So to honour such memorable Girls Season 1 moments as the Bushwick warehouse party (home of The Crackcident) and Jessa’s surprise wedding to Thomas-John, may we offer the Girls’ drinking game.

As put forth by Dunham during a tweet back in November, the Girls drinking game allows fans and casual viewers to make like Marnie in the Season 1 finale (which is to say,  you may end up making out with your hometown equivalent of this guy).

Just remember to not operate any heavy machinery because we’ve seen the first few episodes of Season 2 and you’re going to get sloshed.

Click below for a printable copy or follow these instructions:

Sip of wine, beer or White Russian if:

• Hanna is naked
• Shoshanna makes a pop culture reference
• Adam’s torso is exposed
• Marnie’s being insufferable/bitchy*
• Jessa is wearing part of an animal
• Ray insults someone (two if it’s to their face)
• Hanna is emotionally eating
• Jessa says something inappropriate about or around children
• Adam is exercising
• Someone is having an unfulfilling sexual experience

Finish your drink if:

• Someone in your party says something along the lines of “Sh-t, I’ve done that”

Take a shot if:

• Someone other than Hannah is naked
• Hannah makes a good decision**
• Someone is having a positive sexual experience**

*Marnie is always a bitch, all of the time. Drink whenever she is onscreen.

** Subjective.

Girls drinking game

Girls Season 2 premieres Sunday, January 13 at 9/8c on HBO Canada.

HBO Girls

Last year we all fell in love with HBO’s hit show Girls. The show is great however the fashion is just as tantalizing. Each of the female leads has a unique fashion sense that matches their personalities. See the break down below!

Hannah is the epitome of prints on prints on prints. Her style is fun and spontaneous just like her personality.

Hannah, HBO Girls

Marnie adores structure and it resonates in her fashion. She often wears solid colors and her style is timeless yet hip.

Marnie, HBO Girls

Jessa is the bohemian guru. She loves tribal and earthy prints. Her outfits often flow just like her character.

Jessa, HBO Girls

Shoshanna is the sorority girl. She has a penchant for all things prim, proper and pink.

Shoshanna, HBO Girls

During season one of Girls the characters were just scratching the surface. Now they are each coming into their own and I can’t wait to see how that translates through their fashion. Check out their show this Sunday, January 13, 2013 at 9pm EST.

HBO Girls Season 2

1.) A full-time job. I know, I know. At 26, this should have happened to me earlier in life. But remember, I’ve been in school for about 20 cumulative years, and I only ever worked part-time before. Anyway, I’m still getting used to spending 8-hour-long days, five times a week, on my feet (and decidedly not behind a desk). This is just one of the many reasons why I’m not ideally suited to this particular full-time upright position. Side note: I was also an election judge for the first (and probably the last) time ever.

2.) Experience working with kids (no, I never babysat during my teenage years). More specifically, experience working with ESOL students. As you may already know, I think I want to be a public school teacher whose specialty is English for Speakers of Other Languages. For years, I have been working toward achieving this goal. 2012 was not without its setbacks in this regard, but in response to the first one I received, I chose to volunteer in the ESOL classroom. So far, so good. I’m set to continue my work next year.

3.) A movie-centric blog. I created CINE FEEL YEAH in January and redesigned it several times as its content areas quickly expanded. It took up so much of my time that I have all but quit hosting it. Perhaps next year I will return, with a simpler conceptual framework. Either that or I will start all over again, as I am wont to do.

4.) Compulsive TV-watching. Sure, I have always watched TV. But never before have the hours spent watching TV programs outnumbered the hours spent watching movies. Moving back home, where there is premium cable, at the end of last year pretty much sealed the deal. Some of my favorite programs to watch include Raising Hope, The Mindy Project (which I hate-watch, actually), The Neighbors, Modern Family (way over-hyped, but it’s solid entertainment), Nashville, Parks and Recreation (the best comedy on television), Grey’s Anatomy (don’t judge; I hate it as much as you do), Elementary, Rock Center with Brian Williams, Shark Tank (I’ve waxed rhapsodic about this one before), Downton Abbey (before everyone else was hooked!), Girls, True Blood (whose only good season was the first), and Boardwalk Empire, which leads me to the last item on the list…

5.) A crush on Jack Huston. His character on Boardwalk Empire, though a ruthless killer (he trained his sniper rifle on over 60 men during his stint fighting the Great War, which also left his face horribly disfigured, his voice raspy beyond all repair), is the most sympathetic and respectable of the bunch. What can I say? Men in three-piece suits just kill me. I freely admit that my admiration for Huston’s anti-hero has influenced me to see the actor in a special light. I’m not that familiar with his other work, and I suppose that if my crush was more fevered, I’d probably be rushing out to see David Chase’s coming-of-age rock ‘n’ roll story, Not Fade Away. But I’m not.

Here’s to hoping that, starting tomorrow, next year will be filled with even more firsts!

Absolutely nothing — and absolutely everything, at least for those who wonder how they ever functioned without a service that only reached a tipping point of users four years ago.

But then, many of those who compulsively scroll through their streams have a professional interest in contributing to the chatter, which only increases their chance of being part of a scrap.

Sometimes that was the intention. And sometimes it was anything but. Those who have established a public profile and healthy following, however, can be certain that all conflicts will have an audience watching from the sidelines.

These are the clashes that managed to draw attention beyond those who might’ve been following them in real-time, developing into a full-fledged news story.

Patrick Brazeau vs. Jennifer Ditchburn

@TheBrazman Dear Senator: Many a person has made fun of my name and he word "Bitch". But never a Canadian senator. That's a first.

—
Jennifer Ditchburn (@jenditchburn) June 26, 2012

A report on the ongoing absenteeism of Senator Brazeau by Canadian Press reporter Ditchburn in June led the pugilistic young Conservative senator to react harshly on the grounds that her story failed to consider his personal reasons for missing work. Brazeau tweeted: “while u smile Jen, others suffer. Change the D to a B in your last name and we’re even! Don’t mean it but needs saying” — and a battle royale followed. The Senator apologized, took a Twitter time out for a couple of weeks while the country debated decorum in the senate, and now @TheBrazman is back.

Lena Dunham vs. Murdered Girls

@bjnovak @mindykaling You guys go as killer Canadian couple Paul Bernardo & Karla Homolka. I'll be her sister they murdered. Scariest! Luv U

—
Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) October 16, 2012

The star of the HBO series Girls figured she was making an obscure pop culture reference when she tweeted about Halloween costume ideas with comic actors Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak. A tweet by the comedienne suggesting the three dress as key players in the Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka murders, which took place in southern Ontario over 20 years ago, quickly led to accusations that she’d crossed the line of good taste when the comment was brought to the attention of the lawyer of the families of the victims. What was he going to say except that the exchange seemed tasteless? (An apology followed.)

Ezra Levant vs. Stephen Wicary

@wicary what promises did you make to Cuba's secret police when you "applied" to the to be an "accredited" "journalist"?

—
Ezra Levant (@ezralevant) October 06, 2012

That the online political editor of The Globe and Mail was moving to Cuba in July, accompanying his wife who was temporarily posted there as part of her job with the charity CARE Canada, quickly made it on to the radar of Sun News personality Levant. Levant has spent months framing it as indicative of the hypocrisies of the journalism elites that he describes as “The Media Party.” How could someone who steered Canadian political coverage for the Globe move to a communist country where freedom of expression is still stifled? Truly, a fantastic piece of Kafkaesque performance art.

Sue Ann-Levy vs. Rob Ford’s Critics

@SueAnnLevy: Do your research, learn to read, address folks by their names, & cite sources for your insults. If you're serious, that is. :)

—
Margaret E. Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) February 27, 2012

Toronto mayor Ford has enough conflicts on his plate, so he’s too busy to personally step into the social media fray. So any criticism about him on Twitter is more likely to be seen by his allies, who are most fervently represented in print by Sun columnist Levy. The generally harmless barbs took a strange turn in October when she used the hashtag #MuslimBS to dispute Barack Obama’s expression of support for Israel during a presidential election debate. The fallout may mean that Levy applies more of a filter — even if it’s her full-time job to agitate anyone fed up with Ford Nation.

Justin Bieber vs. A Fake Hacker

@justinbieber haha. that is what u think. we will see tomorrow at NOON. last chance.

—
  (@gexwy) October 12, 2012

While the rise of Bieber owed much to the pop star being one of the first to relentlessly engage with his fans on Twitter, management risked sacrificing his authenticity in October, when he acknowledged a faceless user with the handle @gexwy who had presumably stolen a laptop that contained personal footage. Speculation that this might’ve resulted in some kind of Bieber sex tape was dampened as soon as it turned out to be promotion for the release of a new video duet with Nicki Minaj. So, the actual discord here came from fans who felt played by the stunt.

Alison Redford vs. Danielle Smith

I just spoke with @Premier_Redford. I appreciate her sincerity and accepted her apology. #abvote #pcaa #wrp

—
Danielle Smith (@ElectDanielle) March 31, 2012

Each election in Canada provides deeper insights into how social media can be used in political campaigning, even if it has done little to improve voter turnout. The provincial showdown in Alberta last April provided the latest major examples of how Twitter can be used while on the hustings. But when a female staffer for Premier Redford used the service to rhetorically wonder why Smith was pushing for more procreation when she had no biological children of her own, it forced a revelation of the Wildrose party leader’s fertility issues — followed by Redford’s inevitable apology.

Pat Martin vs. The Harper Government

I'm not sure who @PatMartinMP should apologize first to - the rats or the whores... #cdnpoli

—
Stephen Lautens (@stephenlautens) December 20, 2012

Just in time for the holidays, NDP MP Pat Martin used Twitter to rant about the fact that Public Safety Minister Vic Toews failed to invite him to a funding announcement in his own riding in Winnipeg. “I’m not ‘worked up’ so much as ‘fed up’ with the rat faced whores,” he tweeted on a Wednesday evening, then apologized and cancelled the account on Thursday morning. The outburst led to much discussion about whether politicians deserve to be criticized for their naked honesty — or if they should be discouraged from being distracted by the temptations of social media.

Here is what I loved and dreaded on the tube this year:

Best: Mad Men (AMC)

From the moment Megan Draper “Zou Bisou Bisou”’d her way into her husband’s lap in the Season 5 premiere, it became clear that the swinging 60s were about to sashay into the beautifully maudlin world of Mad Men, and Don Draper would be its greatest collateral damage. With daddy Don robbed of his swagger and confused by the late-Beatles zeitgeist, the world of Mad Men expanded in a glorious haze of soapy plot. Handled with loving care by creator Matthew Weiner, Season 5 signaled both the series’ most engrossing season as well as the beginning of its inevitable death march.

Best: Louie (FX Canada)

The only flaw with Louis C.K.’s often surreal take on modern life is that it was labeled a comedy. In spite of its creator and star’s daytime gig as a standup comedian, Louie is a much richer, more complex drama than anything else on television. Often eschewing the soap-y – or, for that matter, any – plot, Louie is a series of Woody Allen-esque short films that often question the absurdities of life without giving any answers. A feat so rarely seen on American television it’s disorienting.

Best: Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

After two thematically impressive but often middling seasons, Boardwalk Empire finally found its voice in 2012.  Stripped of the burden of being the belle of HBO’s ball, the series was left to focus on its true calling as a high-brow crime thriller, using its intricate web of characters to play upon the fragile emotional psyche of its protagonist Nucky Thompson. But it was his surrounding cast that made Boardwalk Empire’s third season so appealing. Wife Margaret’s doomed escape fantasy, Gillian Darmody’s low-brow flights of fancy and the emergence of Gyp Rosetti as the exquisitely out of whack bad guy all served as ethical litmus tests for Thompson’s road to purgatory – and made Season 3 better than it had any right to be.

Worst: The Newsroom (HBO)

Not to get too meta about it but if The Newsroom could create an episode about its own existence, it would commit suicide. What could have been one of the freshest and most vibrantly written series in years instead came across as a half-baked soap hidden behind the façade of a tirade against modern media. Which isn’t to say it wasn’t brilliant at times, but for every great Will Mcavoy or Sloan Sabbith monologue, there was a well of overly patriotic, one-dimensional and too-often misogynistic dialogue. Not to mention, a premise which judged current events with the benefit of hindsight and hid behind the guise of Aaron Sorkin’s own aspirational utopia of a newsroom. But I will say this for The Newsroom, it made for great hate-watching.

Best: Girls (HBO)

Love it or hate it, there was no denying HBO’s cultural lightning rod deserved the chatter the generation it depicts prides itself on producing. Whether you believe series mastermind Lena Dunham was reflecting or sending up her peers, it’s clear that Girls struck a chord with viewers, driving its star to great financial heights as it rode the wave of reality that bit at the core of our cultural ennui.

Best: Breaking Bad (AMC)

If there is one face that can so encompass the year in television, it is that of Walter White. Ironically, Season 5 was the character’s most shoddily written to date, with Breaking Bad’s scribes stripping away White’s dimensions while cramming plot in the (half) season’s eight episodes. In fact, when I think back to this season’s bright spots, it’s the schemes and great cinema pastiches that linger rather than Walter’s follicly challenged dome that come to mind — which is as much a testament to the strong series as the faith it demands of its ardent fans.

Best: Game of Thrones (HBO)

Game of Thrones continued to produce a startlingly high quality program in what should essentially have been a second season mostly aimed at setting up the following one. To show creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ credit, Game of Thrones Season 2 not only produced one of the best episodes of the year in “Blackwater,” it also deftly introduced dozens of new characters without ever coming across as contrived nor robbing us of the carnal pleasures that have become the show’s calling card.

Worst: The Mindy Project (FOX/Citytv)

The Mindy Project was set up to be the great comedic hope of 2012. But what was originally billed as a humerous take on an independent woman trying to navigate being a single professional in her early 30s  quickly and quietly exposed itself as nothing more than a slew of gags with a protagonist who struggles to even believe her own rhetoric.

Best and Worst: Homeland (Super Channel)

As the most scrutinized show on television, Homeland came in to Season 2 with a handful of Emmys and ended with a bang so violent it left most viewers doing some deep soul searching about their viewing habits. While many – including myself – questioned the wisdom of focusing on the relationship between the series’ two leads rather than the espionage angle that made Season 1 so exhilarating, it’s easy to forget the many hard, unexpected turns that drove the early part of the season. And, as the curtain closes on 2012, it remains the most riveting hour on television.

But when it comes to choosing the absolutely most bonkers headlines of the year — well, we’ll leave that to you.

It’s the battle of 2012!

Check back to Canada.com every day to vote for your picks.

–

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence has come a long way from The Bill Engvall Show. Sure, she was nominated for an Oscar a couple of years ago, but Lawrence’s 2012 is the stuff Hollywood legends are made of.

Rare is the actor that can anchor a film franchise, even rarer is one that can deliver a powerful performance in what should be a popcorn-munching blow-em-up extravaganza, and Lawrence delivered on both fronts as heroine Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games.

Of course, it would be easy, even understandable, for Lawrence to simply spend the rest of her 2012 resting on her million dollar laurels, but instead the 22-year-old managed to cap off her year with a beautifully nuanced turn in the critically lauded Silver Lining’s Playbook.

Undoubtedly, Lawrence will continue to pump out Oscar worthy performances for years to come, but in 2012 she proved she’s already the best actress in the world.

–

Lena Dunham

They say that imitation is the best form of flattery, but they’re lying. Jealousy is a far more telling trait. By that metric, Girls creator Lena Dunham may just be the most flattered human in the world.

In fact, with so much controversy surrounding the 26-year-old, it’s mind-boggling to consider that she has only produced 10 episodes of her HBO series.

In 2012, Dunham became the de-facto voice of her generation (or a voice of a generation, as she put it), not because she so perfectly captures the zeitgeist, but rather by the virtue of embodying both its best and worst traits.

And while some may whine that she’s a spoiled brat, that she unfairly reflects a white-washed society or even that she is undeserving of the title she so smirkingly bestowed upon herself, there is a reason that someone was willing to give her nearly four million dollars to write a book.

That reason is called respect. And, hate or love her, there’s no denying that, in 2012, Dunham became what we talk about when we talk about girls.

More Battle of 2012 polls:

Day 8:  What was the biggest fued?

Day 7: Who had the biggest celebrity wedding of 2012?

Day 6: What was the biggest cheating scandal of 2012?

Day 5: Who was the biggest hot mess of 2012?

Day 4: Who was the most famous baby of 2012?

Day 3: What was the weirdest couple of 2012?

Day 2: What was the most shocking nude photo scandal of 2012?

Day 1: What was the biggest celebrity split of 2012?

So to appease the insatiable hipster masses, series creator/writer/star/voice of a generation Lena Dunham gathered the male cast of Girls — at a bar that’s probably too cool to have a name — to share drinks and “tease” their respective character arcs.

First up, Dunham’s onscreen BF and revolutionary war survivor Adam Driver revealed that his character, Adam Sackler, tries on a new relationship this season.

“It’s hard to see your onscreen boyfriend kissing another onscreen girl,” Dunham, who evidently directed the episode Driver is referring to, admits.

After Alex Karpovsky confirmed that Ray Ploshansky’s will be under “thick amber haze of love” with Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet), a bearded Christopher Abbot gives an update on heartbroken singer-songwriter, Charlie Dattolo.

“There’s some bouncing back and forth between Marnie and Audrey” The hobo that ate Vampire Weekend singer Ezra Koenig explains before catching a fly, Karate Kid-style.

Which brings us to the always-entertaining Andrew Rannells, who plays Dunham’s gay ex Elijah Krantz.

“We do a lot of cocaine,” Rannells tells Dunham, who is quick to point out the white stuff they were snorting was, in fact, vitamins.

Watch the hipster bro-down above.

It what can almost certainly be described as the soundtrack of a generation, if not my generation, HBO and Fueled by Ramen are releasing the soundtrack for Girls Season 1 on January 8.

Though they did not get some of the biggest tracks that backgrounded the zeitgeisty generational angst of the show’s twentysomethings — no MGMT, and absolutely no Jay-Z — it is a kind of clearing house for the last year or so of indie music (insert preening consideration of what being independent might even mean to this generation), including fun., Fleet Foxes, Belle & Sebastian, Santigold and a bunch of other bands that you have either never heard of, confirming your suspicions that Lena Dunham is a navel-gazing hipster blind to the world at large, or bands you heard of YEARS AGO, OH MY GOD, confirming that Lena Dunham is an out-of-touch trustafarian who is only getting ahead because of her parents’ famous friends.

For her part, Dunham says the soundtrack reflects her creative process and goals for the show, noting in a statement, “I make playlists to write by and listen to as I head to set in the morning, and I experiment in editing with songs that the characters would love and that accurately reflect their struggles,” apparently totally ignoring the fact that her generation does not buy officially sanctioned soundtrack albums, and instead just starts soundtrackofageneration.tumblr.com and live blogs links to YouTube videos whenever they recognize what was playing at “that one loft party that one night, remember?”

Nevertheless, it is sure to make a great birthday present for that daughter whose cultural tastes you are aware of, even if you completely misunderstand the basic foundational facts of her day-to-day existence, DAD.

[related_links /]

“I still want to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast,” says Williams, who was only allowed to watch public television until she was 12. “She’s smart — she reads while she walks in an amazing feat of coordination that I’ve yet to be able to pull off.”

On HBO’s Girls, though, the main characters stumble through their 20s in a haze of awkward sex, unstable jobs and explosive friendships. In comparison, reading while walking might as well be a stroll in the park.

“I think it’s very specific and honest and often it’s hard to watch,” says Williams, who plays put-together Marnie Michaels, a privileged college grad in New York who loses both her boyfriend and best friend in Season 1.

“It’s grounded in reality and the opposite of whatever aspirational stuff is out there. Sometimes it’s like looking into a very, very harsh mirror with bad lighting, like one of those funhouse mirrors.”

Filming the notorious sex scenes — like one in which Marnie enjoys a moment by herself after meeting a boy — is just the opposite, an easy collaboration with the crew, but it didn’t start out that way.

“I was very nervous about the logistics of it,” confesses the actress, whose background is more comedic. “I wanted to know how long it would take, how many takes we would do, what places the camera was going to be in.

“They’re very goofy, they’re very funny and the only way to get through them is to laugh really hard with each other and just try to enjoy it … I will say that the crew members on our show have gotten to know all of us very well.”

Season 1 of Girls hits DVD Tuesday, with Season 2 set to debut Jan. 13. Until then, HBO Canada is re-airing first-year episodes for fans who are waiting on tenterhooks following the game-changing Season 1 finale in June.

Though Williams can’t reveal much about Season 2, she notes that the men will get more of the spotlight and we’ll see the fallout of Jessa’s (Jemima Kirke) surprise wedding, Hannah’s (series creator Lena Dunham) breakup and Shoshanna’s (Zosia Mamet) first time having sex.

And yes, there’ll be more nudity and awkward sex scenes, which the daughter of NBC News anchor Brian Williams is OK with.

“Lena is so genuinely interested in only portraying the truth in this show, and I trust her completely,” she says. “So if she says that something is necessary to the character, to the show, then I’m willing to help that cause.” (Tuesday, HBO Canada, 9:30 p.m. ET/MT)

Three to See

• Listen up, The Voice fans, and we know you’re out there. The semifinals results show airs live on Tuesday, and we’ll find out which two singers America will push into the finals. Voice alumni Chris Mann, Juliet Simms and RaeLynn are set to perform. (NBC, CTV, 8 ET/PT; NBC, 7 MT; CTV, 9 MT)

• NCIS offers the tantalizingly named episode Devil’s Trifecta, in which Gibbs teams up with FBI Agent Fornell on a joint investigation after Fornell is the target of a shooting. Meanwhile, is there romance in the air for McGee? (CBS, Global, 8 ET/PT; CBS, 7 MT; Global 9 MT)

• New Girl gets festive when the loft-mates try to hit up multiple holiday parties in one night. Olivia Munn returns to play Nick’s new squeeze. Also, Winston gets a cranberry stuck in his ear. Don’t you hate it when that happens? (Fox, Citytv, 9 ET/PT; Fox, 8 MT; Citytv, 10 MT)

The network (and Dunham) released the first trailer for the highly anticipated second season of the groundbreaking show Friday afternoon, thereby proving that all the ladies (and even a critically responsive culturally-diverse character) will indeed return when the season premieres on January 13.

From the nearly 2 minute clip we can glean that Dunham’s Hanna Horvath is trying to get out of her mutually destructive relationship with the eternally shirtless Adam (Adam Driver).  She claims she’s looking for a “kind, sexy, responsible boyfriend,” – cue montage — but it appears Adam won’t drive off into the sunset on his custom-fixie without a fight.

As for the rest of The Ladies, Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) and her crack spirit guide Ray (Alex Karpovsky) appear to be repeatedly sealing the deal (bye, bye v-card), while Marnie (Allison Williams) appears to taking on the role of Lonely Girl this season and shotgun marrier Jessa (Jemima Kirke) and her douchebag financial husband Thomas John (Chris O’Dowd) are still married and learning to deal.

And as for that ethnically diversity, Community star Donald Glover has a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it-role in the lover montage. See if you can find him.

“The boundaries of comedy are complicated and I’m learning twitter isn’t the place to explain or even test them.” Dunham wrote Thursday morning, beginning a series of tweets meant to explain her controversial remark.

“I obviously don’t find rape or murder funny, rather the concept of a trio of hapless people in poor taste halloween costumes,” she continued. “[I’m] generally not a proponent of apologizing for one’s work but that tweet wasn’t my work– it was as throwaway as most 140 character thoughts.”

The 26-year-old, who was only nine at the time of the Bernardo trial, cited ignorance when it came to the particulars of the crime, admitting she only had heard about it through the critically panned 2006 film, Karla.

“Obviously [I] didn’t understand what a painful part of the Canadian identity the Bernardo/Homolka case was. Saw a TV movie [with] Laura Prepon,” Dunham tweeted, adding – perhaps jokingly – that “Part of the reason I was so concerned is that I’ve always dreamed of retiring to Canada”

Obviously didn't understand what a painful part of the Canadian identity the Bernardo/Homolka case was. Saw a TV movie w/ Laura Prepon.

—
Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) October 18, 2012

Part of the reason I was so concerned is that I've always dreamed of retiring to Canada #Canadaphile

—
Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) October 18, 2012

The comedienne also took the time to respond to some of her online critics, explaining that “we’ve had more serial killers [in the US] maybe, so joke about them more?”

@crobins72ca @LadySnarksalot Didn't understand that-- we've had more serial killers here maybe, so joke about them more? #sadtruth #tedbundy

—
Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) October 18, 2012

When a fan suggested that she doesn’t seem like a person who would worry about what other people think of her, Dunham responded, “I don’t, but I worry about hurting people. Except Chris Brown.”

I don't, but I worry about hurting people. Except Chris Brown. RT @kevin_k You don't seem like someone who worries what people think

—
Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) October 18, 2012

Dunham’s response comes after a damning story in the Toronto Star which quoted a philosophy professor emeritus at the University of Toronto’s Centre For Ethics as well as the lawyer who represented victims’ families in the trial of Bernardo and Homolka, who stated, “There are certain circumstances that you don’t make light of. That’s when the magnitude of the crime is so horrific. And she just crossed that line.”

To put Dunham’s tweet in context, we compared it with other books, articles and films designed to reap profit from the notoriety of Homolka and Bernardo.

Dunham used the medium of her generation (or at least a medium of a generation) to respond to Office and The Mindy Project star Mindy Kaling’s suggestion that the two of them and fellow Office actor B.J. Novak go as exonerated murder suspects The West Memphis Three for Halloween this year.

“You guys go as killer Canadian couple Paul Bernardo & Karla Homolka. I’ll be her sister they murdered. Scariest! Luv U,” the 26-year-old tweeted.

@bjnovak @mindykaling You guys go as killer Canadian couple Paul Bernardo & Karla Homolka. I'll be her sister they murdered. Scariest! Luv U

—
Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) October 16, 2012

“I think the families would be extremely hurt and disturbed by this action,” Tim Danson, who represented victims’ families in the trial of Bernardo and Homolka told the Toronto Star. “There are certain circumstances that you don’t make light of. That’s when the magnitude of the crime is so horrific. And she just crossed that line.”

Wayne Sumner, philosophy professor emeritus at the University of Toronto’s Centre For Ethics, echoed Danson’s statement, telling the Star Dunham’s tweet was “in colossally bad taste.”

“This is absolutely gratuitous distress to the families who suffered. She should really reconsider. It’s a terrible thing to do,” Danson stated, comparing Dunham’s tweet to Prince Harry’s 2005 Nazi costume.

“People like to sensationalize in an attempt to get attention. But they forget there are real people out there who are still suffering from this.”

As a reply, the contentious tweet could only immediately be seen by those who follow at least two of the participants and those searching for specific keywords, however Dunham’s suggestion garnered dozens of retweets and responses, including one from the friend of one of the victims of Paul Bernardo & Karla Homolka’s killing spree.

“Your tweet about the murders committed by Homolka and Bernardo is disgusting,” a user who goes by the handle LadySnarksalot responded. “I knew one of the victims and you’re way offside.”

As the creator and star of controversial HBO show Girls, Dunham is no stranger to accusations of being offensive. In fact, it’s not even the first time this year her tweets have landed her in hot water.

In August, the actress was forced to apologize after posting a picture of herself on Twitter wearing a Muslim veil, leading to accusations of racism.

“Will spend tonight reading my pile of old NY Times, contemplating the boundaries of humor,” she tweeted. “I try and learn something new every day.”

The 10-episode second season of Girls will premiere Jan. 13 at 9 p.m., TMN – which airs the HBO show in Canada – said Monday, confirming a tweet that star/creator Dunham had sent earlier.

TMN also confirmed Laura Dern-starring dramady Enlightened, about an ambitious executive at a global conglomerate who vows to live a more enlightened existence after a humiliating public breakdown, will kick off its new season immediately following the Girls return, on Jan. 13 at 9:30.

Enlightened, which is executive-produced by Mike White — who also writes and co-stars in the series — has also been given the go-ahead for 10 episodes by HBO.

1.) I thought about writing on the documentary Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, which premiered on PBS’s Independent Lens on Monday and Tuesday of this week. I DVR’d the second half because I was unable to see it as it aired last night. Since I have yet to watch these last two hours, I hesitate to comment on it. Suffice it to say that I found Half the Sky deeply moving even if I sometimes questioned the filmmakers’ editorial choices. You can watch the full episodes, 1 and 2, online through October 8 & 9, respectively.

2.) It also occurred to me to write something about how I’m afraid that the very talented Lena Dunham, writer-director-star of the controversial HBO series Girls (c’mon, you know what I’m talking about), is becoming the “voice” of my generation, an idea she satirizes on her show. First, there are reports that she is shopping around a memoir/advice book to the tune of $1 million. Is it a tie-in with her character Hannah Horvath’s aspiration to be a memoirist/very important essay writer/arbiter of taste (meaning: an instance of life imitating art imitating life)? I’m being cynical, I know, especially since I generally agree with her sentiment that, “There is nothing gutsier to me than a person announcing that their story is one that deserves to be told, especially if that person is a woman.” But does this justification for the book mean she’s transforming into a female James Franco? Is she spreading herself too thin? Then I read today that she spoke at Fortune‘s Most Powerful Women Summit on Tuesday. Vulture determined that the main takeaway from her talk was her regret that women viewers of color lamented the lack of racial diversity on the show, a problem she has sought to rectify in the program’s sophomore season. But say what?! Why is she speaking at this event? Who else spoke at the convention? And who exactly were the people in her audience?

3.) I might have mentioned that I noticed three generations of an acting family, all from the distaff side, appeared last night on two Fox TV comedies. First, Melanie Griffith guest-starred on Raising Hope, a cute sitcom with a wacky premise, as the mother of one of the main characters. Griffith’s own mother, Tippi The Birds Hedren, made a surprise cameo, too, playing her real-life daughter’s mother. And though I didn’t watch it, Ben and Kate, which aired immediately after Raising Hope, features Griffith’s daughter, Dakota Johnson, as the titular Kate. (You can see why this observation isn’t interesting enough to warrant its own post.)

I thought of other things while I was in the shower, but I have predictably forgotten them. Oh, if only I could use a pen and paper to jot my ideas down while standing under a faucet gushing gallons of water.

Here are the major categories. A full list can be accessed here.

Outstanding Comedy Series

The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)

Girls (HBO)

Modern Family (ABC)

30 Rock (NBC)

Veep (HBO)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Lena Dunham - Girls (HBO)

Melissa McCarthy - Mike & Molly (CBS)

Zooey Deschanel - New Girl (Fox)

Edie Falco - Nurse Jackie (HBO)

Amy Poehler - Parks & Recreation (NBC)

Tina Fey - 30 Rock (NBC)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Veep (HBO)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Jim Parsons - The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

Larry David - Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)

Don Cheadle - House of Lies (Showtime)

Louis C.K. - Louie (FX)

Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock (NBC)

Jon Cryer - Two and a Half Men (CBS)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Mayim Bialik - The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

Kathryn Joosten - Desperate Housewives (ABC)

Julie Bowen - Modern Family (ABC)

Sofia Vergara - Modern Family (ABC)

Merritt Wever - Nurse Jackie (HBO)

Kristen Wiig - Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Ed O’Neill - Modern Family (ABC)

Jesse Tyler Ferguson - Modern Family (ABC)

Ty Burrell - Modern Family (ABC)

Eric Stonestreet - Modern Family (ABC)

Max Greenfield - New Girl (Fox)

Bill Hader - Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

Dot-Marie Jones - Glee (Fox)

Maya Rudolph - Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Melissa McCarthy - Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Elizabeth Banks - 30 Rock (NBC)

Margaret Cho - 30 Rock (NBC)

Kathy Bates - Two and a Half Men (CBS)

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series

Michael J. Fox - Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)

Greg Kinnear - Modern Family (ABC)

Bobby Cannavale - Nurse Jackie (Showtime)

Jimmy Fallon - Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Will Arnett - 30 Rock (NBC)

Jon Hamm - 30 Rock (NBC)

Outstanding Drama Series

Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

Breaking Bad (AMC)

Downton Abbey (PBS)

Game of Thrones (HBO)

Homeland (Showtime)

Mad Men (AMC)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Glenn Close - Damages (DirectTV)

Michelle Dockery - Downton Abbey (PBS)

Julianna Margulies - The Good Wife (CBS)

Kathy Bates - Harry’s Law (NBC)

Claire Danes - Homeland (Showtime)

Elisabeth Moss - Mad Men (AMC)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Steve Buscemi - Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad (AMC)

Michael C. Hall - Dexter (Showtime)

Hugh Bonneville - Downton Abbey (PBS)

Damian Lewis - Homeland (Showtime)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Anna Gunn - Breaking Bad (AMC)

Maggie Smith - Downton Abbey (PBS)

Joanne Froggatt - Downton Abbey (PBS)

Archie Panjabi - The Good Wife (CBS)

Christine Baranski - The Good Wife (CBS)

Christina Hendricks - Mad Men (AMC)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Aaron Paul - Breaking Bad (AMC)

Giancarlo Esposito - Breaking Bad (AMC)

Brendan Coyle - Downton Abbey (PBS)

Jim Carter - Downton Abbey (PBS)

Peter Dinklage - Game of Thrones (HBO)

Jared Harris - Mad Men (AMC)

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series

Martha Plimpton - The Good Wife (CBS)

Loretta Devine - Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)

Jean Smart - Harry’s Law (NBC)

Julia Ormond - Mad Men (AMC)

Joan Cusack - Shameless (Showtime)

Uma Thurman - Smash (NBC)

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series

Mark Margolis - Breaking Bad (AMC)

Dylan Baker - The Good Wife (CBS)

Michael J. Fox - The Good Wife (CBS)

Jeremy Davies - Justified (FX)

Ben Feldman - Mad Men (AMC)

Jason Ritter - Parenthood (NBC)

Outstanding Miniseries or a Movie

American Horror Story (FX)

Game Change (HBO)

Hatfields & McCoys (History)

Hemingway & Gellhorn (HBO)

Luther (BBC America)

Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia (PBS)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie

Connie Britton - American Horror Story (FX)

Julianne Moore - Game Change (HBO)

Nicole Kidman - Hemingway & Gellhorn (HBO)

Ashley Judd - Missing (ABC)

Emma Thompson - The Song of Lunch (PBS)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie

Woody Harrelson - Game Change (HBO)

Kevin Costner - Hatfields & McCoys (History)

Bill Paxton - Hatfields & McCoys (History)

Clive Owen - Hemingway & Gellhorn (HBO)

Idris Elba - Luther (BBC America)

Benedict Cumberbatch - Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia (PBS)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie

Frances Conroy - American Horror Story (FX)

Jessica Lange - American Horror Story (FX)

Sarah Paulson - Game Change (HBO)

Mare Winningham - Hatfields & McCoys (History)

Judy Davis - Page Eight (PBS)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie

Dennis O’Hare - American Horror Story (FX)

Ed Harris - Game Change (HBO)

Tom Berenger - Hatfields & McCoys (History)

David Strathairn - Hemingway & Gellhorn (HBO)

Martin Freeman - Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia (PBS)

Outstanding Variety Series

The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)

Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC)

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC)

Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Outstanding Variety Special

Betty White’s 90th Birthday (NBC)

Kathy Griffin: Tired Hooker (Bravo)

The Kennedy Center Honors (CBS)

Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again (HBO)

Tony Bennett: Duets II (Great Performances) (PBS)

Outstanding Special Class Programs

84th Annual Academy Awards (ABC)

The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards (NBC)

The 54th Annual Grammy Awards (CBS)

Herbie Hancock, Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil Celebrate Gershwin(PBS)

Louis C.K. Live at The Beacon Theatre (FX)

65th Annual Tony Awards (CBS)

Outstanding Reality Program

Antiques Roadshow (PBS)

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution(ABC)

MythBusters(Discovery Channel)

Shark Tank(ABC)

Undercover Boss(CBS)

Who Do You Think You Are?(NBC)

Outstanding Reality Competition Program

The Amazing Race (CBS)

Dancing with the Stars (ABC)

Project Runway (Lifetime)

So You Think You Can Dance (Fox)

Top Chef (Bravo)

The Voice (NBC)

Outstanding Reality Show Host

Phil Keoghan - The Amazing Race (CBS)

Ryan Seacrest - American Idol (Fox)

Betty White - Betty White’s Off Their Rockers (NBC)

Tom Bergeron - Dancing with the Stars (ABC)

Cat Deeley - So You Think You Can Dance (Fox)

A few recent experiences motivated me to peer into the world of blogging. Firstly, I have presumably completed my undergrad uni course (I use presumably because I don’t really wish to tempt fate) and I felt my brain turning to mush due to lack of activity (case in point, I couldn’t think of a better word to use than ‘presumably’. I also had to spell check it.). Secondly, a work friend began documenting, amongst other things, her trip around Europe, and when she passed the blog over to me to have a gander, I became inspired. She believes in more pictures than words in her blog though. I am not that succinct. Lastly, I shared a deep dark secret (that had been haunting me for my twenty three years) with a complete stranger about a week ago and something about that process was incredibly cathartic. I have always been one to fill the silence with pointless noise but I am not so good at expressing sincere or deep emotion face to face (I used to have d&ms with an ex boyfriend in the dark so he didn’t see my face while I was telling him the thing I wanted to tell him the most). So the idea of blogging became increasingly ideal. Despite the fact that I have amazing friends, there are just some things you wouldn’t even know how to begin discussing with them.

One topic in particular which is kind of difficult to announce to your girlfriends over coffee and cake, is the fact that I am going through a quarter life crisis. You know, being in your early twenties and being dazed, lost and generally confused about life. This revelation is made particularly worse by the fact that I am one of the ONLY people I know delving into this territory. Despite my best efforts, I have never been one to walk the road most travelled. Additionally, those who seemed to have been going down the QLC route taught themselves how to veer off a long time ago. I on the other hand have the memory of a goldfish. The one thing we (that being not just neurotic me) have noticed at least, is that our lives appear to be going through this transition period. Anyone ever idiotic enough to study the theory of liquid modernity will understand that Bauman pities anyone stuck in this transient state. Those of us unable to adapt with the times shall be left behind and are consequently, royally screwed. Being twenty-three is such a strange age. As generation Y we are told we can have it all but we have absolutely no freaking idea how to get it. Or whatever “all” is? You are kind of just starting out in the world – full time work, some people are getting loans, entering into long term relationships – and yet you are not quite ready for all that serious stuff. The age old, not quite a girl, not yet a woman situation. Maybe we are not acting our age? Maybe we are? Who knows?! All I do know, is that in ‘my world’, this is the norm and I’m seriously beginning to question my compatibility with it.

Luckily for me, a recent television show seems to be appealing to my cause. This amazing show is called Girls and follows the lives of four girls who, well,

pretty much relay the aforementioned traits with a few exceptions. (I don’t have as much sex as some of them and they’re more than happy to go hungry. I am not.).  The main protagonist, Hannah, although purely delightful engages in a series of activities/events/eating habits which she either knows are bad for her and yet she does it anyway, or is clueless on the matter.  True twenty-something style.

I guess every blog needs an aim or theme or whatever and mine is about figuring out how to overcome this quarter life crisis. Floating through my twenties isn’t something I’m necessarily looking forward to. I mean, it is, but its not at the same time. It would be kind of nice to wake up one day with an iota of confidence that it is all going to be alright in the end.

Until then, like Hannah herself, I’ll keep dancing on my own while I figure it all out.

“I need to learn what it’s like to be treated well before it’s too late for me.” – Hannah “Girls”

Unfortunately, I may have already reached that “too late for me” point. When you start turning them away before they even get a chance to try, simply because they seem “too nice,” I think you’ve officially passed the point of no return. I’ve definitely passed that point. Sweetness is smothering.

I have this great guy that’s gone to the trouble of planning this very elaborate first date, pulling out all the stops to impress me and make me feel special, and it’s all I can do to keep from running away. Literally high-tailing it! I feel like I develop hives every time he sends me a message and says something sweet…which is always. And yet, isn’t that what every single girl, including me, has always wanted? A guy that treats her like a princess and will stop at nothing to prove how much he cares for her? This guy isthat guy, but I can’t breathe when I think about this date he has planned. What’s wrong with me?

I think I’m partially terrified of losing my independence and this guy actually makes that seem like a real possibility. He wants to match his shirt to my dress, for God’s sake! On the first date! He chooses to spend his “me time” talking to me! Half the time I just want to be alone and this guy forgoes alone time to talk with me instead. It’s suffocating! I should absolutely love it, but it makes me feel sick.

I don’t know whether to cut and run before even giving him a chance, or whether I should stick it out, only delaying the inevitable? I’ve already made another date for the weekend. This guy is younger and doesn’t seem so serious. He’s not a real threat to my independence so I think it’s safe to keep this one.

Hell, let’s even attack HBO for greenlighting and producing another lily white pilot with a story centered around a world that is inherently devoid of blackness. Isn’t that the real problem? Why is it Lena Dunham’s fault that she inhabits the same world ensconced in the comfort and familiarity of her own race that most of us inhabit? (Oh and the homeless dude…there are black homeless people in NYC. I’m just glad black actors are getting work; the rappers are taking all the jobs.)

I was open to the criticism when I thought there was a depiction of New York City as this great white metropolis, but given how insular and myopic the show is (it centers around four characters, with an occasional appearance from a boss, a co-worker, a homeless guy, and the protagonist’s parents) one can hardly expect to see a full spectrum of ethnicities represented. I read a great response to the criticism from Demetria L. Lewis of Clutch Magazine who made the astute observation, “I don’t mind ‘Girls’; all my friends are black.” So let’s just chill the fuck out.

Having said that, I cannot believe this show is on television. It is the single worst piece of shit I’ve seen since that God-awful Vh1 male hate polemic “Single Ladies.” Wait, that show is still on TV? I’ll move forward.

I hate everything about this show. I hate the premise, I hate the characters, I hate the actresses playing the characters, I hate the message, I hate the tone and I hate idea that we’re supposed to accept that this is life. I get that television is supposed to tell stories and great artists tells stories about our world through individuals who represent a particular swath of Americana, and even though they may not immediately reflect us as a whole, they show a part of us.

I understand that this show is not lifting these girls up and saying that they are the model of 20something behavior, only that they’re a representation of it. But why is it on television? Yes, parents, this is what your children are like – they suck up all your money working go-nowhere internships while dressing like street urchins, getting high on opium tea and having sex with ugly douchebags – but why would you want to watch their pathetic lives reenacted on HBO?

Yeah, 20something white girls are awkward. And yeah, it’s a result of helicopter parents and the participation trophy generation syndrome (trademarked) blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but the fact that most people of a growing ilk aren’t interesting or funny these days doesn’t mean that we need to make a show that is uninteresting and unfunny.

The previews for the show looked bad, but I decided since there was all this hubbub, maybe there was actually something worth watching. There was not.

If you haven’t seen “Girls” it centers around a 24-year-old girl named Hanna who lives in New York City. She’s fat and ugly, and like most fat and ugly girls of her generation she constantly points that out to her friends who are always there to tell her how not fat and not ugly she is. She has a sex pal (I’m trying to come up with a better term for this situation than “fuck buddy” and sex pal is the best I can do right now), which is obligatory for any female protagonist in any form of media who is under 30 because, you know, girls don’t have boyfriends anymore. (Well, they do, but only the really good-looking, skinny ones who have everything going for them, like a good job and flawless skin and perfect hair who seem completely together on the surface but deep-down are really hopelessly insecure because they’re afraid no one really likes them for who they are and are still good people on the inside.)

Hanna’s parents cut her off in the first episode and she’s forced to try to turn her internship (which she’s had for a year) into a real job. Of course, she is told that the company has plenty of people who would love to work for free and is summarily fired. We then see Hanna interacting with her friends, doing what over-privileged white girls living in New York on daddy’s dime do – having lame dinner parties, walking aimlessly, pondering…pondering and getting high.

There’s the British one who seems so glamorous and together, but is apparently pregnant. SIDE NOTE: Interesting that writing a black character, or any woman of color, was too much of a stretch, but a person from an entirely different continent who just happens to have the same skin color is doable. I digress. There’s also the best friend with the perfect life and the boyfriend (who she secretly doesn’t really like, but can’t bring herself to dump) described above. Then there’s the neurotic one who just can’t seem to shut the fuck up.

It’s not that these characters are unrelatable, they’re just unwatchable. I know these girls. I know all of them. I went to college with them, I lived near them, I meet them at parties and I have friends who are friends with them. I just don’t know why anyone in their right mind would watch a television show about them. Their ubiquitous awkwardness isn’t funny or endearing it’s just awkward.

Admittedly I only watched the pilot, but that’s really all I could stomach. You don’t have to spend a week in the sewage tank to know you’re swimming in shit.

This seems to be the second attempt to recreate “Sex and the City” and it’s whiffed as wildly as the other show, “Single Ladies,” which I’m not even going to discuss. Yes, the characters on “Sex and the City” were all tragically flawed, but they were FUNNY. And they were witty and smart and ambitious and FUNNY.

Is that the point of “Girls,” that women of this generation aren’t any of those things? I always thought the motif of “Sex and the City” was that these really great women were doing their best to try to navigate the single life in their 30s (and 40s and 50s as there seems to be no end in sight for the franchise), and that if the brilliant and talented Carrie Bradshaw and her band of lovable sidekicks couldn’t find a man, maybe the problem wasn’t actually them, but that the process of modern dating itself that was to blame.

“Single Ladies” took the approach that their women are single because men are all terrible shit heads and there’s not a single one worth dating. “Girls,” on the other hand, seems to be of the opinion that euphoric domestic coupledom is impossible to achieve simply because everyone sucks. I think that’s my biggest problem with the show. It’s all a part of this “Dove campaign for real women, because real women are ugly” bullshit.

I’ve decided I’m gonna create a show. It’s gonna be centered around a good-looking, successful and ambitious male in his 20s who’s humble and polite and funny and not even slightly pretentious or insecure. It’ll be about him and his band of merry men who stay out late drinking on weeknights, have sex with tons of attractive women and have great relationships with their mothers. Each of their ascents to success has been fueled by hard work, determination and a sincere desire to give back to those less fortunate. I’ll call it “Guys.” It will take place in LA.

The show’s received an absurd amount of criticism from all sorts of sources, emphasizing the show’s lack of cast diversity, its narcissism and its niche-y plots – who cares about the plights of privileged white girls other than privileged white girls? While I can certainly understand the criticism, I also appreciate Dunham’s defense; she writes what she knows, and, frankly, this is what she knows. More than that, I find the show incredibly sincere. While the characters lament their sexual fever dreams and their continued unemployment, they’re frank, humorous and flawed.

Hannah Tells Adam What She Wants

The fourth episode, “Hannah’s Diary,” really sold me on the show. In one particular scene (link above, too frustrated to embed), Hannah asserts herself to her casual (and often retch-worthy) boyfriend-ish, Adam, and, in an unsuccessful attempt to end the relationship, she tells him what she wants. I have rewatched this particular scene no less than 12 times in the last three days; Dunham managed to capture precisely what I wished to say to my murky beau, The Teacher’s Pet, in the throes of a complicated week, and her touching and delicate performance really sold me on the agony her character felt. The last line, paired with a trembling lip and a tearful intonation, nearly bowled me over -

“I really care about you, and I don’t want to anymore because it feels too shitty for me.”

I don’t want to go too much into the particulars of my situation, but I like to think this performance inspired me, in even the most tenuous of ways, to demand more, and, truly, avoid the same sort of resolution Hannah finds at the conclusion of the clip. That sort of pained and earnest emotion is exceptionally trying, and I think Dunham played it so well. I think this show is really finding its stride and warrants, at the very least, a chance, criticism aside.

The phrase TGIF used to enrage me in my pre-career days. Now, I totally get it. I’ve just eaten like a pound of Swedish berries and I’m on coffee #3. It’s not even noon and I’ve already given up on any semblance of social graces. The next person to annoy me will definitely get some high quality side eye [insert dramatic sigh here].

Anyhoodle, here are some bits and pieces that made my week (slightly more bearable):

• A cheaper alternative to teeth whitening?

• Sometimes I worry I’m just one bad day away from being one of those people who’s, like, really into World of Warcraft. Like these two winners. Ok, I’m just being mean. They’re kind of adorable.

• I’ve seen some pretty gross shit on Toronto transit too. The comment section is the best part! Save it for lunch time reading.

• Hahaha! The dead will take over Coachella next year.

• Guys, Oprah was here. OPRAH WAS HERE. What one women learned from the Mighty Opes.

• Girls, a new HBO show, debuted last weekend. I watched it. I liked it. If I had to say something negative, I’d say I found it a teensy bit self-indulgent. But I’ll give it another few episodes before I make a decision on whether or not it joins my elite TV downloading roster featuring such critically acclaimed gems like Long Island Medium and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Ha.

• On getting a tattoo while still in your teens. I got my first one (illegally) at 16. And I still love it. Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I have no regrets. My advice would be: make sure it’s something timeless and very personal to you. And don’t get it somewhere where you’re likely to experience major weight fluctuations (ass, stomach, boobage). Just sayin’.

• I absolutely love this article about travelling with a friend. I’m so lucky that MM and I have the exact same travel style and have been travelling together happily for almost a decade.  Being superfriends does not necessarily mean you’ll make good travel buddies, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing nor an indication that there’s something wrong with the friendship. One of my favourite travel memories with MM is being in Paris and both of us kind of hating it but not wanting to really say it in case the other was loving it, and we just kind of stopped in our tracks after some incident (gross guy saying something pervy or some pile of street garbage or whatever) and looked at each other and kind of shouted into each other’s mouths “I HATE PARIS!” “ME TOO!”. Good times. Also, I made MM wait in line for over an hour to eat at a particular (and honestly underwhelming) pizza place in Brooklyn last summer, so I owe her one on our next trip.

• The 21 absolute worst things IN THE WORLD! I had a #14 in my apartment this morning and almost moved out.

Have a great weekend folks!