The Post About The Rabbit Recommends: February 2014

Each week or so I post things of which I'm fond. You can choose what happens after my recommendation. Ignore, embrace, debate. Earlier volumes of The Rabbit Recommends can be found here.

1.Classic Movies in Miniature Style. As part of his graduation thesis, Murat Palta decided to blend traditional oriental motifs with contemporary western films. Pop culture art is a favorite. Particularly when it features such delights as Star Wars, Inception, and Kill Bill.

2. The Popcast. This month on our pop culture podcast, Knox and I tackled the Olympics, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, House of Cards, Jimmy Fallon, Pharrell, Valentine's Day, True Detective, The Oscars, Alec Baldwin, Canada, Seth Meyers, Boycotts, The Super Bowl and much more.

3. Rapper's Delight. The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon debuted this month. Jimmy's wheelhouse is viral video content. Don't hesitate to check out his Lip Sync Battle with Paul Rudd or The History of Rap 5 with Justin Timberlake. My personal favorite is Brian Williams' Rapper's Delight.


4. Pixar Theory: Last summer, Jon Negroni wrote a great piece called A Grand Unified Theory of Pixar which hypothesized all the movies were connected in one cohesive timeline. It's a fascinating read. This month, Negroni put forth my favorite theory: Andy's Mom in Toy Story is Jessie's Previous Owner. Perfect.

5. Ellie Holcomb: I've always enjoyed the music of Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors. Drew's wife (and one of the "neighbors") Ellie Holcomb released her first full-length solo album this month, As Sure As The Sun. It is special. Not only was it a Kickstarter baby, but it's good music. Each song is like a page torn from a journal of a person wrestling with God and faith and trust. It hit home.

6. Stormscapes. I live in "tornado alley" in a city full of trees so it's rare to see the beauty in storms. Last summer, Nicolaus Wegner camped out in South Dakota and Wyoming and captured thunderstorms and supercells at their fanciest.


7. My Life in Middlemarch. Rebecca Mead writes a book that's part memoir, part literary criticism and part Eliot biography. This exquisite novel made me fall in love with that high school required reading and believe it to be more than I recall.

8. Sean Lowe's I Am Second. I'm a fan of this particular Bachelor. His video and Annie Downs' take on it confirms why. 

9. The Americans. In the aforementioned Popcast, Knox has tried without fail to have me fall for this 1980s cold war spy drama on A&E. I finally caved when the first season went up on Amazon Prime. After a 4 day binge, I was completely hooked. The KGB is just a wallpaper for this tumultuous drama about a marriage in crisis. So good. Not suitable for all grandmothers.

10. This Old Man. Roger Angell wrote this frank piece for The New Yorker about living in your nineties. Here's just a sample of the goodness:

But I believe that everyone in the world wants to be with someone else tonight, together in the dark, with the sweet warmth of a hip or a foot or a bare expanse of shoulder within reach. Those of us who have lost that, whatever our age, never lose the longing: just look at our faces. If it returns, we seize upon it avidly, stunned and altered again.

11. Unlikely Simultaneous Historical Events. A list that will make you furrow your brow. Includes: The first wagon train of the Oregon Trail heads out the same year the fax machine is invented.

My Favorite February Tweets

Frozen: A cautionary tale about isolating an extrovert based on the special needs of an introvert sibling.
— Rachel Callahan (@ObjectivityRach) February 4, 2014

Life is 10% what happens to me, 75% how I handle it, and 15% how I share it on social media.
— Jared Hollier (@JaredHollier) February 5, 2014

"My current stage of life is much better/worse than yours and here's why..." -Majority of today's viral blog posts
— Cindy Warren (@cindy_warren) February 13, 2014

David, you're the John to my Aeryn. The Wash to my Zoe (please don't die). The Rory to my Amy. The Daryl to my Horton Scout 125. #makeyoutey
— Ruthie (@bogueandweejer) February 14, 2014

Note: I included this because each of those pairings is truly the most romantic. And I was proud I knew them all.

If I was blind I could tell who the hot girls in the nail salon were by how boring their stories are
— Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) February 18, 2014

Ironically, the more camo you wear, the more people see you.
— Corey Boyd (@CoreyBoyd) February 19, 2014

"Haha you're way fatter than you thought!" -stairs
— Amber Krogel (@amberkrogel) February 21, 2014

Twitter: where we gather to complain about our Facebook friends.
— Laura McClellan (@laura_mcclellan) February 21, 2014

Tip: NOTHING worse than tweets about how cool your life is. Everybody hates that and resents you for them. *Sent from the #Oscars stage
— andy lassner (@andylassner) February 27, 2014

Linking up with the delightful Leigh Kramer to share what I loved in February.

What did you fancy last month?

The Post About Wishing for Jamie Golden's Life

2008 was a year of good decisions. I traveled to Mexico for the first time. I grew out my bangs. I reserved the user name "jamiegolden" on a beta email service called G-Mail.

I didn't anticipate it becoming my go-to email address since I was happy with the stable and secure "jgold15@netzero.net."

But alas, Netzero went the way of scrunchies and Clearly Canadian.

There I was, an early adopter of something valuable that would last. I took much pride in being "jamiegolden@gmail.com" and thought the other Jamies could stick it.

I won.

Until I received an email intended for one of those Jamies. Specifically, jamie.golden@gmail.com.

For the past two years, I've been receiving the occasional email for Jamie. Here's what I know about her:

• Last year, she traded in her BMW for a new Audi. 
• She spends large portions of her income at J. Crew, Madewell, and Zara.
• Invitations to parties on rooftops on Lexington Avenue and weekends in the Hamptons are standard.
• Her hair is specially designed by a "creative director" who charges $100 for a cut and style.
• She's missioned to Germany and volunteers for a community justice organization.

But the best correspondence I've mistakenly received was a blind date inquiry. A gentleman reached out to Jamie upon suggestion from a mutual friend.

Do you want to guess?

Yep, you guessed correctly. He was a doctor who loved helping those in need and wanted to travel the world. Plus, his entire five paragraph email was grammatically correct.

I replied to that email just like Katherine Heigl would in a romantic comedy. I just knew it would lead to a meet-cute I would regale at parties and tell our baby as she fell asleep to night lights on the ceiling and essential oils on her feet.

But alas, he went the way of spam and junk mail. No reply.

Does East Coast Jamie get emails intended for me? Does she make bulleted lists of all the ways she envies my LinkedIn connections or Kia oil changes or invitations to pay my overdue book fines?

Probably not. But I do know tomorrow it's sunny and 59° here and she should hunker down for
20° and an ice storm.

I win.

What would your email reveal about your life?

The Post About Chasing Rabbits With Amanda Williams

Welcome to my series called Chasing Rabbits With _______________. I interrogate someone I know to be more interesting than me. Today, I'm welcoming writer Amanda Williams to the chase.

I met Amanda on Twitter in 2012 when she and I were in the same Follow Friday list by Leigh Kramer. Then, I quickly followed her on Instagram where she posted honest and hilarious pictures of her life. Finally, I landed on the motherlode - her blog Life Edited. We met in real life a few months ago over tacos and I decided she's a keeper. Her writing will leave you entertained, inspired, and comforted which is why "writer" doesn't do her justice.

1. What line from literature, movies, television, or music would you use to summarize your life?
Generally speaking:
"But these stories don’t mean anything
When you’ve got no one to tell them to"
Brandi Carlile, The Story

But also:
“You have a freak flag, you just don’t fly it.”
Luke Wilson, The Family Stone

And currently:
“Our pets’ heads are falling off!”
Jim Carrey, Dumb and Dumber

2. Which celebrity would you like to be friends with in real life? What would you two do on a sunny Saturday? Vince Vaughn. It would need to be a sunny Friday because I want to surprise my husband at work and whisk him across the street for a greasy burger at Rotier’s, where the three of us will tell stories and laugh like we’re in a feel-good comedy – except we’re not, we’re just awesome – and Vince will punch me on the shoulder and shake his head and grin because I’m so witty and he likes my run-on sentences. Then he’ll give me a side hug and I’ll instagram it and my life will be complete.

3. Name 3 things on your bucket list.

1. Italy.
2. Lasik.
3. A lazy, kidless picnic on a sunny day in Central Park with a hot guy named David.

4. What is the best or worst “look” you’ve ever attempted?
Oh, gosh. There are too many. This one from the mid-80’s is clearly in the running. My hair is naturally curly, so obviously drying it into a thick, frizzy mat was a good call. But those bangs are the real star of the show. My brother called it The Butt Cut, and I’m just now realizing how mulletesque it was. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little proud of that. [hashtag party in the back]

5. What is your greatest extravagance? Showers. Specifically, showers where I have time to wash my hair AND shave my legs. If I actually get to close the shower door because I don’t have to listen for kids hurting each other or jumping off things, BONUS.

6. What is your favorite word and why?
Plethora.
Plettttthora. PlethorUH. That’s why.

7. What are some websites you frequent that other folks should also frequent?

• shereadstruth.com – Because truth is good. Also, it’s my job. But mainly the first thing.
• merriam-webster.com – Because I’m a nerd like that.
• sarahbessey.com – Because her words are like buttuh.
• noisetrade.com – Because the only thing I like more than good music is free, good music.

Rabbit Readers: What's on your bucket list?

The Post About the Rabbit Recommends: January 2014

Each week or so I post things of which I'm fond. You can choose what happens after my recommendation. Ignore, embrace, debate. Earlier volumes of The Rabbit Recommends can be found here.

Last month, I loved much and loved it well. It's easy when the weather outside is frightful AND you're unemployed to consume a lot of stuff.

Sherlock Season 3: It's odd when an entire season of a show can begin and end in one month but when there are only 3 episodes it's doable. But they were good ones. You can watch this season on pbs.org and the previous two seasons on Amazon Prime.

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee: I didn't discover this gem until Tina Fey was a guest. Now I've binged them all. I adore chatting with people who are funny during regular conversation. Jerry Seinfeld is the king of this. My favorite conversations include Chris Rock, Seth Meyers, and surprisingly Alec Baldwin.

Taylor Swift Thinking She Won a Grammy and Then She Didn't.

I Have Decided: My pastor led a message series about the four best decisions you can make in 2014. It was surely goodness and mercy.

One Word 2014: My word for 2014 is "waffle." I ordered this necklace to stay focused. It's scented.

The Goldbergs: I recommended this ABC sitcom to everyone last month. If you were aware of the 80s, then you can watch any episode and be transported.

Writing Music: Camping out in coffee shops means musical inspiration that doesn't necessarily lead to dance breaks. Enter artists like The Album Leaf, Olafur Arnalds, Dustin O'Halloran, Explosions in the Sky, Goldmund, Christopher O'Riley, and David Jalbert. Here's a link to my "Writing Right" playlist on Spotify.

The Power of Habit: Charles Duhigg's NYT bestseller is worthy of your time. It forced me to think about how I can better accomplish my goals by taking a close look at my habits. It was a fast and fascinating read.

One Direction Auto-Tune: No video has made me laugh this hard in a long time. And I watch a lot of videos.

The Popcast: This month on our pop culture podcast, Knox and I tackled the Golden Globes, Grammys, Bachelor, Woody Allen, American Hustle, Miley Cyrus, Ron Paul, Scandal, True Detective, Drake, Anonymous Commenting, Richard Sherman, Anna Kendrick, Arby's and more.

Short Term 12: Not only the best movie I watched this month but in my top list of all time. It's the story of Grace, a supervisor at a foster-care facility for at-risk teenagers. The movie took South by Southwest by storm and is up for three Independent Spirit awards. It wrecked me in the best way.

What If The Characters of Parks and Rec Had Amazon Wish Lists

My Favorite January Tweets

Be sure to check on elderly neighbors to make sure they are warm and also delete the 25 stacked toolbars on their Internet Explorer 7.
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) January 4, 2014

Someone else's booger is currently lodged under my fingernail, if you were on the fence about becoming a parent.
— Katherine H  (@grass_stains) January 5, 2014

Unbelievable! Your weather app looks like my weather app! (Replace "weather app" with latte, burger, airplane, sunset, or baby.) #instagram
— samdavidson (@samdavidson) January 5, 2014

I will not let anything that will ultimately mean nothing keep me from experiencing what means everything. #21daysofprayer
— Chris Hodges (@Chris_Hodges) January 7, 2014

You can find anything—ANYTHING—on the internet. Except a lyrics site that doesn’t look like it was designed in 1995 by a 7th grader w/ ADHD.
— Tiffany Dorrin Olsen (@NotThatOlsen) January 8, 2014

I want y'all to know there's a showing of Antigone at my house right now because mandarin oranges have seeds.
— Erin Moon (@erinhmoon) January 17, 2014

Forget the to-do list; decide who you want to become. God's a lot more interested in shaping our hearts than organizing our days.
— Love Does (@lovedoes) January 18, 2014

Just heard a Cranberries song, and suddenly I was in my Camaro with the t-tops out, clunky shoes on, and 6 tiny clips in my hair. #ninetiesg
— Gretchen Bush (@Gbushmomma) January 20, 2014

Based on all the Laura Ingalls Wilder in my feed today, Little House books are Southern girls' main references on surviving snow.
— Elizabeth Hyndman (@edhyndman) January 28, 2014

Linking up with the delightful Leigh Kramer to share what I loved in January.

What did you fancy last month?