Sea of Love Sam (IRL: Samantha Leal)

May 29

The Fault in Our Stars

On the flight home from Nashville, I read John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars — in less than three hours. I literally could not put it down.

Those who say young adult novels aren’t worth reading, that somehow they don’t measure up to some subjective definition of “adult” reading or “true” literature, are so off-base, and further, missing the point: there are good YA books, and there are bad ones. Just like there are good books and bad books. Good storytelling and bad storytelling.

I think it takes a special kind of writer, one who says more in what they leave out than what they put in, to convey a true, interesting message in its simplest form and language. A story that can resonate with young readers, sure, but most often resonates with those who have lived life a bit longer than the “intended” audience. A good story is a good story, and this one was great.

The point isn’t to live without any regrets -

If we have goals and dreams and we want to do our best, and if we love people and we don’t want to hurt them or lose them, we should feel pain when things go wrong. The point isn’t to live without any regrets, the point is to not hate ourselves for having them … we need to learn to love the flawed, imperfect things that we create, and to forgive ourselves for creating them. Regret doesn’t remind us that we did badly — it reminds us that we know we can do better.

Kathryn Schulz on don’t regret regret for TED

(Source: littlelaur, via modernhepburn)

May 27

katespadeny:

unknown vintage beach babes

(Source: babesofvintage)

May 25

gq:

Why Does Nicole Kidman Pee On ~~Zach~~ Zac Efron In The Paperboy?

Director Lee Daniels explains to GQ’s Logan Hill what the hell he was thinking with his instantly infamous scene from tthe Cannes Film Festival so-bad-its-good (or maybe just plain bad) conversation-starter. Click here to watch a scene.

The big headline going around the Internet today is: “Nicole Kidman pees on Zac Efron.”
Is it?

Of course. Because you have Nicole Kidman pee on Zac Efron. That’s the way the Internet works. Three other women offer to pee on Zac Efron’s jellyfish wounds and Kidman says, “If anyone’s gonna pee on you…”
“…it’s gonna be me.”

Funniest line of the festival. Tell me about that scene. Why did it have to be in there?
Well, I got nervous at the end, after we shot it. So I called Nicole. First of all, it was really hard to shoot. It was the third day. The first scene we shot was the sex scene with John [Cusack and Kidman]. I like to get that right out of the way. The second day was the telepathic sex scene in the prison. And the third day of shooting was the piss scene.

Ha! You front-loaded it, so that way if they try to back out…
I got it! Yes, I got it! Yes, see ya! …But, when right before I sent it off to Cannes, I called Nicole at three in the morning. I said, “Nicole, I can’t do it, I’ve gone too far. I can’t put that scene in the movie.” She said, “Lee, you made me pee on Zac Efron, if you don’t put that in the movie, you’re out of your freakin’ mind. I did it! I did it!” [A publicist interrupts with a two-minute warning.] No, not yet, yo! This is GQ, this is my favorite magazine. We gotta keep talking… What was I saying?

You were talking to Nicole.
She said, “No way, you’re out of your mind.” So we put it in. That was the one where I thought, “Oh… No…” When you’re doing the script it makes sense, when you’re shooting it, it makes sense, but then you see the totality and you’re like, “Woah. Woah.”

What was it that made you worry? Walk me through it.
Look, the dude [Efron] gets a hard-on because he’s sitting there staring at [Kidman’s] ass. But I couldn’t go there because I refused to show the hard-on. I wasn’t going to do that. Then she says, “Take that hard-on and go over to those other girls [nearby on the beach].” In the book, he goes into the water to swim off the hard-on, but I had to reconstruct the scene because it was too much.

So you’re thinking, it’s already toned down…
It’s already way down, dude! Way down. And then he goes swimming and he’s attacked by jellyfish. And how you fix it is with urine. And it’s brilliantly written by Pete Dexter.

But, let’s be honest, then you go for it! It’s not like it’s framed by a palm tree and you barely see it. You zoom in on Nicole’s thighs and we see the golden shower! There’s no cut-away. You went for it, c’mon.
Let me ask you something, dude, what did you think?

I howled. Of course I did: It’s Nicole Kidman peeing on Zac Efron.
Ha! And if you could have watched Zac’s face: He’s supposed to be passed out and [while she’s peeing] he’s just got this smile on his face. I’m like, “Zac, pretend like you’re dead!” And he’s just got this crazy smile on his face. The whole thing’s crazy.

bbook:

Could you talk a little more about the drinking? So many writers, even if they’re not alcoholics, drink so much.

Probably not a whole lot more than any other group of professionals. You’d be surprised. Of course there’s a mythology that goes along with the drinking, but I was never into that. I was into the drinking itself. I suppose I began to drink heavily after I’d realized that the things I’d wanted most in life for myself and my writing, and my wife and children, were simply not going to happen. It’s strange. You never start out in life with the intention of becoming a bankrupt or an alcoholic or a cheat and a thief. Or a liar.

And you were all those things?

I was. I’m not any longer. Oh, I lie a little from time to time, like everyone else.

The Art of Fiction No. 76, Raymond Carver

papermag:

Yup, this kid wins.

(Source: imwithkanye)

May 24

onabicyclefortwo:

I want a direwolf.

(Source: imalatkeheiress, via actionjacksonlovesbbq)

bbook:

popculturebrain:

Ben Schwartz, Justin Long, Adam Scott, Zach Woods, Chad Carter, and Neil Casey did improv at UCBNY last night. And you missed it.

(via Schwartz on Instagram, ht @robbie_freeman)

Weeping.

Why wasn’t I there??

May 23

[video]

May 21