leibrary

Comedian. Storyteller. Unwilling Subscriber to Cat Fancy.


alison.leiby@gmail.com

Given the odds of making it as a comedian, I am amazed at how little effort so many comedians make, while complaining bitterly about their lack of breaks. I mean, you should be thinking like an olympic athlete but you think like dorito-eating high school brats, doing nothign and expecting everything. Of course I’m not talking about YOU, whoever is reading this. I’m talking about YOU, over there. Yeah.

Thanks to Living Social I’m going to have a VERY sexy Valentine’s Day.

Thanks to Living Social I’m going to have a VERY sexy Valentine’s Day.

To protest a bill that would require women to undergo an ultrasound before having an abortion, Virginia State Sen. Janet Howell (D-Fairfax) on Monday attached an amendment that would require men to have a rectal exam and a cardiac stress test before obtaining a prescription for erectile dysfunction medication.

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Huff Po (via rachelfershleiser)

Well played, my dear woman.

(via afternoonsnoozebutton)

(via afternoonsnoozebutton)

coketalk:

Gotye, “Somebody That I Used to Know” Live on KCRW

This shit is gonna sound so good at Coachella.

Don’t you even know dignity when you see it?

Don’t you even know dignity when you see it?

(Source: chamberlain)

zachlinder: Every day of my life. In this scene the guy behind Alvy is droning on and on incorrectly about media theorist Marshall McLuhan.  I did the same eye roll every time another graduate student brought him up in seminars.  There’s nothing worse than pretentious people (unless it’s me being pretentious and pontificating on some boring topic just to show off my unnecessary education, then it is totally okay).

zachlinder:

Every day of my life.

In this scene the guy behind Alvy is droning on and on incorrectly about media theorist Marshall McLuhan.  I did the same eye roll every time another graduate student brought him up in seminars.  There’s nothing worse than pretentious people (unless it’s me being pretentious and pontificating on some boring topic just to show off my unnecessary education, then it is totally okay).

(Source: bittersweetnovacaine, via bbook)

believermag: Joan Didion talks about gaining confidence, and about her husband, the writer John Gregory Dunne. Next week, the entire interview will be published on The Believer website. Excerpt 1, and Excerpt 2 are here. We spoke over the phone, she from her hotel in Washington, on book tour for Blue Nights. — Sheila Heti BLVR: I imagine it’s difficult to write non-fiction because you have to have such authority to say, This is what the world is. How can you really have the authority to say, I know enough and I’ve seen enough to be able to conclude things about the world? JD: Well, you have to just gain that confidence, which is part of what you do over the course of your whole career. I mean, you become confident that you have—this sounds ridiculous, but you become confident that you have the answer. BLVR: Do you remember the point— JD: —at which you get that confidence? BLVR: Well, for you. JD: For me it probably occurred fairly late, when I started getting feedback from the audience. Feedback in terms of a response. Well, it wasn’t fairly late. It was fairly early [laughs] when I started getting a response from the audience, otherwise I wouldn’t have had the nerve to continue. BLVR: Where would you situate that? Around which book? JD: I would say it happened at Play It As It Lays. Which was, when? My third book. I remember my husband saying, when Play It As It Lays was about to come out, he said, This isn’t going to—you’re never going to—you’re never going to—this book isn’t going to make it.  BLVR: Did it hurt your feelings when he said that? JD: No, it didn’t hurt my feelings. It was, I thought, a realistic assessment, which I certainly agreed with. BLVR: Why did you both feel like it wasn’t going to make it? JD: Because it was my third book and I had not made it until then. And you don’t see—I mean, you don’t think in terms of suddenly making it. You think you have some stable talent which will show no matter what you’re writing, and if it doesn’t seem to be getting across to the audience once, you can’t imagine that moment when it suddenly will. A shocking parallel between writing meaningful nonfiction and writing stand-up comedy, to me. And, for the record, Play It As It Lays is a great book.

believermag:

Joan Didion talks about gaining confidence, and about her husband, the writer John Gregory Dunne. Next week, the entire interview will be published on The Believer website. Excerpt 1, and Excerpt 2 are here. We spoke over the phone, she from her hotel in Washington, on book tour for Blue Nights.

— Sheila Heti

BLVR: I imagine it’s difficult to write non-fiction because you have to have such authority to say, This is what the world is. How can you really have the authority to say, I know enough and I’ve seen enough to be able to conclude things about the world?

JD: Well, you have to just gain that confidence, which is part of what you do over the course of your whole career. I mean, you become confident that you have—this sounds ridiculous, but you become confident that you have the answer.

BLVR: Do you remember the point—

JD: —at which you get that confidence?

BLVR: Well, for you.

JD: For me it probably occurred fairly late, when I started getting feedback from the audience. Feedback in terms of a response. Well, it wasn’t fairly late. It was fairly early [laughs] when I started getting a response from the audience, otherwise I wouldn’t have had the nerve to continue.

BLVR: Where would you situate that? Around which book?

JD: I would say it happened at Play It As It Lays. Which was, when? My third book. I remember my husband saying, when Play It As It Lays was about to come out, he said, This isn’t going to—you’re never going to—you’re never going to—this book isn’t going to make it. 

BLVR: Did it hurt your feelings when he said that?

JD: No, it didn’t hurt my feelings. It was, I thought, a realistic assessment, which I certainly agreed with.

BLVR: Why did you both feel like it wasn’t going to make it?

JD: Because it was my third book and I had not made it until then. And you don’t see—I mean, you don’t think in terms of suddenly making it. You think you have some stable talent which will show no matter what you’re writing, and if it doesn’t seem to be getting across to the audience once, you can’t imagine that moment when it suddenly will.

A shocking parallel between writing meaningful nonfiction and writing stand-up comedy, to me. And, for the record, Play It As It Lays is a great book.

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

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popculturebrain:

The next episode of Alec Baldwin’s podcast Here’s the Thing will feature Lorne Michaels.

Above is an audio preview courtesy of NPR. How mad do you think Marc Maron is?

gq:

Sh*t New Yorkers Say

If you live here, you know how amazingly, eerily perfect this is. I said about 90 percent of these things on my way to work this morning. And bonus points for the faked enthusiasm for a gift of crappy Magnolia Bakery’s crappy cupcakes.

Yup.

Megan Amram: Paula Deen’s Health Food Cook Book

meganamram:

Recently, Paula Deen has admitted that she’s had Type II Diabetes for years. Accordingly, she’s putting out a cookbook of healthy food. Here are some excerpts!

FRUIT SALAD

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. bag of Skittles

3 cups ranch dressing

DIRECTIONS:

Mix well. Serve room temperature.

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katethewasp:

SAME SERIES, NEW NAME, NEW EPISODE!

“Kate the Wasp Goes… To the Tattoo Parlor”

Enjoy this!  If you did, I encourage you to reblog, email to friends, tweet it to followers, or post it to Facebook.  It makes the world of difference! 

As a yuppie with tattoos I absolutely loved this.

This is an “article” from OK! magazine that just shows some celebrities that aren’t dead. Hard-hitting journalism.

This is an “article” from OK! magazine that just shows some celebrities that aren’t dead. Hard-hitting journalism.