This Is Beautiful: Rainy Days

There are times when rainy days are horrible, and there are times when they are wonderful. But being able to go into work one rainy day late is pretty wonderful. I got to wake up and drink tea and look outside and just watch the rain come down onto the ground. It's not as entertaining as snow to be sure, but there's something hypnotic about just watching all of that water splash onto the ground and disappear into puddles.

Sometimes it's nice to have an excuse to stay home and relax, and I've needed that more and more often lately. Rain is good for that.

“Conan Doyle for the Defense” by Margalit Fox

As stated before, I am quite the Sherlock Holmes nut. So a book exploring how Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the writer behind Sherlock Holmes, once came to a man’s defense in court? Sign me up please.

Fox is telling a couple different stories here. First of all, there’s the crime. A rich, paranoid woman is killed in her home. Only a diamond brooch is found to be missing from her house. Who did it?

The man that the police arrest is Oscar Slater, a foreigner and a Jew. Determined to pin the crime on him, they arrest him and put him on trial. His voice is curiously absent from these proceedings, as he was advised not to testify due to his accent and the fact that everyone in Victorian times was racist. Who is he?

And then there’s Conan Doyle, already well-known for his Holmes stories and for coming to the aid of other underdogs. Oh and his obsession with spiritualism. That too. How did he get involved, and how did he eventually clear Slater’s name?

The entire story is told, from the general prejudices in Victorian times and societal norms, to the policeman who sacrificed his career after expressing doubts about the investigation, to the falling out between Conan Doyle and Slater after his release. Guesses are made as to who actually committed the murder, including Conan Doyle’s, but no one was ever convicted.

I found this book to be a delight. The subject matter is fascinating, as you rarely read about author’s lives since they are rarely this interesting, and Fox’s writing style is clear and easy to read. She keeps you turning pages up until the very end.

Honestly if you like mystery or history then this book is kind of a no-brainer. Those already into Holmes definitely are, and seeing a different side to his creator is incredible. Would highly recommend!

This Is Beautiful: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

I forgot how much I LOVED this show until I started the second season. It's so good!

The first season covered Midge Maisel, your typical 50s housewife whose life falls apart and then turns to stand-up comedy to cope. She then starts trying to make it in a world where typical housewives aren't supposed to do comedy, in fact women in general don't do comedy, as her hobby becomes more and more serious.

Season 2 shows Midge becoming more and more successful, which is great. I thought that the first season had a little too much of her flopping onstage. It also shows how her new hobby is affecting those around her, like her family and friends.

What I really like about the show is the different characters at play. Midge definitely isn't your typical feminist, she measures her dimensions everyday to make sure she still has her figure and dreams of working at the makeup counter. But nevertheless, she is still doing something bold and against most of the men in her life. She just goes to show that there is no one type of feminist, you do not have to fit into a specific mold to do radical things. You just have to be passionate and willing to make a change.

Then there's her ex-husband Joel. He earns a special place in my heart as a guy you love and hate almost equally. He spends a lot of time searching for forgiveness for breaking up with Midge, and staying that way since he couldn't stand being married to a comic who could use him as a joke. Still, he's crazy about her and hates seeing her with other men, even though he can't prevent it. He walks such a fine line between being endearing and being a bit of a creep but either way you see his character I think he's great for just being so complex.

And there's Susie, Midge's manager. If she doesn't turn out to be gay I'm going to throw a fit. I adore her.

Consider watching the show if you haven't already, both seasons are up now on Amazon Prime. It's wonderful and very bingeable!

"Poirot Investigates" by Agatha Christie

Picked this up because I realized that despite my love of mysteries, I haven't really red much Agatha Christie. Also I'm a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, so this seemed like it'd be up my alley.

To be honest, I was kind of confused by the selection of stories. They don't seem to be sequential, they definitely don't start at the very beginning, and there isn't really an order to them (besides the ending, which I'll get to). The result was that the whole thing seemed like a Homesian spin-off with the similar setting, partnership, and similar attitude to the police. I'm a little disappointed because to be honest I couldn't pin down the differences. Hastings is portrayed as a bit of an idiot next to the genius detective who consults for the police in the same way that Watson is. I guess Sherlock is British while Poirot is Belgian and Poirot is more OCD than Sherlock and doesn't do drugs but can't say much beyond that.

I do think that it was a nice touch to end with a case that Poirot would describe as a failure. (It isn't really much of a failure, the killer isn't so much as let free as Poirot doesn't press charges.) For much of the book he is trumpeting how smart he is so it's a good note to end on and contrast the rest of it. It also shows how Poirot is not the police, he can follow his own conscience above the law, an aspect that I love about Sherlock and him.

So I don't know, I guess this compilation is for those who either want a very light introduction to crime stores, or for those who are Poirot fanatics and want to hear all of the small stories as well. I just don't think it was a great fit for where I am, a Holmes nut wanting a lil something different from Poirot. I'll see if I can find other works by Christie to flesh this out a little.

This Is Beautiful: Steven Universe

I don't think I've posted about "Steven Universe" before, which is a huge mistake on my part, I do apologize. "Steven Universe" is probably the best cartoon on air right now, it's on Cartoon Network and the creator is Rebecca Sugar who got her start on "Adventure Time." It's such a wholesome show with excellent characters.

The story centers around Steven, a boy whose dad is a long-haired musician now running a car wash and whose mom is Rose Quartz the leader of the Crystal Gems. Happy family. Essentially out in space there is a race of gems made into sentient, female, beings. They wanted to colonize Earth and use it to mine new gems from the ground, but Rose Quartz and her gang of Crystal Gems stopped them. Rose then decided to have a baby, and she gave him her gem, meaning that Rose isn't around anymore, but Steven has her powers.

The Crystal Gems as a whole function as Steven's mom now. There's Garnet, who is super badass and can see into the future; Amethyst, the youngest and a bit of a mess; and Pearl, the neurotic very organized and concerned type. Together they all go on missions to keep the other gems away from Earth! And Steven learns a thing or two about love and compassion along the way.

My personal opinion on this show is that it is a great example of meta-modernism. (This is about to get more philosophical.) Modernism can roughly be summed up as the idea that there is meta-narrative, that we all play a unique part in a larger story and life has meaning. Postmodernism is basically that there is no meaning and we are all worthless. Meta-modernism goes one step past that and says that yes life has no meaning, but we can try to create good things anyways.

Steven is very meta-modern in that he keeps going up against these terrifying situations with love in his heart for everyone around him. As he learns more and more about how his mom wasn't perfect (and I will argue that his mom is essentially his god, she died creating him and everyone worships her I mean the parallels are right there people) he grapples with his resentment of her, but he always comes back to this position of love and how he can do better. Which is very similar to the meta-modern agenda. I don't want to get too into it, but maybe I'll flesh this out more in the future.

Bottom line: this show is so good, regardless of what age you are. If you aren't watching it you are wrong, so put it on right now, episodes are only 10 minutes each!

"The Word is Murder" by Anthony Horowitz

Since reading Magpie Murders by the same author last year I've been dying to read more of Horowitz's work. Unfortunately it is kind of impossible to talk about this book without mentioning his other novel, so I'll just sum it up briefly. Magpie Murders is about an author of crime fiction being murdered, and it goes through all of the tropes of writing crime fiction in the process of solving both murders. It's incredible, I loved it. The Word is Murder tries to do something similar, but from a different angle.

The main character of this book is an author called Anthony (sound familiar?). He is hired by a retired detective to write about his life and a case that he is working on (sound familiar?). The result is a Sherlock Holmes style story, that appears to be vaguely autobiographical. Even the "Acknowledgements" section is vague about what was real and what was not!

I looked up the facts, and yes it is fictional, but all of the details about Horowitz's own life are true. The book goes into how he wrote The House of Silk and "Foyle's War." The rest is made up. (Yes the novel says that names were changed and all that, but there literally isn't anyone who fits the bill of the other characters.)

What results is an interesting view into the writing process. The protagonist discusses what details he keeps in, and what he decides to leave out. He also talks about his uncertainty about writing about a case that might not even be solved by his detective! One scene that I thought was great was when Anthony realizes that his detective is homophobic. He goes through his thought process of how this wouldn't be a likable character in this day and age, and the mystery of why he is remains unsolved. And I think that's fine, to give a reason for it would add legitimacy to his beliefs, and the point still stands. He's a flawed hero, not someone who you would read about in crime novels, and that makes it more realistic. Anthony says over and over that this isn't an acceptable view to have, which denounces it quite effectively. But it shows the struggle of trying to take real life and turn it into a fiction, the way Watson did with Sherlock.

Unfortunately, if I had to pick one, it would be Magpie Murders. It just went through all of the tropes so well and effectively, and had a book-within-a-book format. The Word is Murder of course could never be as good as that, but it is still a great work in its own right, just comes from a slightly different angle. As a result I still highly recommend this work, but if you enjoy it, just go for Magpie Murders because that will blow your socks off. It's unfortunate that I keep comparing the two, really you should just read both, but that's how it works.

This Is Beautiful: Plants

Plants! Big plants! Small plants! Plants are great.

I started adopting small succulents my senior year of college because for some reason I kept finding abandoned ones around campus. Currently I have a small succulent named "Hardy" because it said that on his plant sign thing, and a Hawaiian plant named Lili after the last queen of Hawaii. (Read about her here if you are so inclined.)

Taking care of plants is great, you are responsible for a living thing, but it isn't a living thing you have to worry about wandering away or cleaning up after it or anything. It just needs water and sunlight, two rather easy things to provide. Succulents require even less care since you don't need to water them that often and the temperature doesn't bother them much.

What I've really grown to love about plants is how the progress takes a while to see. I've had both of these plants for over a year and every once in a while it strikes me how much they have grown while I've had them. And having that long-term progress is a unique kind of reward that we don't get often in this immediate gratification world.

Plants are awesome! Go buy a plant! Give it a silly name! It'll love you!

"Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace

Okay, first of all, what the fuck.

Now that's out of the way, let me give you some background. I picked up this book primarily because I have heard that it is long and weird and that seemed right up my alley. The foreword to the edition I have said that most readers of "Infinite Jest" for the first time are in their early 20s, so guess I'm on brand there. Honestly I can see why, the book is a commitment at roughly 1000 pages and the narrative is fragmented throughout it.

There are a lot of cool theories and forums online completely dedicated to parsing out this book. Here's a few that I checked out prior to writing this: yada. They mostly cover the ending and what happens plot-wise, so I'll just leave it there since I have nothing to add. I would like to point out though that there are plenty of people out there with really odd and flimsily supported theories which make me SUPER skeptical. Someone explain to me the difference between them and the description in the text of Steepley's dad and his relationship to M*A*S*H because I'm certain that's what the author (DFW) thinks of them. Ambiguity can be important at times, and there are definitely chunks of this book that I am perfectly happy leaving ambiguous.

I'd like to focus on what I think this book signifies. The two main topics that DFW seems to discuss most often is the media and communication. Let's tackle the media first. The Entertainment that characters get addicted to is a stand in for people watching tv for hours on end, passively watching the screen without engaging with it. This parallels the addiction other characters also suffer from. He wants to challenge us to actively engage with our media/entertainment, instead of passively consuming it. You can see this just in the structure of the book, those annoying endnotes instead of footnotes make you work for the most simple phrases and clarifications. At the same time though, this book definitely models the Entertainment. It circles around, with the first chapter being the last chronologically, forcing you to finish the book, and then return to the beginning and start again. But there's a different intent from the Entertainment, there characters are rewinding to get that pleasure rush again, here us sickos are rereading to try and find more meaning in it, we are actively engaging with the book. (Trust me, it isn't such a fun read as to trigger those pleasure neurons.)

As for communication, all of the characters seem to have trouble communicating in one way or another. Such is the human experience. (Take the time when Orin calls Hal up, DFW drops a reference to a Beatles song, "I Want to Tell You" which is all about trying, and failing, to talk to someone you love.) Hal has the most severe transformation though, he goes from someone who can communicate eloquently, but feels nothing, to someone who cares incredibly deeply but cannot make himself understood. This is probably due to a drug called DMZ and there's a lot of theories about that, but I don't want to focus on that. The most important aspect, I think, is that his dad picked up on this aspect of Hal and tried to change it. He made the Entertainment so that his son could feel something.

My theory here, is that Hal's dad, JOI, is a stand in for the author. All of the critiques of the films he made could easily apply to DFW as well, both of them value the technique and style over making something entertaining. Mario is a stand in for the artist's work, someone who needs a lot of love and attention, but knows that he will get it. (There's a quote about this in one of the articles I linked above.) And since JOI made the Entertainment for Hal, Hal is a stand in for the audience of the work.

There's other details that align with this, such as the Master copy of the Entertainment ending up in JOI's head. This seems very similar to the story of Athena to me, springing out of Zeus's head. And artistic endeavors are very much like the artist's children (aka Mario). This whole book was once in DFW's head, and the book parallels the Entertainment. Which points to JOI being DFW in the story.

There's lots of heads in the book in general, where the Master copy is is just one of them. JOI made films for Poor Yorick Entertainment, Yorick being best known for his skull. The title is even a line from Hamlet, in fact from a description of Yorick being a "man of infinite jest." Hamlet in general is referenced pretty often, and it's obvious why, both works feature dysfunctional families. There's also all of the smiley faces stuck to the cover of the Entertainment, those are all lil heads. And that one kid from the tennis academy gets his forehead stuck to a window and it gets ripped off scarily enough. Not that I know what it all means, but heads are important here.

But back from that little tangent, so Hal is the audience, and Hal goes from being able to communicate to being able to feel. Does the ability to communicate have to limit our ability to feel, or vice versa? Does this parallel the audience's experience? Over the course of reading this novel, do we start out being able to communicate what this book is, and end up not knowing what on earth happened but feeling different? At the very base of his intentions, is DFW just trying to make us invest in something and feel different afterwards?

http://fictionadvocate.com/2012/08/01/the-infinite-jest-liveblog-what-happened-pt-1/

http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/ijend

https://asupposedlyfunblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/infinite-jest-as-infinite-jest/

http://dfan.org/jest.txt

This Is Beautiful: Birthdays

This isn't so much about birthdays themselves as it is about people's reaction to birthdays. Let's be honest, a birthday is just another day that's part of another week/month/year. But there's something special about it in that it's an occasion for all of your friends to tell you how much they appreciate you and being in your life. This post is about that.

I recently had a birthday (December babies hell yeah) and got to be honest, I'm kind of over them just in general. Even the Facebook posts are worn out, there's only so many times I can say "thank you, hope you're doing well too!" But after work I had a couple friends over and we played games and talked shit all night and it was lovely.

Showing appreciation for your friends is so important. Not just on their birthdays, but those dates can serve as a handy reminder. It makes even the most jaded cynic happy and excited (case in point: me).

So reach out to your pals on their birthday, and year-round if you can remember. But especially on their birthday.

Variations on a Theme: Cover Songs

This month we are exploring cover songs! I’m defining a cover song as a version of lyrics or recognizable melody performed by a group that did not write it. Regardless of which version is the most popular, the people who did not write the song is the cover. This playlist mainly explores either little known covers that I enjoy, or reveals some songs you may not have known to be covers. Have fun!

1. “Got To Get You Into My Life” by Earth, Wind, and Fire

Yeah so little known fact, this is a cover of a Beatles song off of the “Revolver” album. And I have to be honest, I like this version much better. With the different layering of the horns and the snapping at the beginning, it feels like a much more complete version than the original one by the Beatles.

2. “Everybody Wants To Be A Cat” by The Electric Swing Circus

Originally from the animated classic “The Aristocats” this is a more jazzy version of an already pretty jazzy tune. I’ve heard numerous versions of this song, and they are all fun, but this is the most upbeat one that I’ve seen and therefore my favorite. Because this song is meant to be fun and jazzy!

3. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” by Jake Shimabukuro

This is the song that made Jake Shimabukuro famous ages ago! It’s a stunning cover of the Beatles classic song on ukulele. His talent really shines through in what he does with the song and the liberties that he takes with it. Honestly though, all of Shimabukuro’s work is incredible, would highly recommend!

4. “Come On Eileen” by Save Ferris

Originally by Dexy’s Midnight Runners, this is a ska version of what is probably their biggest hit. The horns make it jazzy and very danceable, while the lyrics (sung by a woman!) are more upbeat as a result. Both versions of the song have their pros to them, but I know for sure which one I’ll be putting on during a party. Ska all the way!

5. “Please Mister Postman” by The Beatles

So having included two covers of Beatles songs, here is a Beatles song that is actually a cover! The original is by The Marvelettes, an African-American girl band from the US. Bands like them were popular just before the British Invasion, but they were eventually overwhelmed by Beatlemania. They had a profound influence on the Beatles though, so much of their sound came from black American bands.

6. “Skinny Love” by Ed Sheeran

This is an old one, from before Ed Sheeran blew the fuck up and changed his sound quite a bit. It’s a cover of Bon Iver’s song of the same name, and I think he does a beautiful job with it. Keeping it simple with just the guitar is a great choice for this song, with its bare-bones lyrics. I miss this Sheeran, now he overdubs everything and is so flashy, but this I could imagine hearing at a local coffee shop.

7. “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” by George Harrison

I love this song, I choreographed to it once in college. It’s a cover of the classic jazz tune, but it features Harrison playing ukulele. I wish there were more recordings of him on the uke, he supposedly loved the cute lil instrument and always had multiple with him to share with friends. It does not get much cuter than this.

8. “Nice Work If You Can Get It” by Frank Sinatra

Another jazz cover, this one is a classic singer covering a classic tune. But what I like about this version is how upbeat it is. Most singers with this song tend to slow it down and make it sad, but here Sinatra keeps it light and, in my opinion, captures the essence of it more. Because there’s something whimsical about equating love to a job, sure the similarities are very real, but you don’t think of it that way.

9. “Take On Me” by Reel Big Fish

Another ska cover! This time it is another 90s band taking on the hit from a-ha. This one stays very close to the original, just making it louder and faster and adding horns. The result is so much fun to listen and to dance to, I dare you to try and stay still.

 10. “I Want You Back” by Lake Street Dive

This is a cover of the Jackson 5 song, and to be honest it took me ages to even realize that it is a cover it’s so different from the original. Once you realize what it is, you do see similarities in the melodic structure, but man do they make this song their own. And with the jazzy feel, it’s almost like a Postmodern Jukebox version of a song!

So those are only a small subset of some covers that I am into. Stay tuned for next month, the theme will be WALKING MUSIC.