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What the f*** is Patreon, and why should I care?
Everyone and their dogs have been telling me I should set up a Patreon page. For years, people have been telling me that it’s the cat’s meow, and that I should engage my audience via this platform. And now that Amanda Palmer has decided to announce her separation from Neil Gaiman via her Patreon page, finally even folks who aren’t online narcissists will know the answer to the questions posed in today’s post’s title. WHAT THE FUCK IS PATREON, AND WHY SHOULD I CARE? (the fine print) You’re a reader. You like reading, right? And if you’re here, presumably you like reading books by me or my alter ego, Laure…
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Why even a white chick like me digs Beyoncé’s “Formation”
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never really been a Beyoncé fan. It’s not that I think her songs are bad, or that I actively dislike her. It’s more a case of figuring her for a pop singer I just didn’t connect with. (And, believe me, there are plenty of those, despite the fact that I am an unabashed pop music fan.) So when the media started going nuts about her Super Bowl performance, and the Black Panther-esque get-ups her backup dancers were wearing, I didn’t think much of it. After all, I don’t watch the Super Bowl, either – not even for the commercials or halftime performances.…
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Songs that have shaped my love life: David Bowie, “Heroes”
Weren’t we all part of Ziggy’s band? I honestly have no idea how I was first introduced to David Bowie. It feels like he’s just always been there in my pop-culture consciousness, in some form or another, putting together tunes that spoke for so many generations. But since I grew up in the 80s, I probably first discovered him while watching Labyrinth, playing the Goblin King, Jareth. This incarnation of David Bowie was beautiful but arrogant, intent on making Sarah his slave – just like everyone else around him. In his final speech of the movie, he pleads “Just let me rule you, and you can have everything that you…
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Songs that have shaped my love life: Liz Phair, “Fuck and Run”
Liz Phair has been a favorite of mine since high school. Could be the Chicago gal connection, or simply the fact that she had the ovaries to call her first album “Exile in Guyville,” aiming her middle finger sky high and skewering the cock-rock of the Rolling Stones’ signature “Exile on Main Street.” Though there are plenty of Liz Phair songs that I love, the one that most aptly characterized my love life for the longest time was “Fuck and Run.” Maybe that sounds self-explanatory, but let’s probe a little deeper, shall we? Phair’s stripped-down sound appeals to me even now, because who doesn’t love a girl and her guitar?…
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Songs that have shaped my love life: Postal Service, Brand New Colony
The Postal Service is another one of my favorite bands that no longer exists. If you’ve heard of them before, you probably already know that The Postal Service is one of those “side project” bands, formed by Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and Jimmy Tamborello, aka Dntel. It’s also one of the bands my husband and I connected over. We both really like the song “Brand New Colony,” although the whole Give Up album is pretty much flawless. I mean, how can you not love a guy who wants to whisk you away from everything that’s cynical and boring about the world, to a place where passion knows…
