Music Mondaze

Because today is Monday and maybe that's got me feeling like emotional hodge podge. Cue Queen Bey's power anthem-y healing. HECK OUI!

Book clubbing with Amy Poehler

Have you read Yes Please yet? I just started today.

An early excerpt that made me elle oh elle:

"In my high school yearbook I was voted third runner-up for 'Most Casual.'" 

Perfect.

If you need me, I'll be nose-deep in this book for the next few days. Later alligators!

Crucial update for quote-worthy sentiment that hits home hard:

Page 292: 

"As I have gotten older, my social anxiety has worsened. I am not great in a crowd. I don't see a lot of rock shows because sometimes I am afraid I won't get out. I used to squeeze my little self into the scrum and jump around and cause tiny trouble. Now I just want to sit down and have someone perform my five favorite songs while I eat a light dinner..."

Basically.

Mariah Music Monday

It's the last week of October, folks! Let's put a little boogy in all ours steps. Classic Mimi, you guys. God love her and her big time cam-hamming. <3

Also, there are some (pretty terrifying) clowns in this video, which makes the whole thing more-than-vaguely Halloween-appropriate. I'm really nailing it today!

P.S. The remix is way better & continues to hold strong in my top ten favorite songs ever (hold your judgment).

As a kid, this was easily my number one song to "choreograph" dances to. Signature moves included marching to the beat, arm-waving, and high-kicks. I would then force whoever was within eyesight and/or shouting distance to learn the moves, under threat of permanent and irrevocable un-friendship (obviously I was a great friend to begin with).

Bonkers over Bonkers

Not until very (some would say "embarrassingly") recently did I learn about Jennifer Saunders' autobiography. PEOPLE, WHERE THE HECK HAVE I BEEN??

If you want a crash-course on the brilliance of this very funny lady, you can watch this French and Saunders sketch or practically any scene from Absolutely Fabulous (but start with the one in the link) or fuck it just click both & laugh a whole lot.

Of course, I bee-lined to Chapters to snatch copy, because I have zero self-control and often conflate real money with visa money.

Eager to dive in, I started reading Bonkers on the bus. Mistake. Common knowledge proves there's always one (minimum) bizarre person sharing the same public transportation as you. Tuesday, that person was me. First, I began grinning to myself -- not super normal for someone traveling solo, but still a relatively low-scale offense. Then, I was quietly laughing... which led to proper laughter, while also doing a weird thing with my face in an attempt to stop. The girl sitting beside me didn't change seats or anything, but I eventually sensed a wary vibe from her.

Bonkers has since been categorized as Read In Public At Your Own Risk, and I'm fine with it. It's an accolade, really -- most of my favorite books are on the same shelf (Everything Is Perfect When You're A Liar, Bossypants, very nearly everything in David Sedaris oeuvre, the list goes on).

Play it as it lays

Did everyone else know there's a Joan Didion doc in the making? I just found out!

If the squirrels (who are seemingly undergoing UFC training outside) cared to look through the window, they would have witnessed Unbridled Excitement of a caliber so compelling that I just contributed to Kickstarter for the first time. (Click the linky bit right there for more information about the project.) 

At the very least, invest the next six minutes into watching the trailer above. Or go read The Year Of Magical Thinking and have a deep cry while you question human fragility and loss. Your move, stranger!

21 // Shoot Me

I just watched the greatest thing.

The Netflix powers-that-be (Canada Edition) have blessed us with a documentary I've been itching to see for a long while. "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me" follows its namesake as she performs, tells stories, deals with health issues, and basically emanates high voltage bad-assery. The woman takes no shit, people! Not one shit from anybody!

Going into it, I had a general idea about the late Elaine Stritch's legacy. I figured she was a tough cookie, even if said figuring was largely based on her role in 30 Rock. And yet, the film left me thrilled and stunned and even a little weepy. I wish I could have known her. Scratch that -- I wish I would have known of her fifteen years ago, when I was just starting high school. Stritch was ambitious, outspoken, headstrong, self-aware, intelligent... ok, I'll stop gushing. My quiet, impressionable 12-year old self could have used a dose of this lady's influence. Heck, I'll just start now.

I'd link back to the trailer, but (surprise!) I still don't know how to do that properly. So be a good kid and google it for yourself. You can thank me later.

Anyway, here's a parting shot from Elaine.

“This is a time in my life where I’m gonna behave like an elegant human being. Or not.”

(Good lord, the woman is a quote machine. The movie alone is filled with so many gems.)

Goodnight! :*