9/1/20
7-710: Check-in… how’s your day, week? Narrate your day…..
710-730: Before we get into Sedaris, talk to us about your reading methods….
730-750: Sedaris, the four essays we read. Observations? How did the reading feel? What insight do you have on this author?
750-810: What parts/quotes did you like most? Why?
810-830: Does he have you thinking about writing a different way, possibly telling your own story from a funnier form?
830-850: Thoughts, and close…..
ASSIGNMENT: Read the next three essays, take notes on them IN YOUR JOURNAL. Post pictures of your journal writings on Sedaris, on your class’s assignment post. Any questions, send me a text.
#professormikey 
I enjoyed the essays that i read so far i especially enjoyed the one titled ‘Attaboy, it made me laugh the most cause i could picture everything he was talking about. and the way he describes his struggle trying to serve the ice cream for Timothy, I’ve had that same struggle, which is why i get very upset if someone leaves the ice cream out cause once its melted it doesn’t refreeze the same its almost like you have to churn it again.
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My thoughts on David Sedaris is so far very positive. When I am reading his essays, It feels like I am having a relatable story told by a coworker/ peer/ whoever and it feels like I am almost actually there. He is very good at describing a scene in very few words.
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He makes you feel comfortable as a reader, I’ve found. Yes.
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I read the first chapter and the author notes and it was interesting. How he is funny even though they are talking about something serious. He tries to not make it seem boring in the beginning. He tries to make it interesting and for people to want to read more of the book and keep reading. He has good humor.
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When reading Sedaris I really enjoyed his unexpected jokes. I loved when he went from saying his parents would feed him white paste and joint compound if he look at his food weird and if he was good they would serve him semen. That was so unexpected and out of place that it made me laugh hard. I noticed the first two pages or so of his essays had these type of jokes. It was like he was priming me with this humor in the beginning of each essay so I would laugh harder at the end.
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The life in his text is multilayered, encompassing, and bright. His wit is unavoidable…
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In “Attaboy” Sedaris just had me remembering how my parents raised me the same way his parents did to him and his siblings. And that essay just had me laughing at the whole store seen because I had just witnessed that today and I just thought that my mom would have just slapped me in my mouth and tell me to wait till we get home and it will continue there.
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So glad you enjoy, Cassandra. Cheers.
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I’m in my car! I was craving some Starbucks so I brought my laptop with me to make sure I could log into class on time 9Thank god for hotspots lol) and now I’m just sitting in my warm leather seats, across from SSU, drinking an iced PSL, talking to you guys! It was a very much needed change of scenery.
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I. LOVE. THIS. Cheers!!!!! What did you order? lol
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PSL.. Pumpkin Spice Latte!!
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Oh yeah… duh.
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Pumpkin Spice Latte! Had to welcome the new month with a fall drink since September is pretty much fall lol
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Enjoy!!! Thank you for the dedication in attending tonight. So much appreciated, friend… cheers.
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Talk about living your best life! I hope that PSL is delicious! I’ve been craving one as well!
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His essay form and practice is playful, and encouraging. Seriously… he convinces me that essays are “taught” totally f/cking wrong. REAL TALK.
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In high school I would have failed if I would have written like that.
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Yeah… well, in high school the teachers don’t explore the essay form adequately, so…..
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Sedaris is a funny guy but definitely a different humor than mine, I kept an open mind when reading his writing and had fun with that. Definitely a writer worth reading
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Difference is delicious…
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Right!!
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🙂
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Being able to read Sedaris for the first time was great. He has an amazing sense of humor. He also has such advanced vocabulary enough to make me invision every place he describes. He is very entertaining and his sarcasm is perfectly timed. I am definitely eager to continue to read hisd material.
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I really like when he merges his interactions with Hugh. Its silly and it adds to the story.
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Yes!! When he talks to people around him I feel like i can be in the conversation alongside them.
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I think that Sedaris tries to make everything humorist (which he did very well) even with things that is suppose to be bad memories that has a bad influence in his life.
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I agree. I feel like he not only makes light of the situation he brings the enjoyment out of them.
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The Sedaris first few readings were entertaining. I find him to be very straight forward and just speak his thoughts with no concern of anyone else, as I mentioned in previous class discussions I found a few comments particularly hilarious, one being when he was talking about being on the swim team and made the comment that he’s a amazing swimmer as long as his opponent is a younger girl, “preferably with a 1st-grade education and a leg brace” I will admit I laughed out loud at that comment. I don’t have that much more to say because I truly have never read an author like him before so I plan to just ride the wave and embrace his writing abilities. I am looking
forward to reading more in this book.
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I like how he shares his past, he doesn’t shy away from it. I also like how he compares things, like health care and the parenting styles in different eras. I feel like the way he was raised has a lot to do with his no f/cks given attitude.
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I’ve found there is almost no subject he will shy away from writing about no matter how hard it is or personal which is quite brave and humbling.
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Sedaris reminds me to not work so hard. Observe more….
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YES! Observe more! Question everything!
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Question everything, yes. But… find your OWN answers.
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Agreed
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Agree!
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Oh I live by that, ” Don’t work so hard, observe more” Lol
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My man…
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The reading for me felt comfortable, kind, energetic, and profusely playful. You, colleagues?
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Sedaris is telling us to write. I have always felt that from his writing. And to those that say they don’t want to, or they can’t, I’m sure he would say that you’re not being nice to yourself. Give yourself a gift… write all that sh/t down.
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Reading Davids writing makes me want to write in a way, because I would love to be able to put my thoughts on a page in the way he can. His writing makes me want to practice writing so I can write like him
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Enjoy your pages! Where does he make you feel this?
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Come on y’all… keep up with #professormikey!!!!
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it felt entertaining to me, i actually laughed out loud a few times. and like you said i agree it is energetic
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Energetic, and empathetic toward the family dynamic, its stops and go’s, odds and glows..
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Hello, sorry i’m posting a little late I’m still at work and working on this when I get the time. Although lately I’ve been extremely busy and I’m sick at the same time so that’s fun. As far as reading methods, I do it towards night when I have nothing to do and I’ll knock down chapters at a time if I’m hooked onto what I’m reading. (Also might be shown as a different name i’m using my phone and it’s not signing in)
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I did a lot of laughing while reading his first 4 stories. How he would go to the dentist for fun because he truly did enjoy talking to his dentist and the assistant, how his dad still being alive can be easy to forget, and as well as using his sisters weight to change the subject are all just some of the examples that cracked me up. More than anything I was just scratching my had and thinking “this guy REALLY does think like this though.” I find it very inserting how his sense of humor works and how well he is at painting a picture in your head. He’s great at story-telling
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His is hilarious!
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His essays make me feel like I could be a writer. They are stories of his life that he spices up with a great sense of humor and a very welcoming writing style that makes it very easy and pleasurable to sit down and read.
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Any specific passages that said something to you, made you think about something, possibly your own life, something that happened?
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I thought the passages about his father were very relatable if not to the extreme that Sedaris experienced.. Everyone just wants someone to validate him/her.
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Yes. We want to be seen, but more so UNDERSTOOD.
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“Think Differenter” made me feel sometime of way. We tend to remember things we want to forget, which is true. When he was speaking about calling his mother on her birthday and forgetting his father was still alive, at first I was thinking dementia, which wouldve fit in the story, it put in propsective that we may loss all the memories we made.
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Just by that made me think of my own parents who are getting older, and just wondering if they may have that one day, puts things in reality
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QUOTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I really appreciate the length of each essay in the book, they’re not too short or too long. One of
the essay that stood out to me the most was “Attaboy”. Reading through this particular essay I found myself laughing hysterically after Sedaris had suggested a mother of “a volcanic three-year old”,“whose name always sound vaguely presidential” a solution to dealing with their child throwing a tantrum in a grocery store—
“ Listen. I’m not a parent myself, but I think the best solution at this point is to slap that child across the face”. I don’t know why I laughed. I don’t have any children of my own but I do have a younger sister whose placed me in the same uncomfortable scenario as presented on the bottom of pg.13 and on top of pg.14
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Good. Keep these inventoried somewhere in your journal for later writings!
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When he “thought of other things dog have that I don’t want: Dewclaws, for example. Hookworms.” He was trying to make everything funny and not make it so serious.
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So true!!!
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I liked that part as well because it was just a random thought that he had that he probably thought was funny and it makes it feel more relatable in my opinion.
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I think that my favorite part is the parts he includes his interactions with Hugh. It gives him as a narrator more depth and us as the readers more into the character into who Sedaris is. They make me laugh, they feel so natural. Like it is a way I would expect him to respon and I think another part I really enjoy is how he refrains from censoring himself. He is not afraid to cuss and it’s interesting to see that in a published essay.
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Agree with everything here. YES! Great observations for some later writing!
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Sedaris is so full of life and so interactive with his readers. He has such a playful personality.
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The entries he has about Hugh are the best! Their relationship feels so raw and uncut, he definitely doesn’t try to sugar coat. My favorite Quote is “I’m sorry but is there a problem? “No.”Then, “yeah,bitch you my problem” LOL
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Makes us feel not just comfortable, but wanting more from him..
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My favorite part was when he was talking to the doctor. The doctors inputs of his situation were very funny!
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Any in particular?
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When Sedaris asks why it won’t get bigger and the doctor responded with his creative and outlandish, “I don’t know. Why don’t trees touch the sky”.
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I know.. that’s great.
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i would say that my favorite quote is when he was telling the story about the kid being caught writing on he mailbox he said that his parents wouldn’t have gone off on the store owner like the kids parents were they would have thanked him and said “we’ll take it from here” i can relate to that because my parents would have done the same thing and when we got home they would’ve kicked my a**. although im technically a part of it i feel that many people in my generation are very entitled yet too sensitive, i think its good to be in touch with your feelings but you cant be offended by everything! people aren’t even allowed to voice their own opinions cause if it offends someone then they have to apologize, if it was me…i said what i said and that’s how i feel. not to say that i cant see other points of views
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For dentist without borders I like part he talking about the difference in healthcare between the US and other countries and it is true because I just seen something about that.
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Yes. A commentary, and emotion from him here…
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“Here I am, just turned fifty, and I forgot that my father isn’t dead yet? In my defense, though, he’s pretty close to it” I don’t know why I found this so funny, but i think with the business that we have become accustomed to, its not that far off to forget someone is still alive.
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Again, here he takes something serious and makes it anything but, making it comfortable for readers.
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When his doctor said “Why dont trees touch the sky” not sure why that stuck out to me
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Oh my god yes!!! I didn’t even notice you put this but that part made me laugh super hard.
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OMG I was cracking up!
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For “Attaboy” It felt like it familiar because when he said that his parents would have beaten him if he tagged on a mailbox because my parents would have done the same to me.
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Love how Memory Laps starts…
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“Live with Liberty, and your imagination can soar” Kinda taken oit of context of the essay as how short the quote is but I just think its a wonder way of thinking.
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I think what Sedaris does that I wish I could do is timing his humor in the write way. He drops humor at the right moments and keeps the story flowing and easy to understand, I think sometimes when I use humor in the story it can subtract from it instead of add top it. I would love to develop his timing for humor.
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I’d say my favorite quote is “live with liberty and your imagination can soar” in Think Differenter. I think it’s something that can be applied to anything and result in to more creativity. Like just being free, from your own judgement even, can spark greatness in imagination.
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Very true. Develop that thought and email me, or post here…
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Well said!
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Does Sedaris have you thinking about writing a different way…. in a funnier form?
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definitely! for starters i never knew there were books like this, it makes you feel like literally anyone can be a writer. he’s just telling us his experiences and what was going through his head at the time
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And he does want us to write! Have always thought that!
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Yes, he writes in his own unique way, many of us don’t see that often and it’s refreshing to see something new. I say it motivates me to write differently since writing the same concept/form can get very repetitive and boring sometimes
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Definitely! I’m always so deep and serious when it comes to writing, but reading Sedaris is showing me that even with humor, the serious aspect of it is still there.
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My favorite part is when he was with the dentist, and how they react to each other! It is fun to read the conversation and unexpected things that happened. (the TV)
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Comedy is not just composition, it’s a truth-bridge. It’s the most colorful code of candor.
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Sedaris definitely makes me think I can throw more humor into my writing. I think I would enjoy writing more if I did it that way.
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I personally enjoyed the 2nd and 3rd pages of Attaboy the most out of the other essays so far because I was raised the same way and I was laughing when he was talking about parents now and how much kids are pampered. My favorite couple pf sentences were,” I think the best solution at this point is to slap that child across the face. It won’t stop it’s crying, but at least now it’ll be doing it for a good reason”
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He definitely does have me wanting to write a different way, To try to write in a way that can give your true self in a story making your memories come to life in imagination with having you tell it in a not so serious tone, telling the humorous and sarcastic parts of it too. Thats how real life is after all.
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I agree! Writing it your own way makes it 100% more meaningful
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More meaningful, and more truthful.
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When I started reading Sedaris, of course I think I can write more differently that makes me more comfortable about writing.
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Hes naturally funny, not sure if I can compete with that. If I write in a funnier form i will be forcing it which would come off as mediocre i think.
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I felt the same at first! But the more I thought about it, I realized that as along as its in your own style, it’ll definitely not be mediocre. I think humor is something we can all try to incorporate in our writing, but as long as its something that you wrote with no barriers to your creativity and imagination, it can be just as good as Sedaris. Funny or not.
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I would very much like to learn how to write like seders, it would keep both the reader and I entertained while reading or writing.
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My favorite part was when he was talking about the entitlement of kids nowadays and compares it to the story of his dad choking the wrong kid and not getting in trouble. Love when he said, “The child’s name always sounds vaguely presidential, and he or she tends to act accordingly.”
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