While I'm on the British soul bandwagon, I thought I'd tell you about another chick who's rocking the more traditional sound. Adele would make Dusty Springfield proud and she's only 20. What is it in a 20 year-old who can belt it out and sound like they have the experience of a much older woman? Her album "19" is Grammy nominated and she appeared on SNL in the fall, so you may have heard her lovely voice before. Here is her cover of Bob Dylan's "To Make You Feel My Love" for your Wednesday.
Author: Kerry Faler
I collect typewriters in the 21st century. I’m an enigma that way.
tunes you need Tuesday: British soul with Estelle
Okay, I know I'm barely getting in Tunes You Need Tuesday on an actual Tuesday — but it's been a crazy day with lots of drama — too much drama for this mama. Anydrams, I thought I'd give you a little something different today.
Since around forever, I've loved British chick soul singers. Love that sound. I suppose my introduction to the genre was with Dusty Springfield, over 20 years ago when she was on the Pet Shop Boys song "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" and then discovered her older recordings. In the past couple of years I've listened to Amy Winehouse, who I'm afraid will never produce another record, so picking up the mantle is a new fave of mine, Estelle.
Estelle is straight up British soul meets modern R&B. She's been nominated this year for a couple of Grammy awards for "Shine," which features Kanye West and John Legend. You've probably heard "American Boy" on the radio with Kanye, it's fresh and so different from what the majority of female artists are doing today. "Shine" has the traditional soul sounds with some hip hop thrown in, as well as a little regae and it's just pure fun. "No Substitute Love" is one of my faves off the album, it sounds like something that could have been recorded by one of the greats — Aretha or Diana Ross in the 60's or 70's, very well done.
So, if you're looking for something new, get "Shine" and give Estelle a listen. Here's "No Substitute Love" and "American Boy" (minus Kanye) for you to listen to. Enjoy.
what to wear for the inauguration
For as long as I can remember I've been a news and politics junkie. My family didn't particularly follow politics, there were never any News Week magazines around the house, we didn't talk current events around the dinner table — but I loved the stuff. During election season I was always hooked to the tv watching the debates, election night returns, inauguration, and the balls. My favorite was the MTV inaugural ball with Natalie Merchant and Michael Stipe singing "To Sir With Love" in 1993 — it was Clinton's year. And you don't have to be a Clinton fan to love that.
But as much as I love politics and the whole spectacle of the pomp and circumstance, I've never donned at campaign t-shirt or put a bumper sticker on my car.
That may change.
I have found what may be the most evil-genius political shirt in the history of our nation. It's the Obama riding a unicorn tee. You can pick one up from Chris Bishop.
It isn't often I wish I had come up with an idea or image I've seen, but this is one of them.
Nothing says "welcome to the era of change" like Obama riding a unicorn. He's bringing change, and he's bringing it on a magical mythical creature!
Now, you don't have to be a Democrat to think this is superfantastic. If it was Sarah Palin on a unicorn, I'd be saying the same thing. But being a hunter, she would probably shoot the unicorn or whatever mythical beast on her t-shirt. I think she would probably choose a pegasus, you know, for those long flights back and forth to Alaska. Definitely a pegasus. And John McCain would pair best with a griffin. George Bush probably thinks jackalopes are real, so let's put him on a shirt with a jackalope. For the badass of the group, Cheney — it's Cheney and the chupacabra, 'cause those things are damn scary. I'm sure I'll have nightmares tonight just for thinking about them. And Cheney for that matter.
Speaking of nightmares, have you seen the trailer for the new movie where the chick is haunted by her unborn dead twin? Man, is that some freaky or what? I'm never going to get to sleep tonight. Chupacabra, Cheney, and that freaky movie will have me up 'til the middle of the night, I'm sure. I'll be up ordering t-shirts. I'll get one for you, don't worry.
gone to the dogs
Yes, Mickey Rourke did thank his dog. Did the dog run through lines with him for the movie or something? Maybe he did Mickey's makeup. You know they celebrated late in to the night! Man, I would have loved to see the party he walked into with that pooch. Someone needs to do an intervention for Mickey and his dog. There are few things I hate more than people dressing up their dogs. And Mickey Rourke of all people to put the dog in a sweater! The poor dog. He looks like he's looking for a way to escape. Don't be surprised if you hear on TMZ that the dog has gone missing. And what is that on Mickey's hand? Is that a black tattoo or did he write something on his hand and scratch it out? He probably wrote "thank the dog." I'm being sucked in by this photo. I'm kind of loving those Ray Bans. No, Mickey, you will not suck me in with your chiauaua and cool sunglasses! That's just how men are — playing off women's emotions with their pets and accessories. We're on to you, Mr. Rourke.
live blogging: the golden globes
EDIT: Okay, I'm an idiot. I cited Wikipedia in this post about the Hollywood Foreign Press and the links DO work — so this is in fact Kerripedia!
Damn, it's been on for an hour! Oh, well, I'm jumping in.
8:10 — what the hell is Maggie Gyllenhal wearing? oh, good, Laura Linney won. I like her.
8:12 — did y'all see the John Adams miniseries? it was good. Shirley McClaine looks like she's going to fall asleep.
8:14 — is that Xtina in the Target commercial? she looks weird. why?
8:16 — Biggest Loser commercial. I'd go on that show, but no.
8:17 — Gerard Butler sure does talk out of the left side of his mouth, doesn't he. never noticed that before. I'm not a fan, so whatev.
8:18 — Seth Rogen has lost a lot of weight. BEst screenplay — I love this category — big shock, I'm sure. What a geek. The Slumdog Millionaire writer won — love the title of that one. Brilliant.
8:21 — My man Patrick Dempsey, now that's what I'm talking about. Could he be any cuter? No, I think not. ALec Baldwin won for 30 Rock. The guy who's going to be Aquaman was nominated. Aquaman the movie, people.
8:25 — the hubs is calling from Houston, he's having dinner and telling me about the guy he talked to on the plane. It's all about the networking. I told him I'm blogging and he said uh-huh.
8:28 — seriously, what happened to Renee Zellwegger on the way to the theater? Her hair is all messed up and her sleeves were ripped off her dress. OMG, the clip of The Reader was steamy!
8:30 — ok, let's see if Paul Giamatti wins for John Adams. He should. Kevin Spacey's not there — he shouldn't win. Yea! Paul Giamatti won. He's like running up there. What is with the sideburns, dude? He must be making a movie about the history of the muttonchop next. The History of the Muttonchop at a theater near you this Memorial Day!
8:33 — best tv series musical or comedy — I didn't know Albert Brooks was in Weeds. I like him. And it's 30 Rock. See people, it's all Tina Fey. Tracy Morgan just said "I am the face of post racial America, deal with it Cate Blanchett." Um, Cate's not American. The line was still funny.
8:41 — what is this commercial Truvia? A sweetner made from the Stavia plant?! What is a Stavia plant? They could say it's made from baby's breath and cotton, I wouldn't know the difference.
8:42 — Pierce Brosnan, baby. He's looking a little too tan. It's Mamma Mia. Here's a little trivia for the blog — my hubs loves Abba. Like a lot. He's manly and he likes Abba.
8:46 — For realz, a survey person just called to ask my opinion on gaming in Eastern St Tammany Parish. I answered the person, like I'm not busy! Good grief, is the award season not sacred?
8:48 — Tina Fey won, it's her night. Oh, look — Hugh Laurie's sitting behind Alec Baldwin. I like him. That dress Tina's wearing is a little much. She's awesome, the dress not so awesome.
8:52 — checking Facebook. My friends are funny.
8:55 — Steven Speilberg is getting the Cecil B. DeMille award. He should get that award — he directed Jaws, Jurassic Park, The Color Purple — awesome. I hated ET, so I'm not commenting on that one. I know, I know, everyone loves ET, well, for my birthday when it came out in 1982 I wanted to see Annie with a bunch of my friends (surprise) and my mom made us go see ET. We went to the Eastgate theater in Shreveport and I was ticked. I got one of those big ass Pixie Sticks and was high on sugar by the time it was over. Stupid ET. Speilberg's talking about model trains. Tom Cruise is in the audience chewing gum with his mouth open. Yuck.
9:07 — if Speilberg keeps talking this show will never end.
9:08 — who is the damn Hollywood Foreign Press? I want to meet these powerful people. How do I get to be one of them?
9:09 — oh hell to the no, Wynonna Judd is now the spokeschick for Alli the weight loss drug. Can't I just watch the awards without being reminded to lose weight?
9:11 — the trailer for He's Just Not That Into You — I could have written that one. No, really, let me know when y'all are ready for a story. I've got tons.
9:13 — Emma Thompson should have worn lower heels to present with Dustin Hoffman. That's just inconsiderate to my man Dustin. OMG! The guy who won look like an aged and slightly decrepit Morrisey. You know, Morissey from the Smiths. This is weird. He's even British. Somewhere Morissey is watching this and saying "I didn't even know I was nominated!"
9:16 — Sigourney Weaver is presenting the new Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet movie –Revolutionary Road. Now, I don't think this will be a good sequel to Titanic — they don't explain how he made it out of the water! I saw him drown! How can he come back for a sequel?
9:18 — It was nice that Sandra Bullock was able to wear her wedding dress again.
9:21 — here's what Wikipedia says about Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) is an organizationjournalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications outside of North America. The group is perhaps best known for the Golden Globe Awards, of which it is the creator and on-going organizer. The group was founded in 1943 by a correspondent for the Daily Mail, a UK newspaper. The chief aim was, and is, the dispersing of news about Hollywood to countries outside North America. They vote and decide on Golden Globe nominees for each year.
no, those links don't work — this isn't Kerripedia after all.
9:25 — I can't wait to see Frost/Nixon. I am such a geek.
9:26 — It's Salma Hayek. I think I can finally tell her and Penelope Cruz apart.
9:28 — Sasha Baron Coen's hair is insane. He's giving the award for best picture musical or comedy. The GG goes to Penelope Cruz' move. At least I think it's Penelope Cruz.
9:36 — the peeps on the stage just gave a shout out t
o the Morissey guy. Okay, totally not what I thought — the Slumdog Millionaire movie is about Who Wants to be a Millionaire in India. Whatev.
9:38 — Hey it's Marky Mark! Say hello to your mother for me. Kate Winslet won best actress. Good for her. She's crying. Oh, she just said the other actresses names and forgot Angelina. You know Angelina's gonna jump her when she gets off the stage. Angelina looks like she could hurt somebody, I'm not kidding.
9:42 — The girl from Gossip Girl is about to fall out of her dress. The boobs are about to make make an appearance. Ladies, if you're ever nominated for an award or happen to be presenting an award, make sure the bodice fits. No one wants a wardrobe malfunction at the Globes. It's not the time or place. Save that for the Super Bowl.
9:48 — now it's a commercial for a new anti-depressant for when your anti-depressant isn't enough. Good grief. How depressed do I need to be?
9:49 — best actor in a drama. What the hell is Mickey Rourke wearing? He looks like what I would think Michael Hutchence from INXS would have looked like as an older man. But why the sequined scarf? Did he just thank his dogs? I'm going to have to get the transcript.
9:57 — I think I just recovered from seeing Mickey Rourke. I'm pretty sure he thanked his dogs.
9:58 — It's Tom Cruise. I do not enjoy him, but at least he took out the gum. I wish The Curious Case of Benjamin Button would have won just so someone would have given props to one of my favorite authors, F. Scott Fitzgerald. But noooooooooo– it's the Slumdog Millionaire people. And the Morissey-looking dude again. Morissey is more attractive of course. Oh, the guy just said the F word and they caught it on the delay. You can't say the F word at the Globes. Really, people have no class.
10:02 — okay peeps, the Golden Gloves are over. It was good times. Y'all have a great night. xxxooo, Kerry
what the hell Friday: carry that weight
When I posted my new year's resolutions last week (has it been 2009 for a week already? Damn) I'm sure a few of you thought "ok, where's the 'lose weight' resolution?" Well, I didn't make that a resolution. It's not because I don't want to lose weight, it's because after 20 years of being on some type of diet or another, I've decided not to make it a resolution. Yes, it's been on my list for 20 years. What the hell? That's either pathetic or — well, it's pathetic. So, no, it's not a resolution.
What I have decided to do is be healthier in 2009 and not make my weight the center of it all. Why? Because of Oprah.
Did you miss the headline? It made CNN! Good grief, Oprah gained weight. The nation's economy is in the toilet, we're in a war, Osama's still out there, Israel's attacking Gaza again — but stop the presses! Oprah has hit 200 pounds.
This is O on the cover of O. Does she look horrible? No. Sure, the purple outfit is doing nothing for her, but she looks fine. This is what O had to say on the matter: "I can’t believe that after all these years, all the things I know how
to do, I’m still talking about my weight. I look at my thinner self and
think, `How did I let this happen again?’" Maybe it's because your body is not meant to be 140 pounds. I'm not advocating being heavy, but starving yourself and having to workout to the degree Oprah did to stay the weight you diet down to is unhealthy as well.
For instance, I'm 5'2" and according to several weight charts I'm supposed to be 128 pounds. A friend of mine who happens to be a doctor said that would be tiny for me and I agreed. I was 128 pounds when I was in 7th or 8th grade, which was before I had hips (you're thinking I was going to say "and boobs," but no, I had already had the boobs). So, no, I don't think 128 pounds is my "ideal" weight. Ideal maybe if I go on Survivor for fat chicks and lose half my body weight, maybe — but no, 128 isn't gonna happen. Nope.
Just for fun, I uploaded a photo of me taken a few minutes before my date picked me up for prom senior year. Let's look at what I would consider my ideal weight, shall we.
The pic is taken at an angle, so it's weird, but whatev. And yes, I really am that pale. And that was the year I made a brilliant decision to dye my hair black at Halloween with the wash-out in 24 shampoos hair color, only it didn't wash out, so that was as light as it got. What the hell? I was an effing genius — really, I don't know how I made it through that year with all the stupid things I did. I was 18 and I'm guessing 160 lbs. I looked normal, looking back, of course. But at the time I was depressed beyond belief and had zero self esteem (and obviously no posture to speak of — look at those shoulders). At 18 I hated the way I looked because I thought I was fat. Now, if I was a good blogger, I would photshop in a pic of me now looking at my 18 year-old self and do a magazine cover mock-up like the O cover. But, I'm not going to do that because I'm lazy. My point is, hindsight is 20/20. Always has been. By the way, I don't know what I was thinking straightening my hair that night because it rained and I looked like a poodle by the time we got to prom. Oh, and look at those skinny ankles — is it any wonder I've sprained them a hundred times?
We can't dwell on what was any more than we can worry about the future. Sure, I looked a lot better then, but I was 18. I wasn't a happy girl. It took years to figure out my happiness isn't connected to my weight and it shouldn't rule my thoughts, although it does much of the time. If I beat myself up over my weight it only makes me want to eat cookies. Like half a bag of cookies.
Instead of Oprah asking how she "let" herself gain weight, a better message would be to be happy and healthy at whatever point in life you are, whatever age you are. I'm going to eat healthier this year and start walking and stuff. That's not mind-blowing, it just makes sense that if I don't want to have a lot of the problems overweight people deal with as they age, I should get healthier for health's sake. That's not because I'm unhappy with the way I look, hell, as you can see at 18 I had the double chin — it's about being happy with who I am and treating myself better.
And treating myself better also has to deal with how I view myself. I am not my weight. I am not my dress size. I am Kerry: wife, mother, daughter, friend, superfantastic woman in the here and now. And that's pretty good. I'm not perfect, and I'm okay with that.
For your Friday, I'm leaving you with two more pictures from an artist I just discovered a few days ago through one of my favorite blogs, Manolo for the Big Girl. The artist is Kal Barteski and she was an instant fave the second I saw her art. It's empowering and smart, pretty and soulful — and I love art that is all those things.
Barteski calls these "tiny art" and these are my two favorites.
This one says:
"she was the one who couldn't see /she was the one who didn't know/ compassion was curvy/ experiences experience was heavy/ beauty was within her/ so much beauty."
If I would have seen this as a teenager it would have turned a lightbulb on inside my head. I'm sure of that. There were no messages for girls like this in the early 90's. There were no girls that looked like me in magazines. There were no body acceptance blogs, that was a few years later.
I'm loving the tiny art.
The tiny art on the right says:
"she loved/ she loved and loved/ with every inch in every way/ en masse/ and all and every/ undeniable/ unbelievable/ indisputable/ incomparable beauty./ so much beauty"
If you don't think that's awesome, just go put on some Britney Spears and read Cosmo or eat some Cheetos, 'cause I got nothin'.
I'm serious.
Okay, if you're still with me, I'll post some scrapbookie stuff this weekend and we'll have some fun. Your assignment for this weekend is to be happy with yourself, or at least start on that path.
I'm happy being me and I'm happy you're here. I like you the best. But you already knew that.
when no one takes you seriously anymore
Some day, when I just don't care anymore, I will hire Courtney Love as my fashion consultant. This look says, "so what? I know I mixed my laderhousen with Tinkerbell's woodland fairy costume and put on a feather headband. Didn't you know January is magical creatures of Germany month?!"
That still doesn't explain why she has the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz thing going on at her wrists and ankles. Even if she's on her way to a costume party, that still doesn't make sense. You know she's not going to a costume party. You know she's just walking to pilates or Starbucks with her magazine and croco leather bag (which I'm surprised she didn't trade out for her purse made of spiderwebs and unicorn hair filled with fairy dust).
And Courtney, we know you're not dressing like this for a role. Unless they're remaking the Sound of Music and you're Crazy Aunt Helga who tries to get the Von Trapp children to try magic mushrooms to experiment with their groovy sound while Maria is off making out with the Captain. That's in the director's cut of the film, in case you're wondering.
Just don't tell me this is in Victoria Secret's new Austrian Angels line. I just don't trust outfits or lingerie you have to comb.
maybe it’s the cold meds talking, but…
Holy Blog Of Doom, Batman! I just got a bajillion whiny emails saying I
have not updated this since you last visited… You would not believe
that my hands were chopped off and I was waiting for bionic ones. But
I'm sorry you'll just have to take my word for it..
I am lost in
a sea of pseudo-olde-english with only your readership as life
preserver, hoping you haven't found other blogs, just generally being a
mother to society in general, my day seems to be a litany of stuff and
giggles from the second I am woken by murderous Teletubbies 'til
midnight. I am not complaining though. I wish you could be here to
share it.
I will try to remember I promised you I will write
something that makes sense soon. You have my word! What do you mean you
don't believe me?
Baton Rouge randomness
Frugal Beth and I went to the scrapbook store in BR today and I thought I'd share some sights.
EDIT: Here's the explanation, sorry if you viewed earlier before I finished the post.
See the truck in the pic? This lovely vehicle was in front of us on
I-12 and we pondered the word written on the tailgate. It said
"unneutered." I won't pretend I understand that one, no way. I would
think, however, if one had not been neutered, one would have no reason
to advertise this fact. As I say often, maybe it's just me, I'm not
sure. I love that spellcheck is telling me "unneutered" isn't a word.
If only the driver of this truck had spellcheck.
I
do apologize for not having a photo of my next random BR moment, but I
messed something up and deleted the pic. Anyidiot, when we pulled into
the strip center where the scrapbook store was, we saw the Get Off My
Nerves Chiropractor. Yes, that was the name of the place.
There was also a tattoo parlor in the strip center, but we ran out of
time and didn't get tattoos. Beth was going to get an angel on one
shoulder and a devil on the other, and I hate that we didn't have time
for that. I would have gotten the Hello Kitty Ninja tattoo. Because
although I am cute like Hello Kitty, I am also fierce and unpredictable
like a ninja. But you knew that. This pic is from hellokittyhell.com
— great site. You can also see the Hello Kitty Boba Fett tattoo as
well as the Hello Kitty is my Jesus tattoo. My Hello Kitty Ninja will
do just fine, thank you.
I'm
off to take some cold medicine. I'm sorry I didn't have a Tunes you
Need Tuesday today, but I simply can't think with my head feeling like
a balloon. Hopefully, I'll feel better tomorrow and give you something
halfway decent to read.
for when you want to smell like a vampire
Unless you've been living in a van down by the river for the past few months, you've heard of this "Twilight" phenomenon. If the book had come out when I was in a tween or teen, I would have been all over it, but having heard so much about the story, I can't see reading the series. The novel centers a round a couple, Edward and Bella and guess what? Edward's a vampire. Teen girls went crazy over the book, I'm thinking the reason for that is every girl wants a bad boy at some point in her life (thankfully for most of us, we get over this) and vampires rank pretty high on the bad boy scale. I dated a few bad boys, no vampires, although one was questionable, but probably more wolfman than vampire.
Anyfang, seems girls are bananas over this Edward dude and they all saw the movie, bought the t-shirts — it's Twilight madness. Well, if that wasn't enough and you want more Twilight, get ready.
It's Twilight, the fragrance.
You know, for times when you want to smell like a vampire. I don't know when those times would be, but just in case, here ya go. I'm pretty sure it's not to be worn to ward off vampires, but to draw them to you. If it were for warding off vampires, I assume it would smell like garlic, but as you can see, the perfume comes in an apple-shaped bottle. I kind of doubt the perfume smells like apples. From seeing the trailers from the movie, I tend to think it would smell like hair gel and glitter. Them is some shiny vampires. Looks like Edward fell into a lake of fabulous! and came out all glisteny and shiny, like when I dusted myself with the shimmer powder from Smashbox and didn't realize just how shimmery it was. For a man, even a vampire, there is a thin line between shine and fabulous! — Clay Aiken being on the latter side.
From what I understand from reading the author's quotes, the apple on the cover of the novel is to symbolize the forbidden fruit, because people and vampires generally shouldn't date. At least that's what I've always been led to believe, and having seen a lot of vampire movies, I would tend to run away from one.
But, of course the Twilight generation didn't grow up with The Lost Boys and Anne Rice's vampires, Lestat, Louis, or Armand. So since they haven't been properly educated, I guess we have to let it go. And going out on a limb, I assume the kids today haven't read Bram Stoker's Dracula either. If (and I know this is not the popular view) one had read the novels or seen the movies I've mentioned, a vampire wouldn't be the man of one's dreams. Trust me, I've read a ton and I dated a few bad boys back in the day — and I tend to believe bad boy + vampire = kiss of death, literally.
