Musings on the Way Home

OK, so, I have boldly declared that 2012 will be the year I find a home. Of course, I have a place that I live, but I want to find a more permanent place that meets my vision of the home I want. My vision:

I live in a house in the woods. It's near water. There's a garden for vegetables. Maybe it's a cabin. No dogs, but 1-2 cats. Chickens. There's a porch with a swing and room for nieces and nephews to come visit. They can stay all summer. In the morning, drinking coffee on the porch every day (it NEVER gets cold in this place). Friends live nearby (or on the property). We have a little community.

My vision includes:

• Family and/or friends are nearby
• I can gradually increase the amount of food that I will produce on my own (just gardening and chickens in the beginning, but maybe moving up to goats -- my mom calls this dream "the farm")
• My house is small and so I have a minimal footprint
• I can work from home comfortably
• Although I'm in the country, I am near enough to a city that I can enjoy the cultural events that I like

I'm not exactly a pro/con list type of girl. I'm more of a "be still and listen for the voice of the universe," kind of girl. Nevertheless, there are a few locations that I'm considering, and they each have definite pros and cons.

Eastern Washington/North Idaho/possibly Western Montana

Pros:

• My sister and nephew live here! (worth about ten bullet points in my mind!)
• This is the country where I spent my formative years and I often find that my heart yearns for it.
• It's some of the most beautiful country you will ever see.
• Real estate = mostly cheap
• Many wonderful friends live here
• Nothing could be better than sitting on your porch with a beer on a September evening in this country

Cons:

• The politics are mostly conservative.
• In both winter and summer, I don't like the weather; the dry air makes one prematurely old.
• Did I mention, it gets COLD?
• The population isn't diverse, and the arts are not as readily available as where I currently live.
• The economy is weak.

Houston, TX

Pros:

• I have a great family of friends here.
• The weather is awesome for several months of the year.
• Arts and culture? You got it.
• The ed reform movement is lively, which means more options for my future employment
• The population is diverse
• In the city, the politics tend to be more liberal than in the rest of the state.
• The economy is relatively vital.
• I already live here, so it's less effort!

Cons:

• For 5 months of the year, the weather is like the mouth of hell.
• Most of the state has very conservative politics.
• The city tends toward sprawl, so if I was to establish a little garden paradise on the outskirts, it's possible it would be swallowed up by gross real estate developments.

Other options:

My friend Sara, from Feeding the Soil, is trying to start a pocket neighborhood in Austin. A pocket neighborhood is a small neighborhood with open space for all and a sense of shared stewardship (Click here to read more about Sara's concept). In many ways, this idea meets my vision. Yet I have lots of questions: is Austin the place for me? (I'm not necessarily a booster like most of the Hipster Nation). What would it be like to form a new community? Am I financially stable enough to make this happen?

There's also California -- my family lives there; North Carolina -- I have a random affinity for the place and know lots of people there; and Utah -- the place where I feel the most connected to the universe.

It's hard, when you love the world, to try to stake your claim to one part of it.

Sustainable Seafood: Smoked Salmon Pizzettes

Friday night I wanted a little end-of-week treat, but I've been eating healthy and sustainable food since the new year, so I didn't want to break my stride.

I decided to make a lightened-up version of a smoked salmon pizza that I've had at restaurants and at a few friends' homes. This mini-pizza is elegant and yet healthy and easy to prepare -- it would make a wonderful Valentine's dinner for you and an ecologically-minded sweetie, or you could slice it up for appetizers for your Quirkyalone Day party.

When I've had this type of pizza before, it usually has a cream cheese topping. To lighten it up, I mixed 1/3-less-fat cream cheese with skyr. Skyr is a very soft cheese that can be eaten like yogurt; the most common brand is called Siggi's. If you can't find skyr, you could just use cream cheese or Greek yogurt.

One last note: to ensure that you're using sustainable salmon, look for Alaskan, rather than Atlantic salmon. I like to use my Seafood Watch app when I'm shopping to make sure I'm making a sustainable choice.

Ingredients:
1 piece of naan or lavash for each pizzette (you could also use a grilled flour tortilla, a mini pre-cooked pizza shell like Boboli, a pita, or any kind of cracker bread -- this also makes an awesome snack when the ingredients are piled on a rye crisp)
Smoked salmon, crumbled into smaller pieces, with a little extra for your cat
Tomato
Capers

For the cream cheese topping, mix the following:
1/4 c. 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (or neufchatel)
1/4 c. skyr
1 heaping tablespoon chopped dill
1 heaping tablespoon chopped chives
salt and pepper to taste

To assemble pizzas:
Heat your naan or other bread product according to package instructions. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese topping on the bread, then heap the salmon, tomato, and capers in amounts to your liking.

Couldn't be easier, and it's so delicious!

February Lady Sweater

I just finished a major knitting project - it's a gift to my sister. The pattern is the "February Lady Sweater" which you can get for free!  It looks complicated, but actually it was fairly simple, since it's knit as all one piece.



Here's a detail of the lacework:



Good thing I finished in time, so my sister can wear her "February Lady" sweater in February.

Meatless Monday* - The Spice Rack

The other week I caught some of The Splendid Table on public radio. A caller was asking the host, Lynne Rossetto Kasper, how to cook fresh food that was still economical.

Lynne's answer was dear to a green foodie's heart: try the cuisines of other countries, and stick to the "peasant food." If you look up peasant food on Wikipedia, you'll find this definition: dishes specific to a particular culture made from accessible and inexpensive ingredients and usually prepared and spiced to make them more palatable.

Peasant food is usually, in today's parlance, "plant-strong." i.e., if I'm a peasant, I'm not going to be able to afford filet mignon, so I'm going to eat some veg.

Happily, this style of eating is not only easy on the pocketbook, but also easy on the Earth. Diets low in large mammals put less of a strain on the land. And, as the wikipedia article points out, if the spice is right, this kind of eating is also delicious.

But wait, you might be thinking. Spices seem mighty expensive.

That's true. There's an investment in spices, but one jar can last a long time. Here are a few tips for buying spices that will help your wallet and the planet:

• To find cheaper spices, try ethnic markets. For example, cumin is cheaper if you buy it in a packet labeled comino (which is the Spanish word for cumin.) Why? It probably has to do with racism and imperialism. Or something.
• "Healthy" markets like Whole Foods usually have spices in bulk. This allows you to buy spices in small amounts. So even if you normally eschew the prices at these stores, they are worth a trip for spices that you don't use often. (This vocabulary moment was brought to you by the letter E and words that rhyme with "bless you".)
• Organic spices are becoming more available. If you can, buy these. Remember, spices are an investment.
• When it's an option, buy spices in glass jars rather than plastic. Plastic is a chemical stew that includes petroleum products. Glass takes more energy to produce initially, but I find that glass items find more uses in my home, and I can feel sure that glass is not leeching chemicals into my life. Archer Farms spices (the Target "fancy" brand) come in glass bottles that are super-cute and make adorable bud vases or additions to your next Joseph Cornell rip-off.

So now, I'm sure you're totally convinced that peasant food, deliciously-spiced, is the way to go. But if your typical cuisine is American, with a side of Italian and the occasional taco, what should you buy?

I have three staples in my cooking: Mexican -- which, as Kasper pointed out on The Splendid Table -- is much more vibrant than the Tex-Mex most of us are familiar with -- Indian, and Mediterranean (Italian, Greek, and Middle Eastern). I arrange my spices by these cuisines, rather than alphabetically (or, you know, the alternative, which is NOT organized. NO... that would never be me.) I also tend to cook a lot of Asian food, but those spices tend to be in the fridge, rather than the spice rack. Another post...

Indian
Quick curries are one of the staples of my house. There's nothing easier than whipping up a spur-of-the-moment curry, vegetarian or not, and pouring it over some rice. Nothing easier.

Spices in the Indian cupboard:
Curry powder: Really a blend of several spices, including turmeric and pepper.
Garam masala: Another spice blend. This one is peppery and cinnamony. I basically put it in everything.
Turmeric: Turmeric makes things YELLOW! So be careful with it; it can stain. It's also believed to be a magic health herb -- when I'm sick, I sometimes put a teaspoon of turmeric in hot water with a little lemon for a drink that soothes a sore throat and a sicky sad-face.
Other spices: Paprika, ginger, coriander, and saffron (saffron is quite expensive, so if you can't afford it, you can usually go without. But you only use a few threads at a time, so a single jar can go a long way.

Click here to find Indian vegetarian recipes.

Mexican
I LOVE MEXICAN FOOD.

No, I don't mean Taco Bell or Taco Time. I mean Mexican food. Most "Mexican" food that Americans are familiar with is actually Tex-Mex. Tex-Mex is delicious in it's own right, but nothing compares with actual Mexican food.

Spices for Mexican cooking:
Cumin (or comino): My friend Kelly says, "you can never have too much comino", and she's from South Texas, so she knows what she's talking about. Lots of people have a strong reaction to comino -- some people say it smells like feet. But have no fear. Cumin tends to be at the heart of a lot of Mexican dishes. It's also featured in Indian cuisine, so it's a good purchase to begin your spice rack. AND it's delicious.
Peppers: I like to have many different pepper-based spices on hand. Cayenne is extremely spicy. Ancho is dried poblano, and it has almost a floral note. Crushed Red Pepper includes some seeds, the hottest part of the pepper. It's especially good in chili and also features in some Italian cooking.

Click here for vegetarian Mexican recipes, and here for one of my all time favorites: Ancho Lentil Tacos from the Post-Punk Kitchen a fusion recipe, as you might imagine.

Mediterranean
"Mediterranean" encompasses many cuisines: Italian, Greek, Middle Eastern. And all of them promise wonders for your Meatless Monday.

Spices for your Mediterranean Feast:
Oregano: A staple of Italian cooking
Bay Leaves: Put one or two in your soups or stews to add flavor - but don't eat them. They're sharp!
Rosemary: Yep. They are basically pine needles. Crush them up to add a fragrant bite to your cooking. Delicious when paired with lemon.
Fennel seed: Fennel has a sort of licoricey taste to it, but it's often the "secret" ingredient to Italian favorites
Thyme: Thyme is often used in meats, but for your meatless dishes, it is superb with fresh tomatoes and olive oil.
Other Herbs to have on hand: Garlic and basil are best when fresh, and they are a critical addition to your Mediterranean delights.

Click here for vegetarian Mediterranean recipes.

With a well-stocked spice rack, "eating like a peasant" doesn't have to be a negative.

*Meatless Monday is a movement to spread awareness of the health and environmental benefits plant-strong eating, by encouraging people to eat meatless meals on Mondays.

Waste not, want not - Household Tip

Ugh. Sometimes when I see the words "tomato paste" in a recipe, I definitely get annoyed. Recipes always seem to call for amounts like 2 tbsp. and then you're left with half a can that you put in the fridge, thinking: I'll use that next week, and then 6 months later when you clean the fridge you're wondering what sort of fuzz has been given life in the old can.

Some companies are now packaging tomato paste in tubes. This is a good idea, but:
a) many stores don't carry them
b) tubes are usually not recyclable, containing a mix of polyethylene and aluminum.

So, instead of wasting paste from a can or buying a tube, I just freeze any unused paste in an ice cube tray, and bust out a cube or two when I need some.

If you try this yourself: be forewarned that the paste doesn't get the consistency of ice -- it will remain sort of soft even when frozen.

When you want the paste, just microwave it or put it in a glass and put the glass in some warm water to soften the paste.


Do you have any great household tips to reduce waste?

Re-purposed Style Part 2: DIY

The other day I featured some of the cool vintage and thrifted decor my sister has around her house.

Today I wanted to show off some of the items that she has DIYed or altered. She saves money and saves the planet by creating her own decorations from items that she has re-purposed.

The top picture is just a framed postcard with a mat made out of craft paper.

My sister created these decorative plates herself. You could use plates from a thrift store or dollar store.

She simply made color photocopies (using her printer) of images from an old children's book that we had, The Caretakers of Wonder. That way, she didn't have to destroy our heirloom.

She then cut out and decoupaged the images on the plates. The alphabet letters spell out ...

DREAM

This one is a favorite of mine; I actually created the artwork years ago. I've been trying to get it back from my sister for a long time, but somehow she manages to keep hold of it.

I freehanded the outline of the tree onto a sheet of paper - it's been a long time but I think I copied an image from a catalogue. Then I looked through magazines to find images that had brown or green; I snipped tiny pieces from them. I glued the pieces onto the outline like a mosaic.

My sister used craft paper for a mat. Having a nice supply of craft paper around always makes DIY easier.

I wish that I had my sister's taste and crafty skills!

Re-Purposed Style

My sister has an amazing eye for finding treasures among the junk at thrift and antique stores. Not only does she manage to make everything she touches look adorable, her focus on decorating with vintage items is better for the planet and the pocket book.

Here are a few of her best finds:

This is a dress form on a vintage plant stand. My sister just wrapped it in some cool fabric.

Repurposed style is all about going with the flow: you can't PLAN to find a vintage bird cage this cute. You just have to be ready to pounce when you see it.











I just love this unique religious statue. My sister keeps it in her doorway. It perfectly matches the coloring of the rental house where she is now living.

It's easy to see something like this and think: gee, that's sort of cool, but it's also weird.

You have to have an eye for the possibilities and a sense of whimsy.

These antique skates are part of my sister's holiday decor.

Aren't they handsome?

I wish I had a better picture of this one.

The painting at the bottom is vintage. My sister's had it for years and it just looks cool.

The one on top is a painting that my sister did of her beagle. I love the way the folk art style of the vintage painting matches the simple artwork my sister did. It just proves you don't have to be an artist to make art.

Coming up: I'm going to feature some of my sister's crafty decor that showcases recycled and repurposed items.

Do you have favorite vintage or thrifted pieces in your home?

Home is wherever I'm with you!

2012 is the year I find a home.

Sooo... there's this meme going around about reflecting on 2011 and determining your theme for 2012. And that's my theme: 2012 is the year I find a home.

In 2011, I wrote out a list of intentions I called "Learn-Go-Do." I didn't get to all of them, but I did get a great start on them - I went to Spain, visited three American cities I to which I'd never been, finished the first Rosetta Stone module to improve my Spanish, learned how to knit lace and how to needle felt ... I was busy. And I'm resolved to keep the list going as a living document of intention.

On the bottom of the list, however, was a one-word item.

It said:
"Move"

As in, move into a new house. For the first five months of 2011, I was pretty sure I was going to pick up and move from Houston to Seattle during the summer. But then a whole bunch of stuff happened that turned everything upside down. So I waited. And waited. And the waiting became a holding pattern.

Now, I don't know where I want to move. I have a heart divided.

Here's what my heart wants:

• The Pacific Northwest. Trees! Family! Huckleberries and coffee stands! Lakes!
• Texas: Sun! Friends that have become family! An economy that has stayed relatively stable!! Did I mention - sun!?

HOW COULD ANYONE DECIDE?

A holding pattern is no good. I'm not into that. I need to get serious about this decision, and so:
2012 is the year I find a home.

In the place where I work, when a big change needs to happen, we establish a vision, and then we determine the steps to getting there. So I'm going to outline the vision here, and then the steps will come in other posts (as I think of them...).

THE VISION

A year or so ago, I took a course called Mondo Beyondo: An Online Course in Dreaming Big. In the course, you create a list of the big dreams you have for your life. In my list, I wrote this:

I live in a house in the woods. It's near water. There's a garden for vegetables. Maybe it's a cabin. No dogs, but 1-2 cats. Chickens. There's a porch with a swing and room for nieces and nephews to come visit. They can stay all summer. In the morning, drinking coffee on the porch every day (it NEVER gets cold in this place). Friends live nearby (or on the property). We have a little community.

I think my vision today is similar. Here's what my heart desires in a home:

• Family and/or friends are nearby
• I can gradually increase the amount of food that I will produce on my own (just gardening and chickens in the beginning, but maybe moving up to goats -- my mom calls this dream "the farm")
• My house is small and so I have a minimal footprint
• I can work from home comfortably
• Although I'm in the country, I am near enough to a city that I can enjoy the cultural events that I like

I realize this is a big dream.

But I took a course. I'm certified in dreaming big.

20+11 Things I Liked in 2011: Part 3

And so... we come to the end of the list of 31 things I liked in 2011. Even though I put these in no particular order, I find that many of my absolute favorites are ending up on this last segment, which seems fitting.


This weekend, you can expect my post about New Year's intentions for 2012.  Maybe I should resolve to be more timely with my posts in 2012!


As always, if there's stuff you liked in 2011, leave a comment!


George R.R. Martin (Game of Thrones, Dance with Dragons)
Geeks, rejoice! Geekery went mainstream this year, as Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series made headlines as an HBO series (of course, many geeks don't rejoice when their hidden gems become mainstream, but this geek is OK with it, because popularity begets the longevity that most of my geek favorites never receive). The TV series --beautifully acted, bloody; and of course, nakeddy, being on HBO -- inspired many, including me, to pick up the books that it is based on. All just in time for the arrival of the fifth book in the series, Dance with Dragons, which left readers with impossible cliffhangers. Here's hoping that Martin doesn't take six years to write book six, as he did with Dance.


Supernatural Saturday: BBCA
To continue with the geekery ... nothing is geekier than Doctor Who. Let's just face up to it, Whovians. Yes, that's what we call ourselves, we who love the Doctor. It was a great year for the Doctor, with a twisty-turny ongoing plot about a stolen baby, melting doppelgangers, and headless (literally) monks. When the Doctor wasn't visiting Earth, BBC America ran its other sci-fi/fantasy offerings on Saturday nights; my favorite was Primeval. Best episodes: "A Good Man Goes to War" (Doctor Who); "Episode Three" (Primeval) -- which was about spring-heeled Jack!

Katy Perry and Floria Sigismondi
I'm sure that you know who Katy Perry is. You know, that busty gal with candy-apple-red lips? You may not know Sigismondi's name, but she's the director responsible for two of Perry's gorgeous videos: "E.T." and "The One That Got Away." I love these lush, story-telling videos because they hark back to the days when music videos seemed deeply profound, or at least deeply crazy (see: Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer, A-Ha's "Take on Me"). I find the video for "E.T." to be especially beautiful. Props to Perry for allowing herself to go weird in this one. (But no props to Kanye West for phoning in his "feat." role. Really, Yeezy? "Imma disrobe you/ Then Imma probe you"? A dirty-minded twelve-year-old could have written that).

Neville!!! (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2)

Cardigan. Clumsiness. Heck... his name is Neville. But the alternate "boy who lived" kicked it in the final installment of Harry Potter, proving to be the most loyal, most effective member of Dubledore's Army.

The Magician King, by Lev Grossman

Grossman continued his meditation on children's fantasy novels (like Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia) with The Magician King. Like in his previous novel, The Magicians, Grossman went beyond simple satire to give us a portrait of what it might look like if the guy down the street ended up in a fantasy world. The results are devastating. And ever since I read it, I can't think about foxes without cringing (actually, Grossman seems to have a thing about fox sex ... shudder)

Melanie Moore (So You Think You Can Dance)

This summer I went to a wedding, and a good friend brought his girlfriend, who's a dancer. The two of us discovered that we were both fans of SYTYCD and proceeded to annoy the other passengers in our car with our rhapsodizing about Melanie Moore, the eventual winner of Dance's 2011 season. My new friend said, "she has such energy, even in her stillness." And that is exactly right. To any of you who have taken a dance or a yoga class, you know that stillness and small, slow movements are incredibly difficult. Moore made every moment a joy, whether standing still or launching herself fearlessly into the air. 

Justified (FX)
As a child of rural America, sometimes when I'm watching Justified, I get really depressed. It's so spot-on in its depiction of the edge of American society that I can't help but get a little chill. There but for the grace... and all that. In 2011, Justified took its portrait of backwoods America to new heights with the introduction of Margo Martindale as a villain who was truly a match for the super-cool Raylan, played by Timothy Olyphant. Even as I cringes, I couldn't look away. To me, it's a portrait of law and disorder that hits closer than the much-lauded Breaking Bad... but that might be the difference between growing up scared of bears and growing up scared of Volvos.

HitRecord Hits Publish (hitrecord.org)
HitRecord is the brainchild (such a weird term) of Joseph Gordon-Levitt (yes, that kid from Third Rock from the Sun, but if that's your picture of him, I recommend you watch Brick, Mysterious Skin, or The Lookout). HitRecord is an online collaborative art space, where artists post media and freely allow others to take their work and remix it. This year, HitRecord released two "mainstream" collections of work: Recollection, Vol. 1 and The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories, Vol. 1. Make no mistake. HitRecord is the future of art: a collaborative, royalty-free zone of equality. With really cute illustrations.


The Deschanel sisters (Bones, The New Girl)
Zooey and Emily. Wow. What a pair. In The New Girl, Zooey took her cute quirkiness to a new high. And should anyone say her quirk is unrealistic ... well, you obviously haven't met my sister and me. On Bones, Emily Deschanel navigated a tricky high-wire act as she played out the results of her show's lengthy "will-they-won't-they" dance. They did. And Emily remained true to her character, even as the character went through life-changing events.


Homeland (Showtime)
Full disclosure: I watched the entire first season of Homeland in two days. And I really don't know what to say. Watch it. Just watch it. Homeland is about the way that war ravages us; in a world where we're taught to believe that war bestows glory upon us, no one comes out clean. Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, and Mandy Patinkin (squee! says my Broadway fangirl) are the standouts in this meditation on honor, duty, religion, and madness. Did I mention that you should watch it?

20+11 Things I Liked in 2011: Part 2

The second annual Light Green pop culture round-up! If you liked stuff too, share in the comments!

Bromances: Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows, Crazy Stupid Love, A Dangerous Method

I actually hate the term bromance, but it does evoke what I mean: complicated, loving friendships between men. In the past year, it’s as if Hollywood finally realized that men’s friendships can be as deep and rich as women’s; and are not only forged through war, sports, or when a black cop and a white cop are paired together. In the second Sherlock Holmes film, Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law re-kindled the crazy chemistry they displayed in the first one. Crazy Stupid Love was a little lame when it came to boy-girl stuff, but the friendship between Ryan Gosling and Steve Carrell was the heart of the film. And in A Dangerous Method’s advertising campaign, they featured Keira Knightley, but the movie was really a love story about Freud and Jung.

“Civilian”, by Wye Oak

I haven’t fallen this hard for a song since I was a teenager and songs meant everything. “Holy Holy” from the same album is pretty damn great as well.

Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig, in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Let me just be honest, I think Stieg Larsson wrote awkwardly, and plotted clunkily. I got so bored reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest that I just quit reading it. But he did create one of the greatest modern literary characters in Lisbeth Salander. Rooney Mara, playing Salander in the American film based on the book, is a revelation, completely inhabiting the hunch-shouldered hacker punk. And with Daniel Craig playing Mikael Blomkvist, the character finally seems like he’s a match for Lisbeth. The two duet perfectly, giving performances that are marvels of interiority. As an added bonus, the movie’s soundtrack kicks ass.

Camp, by Childish Gambino

For a while, hip-hop has felt a little stale to me. I mean, I don’t get all of the end-of-the-year praise for Jay-Z and Kanye’s Watch the Throne, when it seemed like folks weren’t too blown away by it when it first came out. And Drake, c’mon… speed it up a little bit, friend. Then along came Camp, by Childish Gambino (the alter ego of comedian and actor Donald Glover). And suddenly, rap felt fresh again. The rhymes are clever and reward close listening; Glover’s flow is smooth as needed and pleasantly chunky at other times; the music is awesome.  The subject matter of Camp feels new too. It’s about insecurity, forming your identity, and coping by turning to performance. Best tracks: The first five songs are great, and I particularly like the fifth, “Heartbeat.”

The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern

I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t want a magic circus to suddenly appear in his or her town. A circus with labyrinths and ice gardens, wishing trees and glass bottles holding scents that tell stories. A circus where magicians duel and fall in love. Where kittens do tricks, and the air smells of caramel. The night circus isn’t coming to your town, so you’ll have to sink into the world of Morgenstern’s lovely book. I’m sure it will be made into a movie, but I’m just as sure that when committed to the screen, the circus will lose some of the magic it has in our imaginations.

Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt, Young Adult

I’m not gonna lie, I have a huge crush on Patton Oswalt, so I was pretty excited to see him in Young Adult. I knew he was going to be good. What surprised me, however, was how good Charlize Theron was opposite him. I know she’s a good actress, but her taste in projects doesn’t seem to ever line up with my taste in movie-going. Playing a high school mean girl who never moved past the binge drinking or the entitlement of senior year, Theron goes all in to create a character who isn’t saved and doesn’t learn lessons. She and Oswalt are pure, cringe-inducing pleasure every time they’re on screen together.

Drive

If Ryan Gosling’s character, Driver, ever met Lisbeth Salander, we’d probably have an incredibly violent silent film on our hands. Driver takes taciturnity to a new high. He’s a stunt driver for the movies who moonlights as a getaway driver. Drive is super-cool, hearkening back to those L.A. movies where the city’s pavement plays a supporting role.  Other cool things about the movie: Albert Brooks, playing a pure badass; Gosling’s satin scorpion jacket; the movie’s soundtrack. Warning, however: this is not a film for the squeamish.

Moves Like Jagger, by Maroon 5

Granted, if there weren’t actual moves by Jagger in this video, it would just be Adam Levine without a shirt (again… seriously, Adam, there are children in the Philippines who are trying to feed their families. Buy some shirts, man). But there are moves by Jagger.

Bad Lip-Reading, the internet

Because those Republican candidates deserve it. Special bonus points for the bad lip-reading of Michael Buble’s song, “Haven’t Met You Yet”, transforming it into the hilarious “Russian Unicorn.”

Vampire Diaries, the CW

You know how most shows save their big plot twists for sweeps months? Well, the producers and writers of The Vampire Diaries have totally thrown out that playbook. Instead, they have the confidence to give us major plot developments every week – sometimes two or three per episode (they usually have a big reveal around minute 48, and you’re sure the episode will end, then they give you 5 or 6 more minutes). Sure, this strategy is risky. You could jump the shark. But so far, there’s no sign of water skis in sight, as the excellent cast races right along with the breathless plotting.

Seeing Stars: Visionary Drawing from the Collection, The Menil Collection, Houston, TX

I got to see my first, real Henry Darger drawing.  I think my heart might have stopped. Collecting works by folk, naïve, and outsider artists, this exhibit is both one of the loveliest and one of the saddest things I have ever seen.