in two ways.
1. I Purchased “I Was Told There’d Be Cake” by Sloane Crosley.
Nearly every blog or publication I read has mentioned this book and its author - who is New York’s most popular publicist - at least once this year. And because it was about another 20-something in New York (I feared the word “fabulous” and name dropping would be throughout), and because she is a publicist with her own book, I was kind of annoyed and just wanted to avoid the whole thing.
But then I read a quick-hit in USA Today where she admits: “Obviously, I’m grateful that my job has helped me, but I can see how it would irritate people.” Ok. She’s honest.
Then, I saw that she had made dioramas to represent some of her essays on her Web site. Well, she’s crafty, quirky and clearly dedicated, I thought.
So, while meeting a friend at Barnes & Noble today, I finally picked it up. I love David Sedaris, and a comparison is directly on the book’s cover in a quote by Jonathan Lethem, so I was reassured that I wouldn’t be terribly disappointed if I opened it.
I think it was on page 4 when I decided to purchase “Cake,” because it clearly wasn’t another love-seeking, poor-little-rich-girl story. Her story was relatable and funny, without being contrived or pompous.
The quote on page 4 that did it for me:
If I joined a cult, I like to think they would come rescue me.
Because, honestly, that’s all I really want.
2. I listened to some of Scarlett Johansson’s album, “Anywhere I Lay My Head.”
Again, we’ve all been hearing about this collection of Tom Waits covers for quite some time, and again, I wanted nothing to do with it.
It’s not as though I’m the No. 1 Waits fan, and I won’t pretend to be now that this album has come out. But his music is directly associated with memories of my father trying to get me to listen to his cassettes on the way to dance/cheer/swim practices. Waits doesn’t exactly produce music that gets me pumped up, so often I would urge him to switch it out with some Bruce Springsteen. Or perhaps some Richard Pryor standup, which I now know was way too inappropriate. But something could both agree on was my point. It wasn’t that Waits was bad. It’s just the timing wasn’t right. This would cause my dad to make me listen to his lyrics, which usually would make my heart hurt.
So, when I think of Waits, I think of the first conversations on music I had with my father. A discussion, or more often a debate, that continues to this day. So, in my own mind, that’s a lot to live up to. This makes him an unforgettable musician to me, besides the fact that his voice is not something that just fades into the background.
Sadly, after I decided to listen to some of Johansson’s songs through her Web site, I cannot say the same about her own voice. But, to be clear, it wasn’t terrible, or even mildly bad (after a few listens, I kind of like “Falling Down”). It was just that her singing blends into the music accompanying her. Granted, the music itself is pretty good - with clear influences from the various artists who worked with her - but it’s more something I would keep on low while I write an essay or study capital accounts rather than really listen to the lyrics.
To be fair, I like her as an actress, and while her CD won’t provoke memories the way Waits’ original music does, her movies do. For example, I’ll always remember going on a first date to “Match Point” thinking it’d be a good choice for someone I just met. Although I liked the film, he and I left incredibly uncomfortable due to the intensity of Scarlett’s performance and the vast amount of terrible emotions and human reactions featured, which a relationship can bring on. This made him choose the more-than-awful “Date Movie” for our second date, thinking we needed something we could hate/laugh at (not with) together.
