10 Reasons to love Kristin Chenoweth

How cute is she?

Her acceptance speech (as best supporting actress in a comedy for Pushing Daisies) at the Emmy's on Sunday night was adorable and heartfelt and funny all at once. She's either an even better actress than I thought or was truly surprised and overwhelmed by the win. The plug for employment on her favourite shows was my fav part of the whole thing.

Her book: A Little bit Wicked is crazy entertaining and funny. She's open and engaging without coming off as self absorbed or vain with stories about her career path (beauty pagents, schooling and broadway), relationship with Aaron Sorkin (including a discussion about the character of Harriet on Studio 60), family life and even her weave.

She does 'Christian' right...not to be confused with 'the Christian Right'. Her faith seems to be important to her but I don't get a preachiness vibe from anything I've read or seen of her onscreen. And she seems generally tolerant and open minded.

"Taylor the Latte Boy" has brought me much enjoyment.

Wicked. Chenoweth was involved in the production from workshop to Broadway to the Tony stage. Every Galinda that follows her will be compared to her performance. The musical is one of the best I've seen and I love the fact that it's about 2 strong but very different women and how they become their best selves. I will be in line to see the movie they eventually get around to making.

She's a pretty versatile actress and singer, moving from opera and classical music to broad based broadway musicals to physical comedy and even drama (catch her turn on The West Wing if you don't believe me).

She's guest starring on next week's episode of Glee, one of several theatre and broadway vets who have lined up to appear on the show. I'm sure it's only going to make me love the show (and her) more.

She's a great talk show guest with multiple entertaining appearances with Letterman and Ellen and the rest of the lot.

Seriously, how cute is she??

Random ramblings

Summer is here and mother nature finally decided to catch up with the calendar bringing a heat wave this week.

It would have been nice if my air conditioning at home was fixed before that happened.

I went so see No Doubt and Paramore at the ACC last week and it was awesome. I bow down to Ms. Stefani's abs and stamina. And was impressed that she actually sang live for the entire show (I'm looking at you Madonna). Paramore became one of my favourite bands last year and got a visibility boost by being included in the Twilight sountrack (as with everything involved in that franchise) and were great live, especially when you consider what babies they still all are.

Lainey's annual Smut Soiree was this week and while still enjoyable, the lack of air conditioning, lousy sound set up and continued talking of other folks over the panel's discussion led to a bit of a disappointment. Thankfully the swag bag delivered. And warm gooey cookies with shot glasses of milk are a fantastic idea.

Alan Sepinwall (great TV reviews/recaps) started doing a rewind a few weeks ago and recapping episodes of my beloved Sports Night which lead to me rewatching the entire first season in a flurry. So it's entirely his fault that I've now found myself sucked in to a Sorkinthon and have begun watching The West Wing from the beginning. I forgot how much I adored that show and couldn't wait until Wednesday evenings when it aired. And it's filling the gap as the summer show pickings are slim.

Though True Blood is back and I'm thoroughly enjoying the second season, even as I can't help comparing little details to what happened in the books. Speaking of which, the latest is on it's way to my library for me to pick up according to the Toronto Public Library website...yay.

It's my birthday on Monday and I'm having a bit of a hard time believing I'm turning 33. I moved to the city 10 freaking years ago...where the heck did the time go? On the plus side, I got asked for my ID when buying beer a few weeks ago so at least there's that.

I had one of those sort of perfect quiet moments this weekend when I was at the cottage. Nothing major, just standing on the deck at dusk looking out at the water. My parents and grandparents were inside having cocktails and getting ready for dinner and my dad was about to light the BBQ. And I'm generally not one for a lot of introspection but in that instant as I just stood there I realized how genuinely lucky I am. So thank you to all the people in my life who make me feel that way.

I know I am...but what are you?

I had an interesting moment of pop culture juxtaposition last week. I was in the the middle of reading Full Frontal Feminism, a book I was finding quite interesting. Though superficially aware of the issues that continue to face many women in their work and personal lives, I know I've lived a pretty cushy existence and have always pretty much taken for granted that I can do whatever it is I choose to do with my life. At the same time, I started watching the first season of Mad Men, the acclaimed AMC series about the lives of a bunch of advertising guys that takes place in the early 60s. Now, I know that this is just a television show but, man, how much would have it have sucked to be a woman born 50 years ago? (Not to mention any time period before that). The career prospects and comments made around the office, a pharmacist doling out birth control pills but warning not to use them lest you become a 'loose woman', the wife/mother role as the be all and end all of existence. The actresses on the show are wonderful but I almost find myself not liking their characters because I want to give them a shake and tell them to give the men in their lives a smack and tell them to smarten up and treat them like people.

Is the fact that I find the show (while very well done) to be so misogynistic a testament of how far we've come (and not in a Virginia Slims kind of way) or am I just being willfully ignorant about the fact that women still face these issues today?

I've had conversations with friends about the idea of feminism and heard a lot of the "Well, I'm not a feminist...but" type of comments (which is also a point that Valenti makes in the book). Why are we so seemingly scared to call ourselves feminists? Why is it that identifying yourself as such seems to automatically also classify you as a bitch? And why, as smart successful women, don't we consider it our responsibility to make sure that other women have the same opportunites?

So yes, I am a feminist and not afraid to call myself one. And in what is possibly the online posting I've forwarded most frequently over the years, I'll let Sars explain why you are too.

A night with David Sedaris

I made my way to Indigo after work tonight for a reading and book signing with David Sedaris. I thought I was getting there in plenty of time for the 7:00 reading when I arrived at 5:45. Yeah, not so much. The seating area was already full and a lineup had started through the aisle. But I picked up my copy of the book and joined the end of the line which very quickly grew to hundreds of people behind me. He was doing about an hour and a half of signing before the reading in order to get a start on the crowd which was a very good idea. I was in the first 30 people in the actual line and I didn't get out of there until 9:30 so he will likely be there for hours yet.

Anyway, if you haven't read any of his books yet get thee to the library or bookstore immediately. Better yet, get a copy of a book on tape because hearing him read is even better.

He started by reading one of the stories from the book, moved on to an "animal fable" that is part of his next project and then finished up the reading with some random diary entries. All of them funny and entertaining. Then he took about half an hour to answer questions from the crowd. And then he took his seat at the table and started signing books and chatting with people. It's to his credit that he didn't rush people through the line and promised to stay until everyone's book was signed.

When my turn at the table came up he took my book and drew a funny little picture and signed it. After guessing my astrological sign (wrong...about 5 times) he came out with "What kind of shampoo do you use?". I wasn't sure where he was going with that one and said that it was usually whatever was on sale. And then he proceeded to pull out a hotel size shampoo from his recent stay at the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro and hand it to me. I will treasure it forever :-).

Sucked in by a vampire

I read a lot. About 2-3 books a week depending on what else is going on. And I read pretty much everything, from biographies to business tomes, memoirs to mysteries, chick lit to crime, and everthing in between.

Lately I've been on a bit of a kick for both young adult fiction (so much better than it was when I was reading Sweet Valley High) and paranormal chick lit (which seems to fill the entertainment void left by Buffy). The combination of which seems to be met perfectly by the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer.

And yes, I realize that I'm late to the party on this one. She was just named as one of Time's 100 most influential people, the series has been called "The Next Harry Potter", and the movie being released this December is apparently turning the actors into the most searched for stars on the web. But in the spirit of 'better late than never' I'm telling you that if the idea of a teen vampire romance catches your attention at all, you should rush out and read the first three books in the series; Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse. If only to stay pop culturally relevant :-). And then you can join me in waiting for the conclusion of the series with Breaking Dawn which will be released on August 2nd.