This past week the new book by author Kelly Williams Brown, of the adultingblog,
was released to a good amount of hype. Brown was up until recently a writer for the Oregon Statesman Journal, but probably quit when she got the advance for her book because that's the adult thing to do. No, I actually know nothing about her life and she seems like a lovely person. Brown's book, Adulting: How to Become A Grown-Up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps, is ,more or less, a guide to how to be an adult.

Despite the fact that Brown is in her 20s, she has done quite a number of adult-like things such as writing for a newspaper and then writing a book, so perhaps she deserves the accolades and the right to give out advice.

As someone who is not in her 20s and considers herself an adult, despite eating gum for breakfast today and not having written a book on how to be a grown-up, I thought that I should give Adulting a read to relate back to you. Since all of you reading are most likely grown-ups yourselves.

The book is actually quite handy. It covers lots of bases from cleaning to cooking to work to being happy with your life, all things that young people should be made aware of. While there are almost too many of these pieces of small wisdom, the book is a quick read and something you can go back to when in need of consultation.

Of the 468 steps, here are ten that stuck out to me, for better or worse.

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Photo by Dat Lam

Gwendolyn Zepeda at the Housotn Indie Book Fair

What She Does
Gwendolyn Zepeda is a writer of novels, children's books, blogs and poetry "and whatever else I feel like." She was recently named Houston's very first Poet Laureate.

Zepeda got her start as a blogger and was a founding writer for the early-internet TV recap blog Television Without Pity, where she recapped Ally McBeal, 7th Heaven and other late-'90s shows.

"That was the first time I was ever paid to write," she said.

In 2000, she sold her first book, a collection of short stories called To the Last Man I Slept with and All the Jerks Just Like Him. However, the book wasn't published until 2004.

"At the time, I didn't understand how long it took for a book to get published. I was going through a divorce, [Tropical Storm] Allison -- I just remember it was a really tumultuous time." Because of that, Zepeda said she thought she'd never write a book again.

"But I can't stop. No stopping."

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Legal woes kept French director/actor Pierre Etaix's cache of comedies from being seen for years but happily those issues have been settled and Etaix's complete works are being released in a box set by Criterion Collection. New digital masters of the recently restored films, including his five features -- The Suitor (1963), Yoyo (1965), As Long As You've Got Your Health (1966), Le grand amour (1969) and Land of Milk and Honey (1971) -- and three shorts -- Rupture (1961), Feeling Good (1966) and the Oscar-winning Happy Anniversary (1962) -- make up the three-disc set. Extras include new English subtitles, new video introductions by Etaix and Pierre Etaix, un destin anime (a 2011 documentary about Etaix by his wife Odile Etaix).

Etaix worked as a circus acrobat and clown and reportedly loved silent era films. All of that shows on screen with his broad humor and physical comedy. He's been described as a French Jerry Lewis; actually we see more Buster Keaton in him. Witty, lighthearted and warm, Etaix's work went unseen for far too long. Catch up on France's funny man with this all-in-one collection.

Le grand amour (Pierre Étaix, 1969) -- Bed Car from Film Comment on Vimeo.

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Photos courtesy Ellora's Cave Publishing

Hello ladies. Justin Whitfield wants to do the crossword with you.

If you loved the movie Magic Mike (and I know a lot of people who did), you might be wondering how much of it was factually accurate. Two Houston-based male strippers have teamed up to write a book about the Playgirl lifestyle, called Take It Off! The Naked Truth About Male Strippers, and recently talked to Art Attack about the stereotypes, their craziest stories and the, ahem, hardest parts of being a male exotic dancer.

The book, which was released last year, is the brainchild of Taylor Cole and Justin Whitfield, both in their 30s.

"We'd been talking about this for years," Whitfield said. "Then this movie comes out, it makes us look really cool, so we decided to get to work on the book."

"When we'd go on tour, we'd both tell stories about the job," Cole said. Many of those stories have ended up in the book. The men said the book is part autobiographical and part instructional. It also covers a lot of the questions most commonly asked of male strippers.

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Our choice for Friday comedian Jo Koy, who lives in California, doesn't mind earthquakes, but tornados, well, that's something else. Koy had just arrived at a Kentucky airport when one of the baggage handlers told him a tornado warning was in effect. "Don't worry, it's not a tornado, it's just a tornado warning." "What's the warning?" Koy asked. "It's a siren." "Like a fire-engine siren? What, like a police siren?"

Unconcerned, the baggage handler said, "Don't worry, when you hear it, you'll know it. And when you hear it, run and hide." "Wha-wha-what?" stammered Koy. "Run. And. Hide. A tornado, it just appears. It just picks up shit and starts throwing it."

Koy prefers earthquakes, which he insists he ignores. "Fuck an earthquake! We don't care nothing about earthquakes in the Bay Area. They try to scare us all the time, telling us California's gonna break off into the ocean. Yeah! That's what we want -- the California Islands. We'll a-l-l have oceanfront property."

Jo Koy performs at 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday, 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Improv Comedy Showcase, 7620 Katy Freeway. For information, visit the Improv website or call 713‑333-8800. $25 to $55.

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The Gulf Coast novelist known by the pen name Maya Banks keeps her real identity secret. In fact, while we know she lives in a small town somewhere in East Texas, during our conversation, she deftly avoids mentioning the town's name or giving us any hint as to its precise location. Given that Banks writes novels with lots of steamy, graphic sex scenes and that she has school age children, her quest for anonymity is understandable.

Not that what Banks writes would be considered pornographic by most people. Banks is clear: "I write erotic romance." That's not to be confused with "mommy porn," a term Banks dislikes. "Most readers and authors I know are actually quite insulted by the term 'mommy porn.' It trivializes what women are reading."

And what many women are reading, according to Banks, is a wide variety of sexy romantic fiction that runs from the PG-rated sort (think "his manhood swelled" moments between a couple in love) to the XXX-rated type (think bondage, S&M and threesomes among strangers)

A New York Times bestselling author, Banks has been writing erotic and historic romance novels for the last 11 years. Her newest book, Fever, being released this month, is the second in her popular Breathless trilogy which follows a group of men who, as best friends and business partners, share everything, including women. Like many of Banks' books, Fever includes scenes of group sex, bondage and S&M.

REWIND: Mommy Porn: The Aftermath of Fifty Shades of Grey

"Erotica is not necessarily romance, it's not necessarily a happy-ever-after," Banks tells us. "In erotica, the sex is mostly for titillation but erotic romance is going to be focused on a relationship and not just sex. There's going to be a happily ever after, even if it's not a traditional happily ever after. In a menage book, that happily-ever-after may involve three people, but it still has an emotionally satisfying resolution."

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Best-selling author Harlan Coben defies the current marketing logic and says Twitter and Facebook don't really affect his ability to sell books. He uses both both social media platforms (you can find him on Twitter and Facebook), but claims he hasn't seen much change in sales or even in his relationship with his readers because of them. "I question the whole relevance of, for writers especially, of doing Facebook and Twitter. I question if it helps at all or does any good in terms of marketing. It's easy to say that it does, but I haven't noticed it. Yes, you have more contact with people on an individual basis, but it's not face-to-face. That's where readings and appearances come in. I've always had a good rapport with my readers and the why and how of that haven't changed all that much over the years."

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Artist: Sam Wukusick

It's called Inu-chan and it is a program, now in its second year, brought to the community by Brazos Bookstore. Inu-chan is a very customized book club, more or less, where customers sign up to receive surprise books each month, based on their personalities. Brazos developed the idea last year as a way to do something different for their customers.

"This is something that bigger stores can't do," says Jeremy Ellis, Brazos's manager.

Beginning on March 18, the store will conduct interviews for two weeks or with up to the first 50 people who sign up to assist in their tailor-made-for-you selections. The 10-15-minute interviews consist of questions about the readers' passions in life and are not primarily about their reading preferences. Once the interviews are completed, the Brazos team goes to work to select specific books that they think readers will enjoy. Based on their magic formula, each reader will receive a book every month from April through September.

"We want this to be a unique experience," Ellis mentions.

The books the store sends are not your typical best-sellers/blockbuster-type books; they tend to fall a bit on the "weird" side. Additionally, the books come hand-wrapped, some with little extras to make the experience that much more special.

Based on last year's response, the store expects this year's to be even more successful. They have taken some of the feedback from the previous year and made some slight changes.

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When you have children, your parents and in-laws use that fact to unload every single bit of your own childhood that they refused to throw away. It's a hit-or-miss process that usually ends with me just dumping or donating things when I get home, but last weekend I got a treat.

This is The Survival Series for Kids, written by Joy Wilt Berry and illustrated by Bartholomew. Back in the '80s, they were a pretty good set of 22 books (two guides per book) that were designed to help kids deal with everything from writing to grandma to hanging out with the wrong crowd. The Wife With One F had a complete collection that her mother had held onto until she handed them off to us. Buried among them was What to Do When Your Mom or Dad Says... Don't Overdo with Video Games!

It was published in 1983. The great video game crash of 1983 was looming, threatening to destroy the home market forever until the NES debuted two years later. Pole Position was the dominant arcade game that year, and rumors swirled that mysterious government agents would collect high scores in order to either recruit or experiment on gamers.

In other words, it was a very different world of gaming from the one we have now. I flipped through the book expecting to see a bunch of laughably out-of-date fears and advice, but was honestly shocked to see nothing of the kind. The book is eerily apropos even for today's audience.

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The Orange Show's media and marketing guru, Jonathan Beitler, explains the annual Bless the Orange Show performance, one of our choices for Friday, this way: "It's a way for the Orange Show to cleanse the stage after the last performances, renew the space and make sure we have a good season. "We're inviting a creative spirit into the community and continuing to foster it." More selfishly, Beitler admits, the annual blessing hopefully ensures that the outdoor venue's always-eclectic season will be blessed with favorable weather throughout the year. (Hey, whatever works.) During the blessing, transcendental singer/songwriter Tyagaraja conducts an on-site Fire Ceremony (an ancient Vedic ritual and performance employing music, dance, chanting, and flame). Culminating with classical Indian dance, the evening also offers a tabla and percussion performance with Alaap Parikh and Gunjen Mittal.

Tyagaraja leads the blessing at the Orange Show on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Orange Show, 2402 Munger. For information, visit the Orange Show's website or call 713-926-6368. $10.

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