Happy Tuesday!
Last night the apartment (plus @Josh) went to go watch I, Tonya at the movies. Tonya Harding and all the people in her life were such intriguing characters that the movie could have been a Lifetime production and I still would have been captivated. However, ultimately I do think that the cast and crew told the story in such a unique way that I believe it deserves any of the awards it’s nominated for this year.
Anyhow, this outing was a part of a larger mission of trying to tick-off all of the awards season movies before we miss our chance to judge the judges’ choices. After all, isn’t that why we all watch awards shows? If nothing else, I just need some external validation of my film taste by the Hollywood Foreign Press and the Academy. Next on my personal list is The Shape of Water and Call Me By Your Name.
- Women at work: One of the greatest positive externalizaties of the #MeToo movement has been that women are speaking up not just about harassment, but also “taboos” like wage inequity and the uglier sides of their industries as a whole. In particular, I’ve been really fascinated by the interviews with actresses who discuss negotiating salaries and the logistical, “boring” parts of bringing a project to life. This one with Ellen Pompeo made me want to start watching Grey’s Anatomy just to support her as a human(not that she or the show are lacking fans). There was also this fascinating interview with one of the main characters on The Good Place, my current favorite comedy. I love that the “cool” thing to do now across all industries is be incredibly candid about the harsh realities of life – not just the surface-level discussions about “work-life balance.” It’s almost reassuring – in a twisted way – to know that women at all levels have to work hard and fight for what they want out of their lives and careers. It makes it seem like the relatively minor struggles that we are facing now are only preparing us to fight our bigger, more important battles that lie ahead. In that way, it makes all the ups and downs of post-grad life seem worthwhile.
- Scott’s stuff: It’s likely that most of you are playing HQ Trivia at one point in the day, every day. The whole world seems ensnared by this lottery (that’s what it is, after all). In fact, @Josh and I were at an dinner the other night and we noticed that everyone around us was on their phone playing the game. Anyhow, if you’re an avid “player” you know that the host Scott Ragowsky is quite the character. If you want to know more about his life and times, here’s his list of things he “can’t live without.” It’s an interesting choice to include your favorite condom brand, no? Definitely speaks volumes as to your personality. I can’t exactly put my finger on how I feel about that addition.
- Wiki wash: Everyone’s favorite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is in the news again. This time it’s for his very poor hygiene. No matter who you are, this is definitely the most embarrassing thing the press could be covering about you. His poor mom is probably mortified.
- Murder mystery: As most of you know, I live for a good murder mystery in any kind of form – birthday party (s/o college), serialized TV show, etc. I read this interesting one about the founder of Stanford the other day and afterwards found myself doing a deep Wikipedia dive, the true sign of intellectual curiosity.
- Philosophical pop stars: I would kill to know what is on Britney Spears’s shelf. I have to guess that if this book wasn’t just a genuine display of her interest in 18th century French philosophy, then she was asked by a therapist or mentor to read it. Either way I think she took the task of reading Candide very seriously. I would expect nothing less of this pop queen.
Daily Dose of Di 