cliché girl

I am pretentious. It's just sort of how I roll. Sometimes I am reminded just how unsubstantiated my pretense actually is.

As I was trying to catch up on episodes of The Voice (1) this long weekend, I fell in LOVE with Say Something (2). It helps that I've been an anxiety ridden, emotional wreck for about a month, but this song is awesome for me right now.



Then, Becky lent me a copy of "The Fault in Our Stars" and told me to read it.  I started it without realizing it was a YA novel. I started it without knowing it was about teenagers with cancer. Had I known either of those things I probably would have written it off as some saccharine, Nicholas Sparks-esque business.* I started it knowing only that Becky hoped I would like it. I devoured it in a few hours last Thursday. (3) I now want to read everything that John Green has written. Fan girl. (4)

I've also been really in to Tegan & Sara's newest album. (5) And I feel like such a tool about that because it is way poppier than all of their other albums. I have and like them; I just don't love them as much as I love, love this album. (6) Keep it poppy! Keep it snappy!



So cliché.

*I've still never been able to sit through The Notebook, despite Goslovin being in it. I guess I'm not a real girl yet.

A few things that have been on my mind:

1. I really wish I was one of those people who can articulate what they are thinking right when they think it, especially when it comes to funny things. A couple of weeks ago I was sitting next to a few guys in my ward, and one of them slapped a sticker that said "usher" onto another one's chest. Seeing an opportunity to be HI-larious, I said to the newly dubbed, usher, "I loved your hit song..." and then had to pause as I tried to think of an Usher song. Seriously? I couldn't think of "OMG" "Yeah" "U Got it Bad" or that one, something like "Confession part II," or you know any of the other Usher songs that I know all of the words to.  Now I can, then I couldn't. So I had to then admit that I couldn't think of one. The kid I was sitting next to came up with like three.  Today I struggled to come up with Dick Cheney's name. Come on, brain! Molly fail.

2. Friends Natalie and Michael gave me a subscription to the New Yorker. I let all of my magazine subscriptions lapse, and totally, totally miss a few of them, but not the New Yorker anymore because of my sweet friends. Back when I first came to the New Yorker in 2004 I fell in deep literary smit with Paul Simms because a few of his submissions in the Shouts and Murmurs (obviously my favorite section). This week's "Test your Fashion IQ" made me LOL out loud a few times. Find it. Read it. (Bob Odenkirk's* "Portrait of the Artist" from a few weeks ago was pretty good as well.)

2.1. Flipping through the October Glamour I saw an article titled "Is Joseph Gordon-Levitt the new Ryan Gosling?" No. He's not.

3. I am apparently trying to single handedly trying to cover all of my friend Joanna's walls. A while ago I made her a dachshund chalkboard, because the girl loves her dachshunds.

 And for her recent wedding to delightful Chris, I made them a print that really fits them:

*Better call Saul!**
**We don't need a criminal lawyer, we need a criminal lawyer. Do you see the difference?

My question is this:

How is it that out of all of my friends who troll the internet with a tenacity and stamina I'll never come close to reaching, and then email me whenever there's something new featuring Ryan Gosling, that I had to find this by a complete fluke of click click clicking away on the internet looking for something else? Drunk History* and Ryan Gosling are two of my very favorite things.

F MINUS, friends!**

Drunk History Christmas with Ryan Gosling, Jim Carrey and Eva Mendes from Ryan Gosling

In other news, I'm suddenly in to the Christmas season a lot more than I was earlier.
Wayne Coyne helped too. 

* Remember when I told you to watch the Drunk History series on October 18, 2008?
**Actually, F Minus me for never knowing about ANYTHING that is happening on this interweb without one of you lovely people telling me about it first.***
***Why yes I did put that in a footnote that no one reads.

I don't go to the theater much.

One of my film professors Dean Duncan would encourage us to watch old and foreign films instead of trying to stay current with new releases. I've inadvertently followed his direction this year. I thought about it the other day, and I have only gone to a first run theater seven times in the last calendar year. Then journal and I thought about it further, and I have only seen movies that have Ryan Gosling and/or Emma Stone in them.

Easy A, All Good Things, Blue Valentine, Crazy Stupid Love, The Help, Drive and finally The Ides of March.

Maybe I should diversify? Or maybe I'll just stick to Netflix for all of my film needs. I can tell you right now that I won't be seeing Footloose.

Have You Heard: College

I was able to go see Drive this weekend, starring my celebrity crush Ryan Gosling, and it was interesting, that's for sure. It reminded me of a John Hughes film crossbred with The Godfather. I wouldn't recommend it for the faint of heart. I got made fun of for covering my eyes and turning my head, more than once. (More than once covering my eyes; more than once made fun of.) Anyway, The director Nicholas Winding Refn's use of music was deliberate and thoughtful, very Hughesian*. (His use of Christina Hendrix, not so much, in that she is woefully underused.)  I really liked a few of the songs - I mean, really liked. Particularly, "A Real Hero" By College featuring Electric Youth**


And "Nightcall" by Kavinsky


*Another very Hughesian choice was the pink cursive script that is on the movie poster, and spoiler alert all of the credits.

**I guess I'm not the only Debbie Gibson fan*** left. But that perfume smelled so, so terrible.

***Fan's probably not an appropriate word in that it is far too strong, but every once in a while I do like a little "Shake Your Love."

Can you blame me? It is a lyrical masterpiece. She must say, "Shake Your Love" 40 times. If it ain't broke, I suppose. And why write more lyrics than you have to?

Blue Valentine & The Halo Effect.

About a month ago, Shara and I went to see Blue Valentine on a rainy Saturday night. It was a pretty interesting experience. I am not going to be a spoiler - but everyone already knows that it's about a couple who is trying to decide if they like each other anymore.

Without going in to too much detail, I wanted to share that a few days after the fact (we needed some time to digest the movie) Shara and I were talking about how we were both feeling like the deterioration of Cindy & Dean's relationship fell primarily on Cindy's shoulders. I thought we were just being harsh on our own sex because that is what women do, but Shara brought up that we might be siding with Dean because we think Ryan Gosling is more attractive than Michelle Williams.  Then I thought of the halo effect, and wondered if because I think Ryan Gosling is excessively charming and adorable I am being more forgiving of Dean's flaws, and the fact that Cindy saw him as a negative emotion contagion. Except for maybe the heinous eagle sweatshirt.

 
Thoughts?

Ryan Gosling Day!

I don't have a tremendous amount of time right now, but how about a quick little post to:
1. Big sad face for Shara not being able to get a ticket before it sold out.
2. Big thanks to Becky for coming, you're always willing to be my friend, and I appreciate that.
3. BIG BIG thanks to Analee for making this -



which of course prompted the Dead Man's Bones men to invite me on stage and have the entire audience sing Happy Birthday to me! (and LOTS of "Happy Birthdays" from strangers after the show!) And then I got hugs and kisses from both of these dreamy men:




One of whom happens to be my celebrity crush!!!

Why no, I can't think of a better way to usher in a birthday. In fact, I would say that this has been my GREATEST BIRTHDAY EVER, and my actual birthday isn't until Wednesday! haha. Thanks Analee!! You're so brave and so much fun, and SUCH a good friend! Loves & loves!

For your consideration:

Some amazings, some funs, and some pretties:

Tuesday, Dead Man's Bones' LONG AWAITED (at least by Analee & I) debut album came out. I am IN LOVE WITH IT! I'm not usually a girl that goes for the creepy/zombie thing, but this album kicks! It brings a smile to my face, and I've been listening to it practically non-stop since Tuesday. (I even took it in to my facial appointment on Tuesday so my aesthetician/cousin Julia could hear it!) Key tracks: Lose Your Soul (musical perfection + pure sex!), In The Room Where You Sleep, and Paper Ships. Go HERE to download the delightful My Body's a Zombie for you for FREE!!!



Oh did I forget to mention that Ryan Gosling & Zach Shields are the cute boys behind Dead Man's Bones? Did I also forget to mention that they are coming to Portland on the 25th?!? Happy [early] Birthday to me!

Um, this cute girl made my whole day:

This is my favourite and my best:



SO GOOD!


Two new TV shows that I LOVE:

Man Shops Globe - It follows the found objects buyer for Anthropologie, Keith Johnson, as he finds awesome stuff, like this amazing bed, which I am now trying to figure out how to justify buying:


And, Bored to Death. It is HBO's version of Murder She Wrote for the hipster demographic. It is delightful.

And how about a shout out? This lovely lady, one of my favorite people, has a new website up for her beautiful photography! She is such a talented person, and her portraits are intriguing and beautiful. Look:



SO CHARMING! P.S. Lindz, is the uber talented girl who made this poster-sized picture of me out of construction paper many, many moons ago.

Hollywood Crush

I've been getting a lot of flack about saying that Brenden Fraser is my secret celebrity crush, which is I think primarily because these people have not seen "George of the Jungle," but I am not ashamed. I watched "With Honors" about eight hundred times in fifth and sixth grade. And unfortunately for me, I've seen Mrs. Winterbourne more times than I'd care to mention (but know that four of these times were thanks to United Airlines not changing their in-flight movie between trips one summer). Although, my "crush" on Brenden Fraser is not impregnable enough to ever pay to see one of the mummy movies, or that journey to the center of the earth movie, or to really seek him out in any capacity, he is just so goofy.

But I feel like I should mention that my real celebrity crush is Ryan Gosling, and I am all pins and needles about the Dead Man's Bones album coming out. But to tide me over, I'm so glad to hear and see this: