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Living Oprah: How to get a book contract without even trying.

Clever. I have to admit, I am SURE she knows not to take all the O says literally, but it's clever premise for a blog. I took a quick peek. I don't think I could follow her blog every day - but a nice recap of the entire process would give me a nice chuckle.

If nothing else, she got a cute kitty out of it.

At least the kitty is living a better life. This sort of sounds a LOT like the Julie and Julia project where the woman made all the recipes from the Julia Child cookbook on her blog and then got book deal...and now a movie...

sounds kind of cult-ish....

I want to "Live Bourdain"

ugh. Oprah needs to be silenced for a while.

living in a reality that oprah created? scarier than a trip to neverland ranch.

haha. agreed. silence oprah!

I'm sick of Oprah telling everyone how to live their lives...and I'm certainly not interested in hearing what this sycophant has to say about it.

It's an interesting exercise in testing the Power of Oprah - reality or illusion? Surely it's an illusion bestowed upon Oprah by millions of followers, but this is just Lo's way of testing that power. I think it's smart, and if she gets a book deal, good for her.

I'm not sure my liver could 'live bourdain'

but its a nice thought!

totally cool

Wow - for once I agree with all the commenters.

I read the NYT article when it was first published, and I really don't think she's a devout follower.

She's taking on more of a passive skeptic role.

And just a side note that a few of you may find juicy: I used to work at Harpo Studios, and had the "pleasure" of interacting with Ms. O several times.

I'll just say she isnt all good feelings and positive thoughts.

www.thebitterfoodie.blogspot.com

Without having read the blog or any articles about this, I think this is a totally cool conceptual art piece and a book deal would be a very integrated part of the whole thing.

Hey sounds like a cult, whatever you do don't drink the KoolAide. Wow some people are are such @$$ clowns.

every time i see a house tour i'm gonna rearrange my furniture like them. i'm living AT. Maxwell is my leader all haill max all hail max...

Sounds like she should have an interesting blogg.
"BOOOO" to all of those who are hating on Oprah. I doubt if she REALLY expects you to "follow" her. (insert eyeroll whenever ready)

La loca, "living Bourdain" would be so awesome!

Being neutral to Oprah's powers, I picked up a few back issues floating around the office. Really, the way everything is worded in her magazine, it pretty much seems that she expects those embarking on the "Best Life" plan should follow her to the letter. To me, it sounded like I'd be labeled an asshole by the world for not luxiriating in her imported Andean llama wool slippers or trying to go raw/vegan for a month long cleanse. She irks me something awful now. The tone of her entire magazine is similar to Martha Stewart's "Gentle Reminders" section. The O magazine has that sing songy tone your most bitchy teacher used to give you when she asked you do something. As if you are too stupid to follow what is common sense.

i would love to Live Bourdain! let's get on it!

i want to live bourdain too ... but ... i'd have to go to the gym fifty times more than i do now. i don't have tall skinny guy genetics that can handle as much pork fat as he eats :)

this is so frickin' funny - i'm going to have to start following the blog now :)

Excuse me if this does sound a little like (and its ilk):
http://www.amazon.com/Lifes-Little-Instruction-Book-Observations/dp/1558538356/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222199409&sr=8-1

So what, Oprah has a version of it. I used to be home and watch her a lot and she had Dr. Phil on before he got his own tv show, and some other dude she had on weekly and tell you how to live, and all that gratitude journal things, and the Tuesdays with Morrie stuff, not to mention telling you what everyone should get for Christmas, remember the jersey sheets? Does anyone who is grown still favor them? She has been doing this a long time. She is in a particularly charismatic position to tell you how she thinks it would be best how you live, vs. all the people who feed her head who you've never heard, and you'd never have such a rich bank of things and ways to be to want if she didn't put this information out for you in its entirety. It would be too obscure otherwise.

Just like the bible (I am an atheist), I'm sure some of her advice is just sense, some is authoritative preferences, some is phobic, some is judgmental, and some may have the tendency to make society a better place if everyone agreed to behave the same way. As it turns out, some people will reject it out of hand, some will base their life on every word, some will pick and choose, some will interpret it according to their own agenda, some will flout authority for their own amusement, and some will arrange their peace for the rapture.

It's a better idea to align yourself with your conscience, and not make excuses out loud or to yourself. Oprah's stuff makes sense to Oprah so much that she can't believe everyone can't just find out - this is her mission and she is her own missionary. It is not wrong to try to be a better person, to find out how to do that, and to actively make these alterations in your life. It's not because Oprah (or Martha) thinks she's Jesus, does Suze Orman think she's Jesus? Tony Robbins? Wayne Dyer? Deepak Chopra? Leo Buscaglia? Just because they think you're doing it wrong doesn't mean you can't practice self-examination and do things that are meaningful to you and to make yourself more meaningful to others. I mean, if you want to. I no longer watch Oprah, but if the general idea of this lady is to test Oprah's philosophies, I think it's as worthy a goal as what most of us do when we wake up and tackle the day. Disciple? Whatever. I just think most of the advice from any one source will be skewed, pushy, and sometimes at cross-purposes, but learning and improving ourselves is the sentiment we should grasp from this example.

I don't think we need to take Oprah or this blurb about it all too seriously. I am sure the journalist blogging about it is doing it as an experiement, meant to be ironic. I am sure it will bankroll a bundle for her at years end. Lets just take it for what it is and not get all philisophical KTG, live Bourdain for goodness sake!

She is bankrolling this my @$$. She gets paid for every media outlet (major and minor) that picks up her musings about living her best life. PT Barnum must be chuckling from the grave.

I'm frightened and fascinated with how it turns out. Wonder how far in the hole she'll end up. I'm surprised that's not that $150 teacup I saw Oprah touting away back.

Incedentally buying leopard print shoes is not going to reduce your carbon footprint... what to do when Oprah contradicts herself? LOL

Sorry, I could not stop my train of thought! It is one thing to be cynical or try to copy one person's version of a perfect life, and another to take ideas that give you momentum in life and spiritually. I guess another thing to do is reject the messenger because she can be quite domineering under the spectre of generosity and goodwill (Mom?).

It's all kind of fun, but a lot of what humans try to do is copy someone or try to follow their directions, like someone said Maxwell up in the comments. I probably won't follow this lady's blog, but it could be fascinating to see what happens when you stop being your authentic self and live by someone else's gospel. It could be enriching and shallowing simultaneously. Would you rather learn things the hard way, or revel in your own mistakes? Wisdom is hard, here's a shortcut! If there's 2 aspects of human nature you need to know about, it's that there are people who love to tell you what to do, and people who do what someone else tells them to.

Ultimately, people emulate those who inspire them by their example and I'm guessing Oprah must inspire a lot of people if they're willing to follow her advice. I've never seen Oprah's show since I've lived in Japan for the past 19 years. However, I don't think she's offering advice that she expects anyone to slavishly follow, but just what she is enthusiastic about or feels is best. The nice thing about free will is that we can listen to advice, but not take it.

As for the woman doing this, it's clearly for attention and profit. It's too gimmicky to be anything else. Mind you, if it helps her fulfill some personal goal and it harms no on in the process, more power to her.

If anyone would like to obey me for a year, please let me know.

Purely on the most shallow and aesthetic-concerned level, I'd much rather imitate Martha for a year than Oprah. If nothing else, Martha's is all about EFFORT, the message being meticulous attention to detail brings happiness, and Oprah's seems to be about buying stuff.

To paraphrase my mother "If Oprah told you to jump off the roof, would you?"

ROFLMFAO, Bradseed, I'll get back to you on that.

ugh. Oprah needs to be silenced for a while.

-- first5times--

haha. agreed. silence oprah!

posted by jln3681 on 2008-09-23 14:28:43
-- jln3681--

I'm sick of Oprah telling everyone how to live their lives...and I'm certainly not interested in hearing what this sycophant has to say about it.
-- suzy8track --

It's an interesting exercise in testing the Power of Oprah - reality or illusion? Surely it's an illusion bestowed upon Oprah by millions of followers, but this is just Lo's way of testing that power.
-- lisan43 --

Just remember - Oprah is the one who introduced America to Barack Obama, before he was even in office for the 143 meager days prior to running for president.

You do the math.
Oprah nation.

hmmm... as someone who used to work at a women's lifestyle magazine, i don't think Oprah expects you to follow EVERYTHING she says. All ideas presented are just options, if you’re not keen on anything, you don’t have to do it.And you don’t have to watch the show or read the mag if you’re sick of ‘em, they’re there for the people who need the guidance, and happen to choose Oprah as their "consultant".

As for Lo’s project, I would do it to see if the ideas presented by the media actually work. It’ll be sort of a media watchdog thing – “can you believe everything the media tells you?”. She should have done this as a thesis and get her master’s or phD as well on top of everything else!

This is so ridiculous and amazing at the same time.

I agree with "Oprah needs to be silenced" but I'm happy that cat got a new home!

"Some of Oprah's suggestions are silly (like the charge to buy leopard-print flats)"

Whats so silly about leopard-print flats???

isn't it after all a tv show... remember. a tv show.

First: very, very happy for the little cat...Second:It is this lady's gig for the year..her thing...Third: I totally need KTG to run for president...or something!..wit and common sense!

i quit watching her probably 15 years ago. although i did turn it on to see maxwell. as expected, not 10 minutes into the show someone was crying.

freaky

Ooh, KTG, I freaking love my jersey knit comforter cover and I'm a grown woman. Yes, I had to buy it from the children's section of Garnet Hill...but whatever, it's comfy!

Instead of "Living Your Best Life", shouldn't it be "Living Your Spiritually Shallow, Trend-of-the-Season Mediocre Life"?

But the blog isn't very interesting. I pity her husband.

If Lo was a more engaging writer, I might be drawn in, but she's just flat. Julie and Julia was interesting as a blog, dull as a book, and it's a Norah Ephron movie, so I don't expect much.