Hi friends!

How are you? I am doing pretty well in spite of it all. Work continues to be crazy, so the cadence of this newsletter will probably be a bit random for the foreseeable future. Who knows? Not me! Who cares? Probably only me!

The other day, I rode in a Waymo for the first time, the self-driving car equivalent of Uber. I have been resisting it for months, not wanting to support robots taking away jobs from humans, but then my friend called one for a group of us who were going from KBBQ to a bar on his birthday, and who was I to refuse the birthday boy? We immediately got into trouble because my friend sat in the driver’s seat, and apparently you’re not allowed to do that in a Waymo. (He wasn’t going to try to drive or anything, but there were four of us, and we didn’t want to cram three adults into the backseat). The car locked down and a very cheerfully passive aggressive woman came on over the sound system to tell us not to do that. But hey, at least she was a real person, right?

While I found it unsettling how the steering wheel turned on its own, as though a ghost were driving, and the trip from K-town to Culver City took us twice as long because they won’t go on the freeway, I have to admit, I do see the appeal of the Waymo. The Waymo is consistent. The Waymo is clean, and you can pick the music, and you don’t have to talk to anyone. With Uber and Lyft, you just never know what you’re going to get: a smelly car, a terrible driver, a guy blasting Christian rock or some manosphere motivational speaker, someone who wants to network (so L.A.), or worst of all, a Tesla. One time in SF, Ross and I had a guy who was obsessed with Elon Musk and totally killed our vibe on the way to get burritos at La Taqueria. One time coming back from a long international flight at LAX, we got a driver who would not take a hint and yapped the entire hour-long drive. One time in Las Vegas, we even had a driver who straight-up fell asleep at a stoplight. 

Anyway, on that particular night, we took an Uber home, which absolutely reeked of cigarettes, and watched the driver take some kind of Uber-mandated quiz on his phone about gender and sexual orientation biases while merging from the 10 onto the 110. And while that ride wasn’t exactly comfortable for us, hey, it’s a story! I’ve had lovely moments with drivers as well, like that time in Portland when I was heading back from my friend’s baby shower and the driver had a little dog in the front seat wearing a sweater that I got to pet the whole time. Or the aging surfer who drove us to the beach in Ventura who was just such a character. Or last fall, coming back from getting my IUD replaced, when the driver and I chatted about AI taking over the music industry, and it distracted me from my cramping. With a Waymo, there’s no story, except maybe how it took us down a creepy alley to get to the bar. I can totally see how one ended up driving into an active police standoff. Sometimes, you need the human element. After all, what would Die Hard be without Argyle?

Welp, it’s been ages and I have so much to write about, so let’s just get into it:

- Books about unhinged women! I’ve been on a real streak of reading books about women on the verge lately. It started when I finally finished Mona Awad’s Bunny, a book I’d started way back in September while on vacation in Germany, then put aside for some reason. It’s about a young woman in a creative writing MFA program at a prestigious university in New England, and the clique of women in her seminar who may be up to something wicked. The dark academia vibes of that book were definitely better suited to the fall, but I’m ultimately glad I finished it. The writing is beautiful, if you’re able to just let the imagery wash over you. It’s definitely not a book that grounds you in reality by the end, or, well, really ever, which I struggle with, but I really appreciated the metaphor for the messy act of creation/writing, in which the finished piece is almost always somehow slightly deformed from the vision you had in your head. I won’t say more than that about it.

Then, I dove into Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, a new novel that’s getting a lot of buzz because Anne Hathaway just bought the movie rights for it. It’s about a tradwife influencer who wakes up one morning in 1855 and has to live like an actual pioneer woman. Amazing concept, right? Going into it, I think I was expecting a kind of lighthearted fish out of water story, something like Overboard (god, I really need to rewatch that, such a fun movie. The costumes alone when Goldie Hawn is on the yacht? To die for). However, Yesteryear is much darker than that, a real character study about a very unlikeable woman, maybe even a psychopathic one. I flew through it. When I took a look at the Goodreads reviews after I finished it, it seemed like a lot of readers were disappointed that it ultimately wasn’t really a “message” book, but I didn’t mind that so much. I don’t need or want a book to tell me “tradwife good” or “tradwife bad.” I know how I want to live my own life, and it definitely isn’t milking cows and pumping out babies, but it doesn’t really bother me if other women choose to live that way–as long as it’s actually their informed choice. And they vaccinate their kids.

Next, I picked up Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino, a novel about a woman who gets fixated on buying her dream home in the ultra-competitive Washington D.C. housing market, and goes to extreme lengths to get it. I really loved and recommend this one! It came out last November and I think it did pretty well, but in my opinion, the marketing was off. It’s being shelved as a mystery/thriller, and the cover is very much giving that, too, but it’s really more of a satire. I loved the unlikeable and again, possibly psychopathic female main character! And once again, Goodreads reviews totally missed the point, crying “first world problems”—which, yes, exactly! It’s so funny how whenever someone is like “oh, the female main character was such a horrible person,” I’m almost always like, “yes, that’s what I loved about her!” I read somewhere that Gen Z really struggles with morally questionable protagonists. Jeez, kids, how far we’ve fallen from the golden TV drama era of the late 2000s/early 2010s.

- Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen (Netflix). I’m a huge horror fan, and always find it immensely disappointing that there are so few people bringing horror to TV (except for Mike Flanagan, who is a genius). So, when Ross and I discovered this new limited horror series on Netflix, we were excited to dive in, and I really enjoyed it! Netflix was pushing its release based on its association with the Duffer Brothers, but I found that to be misleading. This is not their next big project after Stranger Things, they were just EPs.

SVBIGTH is about a young engaged couple that travels to the groom’s grand family home deep in the woods for the wedding, and ~unsettling~ things occur. It has Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ted Levine (a/k/a Buffalo Bill), and the guy who played Albie in S2 of The White Lotus in it, but otherwise I was unfamiliar with the cast, though they all did a great job. I especially loved Gus Birney as the groom’s high strung sister, Portia. It’s very atmospheric, with twists and turns throughout, all boiled down to one question: would you bet your life that the person that you’re marrying is your soulmate? I guess my problem with that wager is, what exactly is the definition of soulmate, in this situation? And who is the judge of whether this person meets that definition or not? They never really got into that. When it comes to supernatural stories, I like when there are clearly defined rules to the world. But overall I really enjoyed it, so if you’re looking for a new horror series, definitely check it out!

- Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (for rent on Prime Video, Apple TV). Okay, first of all, this movie has nothing to do with Nirvana, the 90s grunge band helmed by Kurt Cobain (and my favorite band of all time). It is, in fact, an indie comedy film, and a follow-up to a Canadian web series that ran from 2007-2009, about two friends in a musical duo, ridiculously named Nirvanna the Band, who are always hatching hare-brained schemes to play a show at the Rivoli. From what I can tell, the Rivoli is a music and comedy venue in Toronto that is not even that big, which is hilarious. Its largest theater holds 200. For L.A. folks, that’s about the same size as Dynasty Typewriter. Doing a show there seems… pretty attainable. And yet.

NTBTSTM is very funny, in addition to being a fun and heartfelt time travel flick (Jay and Matt travel back to 2008, and boy, do they nail it, from the chunky waist belts to the Black Eyed Peas to the casual homophobia in pop culture). But its true magic comes when you start looking into how it got made. They basically made Back to the Future with no money, no permits, and a crew of 4-8 people. I found it all very inspiring, and it’s certainly the best adaptation of a web series that I’ve ever seen. Plus, who doesn’t love Canadian comedy?

- Beef, season two (Netflix). I loved season one of Beef and was incredibly excited when I heard it was getting another season (although, Jesus, Hollywood, can we pick up the fucking pace with the time between TV seasons these days?? I feel like it’s gotten completely out of control. Like why am I waiting two years for another season of Pluribus?). As much as I adored watching Steven Yeun and Ali Wong road rage, I think I might have even enjoyed season two more. There was an equally powerful cast, with Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Charles Melton, and Cailee Spaeny making up the four leads, and Korean actors Youn Yuh-jung (who played the grandma in Minari) and Song Kang-ho (who played the dad in Parasite) supporting. Like season one, the focus is on how capitalism maims and mangles us all, this time, set at a country club up near Santa Barbara that is taken over by a new Korean owner. Talk about complex characters! They’re all kind of awful in their own ways, and yet, you can see how they ended up that way. Also, Oscar Isaac’s character has a very corny love for late 00s electronica that, as an aging Millennial, is so endearing to me. There are quite a few celebrity cameos (Michael Phelps plays an unflattering version of himself, for one), but I must admit, I was the most excited to see Hot Chip.

- Margo’s Got Money Troubles (Apple TV). Last year, I wrote in here about how much I loved the book Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe, so I was delighted when I found out it was adapted into a series on Apple TV. I feel like it’s been said so much that it’s almost hacky to bring up at this point, but man, Apple TV is terrible at promoting their shows! What’s going on there? They invest a ton of money into content that nobody ever hears about! Recently, Ross started watching one of their worst-named shows, Stick, as a bit. It’s about Owen Wilson being a washed up golfer nicknamed Stick, and Marc Maron is in it as his friend and former caddy, and it’s exactly whatever you’re picturing in your head right now. I’m serious, there is not a single element of that show that is not entirely predictable. I think Ross just enjoyed that every time I walked into the living room and caught him watching it I would groan, “Oh my god, are you watching Stick?” And then he would crack up laughing. We also started saying, “C’mon, Stick!” around the house a lot, just in general.

But I digress! If you’re unfamiliar with the book (which you should absolutely read), Margo’s Got Money Troubles is about a college freshman (played by Elle Fanning) who gets knocked up by her married professor and decides to start an OnlyFans to make ends meet. There are a lot of colorful characters in it, including her mom (the legendary Michelle Pfeiffer), a former Hooters waitress who’s now dating a minister (Greg Kinnear), and her dad (Nick Offerman), a retired pro wrestler who moves in with her after getting out of rehab for heroin addiction. Overall, the series is a very faithful adaptation of the book, which I appreciate. Obviously, there are no slouches in this cast, but I’m continually impressed with Nick Offerman, who I feel does not get enough credit for the depth he can bring to a character. Or maybe he does, Idk, I guess he won an Emmy for that episode of Last Of Us I’ve been meaning to watch. Anyway, check out Margo’s Got Money Troubles, it’s fun!

- Ladies of London, season four (Peacock, Bravo). Finally, let’s end with some reality TV. Bravo recently rebooted Ladies of London with an entirely new cast, and damn, did they nail it! This show and Real Housewives of Rhode Island have been breathing new life into this franchise–mainly, interesting women who are actually having fun with each other, not just dragging out invented grievances for a storyline.

For those who are unfamiliar, LoL is basically another Housewives show, just set in London (duh). This new cast has really elevated the Bravoverse, because it includes Emma Thynn, the Marchioness of Bath, who has the distinction of being the first woman of color to marry into British aristocracy. Very fucking cool. Emma also has the job of managing Longleat, a massive estate that dates back to the 16th century… which also somehow has a safari park?? (Don’t read anything about the safari park if you can help it, I think it has some questionable practices.) I guess the upkeep on an estate like that is so expensive that you need to do things like also run a safari park, or own the village where cheddar cheese was invented, all of which we get to see on the show, thankfully.

My favorite cast member is Martha Sitwell, who has the classic beauty of an old Hollywood star like Bette Davis, and the most incredible laugh, which she frequently dispatches at her own expense. Martha has been through the wringer over the years, with high highs and low lows, and is now rebuilding her life in a crumbling apartment with her free-roaming magpie, Hecate. A coworker wisely pointed out to me that Martha is giving early season Sonja Morgan of RHONY, and I couldn’t agree more. She’s so charming and vulnerable and self-deprecating, I just love her.

The cast also features Margo Stilley, an actor best known for the notorious indie film 9 Songs, which my perverted guy friends were obsessed with in college because it famously features her and the male lead actually having sex on camera. I was intrigued by her at first, but she proves to be a total villain, making homophobic comments toward Mark-Francis, the only male cast member, who rightfully shaded her clothes. I’m not saying it’s nice to make fun of someone’s clothes, but the British are kind of known for their cutting wit, and Margo was somehow dressed inappropriately at every occasion, despite only buying very expensive, designer clothes. For instance, she wore a tank top with nipple tassels to Longleat. And honestly, that would be fine if Margo was able to laugh at herself and shrug it off. Another cast member, Missé Beqiri, was often dressed too scantily for London society, but she’s a gorgeous Swedish model who loves showing off her body and doesn't give a shit. She would just be like, “oops, my boob’s out again” and laugh. Margo gives all the shits, and does one of my Housewives pet peeves, which is to accuse another adult of “bullying” her. I really hope she’s not back next season.

Overall, though, what a fantastic reboot! The season finale just aired, so you can watch all the episodes now on Peacock if you’d like. Just make sure to start at season four on the Ladies of London feed–I can’t account for the other seasons/cast, as I never watched them.

Well guys, I think that’s all for now!

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Until next time—resist the robots.

Love,

Liz

XOXO