Donny Hathaway kills it

Better than the original? I think yes.

His life was pretty fascinating.

So I think the distinction is this...

This blog will be for personal stuff, and my tumblr will be for career-y stuff. However I'm going to break that rule right now by posting something career-y, a link to an interview I did on the Daily Br!nk, because I emailed it to my mom earlier today and she responded with this...

Elaine, I think I realize why you like comedy so much. You have a mom with no sense of humor who was raised in an overly strict Catholic environment. Thank God for comedy because if we didn't laugh in this world so full of wars and hatred, we'd all go crazy. I don't mean to send such a heavy message, but we need laughter and comedy as a means to cope with negativity. I admire Aunt Vicki because she has a great sense of humor. How I wish I had her personality. She can joke about her job testing urine and other bodily fluids, a job which I would hate but which she does with humor and dedication. Whatever we do in life, it's much better if we do it with humor. In your case, you're devoting your whole career to it. I hope you continue to grow with VMK and can start up other creative projects in the future. Love, Mom

The truth is, my mom is unintentionally hilarious.

Why is Peter MacNicol holding so much Spam?

Do you remember the beginning of Sophie's Choice? Peter MacNicol is carrying several cases of Spam on his shoulder. Why is this? Do they ever explain it? I tried searching for a screen shot but google doesn't understand what I mean by peter macnicol spam, and I'm not gonna try very hard here because really this is irrelevant. My point is - the spam thing ruined the whole movie for me.

I found a sublet for my apartment. Problem solved. Onto new problems, whatever they may be. In a few weeks I'll be back in Brooklyn. Apparently I migrate from season to season like the landless illiterate nomads I descended from. In the words of All Of Them, "Weeeeee!"

But seriously, if you know about the spam thing, please comment.

Ella liked my sarong so I gave her one that she can keep "forever and ever and ever".

My niece is adorable, right?

I learned how to swim under water. This is a big deal for me. I had a smattering of swimming-related mishaps in my life. Not enough to keep me away from water, but enough to make me think I would never be a strong swimmer. This is no longer the case. You are currently reading the blog of a woman who can...
- do flips in the pool - forwards, backwards, sideways, every way
- dive to the bottom of the deep end to retrieve fallen Lego men
- do handstands and stay there for up to 2 seconds
- swim under water, eyes open, like a goddamn mermaid

On Saturday night, Bob, Perian, Adam, Sam and I played the most exciting game of Marco Polo anyone has ever played. It was late and dark, except for the pool which was illuminated. We had to whisper so we wouldn't wake up everyone at the Casa Cody hotel. Afterwards we went to the hot tub and talked and found ourselves singing. Adam and I gave a fully committed performance of The Confrontation between Jean Valjean and Javier from "Les Mis". Between the 2 of us, we knew 75% of the words.

Grantland

I'm excited for this!

Tree of Life

If you are a person who likes looking at things that are beautiful, you should see "Tree of Life". If you don't like looking at things that are beautiful, there is something wrong with you and you should get that fixed because looking at beautiful things creates harmonious brainwave patterns.

It's a big movie and it asks a lot of you. It took a lot more patience and attention than I'm used to giving. Somewhere into watching it, I started wanting to check my email which is a red flag of "I've had enough". At times it felt like the movie was going to give me information and then it wouldn't. It shows you a family - a mother, father, and three brothers - and starts by asking the question "Why did this have to happen?" when one of them dies. It lulls you into thinking there's a full on story line happening when there isn't. Instead it will take you through moments of creation - installments of music and images and bits of childhood memory - all unfolding without explanation or catharsis or apology. It reminds me of 2001: A Space Odyssey. It also reminds me of "Ashes and Snow" which is this art exhibit with a website that's worth exploring, particularly if you like to look at beautiful pictures while Laurence Fishburne whispers to you.

Tree of Life starts with a quote from the Book of Job which is one of the most fucked up thing in the Bible. The angry jealous Yahweh of the Old Testament made a stupid deal with the devil that he couldn't get Job to curse God because Job was such a good person. So God destroyed Job's life and eventually Job asked God "Why are you doing this to me?" and God said "I'm doing this because I feel like it and who the fuck are you anyway" and that was that.

On a side note, I started a twitter account but I can't remember the password and also lost interest.

Correction

My sister reminded me that the trip to Palm Springs happened in 1991, not 1990. Thanks for keeping me on my toes, Sue.

Palm Springs

I'm in Palm Springs with my in-laws. At 6:30 in the morning, I will be woken up by my niece, Ella, jumping on my stomach. It's 11:30pm and Sam and I just swam in the pool, then got in the hot tub, then jumped back to the pool. Very fun stuff. The drive here was fine. Traffic, but I didn't mind. We listened to Paul Simon, Simon and Garfunkel, and Martin Sexton on the way. I drove. Lloyd the Car did a great job.

I first came to Palm Springs in 1990. If I ever see my life flash before my eyes, I hope that the first morning in Palm Springs makes the cut - Mom and Dad standing on either side of the door. They tell me to keep my eyes closed. They're smiling, this must be good. Doors open to reveal California - blue, bright, warm, fragrant, magical, easily the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I felt like Dorothy when she first sees Munchkin Land. Here's what I knew about California. 1. It was far away from Virginia, and 2. it's where "Full House" came from. Full House was more than a TV show, it was my religion. The next time I went to California, I was in 4th grade, tagging along on a business trip with my dad. Then I didn't come back until 2008. Then briefly in 2009. And then in the beginning of 2010, I moved out here for pilot season. Then in the fall of 2010 I moved here for real (Drivers license and voting = real).

Now, in the middle of 2011, I'm back in Palm Springs. It's actually very funny to me - my life, the choices I've made, my entire career, all somehow based on my freakish childhood obsession with Full House. I've come full circle just by walking in place. I'm excited to see Ella's face in the morning.

Things to love about this:

-everything about the first minute, especially the awkwardness
-the moment between 2:51-2:57
-how i think i want to play tina weymouth in some sort of UCB sketch
-how if you want to pretend that david byrne's arm is paralyzed and then comes to life once he dances, you can
-everything!!! it's like it can't make me not happy!!!!!