to sign. And then we swooned and grinned some more during a great dinner at Kitchenette. Great writer + great company + great dinner = a Positively great night.

And my great company had some great song suggestions. Here is Ellis Paul's The World Ain't Slowin Down.