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Motherhood is one adventure after another. I live, I learn, I write.

Bossypants by Tina Fey – A book review and a giveaway too!

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Before you read this, I need you to know that I’m a Tina Fey groupie. When I first heard that she has a book coming out I was beside myself with excitement which quickly turned to worry because what if the book isn’t funny?

Well, I read the book and fangirlness aside, I am happy to report that Bossypants is funny, heartfelt, hilarious and smart. I read it in two days when I could’ve easily finished it one sitting beTina Fey Bossypantscause I didn’t want it to end. I was live tweeting the book though  (and posted pics of the book where she mentioned Pinoys on a cruise ship woohoo!) basically telling my friends that Bossypants brings it.

Bossypants is a collection of anecdotes on Fey’s life written in her trademark self-deprecating and dry demeanor. In the book she writes about how she came to write for SNL because the show was looking for diversity  “Only in Comedy, by the way, does an obedient white girl from the suburbs count as diversity” and how she came to hire her own writers for SNL, which is a mix of Harvard boys (hello Conan O’ Brien!) and improv actors turned writers.  Writing about the difference between men and women comedy writers Fey says “The men urinate in cups” (there is a 30Rock episode about this too!)

Tina Fey belonged to that SNL batch where the actresses really shone (hello, Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, Anna Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph) but I noticed her first in Weekend Update.  She co-anchored that segment with Jimmy Fallon and as much of an eye-candy Fallon is, Fey held her own and was so much more funnier than Jimmy.

In between chapters of how she got her start at comedy to where she is now (where she’s in charge of 30 Rock and around 200 people) are chapters about her family, her daughter, her bad ass father and her husband. In between her stories about fashion shoots, which she says is the FUNNEST, to wiping poop off her daughter’s back you get a sense of who Fey is without her giving everything away with the requisite embarrassing pictures. Oh and she does devote a chapter to her Palin impersonation and her shoot with Oprah for a 30 Rock episode. It all happened in a weekend mind you and she was also planning her daughter’s 3rd birthday while all that was happening. Overachiever !! What can you not do Ms. Fey? (well she answers that also in the book – she can’t cook meat).

The book is peppered with hilarious quotes like Amy Poehler’s response to Jimmy Fallon when Poehler made a crass joke “I don’t care if you f*ckin like it!” (Fallon told Poehler that the joke was not “ladylike”). It’s the hardcore version of “Dance as if no one’s watching.” Here’s one by Oprah “If Oprah Winfrey is telling you that you might be overextending yourself, you need to examine your life.”

Fey’s hilarious observations point to one thing: pretty ain’t as important as funny. Fey is not just a pretty brunette in a man’s world— she is at the top because she’s smart and professional. Although she has yet to fully accept the pretty, she is unapologetic when it comes to her skills and her IQ  and that is why I love me some Fey.

And that is why I want you to have some of the Fey as well. Together with the blog’s awesome sponsor Powerbooks, we are giving away a copy of Bossypants (whom I was told is now hard to find).

***EDIT: CLARIFIED THE MECHANICS ***

To win the book, you need to be able to do three things:

1) Share in the comments section a funny incident that taught you a really big life lesson

2) If you do win, be able to pick up the book at Powerbooks Trinoma  –no ifs and buts

3) Allow the staff to take a pic of you getting the prize or why not take a pic yourself?

The contest will be open from May 16 to May 28.

Bossypants is available at all Powerbooks Stores for Php 1,189! Thanks so much to Powerbooks for sponsoring the giveaway!

GOOD LUCK!!!

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Comments

  1. Back in my 2nd year highschool, my adviser has f and p and b and v problem, where she interchanges the pronunciation of it. On that day, I’m the leader of cleaners and she asks us to clean the classroom. “Macafagal, maglinis kayo ng classroom.” she told me. When she left, I repeated what she said with an exaggeration. To my horror, she’s only at the back and she heard everything I said. “Macafagal, ginagaya mo ba ako?” she asks me. I panicked because she caught me but I just told her that, “Hindi po ma’am, inuulit ko lang po ang sinabi niyo.” I’m so embarrassed at that moment.
    Lesson learned: Be VERY careful on what you say because someone may hear it and hurt their feelings. Don’t also make fun of other people’s flaws.

  2. When I used to do the events circuit, there was one gig where we were billeted at a hotel with a male streetdance group famous for their good-looking members. We were resting in our rooms when.. SUDDENLY…the phone rings, and one of the good-looking-male-dancers asked to speak to me. Hey, we’re hanging out here watching a movie, he said. Maybe you’d like to come over, he says again. I was already putting on lipgloss before he even finished asking. I get there, all demure-like and tried to be cool and said Hey-guys-whatsup and good-looking-male-dancer brings me a drink, sits me down, looks intensely into my eyes and says… “What are you plans for your future?” Wow, I thought. Is he serious? Is he into me? I was lost in these thoughts that I didn’t notice he was pulling out a folder from a bag below and proceeded to turn the next half-hour-of-my-dreams into a recruiting spiel for the latest multi-level trend at that time.

    Lesson learned: Always have a backup plan to get out from a bad date (or non-date). I was stuck in that room for 3 hours listening to their success stories. Never be so caught up in the dream state that you forget reality. Daz all, bow.

  3. For about a couple of weeks last year, my son, Nathan, was preoccupied with the game Plants vs. Zombies. He would talk about it to anyone who’d listen, even with children who haven’t heard of that game before. My husband and I would tell Nathan to stop talking about Plants vs. Zombies or else other kids would be weirded out.

    There was a time I caught him playing almost all afternoon. I immediately scolded him and told him to play with his sister instead. Then I sat in front of the computer, checked out what he’s been doing, and was soon playing Plants vs. Zombies myself.

    I was hooked!

    I did not stand up for a long time.

    Then my son entered the room and saw me playing the game I prohibited him from playing. He was so surprised! All he said was, “Mama?”

    Peashooter, shoot me!

    Lesson, be consistent. Don’t reprimand your child for something you yourself might do. 🙂

  4. Back in college, I used to go to places to stroll (without my parents’ knowledge). My school is located in Katipunan but my friends and I can go as far as Las Pinas to visit other friends. We decided one day to go to our friend’s dorm in Valenzuela. We then rode the MRT to reach North Avenue where we will take the bus straight to our friend’s dorm. When we reached the North Avenue station, we alighted the train and headed down to EDSA using the stairs. We were chatting when suddenly my foot slipped on one of the steps and I fell five steps down. My friends were so shocked and hurried off to help me get up. Seeing their shocked faces, I can’t help but laugh. I had two large bruises on my knees and my body ached all over.

    Lesson: Always tell your parents where you are going and do not skip classes 🙂

  5. last sunday, we had a swimming party for my daughter’s bday celecb and my son’s christening. i brought my trusty bathing suit and planned on taking a dip a couple of hours before we are scheduled to pack-up. So off i went to the shower room, bathing suit in hand. But lo and behold! i can’t pull it up my thighs! I was squirming ang grunting trying my best to get it past my thighs… to no avail. I had no choice but to put my street clothes back on, go out and face the music. Lesson learned? There’s two actually. One, That everything really changes. it’s such a cliche, but it’s true. I was so confident that I could still fit into my suit even after having a baby recently that I didn’t actively do anything to lose the baby weight. and Two, don’t take things for granted. This doesn’t only apply to my bathing suit fiasco, it applies to everything in life as well, especially relationships. Since everything changes, strive hard to keep and cultivate the relationships you have because if you just stand complacently and be passive about it, it will change and for the worst.

  8. Scene: Husband, myself, 9-month-old baby at electronics store.

    Husband: Boss, pademo naman ng DVD player na ‘to.

    Salesman: Sige set up k—

    *PURURUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT!!!*

    Me: Oh my gosh, the baby farted. Hindi po kami yun.

    Salesman: Ah eh… (trying to avoid looking at us)

    Husband and me: (look at each, look at at the baby, then start laughing out loud.) Hindi kami yun! Yun baby yun!

    Baby: (satisfied look on face)

    The lesson: Well, two things. One, babies can break wind as loud as adults and two, don’t take anything too seriously — just laugh it off! 🙂

  9. When we were young, my parents kept reminding us to remove all the dirty stuff from our body and keep our intestines clean, if you know what I mean. 😀 I was in grade school back then, probably 3rd or 4th grade. I really didn’t want to listen to their rants regarding doing the deed early in the morning because all I just wanted to do every morning is to go back to bed. So I went to school without doing the deed. Later that morning, I felt my stomach crumbling and my butt just became heavy. I was in cold sweat. Every time the fan hit me I felt worse that ever. I knew what was coming already. During my time, when you’re in grade school, the most embarrassing thing that you could ever do in school is to poop while in class(yes, some of my classmates who just can’t control it did it on their seats. Disgusting, yes, but come on, they were young back then 😀 haha ) Opps Opps Opps..No, I didn’t let it loose on my seat. And being the maarte kid, I didn’t want to use the school comfort room because it was dirty, stinky and simply disgusting. My idea was to pretend to be sick so that I will be sent to the clinic and the school nurse will call my parents and tell them to take me home where I could relaxingly let go of the pressure. And so my teacher did send me to the clinic and at the clinic I pretended to be sick while I was struggling with all my might not to lose the battle xD. I was sweating and my breathing got faster. About five minutes after, my brother and sister who were in the high school building at that time came by and told me that my mom wouldn’t be able to fetch me until noon. That hit me like a canon ball and I was definitely crying. I sat on the pillow and tried so hard to suck it all in. I cried so hard and begged my siblings to text my mom and fetch me as early as possible. Then after about 20 minutes of struggle, my mom arrived. She was talking with the nurse and was still signing some papers and I just screamed and told her that we needed to go. So she hurriedly took me to the car and ask me why I felt sick and I just couldn’t answer her. I saw my lips on the mirror and they were pale. I begged her to drop by my dad’s clinic because it was nearer to my school and there was a comfort room in the clinic.So she hurriedly brought me to my dad’s clinic. I ran to the clinic and into the comfort room without thinking whether there was running water or not. Finally, I just sat there and let all the pressure out. I was definitely relieved. That was probably the best 5 minutes of my life at that time. HAHAHA. Moral of the story: listen to your parents. They definitely know better. Haha. and also, no pain, no gain. Without suffering, you wouldn’t be able to appreciate existence of the the simplest things like a toilet bowl. 😀

  10. Last year, my friends and I rented a van for our summer outing to La Union. The owner of the vehicle told us that the van can seat up to 14 people comfortably. But because there were so many of us, we made use of the van’s maximum seating capacity which is 16! Imagine what a riot that was. It was so cramped! Five-hour trip and everyone was complaining of an aching back, an aching foot, neck, shoulders and so on! We looked forward to stopovers because they offered such blissful respites. It was a day trip so we had to do it again on the way home. The whole trip, if I may just add, was especially excruciating for me because I was the one sitting on the “extra” seat, the one that can be folded because it is located near the van door. And I had to sit there for a total of 10 hours, imagine the pain! Argh! Looking back, it was funny because no one wanted to trade seats with me on the way back. Haha. Kidding aside, the whole situation still keeps the gang in stitches whenever we remember it. I learned from that experience that for an outing to become more fun, less stressful and truly memorable, the quality of the chosen mode of transportation should be considered of great importance. It is a sad fact that some of us tend to scrimp on the “transpo” budget at the expense of comfort while traveling. Not only will this cramp your style (and yes, give you *actual* cramps), it can also be a cause for irritation/arguments/misunderstandings with the people you’re with. These negative scenarios could very well be avoided by planning properly early on, which means not only planning well the outing itself, but also the “how to get there” part.

  11. One of our science projects was to grow onions in the garden patch at the back of the high school building. It was a grow-it-or-fail kind of project. Unfortunately, my friend (whose name I withhold because, like 50% of people with cool nicknames then, she is now known by a more grownup name that does not rhyme) could not grow an onion despite several attempts. So our group of 6 friends decided to help out. Well, our digging and poking resulted in a tearjerking success! Onions sprouted! But, when the neighboring patch of my friend’s plant got sickly, someone accused us of using fertilizer and pesticides, which we did not! Eventually, the science teacher was also alerted and she said to the entire class that there was a gang of plant-killers in our midst, with a notoriety much like the Red Scorpion Gang. But since the accusation was not factual, there was no proof! And we all passed that class and have been best friends ever since. Moral: In union, there is strength (Sa sibuyas, may tigas)! Just kidding ü True friendship is not how long you know each other or how much time you spend together; it’s what you go through and who you become at the end of those life moments. Ü

  12. when i was a kid, i was fond of wearing matching — note: must be the same color or shade — clothes/bags/shoes/accessories. we had a program in grade school where i was the ‘lead dancer’ and we were required to wear pink shirt with pink pants. however, my pants were slightly bigger than my waist and i had to wear a belt to keep it in place. my mom didn’t have time to look for a pink belt before our school program so she ‘forced’ me to wear a black one which i usually wear with my other shorts/pants. i was so disappointed because the color didnt match my pink outfit and pink shoes! i went to the stage to dance, but hard-headed me had to keep pulling my pants up just so it won’t fall to the ground while i was dancing! it was the most embarrasing moment i can remember during my grade school – and the moral lesson? always listen to your mom! a hard-headed kid can get his way but will eventually learn life’s lessons the hard -and sometimes embarrassing- way 🙂

  13. It was dismissal time at my school already and I need to cross the street. Then all of a sudden the aiza seguerra step came to mind wherein u have to bop ur heard forward and back while ur hands are sticking to the front then u also move them forward and back. Well I was sooo young then. Then a scooter came strutting in the road almost missed me whew. Moral of the story is be careful when u cross the street and don’t do anything stupid while crossing.

  14. During high school, when we were in the science lab, my friends and I had a bet to drink this green stuff (not any poisonous chemical though! just really weird unkown stuff) and I have to act sick so my teacher’s gonna send me to the clinic to sleep.
    3 of us did it, and for a few minutes we were fine but after almost an hour, we started to throw up and got REALLY sick. they send us home, didn’t allow us to attend class for a week, and we were excuse for some quizzes.

    Moral Lesson: NEVER DRINK ANYTHING WEIRD LOOKING. THERE’S A REASON WHY IT LOOKS THAT THAT.

  15. I don’t know if this is funny to you but it’s funny to me. When I was young, I never and am always afraid of being open to my parents especially when it comes to relationships (with the opposite sex, of course) and I tried once to talk to my mother about it that I really like this guy and I was like closed-eyes and told her that ‘I love him’ and thought that she will slap me and scream at me and whatever but you know what? Mom just stared at me and then laughed whole-heartedly about this and I laughed too because it’s silly! Mom’s crazy! And after that, I started to be open with my mom like she’s my best friend and it’s cool because she gives me advices all the time. And another funny thing is that, last Saturday, I told mom that I really like this guy (the guy I told you about which was my exbf) and she’s like ‘not again!’ and laughed and teased me. OH GOD, my mom is crazy!