Hey! Wow, Friday again?! How did THAT happen? I kickstarted the weekend by finishing work, closing my computer going to my chaise lounge, and taking a nap. IMMEDIATELY. If you need me this weekend, I will probably be napping somewhere, slowly spinning in my sleep like a rotisserie chicken.
Or I’ll be unpacking. That’s what I’ve done this week: work and unpack! I also made a carrot cake, ate a can of frosting, taught myself Mamma Mia on piano1 and completed my Duolingo monthly quests very fast.
The summer hiatus continues. Here’s a short one for you.
Please! Watch This Movie
Monday night, I watched the 1993 movie The Three Musketeers for the first time. This is, essentially, a Muppet movie, except the Muppets are real-life humans Oliver Platt, Charlie Sheen, and Kiefer Sutherland, who absolutely skew toward the Muppet side of the spectrum. There's also Tim Curry, Being Evil, a prerequisite for any truly great film. Come for curly-haired Chris O'Donnell, stay for the emotional sword fights! And the dramatic shots of a cool palace in Austria.
Please! Listen to This Album
Hard to believe I’m making a music recommendation that’s not Planet of the Bass. You know what, for good measure, quick interlude for the Song of the Summer:
Okay. Anyway. I was listening to a song today (Lightning Crashes, by Live2) that made my boyfriend ask, “Hey, is this from Monster Ballads?” And I said “What????”
Monster Ballads is a seemingly-perfect set of compilation CDs that feature, well, monster ballads. For example, Beth by KISS and her compatriots. Because we live in the future, you don’t even need to spend $19.99 on a compilation album to enjoy the sweeping choruses and shredding guitar in these massive rock hits. Just do what I did: search “Monster Ballads” on Spotify or YouTube, find a playlist someone made that features every song from volumes one AND two, and rock on.
Please! See My Reading Recommendation
As part of the promotional effort for How to Write a Novel, a craft anthology my writing is in, I contributed to this article, which has “craft” reading recommendations of all stripes. Mine is a memoir and one of my favorite books of all time, but there are a lot of great suggestions you can add to your bedside book pile. Read the article here.
What I Didn’t Buy This Week
I got a targeted ad for Faro Mia vanilla maple sweet almond dip. Have not yet located in store. Why is this. Why must I suffer. Just bring it to my house.
I got a DIFFERENT targeted ad that also piqued my interest. Exit Please is the name of a neon makeup pigment by Hidden Cosmetics. It is bright green. It is green-screen-green. It can turn your face into a green screen. All I want is to use this to project an eye makeup tutorial onto my own eyes.
Every year, my friends and I go somewhere neat and have a giant sleepover for my birthday. Before I narrowed the search parameters by price, I saw this very cool 200-year-old home upstate, and I wish I could drop $650/night to go. Look at the murals! MOM, LOOK AT THE STAIRS.
I have been on the lookout for a toilet paper holder that fits my bathroom theme idea. It does not exist, so I will make it. But this caterpillar one is pretty dang cute.
Ok! I must go back to napping. I have a lot of unpacking to do but I have already done so much, it is too hard to be awake. Maybe tomorrow. Goodbye!
I can’t read music, but [Al Pacino voice] I’ve got a GREAT ear!
This song is NOT on Monster Ballads but it IS on the Yellowjackets soundtrack.