Lauren Mechling

JF + EVERYBODY 4EVA

September 8, 2010 10:53 AM

As the regular reader of this blog may recall, I had the pleasure of reading Jonathan Franzen's novel Freedom (which was wonderful) a few months ago, before it was associated with any sort of media hooplah--is it the greatest book in history? Or only in the past decade? Is he a sexist for being a man? Who is he to write from the point of view of a suburban mom? Let the stupid fighting begin!

I completed my Franzoni experience by wallflowering his book party last night. Come to think of it, he was a bit of a Shy Susie too, but the effect wasn't the same. In honor of the hordes of beautiful women waxing passionate about how deeply they love the book and therefore must be meant to make babies with its creator, yet were too bashful to walk up to the author and plant a kiss on his lips, I present an excerpt of an essay by Jonathan Franzen's longtime girlfriend about the pain in the butt it is to be involved with a living god.

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Farewell, Corinne Day, I Hardly Knew Ye

September 2, 2010 3:37 PM

Maybe the Internetati shouldn't have complained about how few women's obituaries the New York Times runs. I believe in karma and all that wishy washy stuff, and the paper just ran an obituary of Corinne Day. Ms. Day was the brilliant British fashion photographer who hated fashion and airbrushing, and launched the career of Kate Moss (then went on to drift away from the fashion world, turning her attention to documentary photography, though she and the ol' Moss remained pals).

"I think fashion magazines are horrible," she said in an interview with the British newspaper The Observer in 1995. "They're stale and they say the same thing year in and year out."

She died of a brain tumor at age 48.

That is more than sad. That is just plain wrong.

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Talk Radio, without the Drip

September 1, 2010 8:30 AM

I've been obsessed with the Marc Maron podcast for some time now, and meaning to tell you about it. He's a comedian who interviews other comedians about the comedian life, and the conversations often go to very dark and real places. I'm convinced he's President of the Club of Misunderstood Geniuses. In short: it's like Terry Gross, with funny people.

Now's the lucky moment, I think. He and his guests were ON FIRE at the live show from the LA Upright Citizens Brigade the other week. And this week is a two-parter with Judd Apatow.

Hoo-ha!

You can go on iTunes and look up the #1 podcast. Or you can go here.

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The Hunger Games Trilogy Turns Out Not To Be An Anorexia Memoir

August 28, 2010 3:07 PM

If there is a single advantage to having a blog whose reader pool mainly consists of people searching the terms: "footfetish-tube" and "enlargement monkey" (and no, nonexistent-reader, I'm not kidding), it's this: I can say what I want without fear of anybody noticing or threatening to never give me a book contract as long as I live.

So here goes: I just read Mockingjay and. . . I don't get it. And, I'm embarrassed to admit, I don't just mean the phenomenon. I didn't get the actual story.

Of course, not having read either of the previous two Hunger Games books and having a preference for humorous English novels that are set in the 1950s, I'm not the ideal reader for a warmongering postapocalyptic tale. But I tried!

(This Mockingjay cake comes from this awesome fan site)

This story follows Katniss, a feisty young lass who's survived the previous two Hunger Games, and now finds herself in a world that's pretty much been blown to bits. The war between the evil Capitol and the slightly more appealing Rebel Districts rages on. Early on, our heroine is appointed the Mockingjay of the rebels, which, as far as I could tell, is the heavy-handed fiction universe's answer to a baseball team mascot.

Anyway, when it gets started, some people are dead. Not everyone, though--some people are worth fighting for. There is quite a bit of confusion--both on the reader's and Katniss's part--as she figures out whose side she is on, who has been lying to her, which of two tyrannical rulers is the Most Bad and which one of two impossible-to-distinguish boys is the True Love of Her Life.

Adrenaline was pumped. Shots were taken. Souls were hijacked. Misery was dealt. Vocal chords were cut. Pain was felt. Skin was gashed. Narrow escapes were made. Retreats were beat. A shop specializing in fur underwear was raided (Actually, I liked that part)!

Off to recover.

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Weekend End

August 22, 2010 7:29 PM

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Friends show each other their houseplants

August 19, 2010 9:01 AM

I kind of love how FloFab says dumping a friend on the basis of never getting the opportunity to see the inside of their apartment is not out of the question.

From yesterday's NYT Dining section etiquette column:

I have been inviting new acquaintances for brunch, dinner, or even just for tea in order to welcome newcomers to my neighborhood, have them meet other neighbors, or just expand my circle of friends. I do enjoy their company and most will bring flowers, a bottle of wine or a small gift (which I don't think is necessary). Most will call the next day to thank me for a pleasant get-together. But very seldom do these guests ever invite me back. If they don't want to invite me to their homes, they could invite me to go to a movie or concert with them, or even a picnic in a public park. Reciprocity doesn't seem to occur to very many people.

What you have been doing for your new neighbors is extremely generous, friendly and nice. If these people do not see fit to reciprocate by having you in their homes, then you have to decide whether you want to continue any type of relationship with them and on what basis. My husband and I have friends who never invite us to their homes but we always make plans to go out to dinner with them or some other event. If you're interested in pursuing the relationship, pursue it. And if not, let it be.

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No Laughing, All Crying

August 17, 2010 9:09 PM

From the latest Gwyneth Paltrow (TM) GOOPletter:

Ready for the good news? Studies show that starting at age 65 the body naturally begins to slowly lose weight. Social Security, here we come!