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Book Comment: Mindy Kaling's "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?"

Ever read a book and feel a little sad when it's over?

Well, that's exactly how I felt after finishing Mindy Kaling's very funny collection of essays, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? Like Tina Fey's Bossypants or anything Nora Ephron would dream up, but for a slightly younger demographic, Mindy turns everyday happenings into pure comic gold.

And in case you ever wondering if Mindy happens to share anything in common with her Office alter ego, Kelly Kapoor, she clears that up, along with other pressing matters. In addition to her warts-and-all account of how she got into the business of show, she also expounds on why guys only need two pairs of shoes, how she pulled off playing Ben Affleck, you know, considering she's a woman and all, and my personal favorite, a chapter on the duties of a true best friend.

Written in a warm and witty style, it's a perfect light read for a day when you could use a dose of good humor. And for any single guys brave enough to pick it up (there's pink on the cover, after all) it's an effective how-to guide for how to win a woman over as well—bonus!

Kicking Off the Holiday Season With Serendipity

I don't know how this "tradition" got started, but for the past couple of years, Will and I have officially kicked off the holiday season by watching Serendipity.

Now if you're not a fan of this John Cusack-Kate Beckinsale romantic comedy, I recommend skipping this post altogether because the following paragraphs will address exactly what makes the movie so downright lovable.

But then again, how could anyone not like this film? I mean it stars everybody's favorite Everyman, John Cusack. Even if you're not into romantic comedy (and really, these days, I couldn't blame you for that—they've been sooo bad.), Cusack makes what could've been an awful ordeal downright enjoyable (the same cannot be said, however, for Must Love Dogs, but I won't bother going off on that tangent).

What also helps is there's a pretty good script, not to mention a plethora of engaging side characters. Sure, like most sitcom characters, these supporting players are much too outrageous to resemble anyone from real life, but you still can't help loving them all the same.

Not only is Molly Shannon fantastic as the kooky owner of a New Age bookstore who doesn't exactly believe in what she's selling, but who could forget John Corbett's wackadoodle (yes, I just made that up) world musician Lars? Not only does he insist on sporting totally hideous scarves as part of his everyday wardrobe, but he really gets into his own music videos.

Memo to Lars: Yes, those bloodthirsty vikings hate the music—along with everyone else.

What also doesn't hurt the cause are all those adoring close-ups of frozen hot chocolates from Serendipity, the restaurant. And if that didn't already send your sweet tooth into overdrive, there's the chocolate cake that neither Kate or Molly (yes, I forgot their characters' names, so sue me) even bother taking a bite of when celebrating Molly's b-day. Lemme just say they should both be arrested for leaving that behind.

But more than anything, as frustrating as the journey can be on occasion (the first time I saw it with my pal Jessica, all those near misses between John and Kate were just grrr!), it's this sweet story of the lengths two people will go to for true love. But (SPOILER ALERT) when John Cusack finally gets the girl, Nick Drake, rather than say, cheesy Celine Dion (it does take place in the '90s, after all), is playing in the background.

And who's not a sucker for that, along with some pretty memorable NYC scenery to boot?

2011: The Year When the Old-Timers Ruled

It's not like we planned it this way, but somehow, the median age of all the artists we saw in concert in 2011 was a whopping 66.3.

In fact, if it hadn't been for Sting, who clocked in at the relatively spritely ol' age of 60, it would've been 69.5.

As you probably have guessed by now, we didn't see Mumford & Sons, The Civil Wars, Adele or even U2, which would've all been incredible...

Instead, we saw Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and the aforementioned artist formerly known as Gordon Sumner—who aren't exactly lacking in talent. :)

Given my love all of things Beatles, Paul McCartney was always near the top of my list of "Artists I Absolutely, Positively Must See Before I Die."

Sidenote: I don't know why, but I simply refuse to call it a "bucket list." My thought is if a movie's that bad, even with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman involved,  it doesn't deserve a catchphrase. Or at least one I'd bother using.

Ok, quasi-rant over.

So when Will and I saw that Sir Paul was playing in Vegas this past summer, well, we knew we simply must go. My only mild concern was the state of Paul's voice—and whether he'd still sound good now that he's pushing 70. All I could think of was that Super Bowl halftime show in 2005, and how disappointing it was, but then again, maybe the setting wasn't all that inspiring (the Packers weren't there, after all). Thankfully, he totally killed it, whether he was belting out a great mix of Beatles songs or his best solo tracks.

To wit, I'd even venture to say it was one of my favorite concerts of all time, and anyone who knows me well, knows that's a big deal. After all, I used to frequent shows the way I frequent movies today.

After seeing Paul, Will and I were naturally jonesing for another unforgettable show. And lucky enough for Will, his favorite artist of all time, one Robert Zimmerman, was scheduled to play a casino only an hour from our house.

Now I'll be honest, when I bought Will fifth row tickets to see Dylan back when we lived in St. Paul, I thought that would be the one—and only—time we'd see him. After all, I can only understand about one out of every 40 words the man says, and last time around, I lucked out because the Foo Fighters opened for him (score!).

But Dylan had a pretty important birthday this year—his 70th—so I was willing to see him again, you know for the historical significance, but mostly because I adore my husband. While the venue itself was a little strange, mostly because of the uncomfortable folding chairs normally used for church picnics, it was a pretty great show. Per usual, Bob didn't address the crowd until the very end, sort of a welcome change from the likes of John Mayer who tend to blather on and on about, well, nothing between songs.

Really, my only criticism aside from the seating was a few of the fans. While I love modern technology as much as the next person, do you ever find it annoying when people feel the need to record an entire concert with their Smartphones?

Maybe I'm sounding pretty old and crotchety at the moment, but there's nothing worse than having a small gathering of iPhones impairing your view while you're trying to enjoy the music. It's not that I don't enjoy seeing snippets of things I normally wouldn't get to see (thank you, YouTube), but it just seems like some people are more concerned with documenting the experience than actually experiencing it, and that makes me grumpy.

Ok, first official rant over.

Last but certainly not least, we saw Sting this past Wednesday at the Verizon theater. Not nearly as big as a stadium but still larger than your favorite hole-in-the-wall club, it was the perfect relaxed environment to hear some truly great songs. In addition to his bevy of hits, he dug a bit deeper into his catalog, and Will and I were able to hear tracks we hadn't heard in years.

One obseveration about the Sting crowd: While there are definitely fans of all ages, they are m-e-l-l-o-w with a capital "m," which is actually pretty nice after years and years of standing near mosh pits and dealing with people elbowing you for position. It was the sort of show that everyone enjoyed with a nice glass of wine, which allowed for the focus to be where it belonged—the music.

Now that 2011 has unexpectedly been the year when the old-timers rule, it should be interesting to see what 2012 will bring musically speaking. But I'm guessing we might skew a little bit younger than we did this time around...

I'm Dreaming of the L.A. Farmers' Market...

If you don't have the time or money to hopscotch from one exotic locale to another (and really, who does, especially these days?), I recently found the perfect way to travel around the world—no passport required.

Like some of the best discoveries in life, it was completely accidental. I'd heard of the L.A. Farmers' Market, of course, but never knew exactly where it was. But when my sister, her best pal Erica and I were in town to celebrate Lindsey's birthday a couple of weeks ago in La La Land, we made this rather happy discovery.

Now I've been to some pretty great farmers' markets, and at one point, even lived across the street from one in St. Paul, but nothing comes close to this. It literally goes on and on and on, and you could easily stay for the entire day and not get bored. But lemme warn you if you do, you'll want to be wearing pants with a some give because there's seriously yummy vittles around every corner.

And if you're there, do yourself a favor and grab an apple fritter at Bob's. It will change your life, and that's coming from a girl who isn't even a doughnut person. I don't think I've ever tasted such sticky, heavenly deliciousness in humble fritter form before. In fact, my mouth's watering just thinking about it. That, and a cup of coffee, and you'll be set for a couple of hours at least.

Whatever food you fancy, whether it's Italian, Indian, Thai, Spanish, Mexican, French or some  incredible looking falafel, they've got it—and then some. Even if you're feeling healthy, which of course we weren't that particular day, the selection of fresh fruit and veggies looked pretty incredible, too.

Adding a whimsical, unexpected flare to the festivities were all the cool specialty items. There was a shop that only sold stickers. Another featured imported candy, cookies and gifts from Europe. And while I didn't end up ponying up the $9.50 for my own bag, I was quite intrigued by the chocolate penne at a homemade pasta shop. Just looking at it reminded me of what Barefoot Contessa always says about something so utterly decadent: "How bad could that be?"

Yeah, it involves two of my favorite things—chocolate and pasta—so I'm thinking it wouldn't be too bad at all. Maybe next time, and I really hope that next time is soon because we had such a good time exploring all the unique local businesses nestled inside.

From "I Do" to "I Don't" in 72 Days?

If we're honest, I'm guessing no one really expected Kim Kardashian's marriage to Kris Humphries to last for the long haul.

After all, when cameras are "keeping up with you" 24/7 and you don't even live in the same city as your hubby to boot, when would Kim and Kris actually have time for, well, regular married couple stuff?

Since I'm guessing that ordering pizza and watching a movie in their sweats was never in the cards for them anyway (boring stuff like that doesn't make for very good TV, naturally), one still can't help wondering why Kim threw in the proverbial towel so quickly—especially after an embarrassingly lavish wedding that dominated the headlines, despite you know, record unemployment and actual news happening all around the world.

Worse yet, Kim's explanation for why the union didn't last is because she's a "hopeless romantic?" Really? In retrospect, she says she fell in love with the "fairy tale" and probably should've called off her wedding off since "the relationship wasn't working." But in an effort not to "disappoint" everyone, she went through with it anyway.

Now as someone who went to a Christian university, I definitely saw my fair share of couples who got engaged at record speed and giddily raced to the altar, only to find out that once the wedding and honeymoon were over, being married meant they were actually (gasp!) stuck with this flawed individual for the rest of their lives.

As you can imagine, these young couples' first 72 days weren't easy either, and some inevitably weathered the storm, while others jumped out of the boat altogether.

The difference is, most of these new brides and grooms were all of 19 or 20 years old. Kim is 30 and has already been married—and divorced—once before. When you're 19 and marry the wrong guy or girl for the wrong reasons, you can chalk it up to the foolishness of youth. But when you're 30 and should understand the weight of the vows you're taking, it just comes across as incredibly selfish.

But then again how could someone say "for better, for worse, 'til death do us part" to someone before deciding where you'll live after the ceremony is a wrap? Or who agrees to cut their honeymoon short to get back to filming a reality show of all things? I'm guessing fans could've lived without their fix of "Kim and Kourtney Take New York" for a few weeks while Kris and Kim enjoyed their first few days as man and wife, but hey, that's just me.

Even worse is the example it sets. For better or worse, many young women look up to Kim, envy her lifestyle and inevitably consider her a role model. While that's something she'd probably say she didn't ask for, the world is still watching anyway. And when you say that "following your heart" means bailing on a guy you were only hitched to for 72 days, well, it's another sad, sad moment for marriage as we know it.