What Zooey Deschanel & Fozzie Bear Have in Common: Friday Reads – er, Blogs, for the Non-Compulsive Reader
Tonight I stared at my Lego-spattered living room floor and realized I had absolutely no Friday Reads for non-compulsive readers. I try to put their needs first when writing Friday posts, because frankly, those of us maniacal, seek-out-novels-or-perish types of readers will find our fixes. The bigger challenge lies in finding what you normal types want to read.
And, despite the excitement generated by my discovery of a new phenomenon I hereby dub, Readers Block (yeah, I doubt I’m the first one to say that, so… don’t kill me, you who really own the copyright to ‘reader’s block’), I was devastated to learn I had nothing to excite the socialites of our little circle.
Seriously. This was madness.
I had no paperback or hardcover set of pages packaged with promise of a ‘as-good-as-a-condo-in-Maui’ kind of feeling. I found no, ‘hey, no, you’ll really like this one!’ ideas for the readers whose occasional visits cause as much stir as Pippa Middleton on her sister’s wedding day.
(Seriously, when you non-voracious reader types leave me comments, I get positively giddy.)
And then, when all hope seemed lost and I was ready to drown my sorrows in chocolate and peanut butter (yum, Reece’s pieces, something I dream about but don’t let myself eat, since I’ve had two babies and my pants don’t fit as good as they used to!)…. the great hero #fridayreads offered a downright fabulous suggestion.
(FYI: #fridayreads is a hashtag group on twitter. Tweeps contribute what books they plan to read, or think the rest of the world should plan to read, each Friday, and put #fridayreads at the end of their tweet/post. The site collects these suggestions and shows readers trends for that week. They also have some great prizes offered for those who participate, so follow that link below and head on over!)
But, back to my deliverance from a Thursday evening breakdown.
These brilliant #fridayreads people conceded that contributions did not need to be actual books. Blogs or newspapers would do. (I almost typed, ‘papes,’ instead of ‘newspapers.’ Forgive me. That was a flashback to Newsies, and please tell me some of you remember that movie because then I won’t feel so unbelievably old).
I was so relieved for the blog-and-newspaper caveat. Before that, not even my signed Ryan Kesler jersey provided the necessary inspiration for this post. None of the 35 books stacked on my nightstand seemed good enough. None of the listings on my Kindle home page sparked an epiphany. Because, this week, all I seemed to have-just-read were painful grammar books.
Yes, I know. If I’ve seemed… stressed, well, ahem. That’s why.
Of course – though I was delighted to discover the ‘White’ of ‘Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style was the E.B. White, as in master craftsman of the beloved children’s novel ‘Charlotte’s Web,’ – I had no intention of subjecting your summers to the right way to punctuate this’es and that’es.
And yes, I see you, red underline!!! I did that WRONG on purpose!! ha ha, Lana ONE, Grammar Nazis… ok, I won’t look at their tally. Suffice to say they have a commanding lead.
But back to things we all care about. See, a blog, now, I could offer you one, nay, two, of those:
1) Comedy geniuses of the world, unite! Er, no. Sorry, I had a moment there out of ‘Dwight’s Speech’ in Season 2 of The Office. Um, for those of you who love to laugh, and for those of you who have always wondered why there wasn’t more good, clean, female comedic fun, may I present to you: Hello Giggles. Yes, you Twitterers are likely already following this great site. Hello Giggles is the recent inception of three really funny ladies: 1)actress/musician Zooey Deschanel (you know, crazy-fun girl on Yes Man that eerily looks-and-sounds like my friend Melanie; also, sister of the lovely-and-talented Emily Deschanel of Bones); 2) producer Sophia Rossi; and 3)internet sensation Molly McAleer. I promise you, it is some of the best of girl humour out there. And yes, boys, I think you may be welcome, if you wish. And yes, in my next life, I want to come back as a member of the Deschanel family. Why? Well, because they are that smart and that funny. I wouldn’t need to be in their immediate family. A second cousin, maybe. Or, a part of the Hello Giggles crowd. A girl can dream, right? Just sayin.’
2) The Wuc Blog – for those of you who like bizarre, edgier humour, The Wuc, derived from the Muppets’ Fozzie Bear’s Wucca wucca wucca, is for you. How I found them: The Wuc had the amazingness to ‘like’ my post from earlier this week and TELL ME SO!! So I promptly headed over to their site and thought, this blog is seriously funny. How had I missed out on the great Wuc before? ‘Tis a tragedy, I say.
SO… What do you guys think? What are you reading this weekend? Or, what are you trying to read and having a difficult time getting into? OR, what hilarity do you wish to share with us? Us Vancouverites are still searching for summer behind every rock and rain puddle and need all the bright stuff we can get! Any and all of your contributions are welcome.
Oh, AND, as you see under part 2), if you are kind enough to share your thoughts with us, I may just have to trek over to your land and see what life is like through your lens. AND then I might say how awesome you are next week! Isn’t that great?
And, since it is now Friday on the East Coast, Happy #fridayreads, everyone!
Lana Meredith 