Recommendations
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Read This
Required Reading. I really mean that. Jennifer Aniston’s essay on Huffington Post blew up on the internet last week for good reason. She confronts the rampant body shaming of females in the press, the problems with “bump watch” tabloids, the utter ridiculousness of focusing on celebrity gossip given all of the other things that have been going on in the world lately, and what the hell it means to be a woman, famous or not, in a world that passively accepts what are often toxic views of womanhood. I want to scream this part from the rooftops: “Here’s where I come out on this topic: we are complete with or…
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Read This
Required Reading. After the last week, after the last weeks, and months, and years, this poem strikes at my soul. Plum Jam Alisa Gordaneer Everything is different this year but jam still needs to be made because red plums are thudding onto grass. We celebrate, marking summers. The year we added lemon. The year it didn’t jell and we poured it over ice cream until we couldn’t eat. You send the children out with pails, and their arms strain against ripeness. Last year they were too small, pushed plums into their own mouths. This year, everything too much to contain: garden overgrown, trees weighed down, wasps drunk. Bees drowsy with…
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Reading Watching Listening
Reading… Changing Guard at Buckingham Palace by A.A. Milne. While I was in London a couple months ago, I picked up a beautiful copy of this book to send my favourite tiny human for his birthday this month. It’s not totally age appropriate, but his parents can read it to him until he can read it himself. That’s how it works, right? (I’m child inept.) I definitely sat down and read through it before sending it off though. Watching… The live broadcast of the Branagh Theatre Company’s Romeo and Juliet. I have complicated feelings about this particular adaptation. Actually, no, that’s wrong. The adaptation is brilliant. Richard Madden played…
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Read This
I occasionally peruse the missed connections page on Craigslist. Sometimes it’s hilarious, sometimes it’s touching, sometimes it makes me mourn for the state of humanity. It is always inspirational for character creation. And there is something endearing to even my jaded heart about the fact that people think something — anything at all — can come from these kinds of posts. Ethan Kuperberg’s “Missed Connections for A-Holes” is honestly more up my personal alley. Like I would post one of these. That probably tells you a lot about me. Stop judging me, and read the piece. I promise it is funny. I was at a coffee shop in Park Slope.…
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Reading Watching Listening
Reading… Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari. So far it’s more…scholarly?…than I expected. Super fascinating though. Still in the early stages of this one, so probably too early to form any real opinion. Watching… The Night Manager. I’m only about an episode and a half in, and it definitely requires actual attention, which is a good sign in a lot of ways, but also means it takes me a lot longer to make progress since I can’t really do other things at the same time. Brilliantly cast. Stunningly shot. Compelling storyline. Listening… This incredibly impressive cover of “Send My Love” by Kurt Schneider, Sam Tsui, Madilyn Bailey, and Alex…
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Read This
Required Reading. Sometimes, for no reason at all, a poem will loudly announce its arrival in my brain. Often this poem is “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock.” I have loved this poem since my first encounter with it in high school, so I never much mind its arrival in the midst of my daily life. It is also one of those poems that I associate with a particular person, so being reminded of a dear friend is a nice bonus whenever I think about this poem. It’s a long one, so grab a cup of tea and settle in. I promise it’s worth it. The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock T.S.…
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Reading Watching Listening
Reading… Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley. I picked this up on a whim at a Chapters in Edmonton. It is endearing and touching and beautifully written and infinitely sad. I was not prepared for it to be sad. Like at all. I literally cried so hard for about the last half of the book that I had to stop reading it before bed because I couldn’t sleep due to the level of distress. Watching… UnREAL. In all honesty, I started watching this show because Mindy Kaling posted on something (Instagram? Twitter?) about being obsessed with it. She did not steer me wrong. This show is bonkers good. Shiri…
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Reading, Watching, Listening
Reading… The Clasp by Sloane Crosley. I’ve already established on this blog that I adore Sloane Crosley’s writing, so it is no surprise that I was thrilled about her debut novel. Sadly, between picking it up and now, life intervened and it sat unopened on my to-read stack of books. I finally pulled it out over my recent trip to Alberta, and I loved every word. She has a particular talent for creating characters who feel real, who are both likeable and loathsome (often at the same time). The dialogue is alternately smart, witty, funny, and touching. And above all, it is believable. She is singularly skilled at capturing the…
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Reading Watching Listening
Reading… Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids edited by Megan Daum. I previously posted a Read This about Megan Daum’s thoughts on this subject, which you can find here. A weird thing happened while I was reading this book. I found myself agreeing most whole-heartedly with the men who contributed essays. I think it is in part because I have never felt conflicted about the issue, never felt like I should want it, or like I wanted to want it. And I’ve never felt the need to justify this to myself (to others, yes, all the time, but to myself, no). It’s a fantastic…
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Read This
Required Reading. Double-header today, y’all. Because I fly relatively frequently, I have a lot of thoughts on airports, airplanes, and the people who occupy them. One day I will sit down and write a piece (pieces?) about these thoughts, but for now, in the midst of a long trip out West, I will share with you thoughts on these subjects from Roxane Gay and Molly O’Brien. Roxane Gay’s spot on recounting of the men one meets while travelling, “Men You Meet While Travelling By Airplane” is hilarious. My favourites: The guy who opens his laptop the moment he sits on the plane because he has very important work to do…