“You must not fear, hold back, count or be a miser with your thoughts and feelings. It is also true that creation comes from an overflow, so you have to learn to intake, to imbibe, to nourish yourself and not be afraid of fullness. The fullness is like a tidal wave which then carries you, sweeps you into experience and into writing. Permit yourself to flow and overflow, allow for the rise in temperature, all the expansions and intensifications. Something is always born of excess: great art was born of great terrors, great loneliness, great inhibitions, instabilities, and it always balances them. If it seems to you that I move in a world of certitudes, you, par contre, must benefit from the great privilege of youth, which is that you move in a world of mysteries. But both must be ruled by faith.”
Monthly Archives: January 2014
Anaïs Nin on why emotional excess is essential to creativity:
“Take Me or Leave Me”
I’ll try and keep this one shorter (and sweeter?) than the loooong review from last week. Only two words are needed to describe this episode: GABY HOFFMANN. It took me a minute to recognize her, but once I did I couldn’t get enough. I just can’t deal with how incredible this woman is. In my daydreams Gaby and Lena grew up together in NYC, eating ice cream sundaes at the bar in the Chelsea Hotel. If you’re not familiar with Hoffmann’s childhood, head to Google. It’s the stuff that dream are made of. Sigh.
Anyway, Hoffmann plays Adam’s long lost sister Caroline. She shows up out of the blue one afternoon and he is incredible weary of letting her in. As it turns out, he was probably right about not wanting her to stay in the apartment he shares with Hannah – she makes the rest of the cast seem like the poster children for normalcy. Hoffmann’s acting is moving, irresistible, and truly committed. There’s no doubt that she’s brought some fresh material to the show.
Episode three centres around Hannah’s twenty-fifth birthday party – highlights include Rent songs, parental dancing, a bloody nose and Laird (!!!!). Most of the action takes place at a very familiar feeling bar (did they location scout at Divan Orange or something?). How many times have we been in a setting just like that – stoic concert listeners, hipsters in wool, Nirvana vs. LMFAO? So familiar. The heartbeat of this episode is Adam and Hannah’s relationship, which is developing into something that feels profoundly important to the arc of the season. They’re in this. Really, really in this. It’s a very familiar feeling of intimacy – the way he studies her, how they find each other in a room, how they take off their clothes in their kitchen. As with the past two episodes, Adam’s compassion (i.e. redemption) is taking centre stage. It’s clearly on display as he bandages his sister’s bleeding hand while she’s naked from the waist down (love her 70’s era bush, btw). He pays attention to her medical needs without shaming her for being naked. While most comedies would make a big deal about forcing her to cover up as part of the punchline, the writing of this scene doesn’t even acknowledge her nakedness. So well done.
Yet with all of the compassion that Adam shows, it’s Hannah’s empathy that’s the most compelling. So far this season she’s displayed a generous amount of sympathy for those around her. She’s dropped everything to pick up Jessa from rehab, demanded that her deranged sister-in-law sleep in her spare bedroom, gotten on stage with Marni to sing showtunes against her will, and is it just me or is her voice different – softer maybe? I’m not saying she’s not the most self-involved character on television – but maybe she’s maturing a bit? Is Hannah Horvath actively trying to be present for the people she loves? Is she realizing that her actions affect others? I don’t want to speak too soon, but it’s looking like Hannah is growing up. Twenty-five ain’t no joke, kids. She’s on the downslope to thirty.
Ugh.
p.s. Anyone know where to get that music video of Marni? Laughed my ass off.
Filed under GIRLONGIRLS
Tacos!
These are missing some toppings… I was too hungry to wait.
Fact. I wasn’t kidding when I said I was craving tacos. I went to Adonis this afternoon and picked up all the ingredients I’d need to make D and myself some badass shrimp tacos [corn = gluten free] with homemade salsa. Recipe follows.
Shrimp Tacos
12 shrimps (deveined and with tails cut off)
1 bunch of cilantro
3 limes
1 onion
2 red peppers
2 cups cherry tomatos
1/2 jalapeño
Olive oil
Chili powder
Cumin powder
Coriander powder
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Cut tomatoes in half. Combine with one tablespoon of olive oil, 1/4 jalapeño (seeds and pith removed), zest and juice of one lime, 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, pinch of salt and pepper.
Combine shrimp, one tablespoon of chill powder, half tablespoon coriander powder, one minced garlic clove, half cup chopped cilantro, zest and juice of one lime, 1/4 jalapeño (seeds and pitch removed). Cover and put in fridge for no longer than half an hour.
Sautee peppers and onion in oil. Add shrimp. Cook until pink.
Heat corn tortillas in oven.
Assemble tacos with homemade salsa, chopped avocado, shrimp and peppers, and baby arugula. Top with plain greek yogurt.
Enjoy 🙂
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Dig
He dug so deeply into her sentiments that in search of interest he found love, because by trying to make her love him he ended up falling in love with her. Petra Cotes, for her part, loved him more and more as she felt his love increasing, and that was how in the ripeness of autumn she began to believe once more in the youthful superstition that poverty was the servitude of love. Both looked back then on the wild revelry, the gaudy wealth, and the unbridled fornication as an annoyance and they lamented that it had cost them so much of their lives to find the paradise of shared solitude. Madly in love after so many years of sterile complicity, they enjoyed the miracle of living each other as much at the table as in bed, and they grew to be so happy that even when they were two worn-out people they kept on blooming like little children and playing together like dogs.
Gabriel García Márquez in One Hundred Years of Solitude
Blog up now [link in profile]. Review virgin, please be kind. #girlongirls #girls #jessa #tv #firsttimeforeverything #scary
“I’ve already fixed everything”
It’s upon us, folks. Season three of Girls landed on Sunday night at 10pm with a fucking hilarious bang. Episode one begins the way all the premieres have begun on Girls, with feet. We see two pairs intertwined in a comfy-cozy horizontal spoon, in what we’ve come to know as Hannah’s bedroom. As the camera pans up past knees and stomachs, the owners are revealed. Hannah is always little spoon. In season one, big spoon was Marni. Season two, Elijah. Season three, the other pair of feet and legs and arms belong to Adam. Hello, Adam. You’re right where we want you to be. Now squeeze a little tighter, will you?
The other characters are introduced to us this season in the same way – sleeping. Mari and Shosh are sleeping in unfamiliar settings. Marni on a couch in a pre-fab condo and Shosh in a dorm room with a random dude passed out on her chest. The only one who isn’t sleeping when we see her again in Jessa, who is scraping an unknown substance off a plate in a seemingly industrial kitchen. They’re all placed in unfamiliar rooms, anywhere but home. Except Hannah, who is comfy in relationship bliss. Hannah and Adam are so intertwined, physically and emotionally – clearly, as Adam literally feeds her meds every morning (and check to make sure she swallows). This, combined with Hannah’s baby talk to Adam throughout the episode leads us to believe that they’re deep in hibernation mode. They live together and don’t really see the need to have any type of life outside the relationship. Why would they? I especially loved Hannah’s speech to Adam at their coffee table. So spot-on with our generation’s obsession with being glued at the hip and codependent – “You’re my partner in life and love and I want you to be a part of everything I do on this earth”. Boundaries have never been Hannah’s strongest attribute, no? Clearly, Adam’s redemption is well on its way. He’s back in our hearts and we can (almost) forget he’s an off-the-wagon sociopath. #inagoodway
This episode, while incredible funny (I seriously can’t remember another episode that has made me laugh out loud like this one) was written to clean up the messes that were made last season. Can we talk about Natalia’s incredible confrontation in Ray’s new coffee spot? Last season’s storyline with Natalia and Adam was painful and necessary and sparked an incredible public conversation about rape and consent. To see her come back (WITH AMY SCHUMER!!!) and say all the things every ex-girlfriend has ever dreamed to say to her ex and his new gf was the most rewarding five minutes of television I’ve seen. Maybe ever. I basically jumped up from my couch and clapped at the end. I re-watched it so many times just to have the one-liners in my back pocket. Shiri Appleby is a fantastic actress and I seriously hope we get more of her throughout the season.
The other cameos throughout the episode were amazing. Kim Gordon as a meth addict? Too good. And can we talk about how insanely amazing Danielle Brooks (Taysee from OITNB) was as the closeted lesbian in the peace sign fleece shirt? If these characters are any indication, this season is going to be full of great talent.
The most painful parts of the premiere were the ones with Jessa in rehab. Her character is sympathetic because she’s so authentically herself in contrast to Hannah’s anxiety. Their relationship is one of the great love stories in the show. Hannah and Jessa need each other in a way the other characters don’t, and the scenes between them show the ease that the two women have for one another in real life. Dunham and Kirke are best friends and it feels that way. While Jemima Kirke doesn’t consider herself an actor and had to be persuaded by Dunham to star in Girls, her acting is the most effortless on the show. She’s exposed in the premiere – physically and emotionally. She’s not wearing a stich of makeup throughout. Does this mean we’re beginning to see her for who she really is? A method actor? Another sociopath? Or just a lost fucking girl who loves chaos and just can’t help herself. Her scenes while in rehab were beautifully hideous. Her character is so deplorable at this point that even I’m squirming in my seat, and I consider myself her biggest fan. I’m fascinated to see how her arc will play out.
Shosh and Marni are providing some comic relief, thankfully. Shosh is studying and fucking her way through her senior year of college. As one does, really. The evolution of Shosh’s style is particularly interesting. The girl is about to graduate from college and is sporting some seriously badass black ensembles. No doubt Zosia (pronounced Sashia, but with a Z) is happy about that. Also, Marni’s scenes with Rita Wilson were incredible – Wilson, in her khaki suit and leopard print blouse, portrays on off-island mother with zest and exuberance. So fun to watch.
Episode two, which aired right after episode one, was slightly boring and kinda forgettable in contrast to episode one. Both directed by Dunham, they felt completely different. Episode two was slow and peaceful. On a road trip to pick Jessa up from rehab, Adam and Hannah and Shosh are in a rented car driving upstate for what feels like for-fucking-ever. With pit stops at a motel and what can only be assumed is a Cracker Barrel (chicken-fried-steak!!), the miles rolled on and on and reminded us that Hannah is a real writer now and is actually doing some writing. Shocker! Five pages a day? This book might actually happen. Mazel Tov! Just as in episode one, where Adam gives a monologue on what it’s like to really know someone to Marni, the most interesting interaction was between Adam and Hannah’s friends. Shosh is right – Adam’s one liners really do help sometimes. And the way he talks about Hannah to Shosh is beautiful and sad all at once. Hilarious spots include Hannah lying on the ground listening to This American Life and a weird game of truth or dare. Also, can we talk about Adam needing to cum every night so he can fall asleep? That scene was weirdly endearing. Confused, conflicted. Episode two sets the stage for Jessa’s redemption, which may parallel Adam’s. The two of them have more in common than any of us realized before last night. No wonder Hannah loves them both. No wonder we all do.
There’s a long-running curse in the television industry about season threes. Most of the time, they kinda suck. Story lines get boring, or weird, and in long-running shows they’re often forgotten or laughed about in hindsight. Here’s hoping that Girls can break this curse. If the premiere is any indication, we’re in for some laughs, some sex, some intimacy and a whole lot of fun. The show seems to be held to a higher standard than others – is it because Dunham writes, directs, stars and produces it all herself? So it’s hard for us to distinguish between Dunham the person and Hannah the character? Are the strong reactions to her nudity overblown because we feel extra intimate with her? More on that in a later post. But for now, anyone else craving tacos?!
#GIRLONGIRLS
If you haven’t seen the first two episodes, HBO has kindly put them up on YouTube here:
Episode 1 on YouTube: http://itsh.bo/girls301
Episode 2 on #YouTube: http://itsh.bo/girls302
Filed under GIRLONGIRLS
it’s been a fucking lifetime since I’ve posted. stay tuned for the first #girlongirls review coming up asap…
testing. testing. anyone out there?
BLUE. Need these immediately. #revolutionary #sourpatch #candy @ilzie
Casual in walden filter. #lenny #morkie #puppy #love
Resolutions. #2014
Gillian Sonin 