5-5:20pm: What were some thoughts that went through your head today? What did you do with them? Are you going to do anything with them? What do they mean?
Think of your life as literature. It IS. It’s a story. You’re writing even when you’re not writing. So… what did you write today?
FYN (For Your Notes): Thoughts are always valuable and can be used.
FYN: You and your days are never boring or regular unless you choose to see them that way.
FYN: (a bit off-topic). Your journal is YOUR journal. Use it for this class, personal writings, ANYTHING written. Don’t overthink or even think about it.. just use the pages. They are ALL yours.
5:20-5:40: How do you define happiness? Do you have some specific visual or conceptual image or feel of what it is? Why is it so seemingly hard to acquire at times? Is this imagined? What the F/CK is happiness?
FYN: Happiness can’t be defined maybe, just chosen and lived….?
5:40-6:05pm: Initial reactions and thoughts to Ms. Lawson’s book. I find that she’s as kind and loving as she is snarky and slightly venomous. What about you?
FYN: Her exploration of depression is what I’d call artfully quirky, poetic…. You?
FYN: She shows us how people connect, and affect each other. And, how there is nothing more attainable than our own identity.
6:05-6:20pm: What are some lines from the book that gave you insight into her mind and intentions, personality and writing style? Anything that makes you feel something as a reader, that leads to more questions you’d want to ask Ms. Lawson?
6:20-6:30pm: Close…. WHAT DID YOU WRITE IN YOUR NOTES/JOURNAL TONIGHT? What are you walking away with?
ASSIGNMENT: Read the next five chapters in Lawson’s book, type a 2-page opinion paper on her reason for writing.
#professormikey 
What are your expectations? And be careful, expectations of an author can be dangerous and self-compromising…
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being that expectations are the absolute root of all suffering…I’m good. I going to just enjoy what she is saying and hear it very clearly.
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My expectations are rather minimal, in an attempt to let the reading speak to me. Overanalyzing and making predictions is what ruined reading for me back in my earlier days of high school and college, so I’m hoping the opposite approach allows me to continue finding substance and true meaning.
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I agree.
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Something that stuck with me rather quickly was the passage on page 10 within chapter two, with the idea of running around chasing the cat that was passing the tinkle bell in an attempt to help it. My wife does this every so often with my cat, less so with tinkle bells and more so with knots of fur, but she loves to think that the cat will somehow be receptive to her saying she’s trying to help and to just “SIT STILL BOO”! This author has been the most enjoyable read for me in any college course I have taken, and it’s only been three chapters. Here’s to hoping I’m getting pranked and suddenly this becomes a fantasy novel about dungeons and dragons (although come on, how cool of a fake out would THAT be?)
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“Finally someone who gets me.” When speaking about her note when she writes at 2 AM or when her sleeping pills are kicking in. Some of these notes actually make sense, it tells you how her mind works.
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Love that quote.
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Lawson in the beginning first chapters taught me that it is okay to be yourself, she expresses her problems to everyone loud and clear having nothing to hide. Something I can take note off.
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My expectations are that she will be honest, she had also said that reading this book would question your own sanity, so that would be interesting to look forward to.
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My notes are really personal tonight. I had a lot of venting to do lmao. I’ll be walking away with a little more determination to keep going and to keep creating. I’m excited to keep reading Lawson’s book!
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I really enjoyed her writing style it’s very unique and original nothing like I have read before. She’s very straight forward while addressing the audience and doesn’t fail to get a laugh out of us.
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I thought you hadn’t received the books yet..
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Therre’s other ways around that lol. I don’t have my book either yet but I found a PDF that I’ve been reading off of just for now
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That’s what I’m talking about, Nina!!!!!! Good for you!!! On your hustle, no lame-ass excuses. Please help your colleagues find that PDF if you can. RESPECT, Nina. Word…
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If you look up furiously happy jenny lawson pdf its the first thing that pops up and its free!
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NICE!!! Whatever you gotta do y’all…
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for some reason it doesn’t work on computers but on you phone it will. I just searched on google “Furiously Happy PDF” and it was the first thing to come up. I don’t know if this link will work but it’s worth a try.
Click to access Furiously%20Happy_%20A%20Funny%20Book%20About%20Horrible%20Things%20-%20Jenny%20Lawson_3696.pdf
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My only expectation from lawson is that she continues to make me laugh. i was in tears the other night i couldn’t stop laughing
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At which part?
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the conversation between her and her mother at the beggining where her mother called her odd and she said “and f/ked up enough to need an a$$load of meds”. it came out of nowhere and from the point on i couldnt stop giggling.
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She taught me not to be embarrassed for things you can’t really control, and if you CAN control them and you don’t like them, CHANGE IT its up to you to feel good about yourself so make that change!
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Wonder what Jenny Lawson is journal about the world today, the covid days and certain politics…. I always wonder that with authors. You?
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yes i do. some funny stuff is coming from her. we should all be watching for it
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I love how she writes! She makes me feel like she is just another one of my friends by how open she is and she fights for her life and happiness.
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Name ONE thing you see in Lawson’s writing.
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honesty
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Love it. Thanks Laura. And thank you for being so active in these first meetings of our class. I have a feeling you’ll do well. Cheers.
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From the pages where she talks about how the pharmacist was eating dog treats, to her middle-of-the-night notes, I can tell she has a mind that runs very quickly and about a lot of things. I half-expect to have a whole lot of no-second-thought writing and uncensored thoughts in the reading to come.
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One thing I see in Lawson’s writing is a flow of consciousness. A true effort to transform her thoughts and understandings to the reader..
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A quote that I found gives me insight to lawson is “So maybe “crazy” isn’t so bad after all. I agree. Sometimes crazy is just right”. (Page 6). To me this shows how she is okay with being herself, and sets the tone for the rest of the book letting the reader know she is not afraid to express herself. She describes how her mother said to her “maybe everyone is a little crazy” and I agree with that statement. No one is perfect in this world.
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Yes! Great explanation. Just right… so well put.
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I love that quote as well, she really is comfortable in her own clothing. She’s not afraid to show her true self. She doesn’t want to filter anything about her.
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“I survived and I remind myself that each time we go through this, we get a little stronger. We learn new tricks on the battlefield. We learn them in terrible ways, but we use them. We don’t struggle in vain. We win. We are alive.” Reading this made me feel welcome. Whatever battlefield the reader has been on, she recognizes it. It’s refreshing to read something that really feels like the author is writing for you. I found it comforting. This quote lead me to think that her intention is to really connect with her audience. To make us feel a little less alone. Having someone who doesn’t know me say that we win. We are alive. Makes it a little more real and that we did make it out. I don’t have any questions I’d like to ask her at the moment, but I’m looking forward to seeing what she makes me think!
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New tricks on the battlefield. Love that!
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One thing that I see in Lawson’s writing is how personal she gets by telling personal, deep things about herself within her writing
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I wouldn’t say crazy I, would say energetic and colorful in the way the draws out the scene to each story that she tells, for example; when the doctor told her is she were to pull out the bell that the cat was passing, ” his intestines would come out like candy, like that of a pinaita”(Jenny Lawson). It is hard to say what is normal, unless you are a psychiatrist and even then they have to refer to books that are pretty out of date. I’m not saying that all methods are sound, because the way that mantel illness was treaded in the 1800’s was inhumane. what I am saying is society by large defines what is normal. I don’t think anyone has the right to call out someone for having mental disorders.
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Change, another dominant idea I get from her writing so far. Colleagues……?
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i feel the whole talk about severed heads really ignited her personality and writing style haha but i enjoyed it. Also the whole cutting the paper out and placing it on the front so when people look they see the top half as me and the bottom is a very outgoing smiling racoon definitely gave me insight to her mind.
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Lawson inspires me de-weaponize negativity that plagues my sanity and self-control.
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Yes!! Love that. Love the selection of words here Dais…
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ohhhhhh. well said Daisy
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Daisy can write a mean sentence… and essay. And I agree with her. Negative forces are only armed if we see them that way.
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I see a lot of personality in Lawsom’s writing, more than I have seen in any author I have read in recent memory. She really puts a lot of her person and thought into the book and her work.
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I love her weird obsession with taxidermy. If someone introduced themselves to me and announced they also love taxidermy, I would be like “oh, we are going to be good friends.”
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I respect taxidermy. Someone I know recently dug up their deceased cat, boiled its skull and is considering making some type of jewelry out of the jaws. I think it is incredibly special and fearless.
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Something I noticed Lawson talk about was control, and I think this really stuck with me because having an unhealthy relationship with controlling things is absolutely something anyone struggling from mental illness or just going through a rough patch may develop. Since stability is something humans need, when we can’t have that because of anxiety or life circumstances, we seek another area of our life to control. This can be unhealthy depending on what you chose to control, and the narrator went from using hiding, isolating herself, and eating disorders as strategies to gain that stability and control. Later on in life she developed more healthy coping mechanisms such as therapy to meet the same needs. In the next paragraph she states that “I’ve learned the importance of pushing through, and knowing that one day soon I will be happy again,”(Page 6)This quote was probably my favorite sentence I have read in the entire book because it is something that is so true that people do not recognise enough. If you are unhappy but want to be, you may have unhealthy coping mechanisms to feel control like I talked about before. They are a quick fixes that ultimately make it impossible to live a full life, but taking someone’s coping mechanism away is hard, even if it isn’t a healthy one. For this reason, people recovering from mental health struggles may feel worse before they will feel better, and that is sometimes necessary, but not permanent.
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This post is awesome Lily. Glad there’s a connection with you and Ms. Lawson!
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What I saw immediately from Lawson’s writing is her being herself. It’s obvious that she does not care at all to write in a “professional” style. I really enjoy this, because not many people can do this and be a successful writer. It also just makes for a very fun time reading her book. When I was reading last night I didn’t think of it as homework I had to do, but instead I was enjoying my time reading it.
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an idea in her writing is that she is self aware, for instance when she had the whole conversation with her mom because she calls herself crazy, or for the fact that if she asks where the dog treat guy was they will hold her meds! HA!
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I would ask Lawson how she handled that rough period and how she found trust in herself and the process that it was worth it.
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Lawson’s is very open about her past and doesnt hold back. she doesn’t have a porbem showing the world the inner workings of her mind and it’s really inspiring. Her writing shows that she isnt afraid of what people may think about her, she knows who she is and what her purpose is and thats enough for her.
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More quotes y’all!!!
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It keeps getting better as you read guys!!! I want to quote from deeper chapters!
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Let’s finish strong…
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“I nod. She has a point. Although the rest of the world may disagree.” I like how in her writing she includes little patches of conversation between her and her mother. To me it makes it more interesting to read and breaks it up.
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I already love her and her husband’s relationship and how well he knows her and to help her. He can joke with her too about her and I don’t think there could be any better relationship than that. “‘they prescribed me nuts”‘. Victor says I’m confusing “prescribed” with “diagnosed”‘.
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Another quote is “Whenever hailey tells me kids from school were mean to her I want to go find those kids and tell them that I’m them from the future and that they failed miserably” This is me. I would do this and get the best kick out of it lol
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HAHAHAHA…..
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If you put a bunch of chameleons on top of a bunch of chameleons on top of a bowl of skittles what would happen? Is that science? Because if so, I would finally get why people want to do science.
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Let’s close it up, y’all… What’s on your page for the night? For ME…. fearlessness. Humor. TRUTH. From Lawson, and just something I need to more embrace.
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March on, chin high. Say what you want(as long as its not mean spirited), do what you want(same as before), live your life and be authentic.
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After reading about her posts on her blog, and her silver ribbons. I found myself getting upset. Not with her, but with how a lot of people see mental illness. It’s like how people talk like they have OCD because they don’t like how their pencils are organized, when in reality they’re just particular about things and neurotypical. For me it’s when people compare their struggles in life to depression. That’s not to say that their struggles aren’t real or important, but most of the time there is a light at the end of the tunnel, a solution. And the struggles are things anyone could experience. It’s like when Ms. Lawson talks about how people don’t see mental illness like other illnesses. I don’t feel like people have enough perspective, and sometimes they can be a bit offensive. But I can also be a bit sensitive when it comes to the subject.
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YES!!!! Love this post. Thank you.
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its acutely quite interesting, I found the part about about her having taxidermic animals as companions to help her in her manic episodes rather interesting and quite common to be honest many people with disorders, tics, or abnormalities find comfort in objects, it brings them a sense of relief, it helps them cope with anything that might set them off, some people use items as a defense meconium, agents triggers and sounds. And, this dose explain the raccoon on the cover, although I do wonder if that is one of her comfort companions.
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The quote that really stood out to me was “I survived and I remind myself that each time we go through this, we get a little stronger” This isn’t necessarily a new saying but it’s something that is so easy to forget. In the moment of failure we think of nothing except how bad we did or how stupid we were. But if you are able to look past the initial grief and instead put the idea of stronger in the horizon It can make you feel a little bit better about a terrible situation.
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AGREED.
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“My editor insists that I clarify that there isn’t actually a 25 bill hidden in this book, which is sort of ridiculous to hjave to explain, because theres no such thing as a 25 bill.”
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lol
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I was kind of hoping she made her own bill….. with her face on it.
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lol
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On my page for the night is honesty, stream of thought, openness, communication. All these are clearly expressed by Lawson even only a handful of pages into this book. It can be hard to quantify, but she just feels more truthful and genuine in her writing than other authors.
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On my notes: look further into moments in your day that you’d otherwise disregard
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On my notes for tonight are the “FYN” notes and then just random thoughts I had about the book and the message I thought I got from the first few chapters. Have a good night!
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You too!!
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notes: keep being yourself
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In my notes, I went more into depth about what my definition of happiness is. I’m trying to build a visual model of it. So far I’ve come up with something resembling a food pyramid but instead of the main food groups, it’s tools, experiences, and relationships? Still figuring it out!
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“When I wake up in the morning I often find messages left to me on my phone. Then I read the messages and I suspect that I’m being stalked by a madwoman. And I am. That madwoman is me. The calls are coming from inside the house”. (Lawson 11)
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On my page for the night is live with less fear and worry and accept the mess ups the hiccups the ups downs all that lies in between.
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On tonights page, youre the only one who makes your day boring!
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I have to remind myself of this!!!
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on my notes i have the FYN, thoughts about the reading, and many mnay random ideas and beining of thoughts.
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Cheers! Thanks for coming tonight! Enjoy your evening, and your writing and reading!
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On my page I wrote about how Lawson is a very openminded person who says what she wants to. She know not to expect perfection in her life or anyone else. It is overall a very pragmatic view on life that may seem like a romanticized idea in the eyes of other people.
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Since I have yet to receive my book, in my notes most of its from my classmates and what they wrote about Lawson such expectations, some quotes that I thought really stood out, and characteristics of Lawson. I also have some FYN notes.
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