Hey, it's okay!

I haven't done one of these in a while and decided to share a list. Hopefully it will also help me get back in the swing of things with blogging on here. (Aside from just posts about pop culture. I realize I haven't gotten personal in a while.)

www.airingmylaundry.com

Hey, it's okay...

*To have spent the evening of Valentine's Day meeting one of my favorite authors....Kristin Hannah

*To have no interest in the Winter Olympics.

*To have no idea what musicals my younger son does or does not want to see.

*To enter the Domino Sugar baking challenge.

First challenge: Red velvet cupcakes

*To be sad that season three of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is done until the fall.

*To be excited for the return of Younger this summer.

*To read the book written by Jane from Jane the Virgin. The cover is a bit smutty looking, but it got me some street cred at work!

*To feel sympathy toward a stalker/serial killer from Caroline Kepnes' novels. Santino Fontana makes Joe Goldberg sound like the good guy, even when he's bad.

*To be annoyed that some of my favorite celebrities will be in my neck of the woods when I am not available to see them.

*To have enjoyed Something Rotten. It was hilarious!

*To refuse to watch the director's cut of Little Shop of Horrors. I caught a glimpse of one of the scenes a while back, and was traumatized. Happy ending for me only. Seymour and Audrey belong together somewhere that's green!

*To be annoyed that my phone has a bunch of cracks in it and that it costs more than the phone is worth to get it repaired. #FirstWorldProblems

*To like my husband's banana bread even though I won't so much as touch a banana.

*To cry whenever the quiet nun sings really well in Sister Act.

*That the actress who plays Beverly Goldberg replied to my tweet!

*To have Greatest Showman-itis. My friend describes it as: "A maddening, yet wonderful syndrome whereby whenever one wakes up, a song from The Greatest Showman is invariably coarsing through one’s brain. Symptoms include refrains of “Never enough, never never” and the “oh oh oh oh oh” chant from the movie’s opening that cannot be removed at any time!

Sing along time! :)




*That my "baby" is turning seven soon and I'm letting her have a sleepover party with her friends to celebrate. (May my sanity stay intact by the time it is over...)

*To not have seen any of the Best Picture Oscar nominations. (I did see some of the best animated nominees...Coco had better win!) Not like I'll watch the Oscars anyway, unless the station is generous with live streaming.

*To have gone to a painting event in my neighborhood. No "sipping" was involved, but we did get pizza!

And on a more serious note, it's okay....

*To be dismayed over how adults are handling the Florida situation. I'm pleased to see all the teenagers who have been taking action after a traumatizing day. As the late Whitney Houston said: "I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way." Even so, it is horrible that kids and teenagers should have to go through any of this. That they should have to worry about standing up for their LIVES! I thought Columbine was a one-off, but things have become progressively worse since then. As a parent, this sickens me even more. It should sicken everyone, but some people blame and attack the victims. Thoughts and prayers aren't helping anyone anymore! (Not that they did to begin with.)

You do/you don't wanna be crazy: Thoughts on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend season 3 (with spoilers)

Season three of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has come and gone, along with a new theme song. This one is not as upbeat as the previous two, but it definitely gets stuck in my head a lot. In season three, not only is Rebecca going through a lot of changes, but her friends are too. There are some interesting twists and turns that I did not see coming this season. I like how they took some bold initiatives in talking about mental illness. There were also guest appearances by Josh Groban, Rory O'Malley (from Hamilton), Lyndon Smith (90210, Parenthood), and David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp/Ten Years Later).

I will be posting my favorite episodes and songs, so this will include spoilers. If you haven't watched this season (or the series), start at the beginning and then come back here when you're done. It's on Netflix and worth binge-watching. Enjoy the theme song, in the meantime...

Season 1 thoughts
Season 2 thoughts




Top 5 favorite episodes:
Episode 3: Josh is a Liar (I like how Rebecca goes out of her way to cover her own butt, even if it means discrediting Josh.)
Episode 5: I Never Want to See Josh Again (Naomi is back! And so is Audra Levine. I can't say I liked the ending, but it felt raw and honest.)
Episode 6: Josh is Irrelevant (a great follow-up to episode 5 and it reveals a lot about Rebecca and her friends).
Episode 11: Nathaniel and I are Just Friends (The time jump was so clever to move the story along. And it wasn't even that huge of one. I loved the Rent references. And it was nice to learn something new about Paula.)
Episode 12: Trent?! (As annoying as Trent is, it was a funny and entertaining episode overall. I also liked learning more about Valencia this time around.)


Top 10 favorite songs (links are to videos):
Let's Generalize About Men (If you like the 80's, you'll love this song. It's very fitting to what is going on in the world today.)
The End of the Movie (Josh Groban sings this one and it has some major spoilers for the season, but it is so funny. It's not on Spotify for some reason.)
Strip Away My Conscience (Very, very sexy. Video is NSFW.)
This is My Movement (Valencia indirectly singing about poop was so funny.)
A Diagnosis (An upbeat song about Rebecca finally getting some answers.)
Heinous Bitch (A 50's style song about Rebecca's mom.)
Buttload of Cats (Going all Avenue Q with this song.)
Get Your Ass Out of My House (Lourdes is so funny with this song and I hope I can remember it if my kids ever outstay their welcome. ;) )
Without Love You Can Save the World (Cute and fun song)
Horny Angry Tango (Another NSFW video. I love the chemistry between Rebecca and Nathaniel.)

I look forward to season four and will be interested to see which direction they take Rebecca's life and what the new theme song will be.

If you made it this far, tell me what your favorite episodes/songs were.

"Something Rotten" this way comes....

Originally, when I heard that Something Rotten was about Shakespeare, I had zero interest in seeing it. Then some friends told me they loved it and I found out Adam Pascal was playing the role of the famous bard, so I decided to see it when it came to my neck of the woods....and I'm so glad I did!

A few months ago, I talked about my experience seeing The Book of Mormon and how I had gone in expecting to laugh the entire time and was let down. Well, that did NOT happen this time! I didn't go in with huge expectations of the humor involved, just that it was going to be entertaining and fun. However, my embarrassingly loud laugh came out to play many, many times! There are so many clever lines and funny song and dance numbers. The innuendos are to die for (thankfully most of them went over my son's head). If you're a fan of musical theater, you will get most, if not all, of the references to Broadway shows. (Some are just way too obvious, so it's hard to miss them.)

I only really knew of two of the performers in this production. One is obviously Adam Pascal. He's just as gorgeous and talented as he was in 1996 when he premiered in Rent (not that I saw him in it, but I have seen pictures and he was in the movie). He's also great with comedic acting. I did not expect that from him. The other is Autumn Hurlbert, who I saw 10 years ago in Legally Blonde: The Search for the Next Elle Woods. I wanted her to win the coveted role on Broadway and was so disappointed when she didn't. And seeing her as Portia confirmed this for me. She was so cute and funny, with a great vocal range. She reminded me of a cross between Kristin Chenoweth and Laura Bell Bundy.

Other standout performances are awarded to Rob McClure, Maggie Lakis, Blake Hammond, and Jeff Brooks. Rob McClure played Nick Bottom and was a lot of fun to watch. He reminded me of Ed Helms in some ways. Maggie Lakis, who is Rob McClure's wife, played Nick's wife Bea. She had a strong singing voice and fabulous comedic talent. I enjoyed watching her. Blake Hammond played Nostradamus and he practically stole the show. He was hilarious! And Jeff Brooks played Shylock really well and had me cracking up with all the Jewish references.

The stage had a lot of great settings that were able to be pulled apart and moved around. I loved how it looked when Nick went to see Nostradamus. The stage was darker and the signs looked like they were glowing. The costumes were also great and fit well with the time period. Shakespeare's costume was very imaginative. The combination of stage and set design along with costumes made me want to go back to the Renaissance Faire.

As for the songs, here are my top favorites:
1. A Musical
2. Right Hand Man
3. Bottom's Gonna Be On Top
4. Hard To Be Bard
5. Something Rotten/Make An Omelette
6. G-d I Hate Shakespeare

Listen for yourself if you want to know way.... (links are to the songs from the original Broadway cast recording).

Overall, it was a fantastic, funny, fabulous, funny, flamboyant, funny production. If it comes to a town near you, definitely go and see it. I would say the right age for kids is around pre-teen. There are some grown-up references that you might not want little ones being privy to!

Due to the late hour and having to catch a train home to relieve our sitter, we did not stay after to meet the cast. While I'm a bit dismayed, I did get to meet Adam Pascal back in 2001, so there's that.

However, I'm happy that I got to enjoy the show with two (out of three) of my favorite guys!

And one of my favorite lines? "My religion is theater!" (Said by Shylock. I may have to use that one sometime, or see if I can find it on a shirt.)

Okay...that's all now. Go see Something Rotten for yourselves!

List-a-Mania 2017

I've decided to take inventory of some past lists I've made, and do some updates. Hoping for more fun and entertainment in 2018!

Celebrity bucket list:
1. Lin-Manuel Miranda, as always
2. Mindy Kaling
3. The cast of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (along with Santino Fontana)
4. Jamie Cullum (I'd be happy just to hear him perform live, at this rate.)
5. Sophie Kinsella (I'm hoping she'll come back to the US one of these days and stop in my neck of the woods. She didn't include my area on her tour last time and I was so jealous of people who got to meet her.)
6. The cast of Stranger Things
7. Tatiana Maslany (even though Orphan Black has ended, she's still fabulous)
UPDATE: I can't believe I forgot to include Randy Rainbow! I would love to meet him.

Top Five Favorite Movies that I saw in 2017
You can see how many movies I watch with my kids these days...

1. Beauty and the Beast
2. Wonder
3. Coco
4. The Greatest Showman
5. The Big Sick

My favorite new TV shows (shows I started watching in 2017):

1. The OA
2. The Bold Type
3. Will and Grace (reboot...it counts!)
4. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
5. Soon By You (web series with only 5 episodes, but it's just so addictive!)

Top Ten Favorite Books I read in 2017. (Some may be from previous years or publishing in 2018.)
I've shared my top five chick lit favorites at Chick Lit Central (as Melissa A). I read so many amazing books this year and am sad to have to narrow it down at all. I'm too lazy to put in my review links, so just trust me on this!

1. The Life She Was Given by Ellen Marie Wiseman
2. Beautiful Messy Love by Tess Woods
3. No Time to Blink by Dina Silver
4. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
5. This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
6. Best Kept Secret by Amy Hatvany
7. It Started With Goodbye by Christina June
8. The Lost Letter by Jillian Cantor
9. The Magician's Lie by Greer Macallister
10. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Ten good things that happened in 2017:
1. Seeing Hamilton
2. Trip to Nashville with my BFF
3. My older son getting into a school he really wanted to go to...and loving it
4. My daughter learning how to read
5. Meeting Nicole Waggoner when she was in DC
6. Catching up with family and friends on our trip to Chicago, as well as reuniting with a friend I haven't seen since high school.
7. Making some new friends online and in person
8. Seeing In the Heights at a local professional theater...featuring an actor I saw in the Broadway production.
9. My BFF coming to town for a visit (it's our annual end-of-year thing)
10. Getting to see Jen Tucker and Pam Jenoff again over the summer.
Bonus: Winning a Greatest Showman themed contest on social media!!!

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!

Rainbow Revisited

Here are two truths:
1. I absolutely hate (and that's too nice of a word) the person who's supposed to be running our country...but is only running it into the ground.
2. Randy Rainbow is my gay soulmate.

A while back, I talked about how amazingly wonderful Randy Rainbow is. He keeps me sane when the joke that calls himself the leader of our country does something ridiculously awful. (When doesn't he?) Randy says exactly what I'm thinking and feeling, but with more eloquence and usually in the form of a parody of a Broadway song. (Sometimes he'll change his tune and go pop or country.) So without any further ado, here are some of my favorite videos since the last time I posted about Randy's awesomeness:

How could I NOT love a Rocky Horror parody? I just wish Randy did the makeup to complete his costume.



Another Hamilton parody. Enough said. Hoping he'll do a Dear Evan Hansen parody soon!



This is just fabulous. I can't listen to "Despacito" without hearing this version in my head.



It made me appreciate The Book of Mormon a bit more.



Country at its best. So good that they tried to do something similar at the CMA Awards.



Just fun silliness. Enjoy!



While I don't like Cats, this song is just perfect.



Great parody of a Wicked song. So fitting! I just hope this version doesn't pop into my head when I see the musical again.



These next two are not about Trump, but they're still really good and they call out the mentality of his administration.

This was done a while ago, but I forgot to share it last time. Now that she's running for County Clerk in KY, it's even more important to share it!




Another fun one, just because. I love how he points out how idiotic people get over progress and being open-minded.



I'm sure as Randy keeps putting out more videos (soon, I hope!), I'll have another blog post to highlight his latest and greatest. In the meantime, check out his channel on YouTube and visit him on Facebook and Twitter.

Isn't she marvelous?

Back in March, Amazon previewed pilots of some new shows they were looking to stream later in the year. The one I decided to watch was The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. It was intriguing and amusing, so I voted for it. Thankfully, other people did too, because they picked up the rest of the series and recently started airing it. I somewhat binge-watched it, but there are only eight episodes, so it wasn't too hard. Especially since they were so enjoyable! I'm here now to share some reasons you should be watching this show too. And if you don't have Amazon Prime, sign up for a free trial. You'll be done in less than the 30 days of the trial, and then you get free two-day shipping on your holiday gifts, as well!



Here is the brief synopsis from Amazon:
In 1958 New York, Midge Maisel's life is on track- husband, kids, and elegant Yom Kippur dinners in their Upper West Side apartment. But when her life takes a surprise turn, she has to quickly decide what else she's good at - and going from housewife to stand-up comic is a wild choice to everyone but her. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is written and directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino (The Gilmore Girls).

Watch this trailer for the series. And if you're still not sure after that, check out my reasons (spoiler free).



Reasons to watch The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel:

*Rachel Brosnahan in the lead role of Midge. She is  absolutely delightful, even when saying the F-word a lot (don't watch in front of your kids). I love how Midge takes control of her life. She's a force to be reckoned with!

*Alex Borstein as Susie. You may recognize her from Mad TV or know her voice from Family Guy, but she is the perfect fit for Midge's wise-cracking manager and friend. I love the way she dresses. So unconventional for the 1950's, yet it just works for her so well.

*The actress who plays Midge's mom is also the principal on Speechless. She's not as funny and laid back in this role, but she is still really good.
Photos courtesy of IMDb.

*You can live vicariously through Midge if you ever wanted to be a comedian and never made it happen. It's harder than it looks though! I should know, after all....

*Watching Midge and her husband (played by Michael Zegen) together. I couldn't decide if they were better together or apart. They had a great on-screen chemistry.

*Surprise guest appearances by Max Casella (Vinnie from Doogie Howser), Wallace "inconceivable" Shawn, and Jane Lynch.

*The witty dialogue and banter. I love the way people had conversations on this show. And the stuff Midge says in her comedy routines had me cracking up.

*All the Jewish references. Of course I'm going to enjoy that!

*The fashion. I could not get enough of Midge's dresses. Gorgeous!

Courtesy of IMDb. I really loved this dress.

*The music. It wasn't just about rock 'n roll in the 1950's. There were some great big band and Rat Pack era hits. I love how the music enhanced the scenes in this show.

*The scenery and props. It really made the 1950's come to life with all the attention to detail. I felt like I had time traveled while watching each episode.

These are just some of the reasons I liked this show even more than I was expecting to. I had a really fun time watching it and I hope you will, as well! I also hope there will be a second season!

Movie Review: Wonder

About four years ago, I read R.J. Palacio's hit novel Wonder and loved every page of it. I even got to meet R.J. at Book Expo America a few months later and she was very nice. So I was thrilled to find out that Wonder was being made into a movie. (And that Daveed Diggs was going to be in it, since I'm a huge Hamilton fan.) The first time I saw the trailer (and the next few times after that), I could not keep from crying. And after hearing rave reviews for the movie over the past week, I was excited to finally see it in the theater. It definitely lived up to the rave reviews and my expectations. I loved it as much as, if not more than, the book!

Before I go on, watch the trailer. I dare you to not shed a tear!

Warning...there may be some spoilers in my review below, but nothing too major that it will keep you from seeing the movie.





I wasn't a fan of Jacob Tremblay when he was in Room, but he was perfect as Auggie. I know there are people who think someone who was actually born with craniofacial disabilities should have been cast in the role, but only in an ideal world (which we have yet to see happen), would this have really been possible. One of my friends said (on a Facebook thread about this issue): "I definitely think Hollywood needs to make a good faith effort to cast appropriately, but sometimes you just can't." Another person commented on the same thread by saying how Hollywood glamorizes everything. I agree that it would be nice to have someone who actually has been in Auggie's shoes play the part, but I also feel Jacob did an incredible job. He portrayed Auggie sensitively. I didn't feel like he was playing into some kind of stereotype or poking fun at anyone who actually lives full-time with the face he wears as a mask. It reminded me of how Eric Stoltz (who also does not have craniofacial disabilities) played the lead role in Mask (1985). I haven't actually seen the entire movie, but I never heard about any casting complaints in relation to that movie either. Was it because it was grittier than Wonder? I guess someone who has seen Mask could tell me their thoughts. In any case, as Auggie, Jacob displayed a full range of feelings from anger to fear to sadness, while also laughing and joking with his friends. If you would like some more insight from someone who really is in Auggie's shoes, check out this blog post. It's long, but well worth the read. Maybe you'll agree with what she says and maybe you won't, but that definitely leaves room for discussion either way.

As for everything else about the movie....I felt the story followed the novel pretty well. I know there were parts left out and parts added in, but I didn't miss the parts that weren't there. Maybe because I forgot about them. (I did notice that Summer's point of view wasn't shared in the movie.) I really like that there was some focus on Auggie's parents and their thoughts and feelings. It was something I had hoped for from the book that had never materialized. In the book, each character gets their own section and it starts back at the beginning. In the movie, there are times when a character's point-of-view is introduced and they go back to the beginning a bit, but then they catch up and move onward. Then we see Auggie's point of view again before switching to another character. In some ways, this lengthens the movie a bit too much, but it still makes the story worthwhile. It was interesting to see the impact Auggie's presence had on Via's life; how his needs always came first and she was left in the background. She and Auggie still had a good sibling relationship and I enjoyed seeing that play out.

The acting was great overall. There was a strong ensemble cast of well-known actors and newcomers that worked well together to make this movie the hit that it is. There are a lot of messages a viewer can get from the story and a lot of it depends on age and personal experiences. My six year-old enjoyed it as much as I did, even if she only understood it on a basic level. While I still feel that the overall message is too idealistic (I mentioned this in my book review), it never hurts to be kind to someone else, no matter who they are, what they look like, etc. You never know what someone else is dealing with. That was something that stuck out from the movie, when Via is telling Auggie that she also had a hard day when he felt like he held the monopoly on hard days. She told him that if he wanted to have a normal life, it wasn't going to be easy. They also showed how Via's best friend seemed to have it all together on the outside, but her life was far from perfect. I also liked that kids were friends with Auggie because they wanted to be around him, not because someone was making them be nice to him. He was kind to other kids, but also protected himself from being hurt. He wasn't afraid to stand up for himself either.

Overall, it is a sweet movie that is family friendly, or even to see on your own just to have a good cry. And yes, I cried. (Bring tissues!!!) It's also just worth seeing it to hear "Inigo Montoya" say "tuchus." :) (Yes, there are plenty of other funny lines and moments to balance out the emotional ones.)