Episode 5: Jenny Lawson
A great idea that would never work
I could seriously host a daily podcast with Jenny Lawson. There’s no way she’d do it, there’s no way she’d be up for it since even doing an interview drains her quite a bit. But a daily half hour with The Bloggess where we shoot the breeze and check in on events of the day? Like The View for saddies? Hell, yeah, I’d be all over that biz. Call me, TV People! Call me, Jenny Lawson Clone Manufacturer who can make it feasible! For now, the new Mode ‘sode will have to do.
The hip patois the kids use
Show-specific slang is beginning to emerge:
The Mode: Depresh Mode
Mode ‘sode: Episode of Depresh Mode
Moe ‘sode: The host is having an episode of his own.
Preshies, My Preshies. Da Preshies: Followers of the show
Fot a while, I kicked around the idea of calling the show “I’m Having Another Episode” but it seemed disrespectful. Mind you, I still like it a lot. My daughter says I should open each episode of The Mode with “I’m John Moe and I’m having another episode.” Haven’t. Yet.
Treat people like dogs. Let me explain.
I come away from any interview I do with a memorable morsel that rattles around in my head for a while. With Jenny this time around, it’s the idea that you should treat yourself AT LEAST as well as you treat your dog. Provide, at minimum, the care and consideration for yourself that you extend to the big naked furry goof that lives in your house.
And it’s easy to count up the ways that a merely competent dog owner provides:
Give it good healthy food on a regular basis.
Provide opportunities for it to run around outside.
Play with it and let it have fun.
Furnish affection.
Regular verbal reassurances of its goodness.
Understand that it needs sleep, including naps.
Let it loose to chase squirrels up trees (optional for yourself)
It recently came to my attention that certain human members of my family were putting Maisy up on my bed, tucking her in under the covers, and feeding her oyster crackers. She doesn’t even like oyster crackers. This is something for a dog that you should NOT provide to a human. No crackers in bed, you guys. I mean honestly.
Racism’s impact on health
Really interesting story on 60 Minutes.
Professor David R. Williams: The Everyday Discrimination Scale is-- a measure, a nine item measure, it has items like you're treated with less courtesy than others. You're treated with less respect than others. You receive poorer service than others in restaurants or stores. People act as if they're afraid of you. It's little ways in which your dignity is chipped away on a daily basis. And what we are finding is that persons who score high on the Everyday Discrimination Scale have a broad range of-- of adverse health conditions. It predicts high blood pressure. It predicts the onset of diabetes. It predicts incidence of cardiovascular disease. It predicts poorer mental health.
Logic
You should watch this movie.
A hearty recommendation for Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar, which is now available for rent online for six bucks or something.
I remember when Kristen Wiig first kind of emerged on SNL and her comedy was so weird and neurotic and brilliant. Her characters were juuuuust tethered to reality but it took very little to send them spinning out into the deepest parts of space. Over time, the surprise kind of wore off and the show - as it does - just kept hammering the same jokes until they weren’t funny anymore.
She’s been funny in other things since. Certainly Bridesmaids. But it also feels sometimes like her weirder stuff has been watered down to be more palatable to the boring people, like in Ghostbusters.
Barb & Star goes hard toward the weird and triumphs for it. Evil villain subplots, musical numbers when you least expect them, brilliant comedy work from the 50 Shades of Grey guy, turtle houses, human cannonballs, there’s a lot going on and it’s a lovely place to spend a couple hours.