As you may remember, my brother interviewed Gwen Stefani a few months ago, and that interview is now out on newsstands (it’s the March 2015 Cosmopolitan cover story). Through that, my brother was given two tickets to a small concert Gwen gave last night in Los Angeles, and being the best twin brother ever, he brought me! Gwen put on an amazing show – I seriously don’t know how she has that much energy. After the concert, we went to an after-party, where this happened:
This was taken AFTER she’d performed a 100-minute set. And no, I did not ask her if she remembered me from the bathroom!
Besides the photo with Gwen, I also ran into a dear friend from my New York days, and I had an absolute blast catching up with him. That alone made my night, but the picture with Gwen was the cherry on top.
Around The ‘Net
~The Site Where Doctors Share X-Rays of Weird Things in People’s Butts O_O
~Hometown friends say Harper Lee was manipulated into publishing second book Kinda puts a damper on things.
~Read Harper Lee’s 5 Amazing Nonfiction Pieces At least we know for sure that she wanted these printed.
~The Creators Of J.Lo’s ‘Boy Next Door’ Might Not Know What ‘The Iliad’ Really Is Where are the fact checkers?
~A Memoir Is Not a Status Update
~50 Shades of [Sigh]: The Disastrous 50 Shades of Grey Press Tour Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
~An Exclusive Look at Sony’s Hacking Saga
~How failing colossally on a game show changed my life for the better ohhhhhhh
~The Art of the Title My Aunt Kathy always massively appreciated the opening title sequence in a movie, and I know she’d have loved this website all about the creative process behind title sequence design.
~For Years, The Washington Post Tried to Interview a Cow Um, okay.
~These Are The Ballerinas And Ballerinos Of Instagram
Mommy Nearest
~In September I started freelancing for a a great local resource app and website for families called Mommy Nearest. I’ve been focused exclusively on Los Angeles-area activities, as I absolutely love highlighting the best parts of my favorite city. Last week, I was promoted to Los Angeles Editor, and I am humbled and grateful for the opportunity to continue on with this company in a larger role. While right now we only do specialty content in five cities, the app works in all 50 states and lists places in every major city – like Yelp for families. And, it’s free to use! So definitely check it out if you’re someone who likes to find cool, family friendly local activities.
Stop! Grammy Time
~The Grammys are tonight! Despite still suffering from Grammy-nomination PTSD (it used to be my job to nominate the artists from the label I worked at, and back then it was an incredibly involved and archaic system), I still love the Grammy Awards. I think the Recording Academy does a great job of pairing up different acts to make interesting performances. We’ll be watching tonight – Annabel’s beloved Taylor Swift is presenting, Mike’s gotta see Paul McCartney’s performance, and of course, I’ll be watching Gwen (full list of presenters and performers here). I’m currently listening to the 2015 Grammy Nominees album to get in the mood for the show!
Happy Sunday, everyone!
KimAZ says:
Are you on your game or WHAT, girl?! Kick ass links, a promotion, and evening with your new BFF. Congratulations to you!
Jordan says:
Getting on my English major/book nerd soapbox for a minute:
So many authors have things that they wrote that didn’t get published until many (many) years later. Sadly, this typically happens posthumously- therefore they don’t get any accolades or knowledge of what’s happening. (this happens to many artists of all forms as well, so many people don’t get recognized until death! it’s sad).
HOWEVER. Harper Lee is alive and kicking. No, she isn’t 100% here physically thanks to a stroke. But there have been too many statements/legal actions from her in years’ late to say there’s something wrong with her mind. She made a very long, articulate statement about the biography Marla Mills (I think that’s her name?) wrote and published last year. So I personally think it’s safe to say mentally she’s here and knows what’s going on. If she didn’t want this to happen, I’m pretty sure-just like she’s done in the past over previous things- she’d put a stop to it.
Also: The fact that this wasn’t just some random book that she *forgot* to publish. This was the ORIGINAL TKAM. This was the book she intended to publish, not Mockingbird. So, I think it might honestly be what she wants- to have her original novel published. The only reason TKAM was written was to please her publisher, whom loved the young Scout flashbacks. This was her book baby, in reality. Though TKAM is what made her a household name, it wasn’t her original idea (per se).
At the end of the day, honestly? We probably won’t know if it’s 100% what she wanted, unless she does decide to not publish it (with all the hoopla about it now, I doubt that’ll happen).
I’m a HUGE TKAM fan– read it in 7th grade, and remember researching all over looking for more Harper Lee novels and came back disappointed there weren’t any more. I’ve hoped and dreamed for a new Lee novel since then. The fact that we’re not only getting a *new* novel, but one that goes along with TKAM? I may have cried. I really hope it was her true intention to publish it, because she is making millions of people happy.
Jordan says:
Damn, that was a long comment… Sorry, I’m pretty passionate about my books!
Amy says:
Rubbing shoulders with Gwen?!?! You go girl!
Tam. says:
I need a jealous button! I have to ask, was her complexion just amazing? I would love to know her skin regime! lol!
Lanie says:
Thanks so much for writing about Mommy Nearest – it is such a great idea! I downloaded it & they don’t have too much about Atlanta so I emailed them about becoming a “mommy nearest expert” for Atlanta. Thanks again!
Lisa says:
Oh no you didn’t!!!! So silly happy for you!!!!