Attack of the Girls

Odds were good that I wouldn’t appreciate any woman that George Clooney dates publicly. At least in his public persona, he’s pretty much the perfect man (the looks, the voice, the talent, the suave, the humor, the politics) and almost no woman would be good enough. Plus there’s the precedent of what I like the say about another member of my list, that Jon Stewart’s only fault is he didn’t wait for me.

But of all the women in the world Clooney could get serious enough about to bring to a public event like the Oscars (which he’s never done before,) does it have to be this little girl?!? Someone over at TwoP said they were worried about the awards show going over time because Sarah Larson had homework to finish.

Sarah may be a perfectly nice girl, and I’m trying not to slam her personally. Just because she’s been on Fear Factor and met Clooney when she was a cocktail waitress at the Palms doesn’t automatically mean she has no substance but, the few words I've heard her say didn’t show me anything of substance and move us past the cliché. (I mean, really, he’s dating a cocktail waitress?!?) And she’s the latest example of a depressing trend. It makes me sad when men who seem to really have a brain go for girls instead of women. (See also: John Mayer and Jessica Simpson). Is this really what men of substance find sexy?

Can’t George please take a hint from Matt Damon who married a real woman, or better yet from Brad Pitt, who has actually gained gravitas and a focus on the world outside entertainment by being with Angelina Jolie? I was always Team Angie over Team Jennifer because even when she was an ingénue, Jolie was a woman. Can you imagine her with a vacuous, vacant giggle? No, you cannot.

I’m not sure how to explain that this is part of the same irritating trend, but it feels the same to me. Some of the mis-casting of supposedly sexy and strong young women with gamine girls. The first two examples that come to mind (examples that, granted, don’t say much for my viewing tastes) First, Deanna Russo as an academic and scientist in the new Knight Rider. I work with academics, and while they’re a more varied group than most people know, she is not it. I absolutely do not believe she could understand a bit of the nano-science she was pseudo-babbling. Just because its pseudo doesn’t mean you don’t have to sell it. Second, Anna van Hooft as Princess Aura on the new Flash Gordon. In a part that in its many incarnations has always been about an intense sensuality and steamy sexuality, van Hooft just seems coltish and awkward. And maybe that’s it. I do not find coltish to be sexy; it looks unfinished, girly and childish. Third example, which I don’t lead with because it’s been said by so many for years, is Calista Flockhart. Ally McBeal was such a silly fantasy that I never got too worked up about this, but in Brothers & Sisters the idea of her as a political operative is literally laughable. And when she’s matched against the womanliness of Rachel Griffiths you want to shake your head. Griffiths is less steaming sexuality in B&S than she was in Six Feet Under and I think that’s partly because Calista would never be able to keep up!

So, Mr. Clooney. I understand why you guard your romantic life so zealously, and I think it’s wonderful that you’re finally willing to share a tiny slice more of your life with the world. But throw this one back, she’s not fully formed. Go find a woman. Plenty of them will go out with you. Trust me. I can think of at least one right off the top of my head.

Eat, Pray Love

I didn't expect to like this book. I knew it was a travel memoir, and the author had been on Oprah. When something becomes as successful as this book has been (how many weeks on the best seller lists?!?!) I get a little snobby and decide anything so mainstream is probably too least common denominator for me.

What I didn't expect when I started reading it for my bookclub is how honest Elizabeth Gilbert is about where she was emotional and spiritually at the start of her travels. I almost said "at the start of her journey" but Andy always insists that the books we read for bookclub are "a woman's journey of self-discovery." He's right this time, but it's better than the cliche, so I'd like to resist using it.

It helps that Elizabeth Gilbert's approach to spirituality is a lot like mine, believing that we can take the pieces of different traditions that speak to us. I was talking to a co-worker about the book yesterday who said she thinks it's a book about transitions and how they're a process instead of like flipping a switch. I like that take better than Andy's.

My 50 Books Project

Since this is likely to be the only year for a while when I can do this (the plan for law school is on, but not to start for another year) I'm trying the 50 books in a year challenge!

I'm pretty sure I usually read more than 50 books a year, but I've never counted. And I'm not going to count books I'm re-reading, and may not count random trashy romance novels that I pick up and read in an evening or two. I'm not a snob about books; I believe those technically could count, but I want to do this to make myself feel well-read again and Nora Roberts isn't really going to fit the bill there.

January started off pretty strong. I read the four books listed to the left. I was a bit disappointed in 1776. I didn't realize it was, per the Powell's website, a "companion" piece to McCullough's John Adams biography. Which left it free to be an almost entirely military history. I kept waiting for more on the Continental Congress, but apparently that's all in the Adams bio. Well, with 46 to go, I may have to pick that one up in the next few months! I did learn a lot about the siege of Boston. Like, for example, that there WAS a siege of Boston. I thought I had a pretty good U.S. history education, but I'm pretty sure we didn't cover that at my high school.

Of course, I grew up in Virginia and my knowledge of the colonial era and the revolution are kind of focused on the history of Virginia. My family did a summer vacation one year where we visited the homes of all the presidents born in Virginia (except one, at the time it wasn't open to the public - I think the birthplace of Zachary Taylor). I don't remember it, but apparently the trip was my idea. I guess I'm just a born geek. Of course, it was also part of family tradition. When my Aunt Pat had to write a paper on Yorktown when she was in high school, my grandparents packed up the car for the weekend and drove down to Yorktown so she could see the site in person.