Advice and Indulgences

fI turned 47 on Friday and it was nice. I like birthdays, mine and other people because I like celebrations and gatherings and cake. When the celebration is for me I can pick the cake. So it was good, though a low-key year, nothing to extravagant. Some nice meals, Mark got me Scaachi Koul’s Sucker Punch, which I’ve been dying to read, along with a new hair-dryer, and took me out to dinner. My mom took me to lunch and got me some sweet gifts too, and I went to the spa in between so the day wasn’t all food.

But of course, I must find more ways to celebrate. When I turned 40 I did an advice post that, reading it over now, I think is still quite good: I stand by all of that. Please continue to listen to that stuff. I have strikingly less self-confidence when I was 40—the past few years have really not been rah-rah Rebecca years—but I thought I’d just do a few little recommendations for this post, as that’s the sort of post I like to write and it’s my weekend so I’m going to indulge myself. Not life advice—not feeling up to that—just some pleasant things to read and watch, but those are fun…

Good Material by Dolly Alderton I thought this book was just great—funny and current and odd, but with a gently unreliable narrator, unreliable only in that he just cannot read the situation well or fully. It’s rare that contemporary novels—especially mainstream commercial ones like I think this one was meant to be—will allow the protagonist to cast themselves in the occasional poor light, and be a genuine screw up, as opposed to a good person in bad situation, a pretty girl with her hair in a bun, etc. Great use of the London setting, and all the many neighbourhoods, realistic depictions of what one can and cannot afford on an artist’s income, and on and on. So much wonderful detail. Not spit-take funny but made me smile (and roll my eyes) a lot.

Foodism I get given a lot of magazines in my current job—I am not complaining! Foodism—technically Foodism TO—is a foodie mag with a lot of local restaurant, bar, and producer profiles, some reviews, and some larger trend pieces and interviews. I like it because it has high production values, good writing and is about stuff I might actually do or buy, ie., not everything costs a million dollars (some of it does, but not all). Even the stuff I never do is fun reading, and it’s a lovely glossy pretty mag. No idea if it exists in other cities but it should!

Flow comes up as a Latvian film if you google it but in fact the entire thing is wordless so there’s no subtltles or language at all. It’s an animated feature about a cat who gets caught up in a flood with some other animates and sort of floats around on an abandoned boat trying to survive. A very very distant analogue of Life of Pi by Yann Martel (the novel; I didn’t see the film) in that it is about different creatures trying to get along at least well enough to survive. It’s animated but really not a children’s movie—the rating is PG and there’s at least one upsetting scene (I left the room), maybe more, depending on your temperament. Nevertheless it is gorgeous and compelling and I imagine a mature patient kid would still like it. The animals act like real animals (for the most part) and the mysterious flood is terrifying. The little cat at the heart of it was so lovely and realistic—when she had a nightmare about a scary scene earlier in the film my heart broke for her. Alice watched the whole film with us—she likes TV and often watches with us but this is the most engrossed I’ve ever seen her. She knew that little cat ws just like her! How to Train Your Dragon is my favourite animated film of all time (although when I went to find a link to put here, I discovered a new version is just out now, something I cannot even countenance—the original is perfect). The dragon in THAT film is actually based on a cat too, one that reminds me of Evan—it’s an extremely feline dragon. But the cat in Flow is just like Alice. Not a reason for non-me people to watch it but just saying—realistic.

Midcentury Modern This deeply silly TV show is exactly what I want to watch when I get home from a night out in order to settle down enough to go to bed, or after watching a serious film or a darker TV show, in order to lighten the mood. It’s “dessert television” and the world needs more of it. I don’t think it’s officially advertised as a modern adaptation of the Golden Girls but that’s what it is—three gay men in their fifties, plus one guy’s mom, move to Palm Springs to have companionship, support, and share expenses. And wacky adventures. They are largely kind to each other, though there is always the ribbing of sitcom characters. There are more dirty jokes than on Golden Girls, but GG was pretty dirty too. I like all the characters, no plotline is too serious, and sometimes they do a little dance. It’s my ideal TV show. Perfect viewing after everyone’s been hacking each other up and eating each other’s faces and sobbing and wailing on The Last of Us (oh my goodness, the second season isn’t as good).

And one more thing:

RR (walks into living room, holding avocado) Can you touch this avocado please?
MS (touches avocado) …
RR …
MS: Did you want me to tell you if it’s ripe?
RR: Why else would I need you to touch an avocado?
MS: Normally I just get a bit more narrative before I have fruit thrust in my face.
RR: …
MS: It’s ripe. That’s a perfect avocado.
RR: So put it in the fridge?
MS: Yes.