Surrender, Dorothy: Reviews

The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement

This book has caused more than a few nightmares for me. The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement, by Jean M. Twenge, PhD, and W. Keith Campbell, PhD, focuses quite a bit on the Internet and what it has done to all of us.

 The authors talk about how easy it is to project yourself shallowly, to present only the best sides of yourself in your Facebook profile picture or your Twitter avatar. They wrote:

 "Virtual worlds are entire online communities where individuals can pick out identities, or avatars, and interact with others. (Avatar is an interesting term for this -- the word was originally used to describe the human form of a deity, especially Hindu deities that often took various earthly forms.)

The book, I admit, could be downright depressing. I had to put it down and walk away several times because it painted a picture of modern-day society filled with anorexic and overweight kids, blinged-out five-year-olds and forty-year-old hipsters desperately avoiding a cardigan and the natural aging process, all because we need to feed the beast of self-esteem. I do take issue with the assumption that people only put attractive photos on their Facebook page because they're narcissists. Some element of wanting to present the most attractive self is evolutionary in everyone. I don't know ANYONE who would purposely slap an unattractive photo of themselves up unless they fully intended to make fun of it publicly. 

There was some hope in the book, though:

"Talk frankly, too, about the reason often given for plastic surgery: 'I wanted to feel better about myself.' Isn't that better accomplished by achieving something, having a close friend, or helping others?"

Good to remember. As someone who achieved Hollywood thinness as the result of an eating disorder, I'm here to tell you that looking like that doesn't make you feel good about yourself. It makes you wonder how the hell you're going to maintain it, scared to death to lose it and so completely preoccupied with how you look you're no fun at parties. So I do think there are good points here about not letting yourself get sucked into the trap of over-the-top physical changes and shallow relationships with 5,000 "friends" on Facebook.

Every once in a while, it's good for a blogger to be reminded by the medical community that nobody gives a shit what I had for breakfast.

Great Wolf Lodge Kansas City

I helped break a Guinness World Record. I know, I know. Really, stop. And what, you might ask, is my claim to fame? I waterslided. Waterslid? I rode a waterslide with a whole bunch of people over and over and over.

On March 26, I joined apparently 45, 148 people in 11 Great Wolf Lodge locations to break the continuous watersliding world record. And then I got to stay in a room at the Kansas City Great Wolf Lodge *for free* in order to bring you this unbiased report of that establishment's accommodations, and also to waterslide. (Yes, I just made that a verb.)

I had never been to the Great Wolf Lodge before, although every time we drove to The Legends in Kansas City, I'd stare longingly at the colorful waterslides poking out of the building. Especially when it was like twelve degrees outside. The waterslides did not disappoint. You rode them on giant inflatable floaties, so there was none of that scraping-the-butt-on-metal business, and you were totally less likely to lose your bikini top. Also -- and this is key -- young children aren't as scared of them. Beloved, the little angel and I all rode down them together because the floaties were so big. Also, those slides were FAST. I have never been on a waterslide that fast before, and I consider myself something of a connoisseur, being from the middle of the country -- where we waterslide instead of surfing.

This very fuzzy camera phone pic doesn't show the actual waterslides, so I'll just steal a photo from their site.

Now you get the picture, right?

The accommodations were fine. If you wanted to pay extra, you could get a Wolf Den or something like that. It had a special little kid area with bunkbeds and their own TV. I'm sure some kids would love it, and the little angel loved it until it was dark, and then she became convinced that there were creatures inside her wolf den with her because of the shadows. I'm thinking you know your kids' personality and whether or not it would be worth it to do what I consider a significant financial upgrade.

Interesting and different. And possibly terrifying. Depends on the kid.

Other attractions:

• Arcade -- AWESOME! We play a lot of ridiculous arcade games in the Arens family, as it is the poor man's theme park. We regularly spend time in places with claw machines and pinball machines and anything involving whack-a-mole. On date nights, Beloved and I usually head out to play pool and darts. So I speak from experience when I say this was a good arcade. Stuff for all ages. We spent about two hours there. And you could bring your drinks in, a huge plus for the tired parent.
• Strange wizard-themed MagiQuest game involving the necessary purchase of a $15 plastic wand and about three hours of tromping around the hotel. Didn't like. Not a fan. But the tweens seemed to like it -- I don't know. I don't know why you'd tromp around with a wand when you could be watersliding, but maybe it's a matter of personal taste. 

So there you have it! My unbiased review! *Note: My daughter asks about every three days when we are going back.