Three Things: Little Brown Bottles
Happy New Year! Larry David says there’s a statute of limitations on that phrase but since when do I heed the advice of old white men? Since never, that’s when. Also I haven’t sent out my New Year’s cards that will also let people know we moved. So it’s still the New Year until I do that.
I’m writing you on the cusp of another godforsaken winter storm here in Austin and, despite assurances from our asshole governor that the grid will hold up, I’m still traumatized from 2021’s awfulness. Also, he let a woman and her 2 children drown in the Rio Grande Friday night, so my confidence falters.
I’ve spent the first weeks of 2024 doing a lot of contemplating, thinking deeply about how I want to spend my time and where I want to funnel energy—or rather, what is most deserving of the energy I have to give. I just finished Bob Odenkirk’s memoir, which doesn’t count toward Three Things today because I didn’t completely love it. He’s a great writer, but spends too much time parsing the details of practically every project he’s ever worked on. The reason I mention it is because of this quote:
“Do something hard, something that you will probably fail at, something that tests you and excites you and takes you places you didn’t know you would ever go to. Buy the little brown bottle with the label worn off and swallow it (metaphorically speaking).”
This is my guiding principle for 2024. Let’s see where it takes me.
All of Us Strangers (in theaters)
I absolutely loved this movie, but it’s proving a little more divisive with others. I can’t say much about the plot or I’ll ruin it, but know that it stars Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott (aka Hot Priest from Fleabag), is intimately, gorgeously shot, and will make you think deeply about grief and loneliness.
Beef (Netflix)
This won all the awards it could at the Golden Globes last week and it very much deserved to. Hungover and immobile on my couch on New Year’s Day, I watched all 10 episodes in one fell swoop. It starts out wild, ends even wilder, and is both hilarious and heart-tugging.
Beautiful Ruins
As the title suggests, this is indeed a beautiful tale. I’m a sucker for a one-that-got-away story and this one involves Richard Burton (yes the actor). It’s fiction, but his dialogue is so delightful that I googled his early bio and found a lot of it to be true. An easy but rewarding read.
Stay warm, my friends. xoxo