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New TV Favorites

Every year, TV networks get the chance to start over, right a wrong and fix what's broken. The fall season's new shows always make me giddy. The endless possibilities...maybe the next Lost is on tomorrow night! While most shows turn out to be duds and are canceled right away (farewell Playboy Club and Charlie's Angels), the ones that survive the ratings gauntlet can hit their stride and show audiences what they're really made of. These are some of the shows that I can't wait to watch each week and will miss over the Christmas hiatus.

Once Upon A Time (ABC)

Guys, it's Lost with fairy tales! There's no swooshing sound between flashbacks and present, but some similarities are evident since Adam Horowitz, Lost guru, created, writes and produces the series. While the characters are not trapped on an uncharted island, the plot does veer into the land of Jack and Kate. All of our most beloved fairy tale characters are banished into a world with no happy endings -- our world. Only the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming can save the inhabitants of Storybrooke, Maine. Now, I know the premise is a bit cheesy, but it's the cast that makes this show my new favorite. Ginnifer Goodwin is earnest and endearing as Snow White/Mary Margaret, the elementary school teacher, and Jennifer Morrison is totally believable as the kick-butt bounty hunter/savior Emma. Jared Gilmore is a scene-stealing as Henry, Emma's son whom she gave up for adoption when he was born. In the first episode Henry finds Emma, explains his plight and brings her to Storybrooke to fix things.

 Once Upon A Time is not your run-of-the-mill princess show. The problems that the characters faced in their old lives follow them to the real world and become much worse. Emma is the only one who can help, and without her, all of our old friends are stuck in unfulfilled lives in purgatory. I can't help but tune in every Sunday to see what the next chapter brings to the characters I grew up with.

Revenge (ABC)

Don't hate me for loving this melodramatic prime time soap; it's my new guilty pleasure. Who doesn't love seeing people get what they deserve? Now bear with me, because this tale's a doozy: our protagonist Emily Thorne is really Amanda Clarke, whose father was set up as the scapegoat for a devastating terrorist attack. Amanda spent her life in juvy and now has taken on a new identity to exact vengeance on those who ruined her life and her father's. She moves to the Hamptons, mixing and mingling with the people who hurt her. Murder, computer hacking and cocktails parties are just a few items on Emily's itinerary, and each storyline has enough twists and turns to be a pretzel.

This show is deliciously campy and salacious. The plot is reaching most of the time, but Revenge owns it and takes things to the next level with each episode. However, for an hour I escape to the Hamptons and watch WASPy women stab each other in the back while sporting $1500 shoes. Who doesn't love the drama of the rich and deadly?

New Girl (Fox)

I wrote an ode to the quirky gal last week, but here's a quick rundown of why Zooey Deschanel's show is so fantastic. It's goofy, good-natured fun with a cast that seems to be enjoying every moment of their work.  New Girl isn't trying to pull any punches; the plots are a sweet love letter to friendship and being around people who make you happy. Accepting a friend's eccentricities, neuroses and, yes, quirks is a part of a relationship, and New Girl turns up the volume and shows us how to let our freak flags fly.

2 Broke Girls (CBS)

Smart and sassy are two adjectives that come to mind when thinking about this new standout. Recession TV is at its finest in the comedy centered on a broke Brooklyn waitress and a recently impoverished Madoff-esque socialite who become friends. The strapped ladies spend each episode trying to make ends meet and start a cupcake business.

Highs and lows are the name of the game on 2 Broke  Girls, but I think that the show's message is a sweet one: stay true to yourself and work your butt off.  In these rough economic times, while it's nice to have escapist TV, seeing the silver lining in the proverbial storm cloud can keep us all on the sunnier side of life.

So, set your DVRs for these great new shows. They provide 30-60 minutes of mindless fun, and, to be honest, who doesn't need a bit of that every now and then.

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A Love Letter to Stationery

As a Southern woman with a good Southern mama, I always write thank you notes. I take great joy in doing it now, sending a physical sign of gratitude to someone who gave me something, but my first experiences with the thank you note were not so sunny. In elementary school, I was the only kid I knew who had to write thank you notes for everything, not just birthdays and Christmas. While I at first saw thank you notes as mandates rather than necessities, I learned that putting pen to paper and saying a simple "thanks!" can mean more than the most beautifully crafted Facebook message. Seriously, even an extended metaphor online can't beat out a kate spade note card.

This love of sending letters soon gave way to another obsession: stationery. I love stationery. My girl crush and I'm sure would-be bestie Mindy Kaling wrote on her blog that her favorite internet time-waster is creating personalized stationery. Me too Mindy! Maybe it's part of why I love being a writer, but is there any thing better than seeing one's name in print? Didn't think so. Thankfully, I have wonderful friends who don't live as close to me as I would like. So, we send each other letters. If 3rd grade me could see me now...I've got pen pals and everything! To be honest, it is quicker to send those I miss a text or email, but checking the mailbox and seeing a fuchsia envelope gives me just as big a thrill as a beep from my phone.

Here are some cards from Etsy to inspire a little snail mail exchange for those still doubting the magic of the post office:

Letterpress makes everything better. Thanks Anemone Letterpress!

Did I mention that I love glitter? Super cute cards from Olivia Lovenmark.

Let the good times roll with letterpress from Spring Olive.

You know this grammar nerd geeked out over this Dude and Chick card.

Wordplay make the world a better place; way to go letterform!

 So, even though this is the week to give thanks, dropping a line works just as well the other 364 days a year. And if that line happens to be on glittery, letterpressed stationery, then my hat is off to you.


Get your cards here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

The Art of the Matter Salutes: The Quirky Girl

I'm back with a vengeance! I'm not going to waste any time, so let's get down to business. I want to give a shoutout to a character that is making her presence known in TV this season. To say she's an individual would be an understatement. She is unique, eccentric and a bit strange. She breaks hearts, collects weird stuff and always seems to have perfect hair. I am of course talking about the quirky girl. Maybe she's the girl you love to hate, maybe she's the girl you want to grab a (soy) latte with (let's be honest...she's usually vegan). Or maybe you just want to steal her wardrobe and her man (I'm looking at you Summer from 500 Days of Summer). Whatever your feelings on the quirky girl, she's here to stay, and there's one for every taste. Here are some of my favorite quirky girls from TV, film and real life.

1. Dynamic Duo Quirky: Lorelai and Rory Gilmore of Gilmore Girls

How'd you know I'd write about them? No shocker, the Gilmore gals find their way it into almost every list I make because they're just plain awesome. They eats tons of takeout, have a knowledge of pop culture to rival anyone and favor clothes with animal prints and rhinestones, especially from Anthropologie. They drink gallons of coffee, talk a mile a minute, and are cooler than any mother daughter team out there (except me and my mama, obviously!).

2. Neurotic Quirky: Felicity Porter of Felicity

Maybe she's not the most likeable of quirky girls. Personally, I find her a bit irritating. Who follows a boy to college, especially one you've never spoken to except on graduation day?? Yes, she's got her quirks, but Felicity is lovable in her own way. She corresponds with one of her best friends via recorded cassette tapes, has the most enviable hair around and exudes a sort of grating, honest charm. I think she'd be a great study buddy, but only in small doses and the quiet part of the library.

3. Funky Quirky: Natalie Portman of Garden State
Natalie's character Sam helps get Zac Braff out of his funk with a vespa ride a few silly moves. She's got personality for days, and I dare anyone to watch this movie and not love her.

4. Glamourous Quirky: Zooey Deshchanel of 500 Days of Summer, New Girl, and She & Him

Zooey is the quintessential quirky girl. Charming and cute, it gets difficult to separate Zooey from her characters. Anyone else think that Jess from New Girl is headlining  indie rock duo She & Him? Zooey's talent is undeniable, and, in my humble opinion, she's got the best style in Hollywood. Cardigans and ballet flats never looked so good! While some may quibble with the extent of quirk on New Girl ---she never says the right thing yet her hair is constantly perfect?---, I love Zooey in all of her incarnations. New Girl is my favorite new show this fall; it makes hearing your own drummer aspirational and inspirational!

So, here's the quirky gals with patterned socks and coffee jitters. They may be awkward, but they're always endearing. I think that there's a quirky lady in all of us, and, truth be told, isn't the world more interesting for it?


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The Art of a Celebratory Weekend

Hi Friends,

I hope that everyone has plans a lovely long weekend. I had hoped to write a post about the wonders of fall and celebrating the great month that it September (it is my birthday month after all), but the 100 degree temps that are in the forecast have baked the inspiration right out of me.

In the mean time, I will be spending time in air conditioning visiting dear friends and probably dancing it out



Dance Trailer from Chris Poole on Vimeo.






with this thing:

Doesn't she look like trouble? Also, she loves to dance to James Brown too.


Happiest of weekends to you all!

image and video

The Art of the Matter: A Love Letter to Grammar

Dear Grammar,

We've been friends for a long, long time, and I feel like our relationship is one for the history books. I've studied you, used you and even tutored students in the finer points of all things you. Sure, we've had our rough patches. The editing class I took in college made me cry daily, but I choose to blame your snarky sister Copy Editing for my distress.

You're a stickler for following the rules, and I respect that. I too am a goody-goody and can appreciate the necessity of keeping writing on the straight and narrow. I wanted to celebrate you, Grammar, so here are some of my favorite things about you.

The Interrobang, or genius in punctuation form. Combining exclamation and interrogative points into one snazzy typographic solution. I love it. Who wants to type "!?!?" to ask a question with shock and awe? Not me.

The Oxford Comma, recently fired from the Oxford Style Guide, will always have a place in my heart. Sure, it's not Associated Press style, which is how I have to write in my professional life, but I will always seriously love the serial comma.  In the song "Oxford Comma," the band Vampire Weekend asks "Who gives a flip about the oxford comma?" Well, I do, boys. So there.

Also, dear Grammar, you make everyone who uses you seem infinitely smarter. Seriously, someone who knows the difference between

You're vs. Your

Their vs. There vs. They're

Where vs. Wear

It's vs. Its

will go far in this life. 


So, thank you Grammar, for all that you do. You're doing good, and I hope that you're well. 


P.S. Love this note you sent all of us!

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The Art of One Small Step

Hi Friends, 

In my home, cleaning and sorting through old stuff turns into a discovery of treasures thought long, long gone. For example, I recently discovered my first published piece of writing. It was never in any magazine or newspaper; oh no, this outlet has a very select demographic. I am talking about my family's Christmas letter, which I took over writing in 1999. Yes, just over a decade ago, I was attending Catholic middle school and begrudgingly telling people about it. I think, though, that you can see my journalistic side make an appearance. I will transcribe my magnum opus here for you in its original comic sans. Also, try visualizing it on candy cane paper.

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello!! How are you? Everything here is great. I hope that you all are having a nice holiday season. So far things this year have been pretty busy. I got out of the slammer [ school ] on Friday, and so far nothing much has happened.

I'm in the school choir, and I take piano and voice lessons. I hate practicing, but my parents tell me that I want to play the piano, I just don't know it yet. On Friday my school had the Christmas Mass, and it was about 2 hours long, one of the longest masses we've had this year. Then we had our Christmas party, and the girls were trying to get the boys to dance with them. And, no surprise here, the boys wouldn't dance with the girls but would show their cool dance moves only in their little groups. My mom says some things never change!

My mom is teaching at a really neat school and she likes it a lot. My dad still works too hard but says he likes it. It's been a great year and we'll see you soon.

LOVE, Anna Beth

 Note my cutting wit and reporting skills. Very Woodward and Bernstein, no? Yet, this is where my passion became more of a career path. Family loved my use of the word "slammer" (to be honest, so do I), and, with their encouragement, I began to think of writing as something that didn't just exist in my journal but rather as something you share. Who would think a Christmas letter could make a kid want to be a writer? Obviously not younger me. Who knows what small step can change your life, huh?

Hope you all have had a great weekend! My thoughts and prayers are with those reeling from Irene.