Uh Oh.

I was all set to make a post about Charlyne Yi and how awesome she is. I used to not like her because I heard she was dating Michael Cera, and also for some reason I thought she was older than she is. Then I found out that she was 23 and not dating Michael Cera and I decided I could like her. I mean, I love Zooey Deschanel as much as the next person that likes looking at pretty things, but I think it's cool that an actress/female comedian (comedienne, if you will. Do people still say that? I don't think so) can be the lead in the film without putting the focus on her appearance. And I'm really looking forward to Paper Heart. Alex and H. are probably getting tired of my oft-repeated "Where are the smart, realistic romantic comedies fronted by women?" rant, because it's something I complain about all.the.time. I was kind of thinking that maybe Paper Heart would be that movie. Except then something happened. I read an interview with Charlyne Yi, and she said this:

“I think a lot of girls are very catty and just weird and sassy. I prefer to hang out with guys. I like calm hangouts like playing instruments and talking.”

Oh, no. I think all the ladies know: it's bad news bears when a girl says she "just doesn't get along" with other girls. Or that girls "just don't like her." Or that she thinks guys make better friends. Why the hell would you say you can't be friends with an entire gender, let alone a gender that includes you? Ugh. That whole sentiment just reeks of pretentiousness and that whole "I'm not like OTHER girls" vibe just makes me want to barf. Also, 95% of the time the girls who say this don't have girlfriends because they are MEAN. Sure, Charlyne Yi. Because girls can't have "calm hangouts" or "play instruments" or "talk." Most of my friends right now are ladies, and they aren't catty at all. They are sassy, though. She's right about that.
I've not given up on Charlyne Yi yet. She probably thinks I have, because I'm so catty and all. I'll still watch her movie.

Jesting Infinitely (Or at Least Until September)

Because I like taking on gigantic projects and then giving up on them before I've even properly begun, I decided to do Infinite Summer. Even though I almost never buy books, I hied myself to a Barnes and Noble and bought the only copy of Infinite Jest, the same one that sat there for years, neglected, just getting sadder and more tattered looking as people picked it up and then, realizing its heft, put it back. To be fair, I only bought it because someone stole our library's copy (can we talk about this for a minute? Who the hell is stealing all the movies and books Alex and I want? How hard is it to return this stuff?). I fully expected to give up after reading the first sentence, but instead I've held on, mostly on pace, for about a month. Okay, so I'm always 40 pages behind, and this weekend I had a marathon session to catch myself up. But basically I'm on track. It's weird.
So, if you don't know, Infinite Jest is a weird book. A lot of people (what am I talking about? I mean Chase) have asked me what it's about. It's hard to explain. Mostly it's about a tennis academy, but also it's about an addiction treatment facility. Apparently DFW used to play tennis, which I guess explains the exhaustively thorough descriptions of gameplay. It's a difficult book to read, for sure. For me, anyway. I've always had a lot of trouble with reading things that I'm not immediately attracted to (which was why I wasn't a very good English major) and the truth is that a lot of this book isn't easy to fall in love with. But parts of it are, and in the Dave Eggers-penned intro we all learn that this book will change our lives. We'll see. My life is pretty malleable to begin with, so it shouldn't take much. Expect updates as I continue.
Of note: A character brings about his own demise by placing his head in a microwave oven.

Julie & Julia!

Someone's been waiting for this movie for a long time! That someone is me. I love food, I love Julia Child, and I sort of liked this book.

Of note:
-in the book, the author/narrator was kind of, um...unlikeable. Whiny. Mean to her boyfriend. Perhaps she just wanted to seem relatable, because who among us hasn't been unlikeable, whiny, and mean to their boyfriends? Raise your hands, ladies (Alex)! But alls I'm saying is, Amy Adams is (probably) inherantly incapable of playing an unlikeable character. Sorry, too charming!
-What's up with her voice in this trailer? She's got a Drew Barrymore thing going (notice it when she says "I was drowning and she pulled me out of the ocean).
-Casey Wilson alert!
-Alex is going to see this with me. Because I'm going to make him!