Howsheseesit's Weblog

There is always someone who inspires us.  This inspiration can spawn at anytime.  For me, it happened about a year ago while on Facebook, of all things.  Facebook had just added an application where you could “Become a Fan” of things, coffee, sports, television, consumer goods, etc.  One of the people you could become a fan of was Russell Brand.  I had absolutely no clue who this Russell Brand fellow was, but I clicked on the tiny icon and set off to find out.  Well, long story short he was some sort of comedian, I discovered, and he was hot.  So I clicked “Become a Fan” not based on some deep appreciation for this person and his art, but simply because I thought he was hot.  Eventually much much later, in fact quite recently, did I actually see him in action.  I saw some commercials for his upcoming Comedy Central show, then I finally watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall, where Brand co-stars.  His character, who is obviously a bit like Brand and the character he’s created for himself, was brilliant; lovable, a bit of a man-whore, down-to-earth kind of guy who even at his worst you still like.  I thought he made a good part of that movie, definitely wasn’t the actual Sarah Marshall character, Kristen Bell who is quite drab in her performance.  Then a few weeks later my grandfather, father, and I were all in Barnes and Noble and I saw this horridly bright pink book with the handsome man with the crazy hair on it.  I looked at it, looked at the price, decided I was interested, but would wait to find it on Amazon.com.  Then my generous grandfather comes up and asks me if I wanted anything.  I looked at the book, then at him and said “Well I want this one, but I can get it online cheaper” hoping my grandfather would buy it anyway.  Then he said, in his wonderful New Jersey accent, “How’a ‘bout I just get youz the book.”  So I pondered it for a second trying to seem like it was a real moral battle for me to let my grandfather who has spoiled me my whole life to buy me this book, and then said “Ok, if you really want to.  Thanks, grandpa!”  I was excited and started to read the book later that night at my mom’s.  That’s when I fell in love with a guy named Russell Brand.  The more I read, the more I liked Brand and everything that makes him who he is.  From the colorful childhood filled with shady babysitters, looking at his father’s porn, and doing whatever necessary to get a laugh or a rise out of people, to the teenage years filled with drug use, sex, and desperately searching for who Russell Brand is, I liked.  The way he sees the world, like a dark comedy where the obvious is funny, but the undertones quite serious, is somewhat similar to how I see it.  The world is a beautiful place, filled with rainbows and butterflies, sunny days and bumble bees, but it is also a cold, harsh place filled with murder, lies, drugs, and overall destruction of all that is beautiful.  Some people turn a blind eye or sulk in the despair, but others, like Brand and myself, see it in a comical ironic sort of way.  I haven’t yet finished the book, but I honestly don’t want it to end.  If it went on forever I’d die with it in my grasp.  That’s saying a lot from me, I’m a picky reader.  Basically what I’m getting at here is reading My Booky Wook has inspired me to re-evaluate my life, figure out what I want, and deciding to not let the sometimes bumpy road get to me because even if I get on heroin, sleep with prostitutes, and occasionally get arrested I can still come out on top.  Thanks for inspiring me Russell Brand.