just kids. patti smith. (313)

patti smith's just kids has been on my to-read list forever.  i even have a copy of it on my kindle.  however, i never got around to reading it, even thought everyone was raving about it when it first came out.  however, with her new book m train, coming out, i decided it was time for me to finally read just kids.

i hate to admit this, but i'm not familiar with any of her music.  i do know that her first album is horses. and i did hear her once at the santa monica pier for a free concert (we were on the beach, so i didn't see her).  sadly, i can't name one of her songs, nor recognize any.  actually, i can recognize, "because the night", but that is only because my boss played it for me once, when i told her i was reading this memoir.

even with a lack of music knowledge, and i apologize, because i know it makes me a total poser, but i absolutely loved this memoir and adore patti smith.  so much so that i got a ticket to see her talk next month for lapl's aloud series.  her story is amazing and she has such a beautiful spirit, one can not help but love her after reading this work.

oh and i have another faux pas, i didn't know who robert mapplethorpe was prior to reading this as well.  i know i am an terrible soul.   i did enjoy learning about his life and work in this memoir.  though i have to admit i'm not sure i would have the stomach for some of his s&m photography.  though i loved the tie rack that he had made for patti, it was beautiful.  i am sure i would have loved his necklaces, as well.

what i loved most about "just kids" was that patti smith was in new york during a very exciting time.  this memoir is filled with incredible stories.  patti and robert lived at hotel chelsea. prior to this work, i only knew it as the place were sid stabbed nancy, but it has a richer and less graphic history.  the people that she ran into while living in that hotel was incredible.  i loved reading about her interactions with william s. burroughs and salvador dali at the chelsea hotel.  and it's crazy because majority of the people she mentioned in her stories are people that i admire and think of as living in the past, but really it was not that long ago, i mean dali was alive during my lifetime.  granted, 6-year-old me was not a fan of his work when he died, it's odd to think we were on the earth at the same time.  this type of realization is what made patti's adventures in new york, so exciting for me.  the same went with her and robert's visits to max's kansas city and hanging out with people from warhol's factory.  what a cool scene to be apart of, though patti never felt she belonged until she got her keith richard's hair cut.  she was right in the heart of all of the exciting art and music that was being created in new york during that time.

here are some of my favorite stories that patti shared:
-when allen ginsberg mistook her for a boy and hit on her by offering to give her money for a sandwich
-hanging out with janis jopling and telling her that she looked like a pearl
-talking to hendrix outside of an art opening

but it wasn't just the celebrities stories that were incredible, but just being in new york.  it's incredible how patti came to new york with absolutely nothing and made it work.  i wish i had that kind of courage, but now i am too old to know better.  i should have moved to new york when i was young.  though i don't know if i would have had what it takes to survive in new york.  patti shared how her first days in new york were spent living on the street and searching for a food with a man she met.  i don't know if i could have done that. the memoir was also filled with her scraping money together to eat and pay rent.  it wasn't easy, but then again i think that was a part of being new york at the time (and to some extend that holds true today).  quick digression, it was also a very different new york.  a much grittier place than it is now.  it was funny to read about times square as a place for gigolos, considering how commericalized it is now.  i mean on one hand, it's great, but sad to think that CBGB's is now a john varvatos boutique!

i feel like i'm doing a poor job describing why this work is so amazing, but you really have to just read it for yourself.

i guess what makes just kids outstanding is her relationship with robert.  it reminded me of my twenties with my best friend.  he and i would roam around los angeles, looking for open bars, and always finding adventure.  it took me back to a carefree time of just enjoying life.  furthermore, it reminded me how important it is to have a friend that understands you.  it was beautiful to read about how patti and robert inspired each other with their art.  they produced their best work when they had each other in mind.  their relationship was special and i am glad that patti smith decided to share it with all of us.

this memoir really is great and i highly recommend it, even if you aren't familiar with her music or her poetry.  this work will fill your heart and have you smiling to yourself.

again i'm sorry for this bad write up, i feel like i didn't capture what made this memoir great without recounting everything that happen and in that case you just need to read it.  i will close with one spoiler, where the title came from.  one day, patti and robert were in washington square, when a woman told her husband to take a picture of them, thinking they might be artist. and his reply was, "oh, go on . . .they're just kids."

and the heart says whatever. emily gould. (232)

while looking up the blurb flavorpill had written about emily gould's friendship, i came across another article titled "could emily gould be the voice of our generation"? i didn't read the article, because i wanted to read the book first, but i would have to say yes, gould could be the voice of our generation.  (i have yet to read the article, i want to write this post first.)

as i read this collection of essays, i couldn't help but think of how it reminded me of hbo's "girls" and i am shocked that flavorpill did not put it on their list of books to read to fill the the girls' void in your life.  

this work was published in 2010 and the series started in 2012 and they do feel a lot a like.  so i wonder why it was excluded.  (actually i just googled thinking that maybe gould and dunham were friends, turns out they are not.  a feud started between them during the time gould's book came out.  how sad.)

and the heart says whatever covers gould's early twentysomething life.  it is just as curtis sittenfeld's (not sure who he is) words on the front cover share:  "these smart, poignant essays about being young and literary in new york city are like a twenty-first century version of the bell jar but with more pot, sex, technology, and (thanks goodness) a different ending."  gould shared with us her shitty jobs, bad break-ups, even worse rebound relationships, depression and bad discussions in life.  as i read about her time working at a publishing house, gawker, i can see how she gleaned from her life for friendship.  the same can be said for the relationships she had.

this collection felt like life, i mean it was, but it wasn't a forced life.  in the introduction, gould shared a story about how after a work thing she went to see her boyfriend's band play.  it turned into a late night when his band became the headliners.  her boyfriend was elated but she was tried so went home.  she realized that this was the moment their relationship shifted and they eventually broke up.  she has looked back at the moment wondering if she would do it different.  she goes on to question all the mistakes she has made. however she admits that "i would be lying if i said i was a different person now.  i am the same person.  i would do it all again."  it sad but its true.  i mean we did end up where we are now because of these mistakes and we would probably make them all over again.  i'd like to think i would do things differently but that is not how it ever is.

my favorite essays were "and the heart says" and "the lens".  "and the heart says" captured the difficulty and confusion of break-ups.  how one looks back on the period when it was good and realize that those feelings were not fake but only temporary as gould described.  it is also scary to think how someone we are so intimate with can suddenly be a stranger.  it also made my heart sad to know that that recording of joseph singing to her is lost forever, but at least she has the memory.  i enjoyed the ending to "the lens", the story of nan goldin's photo of cookie mueller and her husband at their wedding and sadly his funeral.  gould explained that "but [cookie] looks into the coffin with the same expression she'd worn at the wedding:  love and sadness, twined together so tightly they are indistinguishable.

gould's collection was just her life, but it felt more real then other similar works i have read, how to be a person or taipei, which attempt to do the same thing.  due to this, i would have to put a vote in the column for voice of a generation, but definitely need to see what else is out there.

friendship. emily gould. (224)

emily gould's friendship was listed on flavorpill's must reads for july.  they wrote:

As the title suggests, it’s about friends, sure — but Gould’s debut novel strikes at something deeper by accurately portraying the life, times, and struggles of people that toe the lines between Generation X and Y, complete with David Foster Wallace and Stevie Nicks quotes for an epigraph. With Friendship, Gould has given us something honest, moving, and important.

their description was right on pointe.  it is about friends but it also felt very real and reminded me of my own life.

i actually cringed when i read the first couple of pages because i was unsure if i was ready to read about late twentysomething dealing with unemployment and lack of a career.  but i after reading about how bev's goals in life went from "serve god, marry a good christian and raise children in the ways of the lord" in high school to "read every book, as far away from the midwest as possible and never turn down an opportunity to get shitfaced" in college, i felt like we were kindred spirits.  i went from mormon to alcoholic in the course of 4 years of college. 

as flavorpill mentioned it did capture the struggle of my generation, and i do feel stuck between y and x.  i am old for "girls" but too young for "sex and the city" but oddly identify with both!  but yes, my generation thanks to the recession have all ended up in this weird unemployment funk.  i am happy to report that most of my friends survived it but i ended up like bev, stuck with temp work (i actually substitute teach but same diff.) but enough of that woe, though kudos for gould portraying it right.  oh and before i go on, totally get the whole spending fiasco of amy, i don't buy crazy designer things but i do go out and blow hundreds of dollars on fancy meals but life paycheck to paycheck.  this gen x/y lifestyle cost quite a lot!  it's cost money to be stayin the know!

but back to the novel, friendship is the tale of two friends, bev and amy.  they met via work and became besties. however, when we meet them they are both on the cusp of life disasters, though they don't know, we, the readers don't know it either but alas that is life.

*spoilers from here on out (if you are a female gen x/y-er stop here and check it out.)

when we meet them bev was unemployed and temping.  she pulled a felicity dropping out of grad school to follow her boyfriend to somewhere for him to attend law school.  amy worked for the jewish equivalent to buzzfeed.  she used to be some perez hilton-esque social media celeb but screwed over the wrong celeb and now was at the jewish buzzfeed.

okay i really just wrote that back story to provide some distance for the spoiler, i am about to drop . . . bev gets pregnant from a one-night stand.  and i want to discuss it in the context of the movie, obvious child.  (if you haven't seen it stop here and see it!!!)

i just saw the film because i love jenny slate but it actually turned out to be a wonderful film and must see for all women.  in the film, jenny slate's character, donna, becomes pregnant after a one-night stand.  she, however, chose to have an abortion.  i have never been in that situation but felt the film dealt with it very honestly.  we see donna go to planned parenthood on her own, having no idea what is involved and being unable to afford it.  we also see her tell her mother and she discovering that her mother understood what she was going through instead of being disappointed.  we also saw donna at the clinic.  and it wasn't classic hollywood where she ends up with the guy and he decided to become the father, which i was grateful for though it is implied that they may end up dating.  you just have to see it!  but i really admired it for its being an apolitical portrayal of abortion though i recognize that abortion within in itself is political.  also donna is a comedian which helps lighten up the movie.  it's really great and slate was amazing! go see it!

back to bev, she went to have an anortion but could not follow through with it.  instead she decided to keep the child and try to raise it on her own though with the help of a friend, sally.  there was a brief juno moment where amy wanted to find a rich family to adopt the child which is how sally entered the picture.  though the exchange ala juno never occurred.  i appreciated this storyline because becoming pregnant actually helped bev get her act together.  it was nice to see her grow from the situation (oh and don't worry i won't be taking a getting any ideas.)

while bev grew, amy took a stumble.  she lost her job, her apartment, her boyfriend and had an affair with a married man!  as a result, she and bev end up fighting.  the classic tale of bff projection.  the unhappy friend projects their fears and worries onto the other friend lecturing them on life which results in a fight.  this has happen to me, i have been on both sides.  

and in the end, this is what truly felt real to me.  our friendships are often interrupted by life and sometimes they survive and other times the fall apart.  i have two friends that i loved very dearly but our friendships got complicated by life. it's tough because i think of all the great memories i have with them and realize how much the person i am today is due to them, but sadly we are no longer close.  it's my fault, my pride, i am like amy.  i should be like a bev and reach out to my friends.  i should add i feel like too much time has passed and one friend in particular has moved on well beyond me.  

in the end, i was happy that bev reached out to amy and i hope and assume that all became well between the two of them. you can't have a book called friendship end on a sad note.

this was a great read, and i plan on reading more of gould's work.  

the interestings. meg wolitzer. (182)

*this contains some spoilers, so if this is on your to-read list, i will tell you where to stop reading. you can read my beginning if you like.

i picked up the interestings because buzzfeed recommended it based on my love of bridge of terabithia.  buzzfeed shared

At its core, Bridge to Terabithia is about friendship, especially the kind that is strengthened by shared creativity and imagination. In The Interestings, Meg Wolitzer explores that bond — focusing on six teens who meet at a summer camp for the arts — and looks at what happens when it extends into adulthood.

sounds interesting right?  no, the book title is a bit of a misnomer.    

to be honest, i should have judge a book by its cover.  when i saw that the book title played second fiddle to the author's name, i should have known something was up.  seriously who puts their name that large on their book?  it actually does give the reader a peak into the self-righteousness they will encounter with the protagonist, jules jacobson.  (ps don't let the jeffery eugenides' blurb fool you!)

the interestings is the story of a girl named jules jacobson, she is a middle (maybe lower-middle) class girl from new jersey that befriended a group of rich kids from new york at an artsy summer camp, spirit-in-the-woods, which she attended on scholarship.  the title comes from the name the kids, ash, goodman, ethan, jonah, and cathy gave their cliqué, the interestings.  the book opens with the group as adolescents at camp in the 70's and follows through their fucked up (seriously this is the best adjective) lives as adults.

*spoilers from here on out.

the only storyline i truly found interesting belong to jonah bay.  jonah was the son of a folk singer, who sadly lost his love of music when another folk singer fed him drugs and stole his songs.  seriously i hated barry for what he did to jonah.  i also enjoyed reading about his relationship with a HIV positive partner, something the naive 90s kid in me does not imagine possible.  i even enjoyed the cult story line though i was appalled that woltizer had jonah's mother stayed with the cult, but i guess she was happy.  

i could have done without the goodman storyline.  wolitzer actually should have killed him off (i was waiting for this to happen especially since i had bridge to terabithia in my head as a point of reference, thanks to the buzzfeed article.)  regardless of cathy's neediness, i believe he raped her.  i also could not believe that the wolf family supported goodman, when he obviously had issues.  they sent him money which just fueled his drug habit.  i also can not believe that after goodman made his parents go bankrupt, they turned to ash to send him cash.  he was such a horrible character and such a drain on the book, he should have been killed off early on.  though i guess wolitzer would not have had her crazy turn of events at the end.

and though i was happy for ethan and the success of figland, i did get tried of reading about the beginning of figland so many times.  actually before i can go on, i have to complain about how this book was so repetitive.  i know it spanned like 30 years, but it was like wolitzer assumed her reader was dumb and forgot what they had read and so she repeated things but instead of jogging the reader's memory, her statements were just annoyingly redundant.  the book was 468 pages, but i am sure if you cut out all the reminders that ash was beautiful and a feminist, jonah was beautiful and his mother was a folk singer, ethan didn't love his autistic son, larkin and rory were polar opposites, or all of jules' issues, it would have been a much shorter book.  there were so many times that i read something and was like okay!  i get it!

but what made this book the most uninteresting was jules' bitching.  i could not sympathize with jacobson because she was a sad shallow individual.  i was disgusted by her jealousy of ash and ethan's life.  sure ethan was in love with her first, when they were 15, but jules didn't love him and was fine with it until he turned into a millionaire.  i also think wolitzer did herself a disservice by having ethan in love with jules his whole life, it didn't help justify jules' envy.  i was literally disgusted as i read about jules' jealousy of her friends' wealth.  ash and ethan had not even made their money and here was jules assuming they would change.  i mean money does change a person but if their "friendship" was a strong as they all thought it to be, they could handle it.  i mean money has never been an issue with any of my friends, and i am in jules' position where my friends have more than me.  my friends aren't millionaires but i can't imagine that effecting anything.  i am not friends with people based on their income.  when jules' rant came in the middle of the book, i almost stopped reading at that point.  i couldn't image having to read from her self-centered point-of-view.  instead of being happy for ethan's success, all she could focus on was how she was inferior to them because of it.  i honestly do not know how her husband, dennis didn't leave her at that point.  her rant was a red flag that the bitch was going to be unhappy with everything in life, and dennis was suppose to be the one suffering from depression.  oh and after all of her complaining, jules ended up taking the money ethan offered (as a good friend) to help pay for an apartment for them because jules and her husband had outgrown their old apartment.  i mean if jules was worried about money changing their friendship she should have not accepted that money or started to allow them to pay for all of their meals.  and don't even get me started on the kids, i can not believe how much she contrasted larkin and rory, so unfair to rory.  seriously, jules was such a disgusting person, she made reading this book quite tedious.

i was glad when dennis finally put jules in her place, after the spirit-in-the-woods fiasco.  i loved how he finally told her that all of friends are "not that interesting."  he went on to tell her that there was nothing special about the camp nor was there anything special about them:

[spirit-in-the-woods] made you feel special.  what do i know--maybe its actually made you special.  and specialness--everyone wants it.  but jesus, is it the most essential thing there is?  most people aren't talented. so what are they supposed to do--kill themselves?

the later part seems extreme, but it is true.  the issue with jules was that she wanted to be "special", she couldn't be happy with what she had.

after i was done cheering on dennis for calling jules out, i realized that maybe the interestings is wolitzer's critique of the "everyone's a winner" rending of generations.  that by telling kids (myself included, i was/am totally part of this generation) that they are special, we are just setting them for a lifetime of self-righteousness and unhappiness.  we will always be unhappy with what we have because the "specialness" of our youth has brainwashed us into believing we are predestined for greatness, but that is not how life works.  kids that are told they are winners minus the work, grow up to be adults that expect greatness without the willingness to strive for it.  this is was jules' problem, she wanted to be an actress but didn't want to work for it so she dropped it the first time she was harshly criticized.  furthermore, i think reality tv has augmented this "specialness" issue because we see talentless people become rich and famous.  again people not willing to work but ending up success. (see:  any of the kardashians).

in retrospect, i realize that jules has the same problem as one of my favorite tv characters, hannah, from hbo's "girls".  hannah is a talented writer but when she took a "corporate" job from gq magazine, she worried that it will prevent her from becoming a successful writer.  her paranoia about never being "great" led to her not only creating a unnecessary drama in her relationship but her workplace.  instead of confronting her anxiety and focusing on not, she projected upon her co-workers critiquing them for having put their careers on hold.  none of them appeared to be suffering from this decision yet hannah was brutally harsh when calling them out.  the disgust i felt when reading about jules' bitching was the same disgust i felt when watching hannah attack her coworkers.  hannah's relationship with adam even mirrored jules' relationship with ethan.  as opposed to being happy for adam's first broadway show, hannah of course has to put the focus on her.  she stressed about how being broadway would change him and their relationship, she put all of these preconceived notion about how he cheat or she would have to end her career for him into her head and ended up pushing him away.  she was the one that pushed adam away not broadway.  it was the same for jules with ethan and his money as i mentioned before.  so why do i love hannah and loathe jules?  it comes down to the fact that i have seen hannah doing coke off of a toliet and dance all night to andrew andrew, i mean the girl is fun.  i can't say the same for jules.  i also enjoy hannah's self-depreciating humor, i mean jules was kind of sad with her desperation for cheap laughs.   i will also add, hannah is still a twentysomething, and i imagine her growing out of it, however jules was in her fifties still dealing with the same issues she had as a fifteen year old.  jules lacked personal growth which is why i couldn't handle her as a character.

but back to this critique of "specialness", if that was wolitzer's goal of writing this book, then i commend her.  this generation needs to read her book and get their shit together.  however, looking back at the title, i can't help but think that maybe she is jules jacobson and the anxiety of her life came spewing out via jules.

i also have to add, boo to buzzfeed for saying that if you like bridge to terabithia, you would enjoy the interestings.  the friendship in terabithia was so much greater than the ones in interestings and it is an insult to jess and leslie.   there are better books about friendship out there, though they are young adult novels maybe john green's "the fault in our stars" or markus zusak's "the book thief", even steinbeck's "of mice and men" would be a better choice.  i haven't come across a good friendship book in a while but once i do, i will recommend it!  well if it is worthy of jess and leslie.

of mice and men. john steinbeck.

i read "of mice and men" in high school but all i really remember was lenny and his rabbits.  and the dopey voice in which i read lenny's dialogue.

but when "grapes of wrath" jumped to the top of my "to-read" list because of the penguin book truck stopping in bakersfield for a retracing of the route from "the grapes of wrath", i decided to reread "of mice of men".  okay more like actually read, i may not have read all of it in high school.  also figured it would be a nice note to end banned books week on.

i was surprised that "of mice and men" was so well written.  since steinbeck's characters are okies, i always imagine him as one.  silly, i know especially since i just learned via wikipedia that he went to stanford.  also, i am not saying okies aren't educated or intelligent people, but a stereotypical okie is a hick and i always imaged steinbeck as coming from that culture.

one thing that struck me on this rereading, was the foreshadowing of lenny's fate by old candy's dog.  as soon as the reader meets lenny, one knows he is marked for doom, kind of like piggy from "lord of the flies."  you just know they are going to die in the end.  this doom then becomes cemented with story of old candy's dog.  old candy has a dog that according to the others is worthless and a nuisance, but old candy loves him and his companionship. however, the other men decide that the dog must go and another man goes out and shoots him.

the shooting of old candy's dog frames george shooting lenny in the end.  taken out of context, it sounds horrible, man shoots best friend, however, it was not that simple.  george had to be the one that shot lenny because he loved him the most.  it was a mercy kill and could only be one if performed by george.  if curly shot him, it would not have been the same, as demonstrated with old candy's dog  it was a bittersweet ending for lenny, but better he died at the hands of a friend than an enemy. it was a difficult act but was assuaged by george's telling of their dream farm, at least lenny passed on with peaceful thoughts and images in his mind.

i don't recall the moral that we learned from "of mice of men" while in high school.  as i mentioned before all i remember was lenny and his rabbits and his inability to pet things gently.

i watch and love a youtube called "thug notes" in which a thug breaks down beloved classics into thug terms.  (if you haven't seen or heard of it, go watch an episode) and they have a great analysis of the novel.  "of mice of men" is a demonstration of how there really is no "american dream" and though motivational, it ultimately sets individuals up for failure.   for as thug notes explained that in a culture of exploitation, in which individuals lose their basic rights, dreams are unachievable.  

furthermore, these dreams result in  abuse and discrimination among the lower classes due to disenfranchisement.  in a college course, i remember discussing this in terms of the dust bowl. disenfranchized farmers, who had lost their farms to the banks, as a means to exert their power, became racist and sexist towards blacks and women.  this is demonstrated with curley's wife.  though it appears at first that curley's wife is a bit of a floozy but after hearing her backstory it is demonstrated that she is part of this cycle of abuse.  (for you "how i met your mother" fans, kind of like the cycle of yelling).  curley, who had a napolean complex in addition to being powerless by the farming system, exerts his power and his abusive towards his wife.  curley's wife, who is jaded by dreams of being pictures and thinks she deserved better in life, takes the abusive from curley but then exerts her power over crooks.   crooks though intelligent and a hardworker suffers because during that time, blacks were the lowest rung in society.  it's sad because here is a group of people that should have worked together to better their life situation but instead abused each other in order to feel powerful.  (sorry i might sound like a communist but i didn't say ban together to overthrow the government but ban together to ensure their basic rights.)

i must add that i also agree with the judeochristian undetones "of mice and men" that thug notes discussed.  though i disagree with their analysis about it being a theme of man's reason (geroge) conquering (shooting) animal instinct (lenny). i saw the shooting more as an demonstration of innocence and selfless needing to be destroyed in order to succed in a capitalistic economy.  greed is the driving force of capitalism (see: monopoly), and lenny did not have this, so he would have never achieved his dream.  furthermore, lenny was the ideal worker, he worked hard and didn't question anything, just did his work, and yet he was still crushed by the world, demonstrating that the labor force though key to the economy will ultimately be destroyed.  (wow, okay, i might be a communists).

but politics aside, at its very core, "of mice and men" is beautiful tale of friendship.  though at times george was a bit harsh with lenny, in the end, he loved him and vice versa.  it was beautiful to see to which lengths a friend will go to protect their friend.  

this book really has so many layers and it is quite short, which is prove how great of a writer steinbeck is.  this book is also a banned book.  based on my googling, it was banned for his profanity, use of the n-word, lack of traditional values, and i am going to assume the whorehouses.  but lets be honest, it is probably due to is critique of the american dream and capitalism, and of course probably having communist undertones. 

how i met your mother. season seven.

i came late to the "how i met your mother" game. my friend larry was a huge fan but didn't think much of it (though i should start to trust him, he surprisingly has good taste in tv). then my friend saba started watching old episodes via netflix and i got hooked. and thank goodness for lifetime and fx airing it because i have gotten somewhat caught up. however new episodes are a bit of challenge. my lack of a dvr causes me to miss new episodes because monday is "dancing with the stars" night for grandma bea. plus i don't get home til 9pm. but thankfully the library has it on dvd. though i will have to wait for season 8 to come out so i can be completely caught up.

the first thing that shocked me was the number of episodes in one season. there were 24!!! i thought it would take me forever to watch but only two days. episodes were like pringles, once i popped i couldn't stop!

so here is my breakdown of the episodes (well some of them, i mean there are 24):

episode 1: so first of all, i knew barney was going to marry robin. for a while, i thought it was nora but they way lily tells ted the bride wants to see him, it had to be robin! (and i was right!)

so love love loved the "groove is in the heart" dance sequence! really neil Patrick harris is so darn cute!!! why must he be gay?!?! also love love loved robin's new hairstyle! and marshall and lily should have waited three months before they announced they were preggers (i'm superstitious about stuff like that!)

episode 2: edward forty-hands reminded me of my guy friends, they were doing that back in like 2004. this episode also made me grateful that all of our crazy partying was done pre-iphones cos we would def have some "beercules" videos on youtube.

episode 3: seriously victoria is back?!?! I hated her. she was so lame and boring. i mean she made ted wait for sex and that whole the lead up to the kiss thing, was a sad attempt to be sexy. i also hated her for her planting that seed of doubt in ted about robin, barney and his friendship! so it is kinda weird but they are such good friends who would want to ruin that? lame victoria! i hate that they brought her back!

but i do love them for their cleverness! when barney sneezed early in the episode i bought it was so random but figured they kept it in cos it happened during taping but didn't disrupt it. but it turns out that barney trained marahall like a pavlov dog to want shinjitsu every time he sneezed. so funny and clever!!

episode 4: i don't like kumar being on the show. i knew from seeing the nye episode when it aired that he and robin date this season. but do not like them as a couple.

episode 8: i always wanted ted to find the slutty pumpkin. but really katie holmes?!?! normally there are great surprise actors on the show but they really drop the ball on this one. i was mixed emotional, was so excited ted finally found the slutty pumpkin but was annoyed it was katie holmes. also the slutty pumpkin needed some sexier lingerie. it's actually a good costume, maybe i'll do it for halloween next year. was it a thing this year? i didn't go out so can't say.

it also got me thinking, he looked for her for 9 years, that is kinda crazy. but i think of missed connections i had that long ago like this crazy haired guy jeff i went to school with or this other random guy who picked me up (though didn't get my number, he was kinda drunk) by asking me to hug him like there was no else in the world (he was really cute so that line worked cos if not it would be freaky). and i wonder what happen to them, i mean if i knew they would randomly show up at some party every year, would i go? honestly probably not, well maybe for jeff. but i do have a missed connection from about 6 years ago i would try to rekindle. it wasn't a missed connection exactly because he did find me on myspace and we exchanged numbers. but he had a gf so it was more of a severed connection once she found out about his new friend, me. i did see him about two years ago at a food and wine event with a new girl. i should have said hello but didn't. he was cute and going to law school and liked to karaoke and interpol! i am quite the stalker and have found him on fb (i do know his full name) but that seems way too stalkery to message him. maybe i'll post a missed connection on craigslist and see if that works. so though it seems crazy, i commend ted for putting himself out there and at least trying.

also i need to make that tootsie roll drink!

episode 9: i really need a sign up in a place because something i have done. challenge accepted!

episode 10: i know in the post about junot diaz's book i said boo to cheating, but in a fictional world it is a okay! so yes i was in support of robin and barney cheating, i really liked them as a couple.

the concert: hilarious! it reminded me of our lady gaga cousin adventure (quick digression: the last time i hung out with my cousin danielle, she told me that my stories were himym-ish, i was quite flattered). we lost joann and roamed around the entire arena and even had security help is look for her. and then we found her in the very first bathroom we went into and had a huge party in.

anyway, i have to admit that i am pretty amazing at concerts in this regard. last coachella during florence at the machine i had to pee badly, like piss on myself bad. so i went by myself in the middle of their set. as i was walking back i thought to myself, how am i going to find my friends? but guess what! i did!!! those light up tambourines sure did help. my friend mona was amazed, she was sure they had lost me. we were all really drunk and/or "full of sandwiches" so i could have been a goner but i'm quite resourceful when i'm trashed!

ps love that the guitar man was a cardboard cut-out! lol

episode 11: bro-parents! when i saw this episode i texted larry to see if he and peter could become bro-parents. though i realized later that they did try it once before with stella, their dog. in the end, peter kept the dog, which is how it would probably play out if they ever had a kid.

i was also excited about the robin and barney kid news!

ps loved jai from queer eye for the straight guy was on this episode!

episode 12: i had read about this episode online. and thought it was kinda weird and very serious. i thought this season had some very serious moments but that is life as we get older, our lives are no longer just fun and games. i felt bad for robin, not being able to have kids. it's one thing to decide not to have kids and quite another to physically not be able to. i am always scared this is going to happen I me, that i will end up like charlotte from "sex and the city". i think it was great that himym did an episode about this because this is an issue for thirtysomething women. however i did not like how forlorn it was, that she had no children at all, i mean adoption is always an option for women. i also can't imagine barney not being a dad. but maybe there will be a twist? she had no real kids in that episode so there is still an opportunity for adopted kids.

episode 13: i skipped this on the dvd because i saw it when it aired. this episode made me cry, i was pms-ing. it was just so sweet to see marshall still bonding with his dad.

episode 14: this is a great example of why this show is so great! how they redid the opening credits to do "how i met your barney" then the russian opening! when the gang changed. it's things like this that have caused me to fall in love with the show. like how some of te made up websites for the show are actual websites online. it's kinda amazing tha they do things like that!

episode 15: i didn't like this episode. found it uninteresting. though i did what to know what happen to the gouda.

episode 16: i was not at all excited about kevin and robin. and though it was sad was happy that he un-proposed because she couldn't have kids. sad but kevin wouldn't make her happy he was too easily weirded out by the gang for it to work.

episode 17: seriously ted! he just can't get over robin. it was kids sad that he is still hung up on her but then again i spent about 4 years of my life hung up on someone that only saw me as a friend. so i get it.

and though it was sad when marshall asked robin to move out but i understand it too. as much as i hate the bakery bitch (victoria), their friendship was hindering ted from finding the one. i think the reason why i have been single for the past 5 years or so are due to the friendship that i had. i didn't need a boyfriend because i spent all of my time with cody. even now i am never lonely for companion because i have a guy friend that can fill any void. dinner? larry. art date? jerry. concert? danny. happy hour? shawn. i am never in need. and let's be honest my body's current state has ruined any desire for sex. i am so fat that i wouldn't want to have sex with myself. so it's tough because as much as i love my guy friends i am never sadly lonely so am never motivated to date. but now my age is staring to kick me in the butt on the dating front. (wow himym really captures all of these awkward stages in life.)

ps i saw on wikipedia that conan was in the background in this. i totally missed it and returned the dvd to the library so will youtube it.

episode 18: hated the introduction of karma. barney couldn't get over robin that quickly! it was as if he was a completely different person that the first half of the season was a different character. made no sense!

episode 19: i want to start having intervention for my group of friends.

episode 20: i have never seen the star wars trilogy and i need too. this made me sad because so much can change in 3 years. this made me hopeful that maybe in 3 years i'll have a kid like ted. my only complaint was why did they still have the apt after three years, marshall and ted are both dads. moving out should have happened.

episode 21: barney and i would be the best of friends. i would be game for any of "the night that . . ." adventures he came up with. especially the mariachi one. seriously through if we were friends, it would be lengen---wait for it---dary!!! i mean i am good at laser tag, and by good, i mean i get super melodramatic and act like i'm in some vietnam reenactment. but seriously he's awesome, and i am awesome so we would be super awesome together. though not as awesome as he and robin together.

episode 22-24: WTF ted?!?! the bakery chick?!?! seriously??? she shows up in her wedding dress! red flag! she is obviously not marriage material! robin is right you do go for wrong the people. you are goddamn idiot. did you forget she held out on you? that again is not marriage material! good luck but your life is end up going to shit if you stay with her!

on a happier note that was a great birth story! and that kid does have the coolest middle name though i would never give it to my kid. and i knew barney was going to propose but thank god he ends up with robin!!!!! so happy for them!

so that was lone but the season was. thanks for reading this much.

anything goes.

seriously blogger is killing me! just right now it deleted the intro for this post. and now i have to start over! (i just looked and there is an update to fix this so got that taken care of!)

my friends and i recently saw "anything goes" at the ahmanson (we are season ticket holders) and i fell in love with it! rachel york's performance was stellar, the storyline was cute and the dialogue was witty! and of course, since cole porter wrote the music, the music was amazing!!!! i absolute love cole porter and was delightfully surprised because i did not know that "i get a kick out of you" and "de-lovely" were in this musical. i also learned that "friendship" was a cole porter song! i only knew of it because it was a song on this disney sing-a-long video i had as a kid, though they cleaned it up to make it kid-friendly. "friendship" was my favorite number of the night but all the music was so good that we were singing songs as we left the theater (my friend danny said that back in the day if the audience left singing the numbers it was an indication that the show would be successful). danny and i were singing them the next day too, so it was super successful in our eyes. also if you are reading this and are not familiar with cole
porter go google him! i love his songs because they are so well-written and clever. his little ditties are so witty and adorable.

i was so excited about the show that i decided to check out the DVD from the library so i could listen/watch the songs over again. sadly i had my hopes up too high, the movie version was horrible compared to the the stage production. even bing crosby added to its horribleness, my grandma told me she always thought he was wrongly casted and i have to agree with her. though crosby had a voice, they needed a dancer. i love donald o'connor and enjoyed his performance. however, would have liked him in the lead role from the stage than the one played. mitzi gaynor was adorable in her role. i also like jennmarie though i loved her wardrobe more! the polka dot dress she wears during "all through the night" was de-lovely and delightful!

but the actors couldn't save it. i disliked the movie because the book from the musical was not used in the movie. the stage storyline was a lot more entertaining, it had stowaways, public enemies, sex fiends, secret lovers, gamblers and ended with a wedding! the movie verison not as exciting. crosby played a broadway star putting together a new show with an upcoming television star who was also kinda rude (which broke my heart). they both head to europe and they each (without the others' knowledge) sign a girl to play the lead. they both try to convince the other to fire the girl the other signed but end up falling in love with that girl. in the end, they ended up changing their production storyline so that everyone can live happily ever after. basically they change the storyline to what happens them so it's one of those weird musical in a movie thing, though we don't see them reinact their story. but in contrast to the stage production it was boring! not even gabriel blowing his horn could have helped it. (85 actually didn't as its closing number.)

sadly they did not use all of the songs from the stage production. it broke
my heart because there was no "friendship" which as i mentioned before was my favorite. also they didn't use my favorite songs as part of the storyline (meaning they didn't break into songs randomly to express their innermost thoughts) but rather use them
as production numbers within the movie kinda like a show within a show. for example, "i get a kick out of you" was sang to a lover in the play but was a nightclub number for the french singer. and they kinda killed "you're the top" which was a cute ditty between two friends but instead in the movie was a used as a number they were practicing to prove which leading lady was the best. and i think this is what made the difference and resulted in my dislike of the movie. the musical numbers were not the words of lovers but actors playing lovers. "all through the night" and "de-lovely" were sweet because they were sang to their girls versus an audience. by making the songs productions within the movie, it resulted in the songs losing their sincerity. in this case, using the songs like this did not work, anything did not go.

though i love the songs, the storyliruined too weak especially in contrast to what i saw on the stage. so skip the movie but if you get a chance to see the stage production, go see it!