Party of One, Party of Fun: One Isn't the Loneliest Number

"You need to get out more."

We've all heard it, whether in fiction or in IRL.  Sometimes it's tossed off in an all-in-good-fun spirit ("What, you've never been to the Cheesecake Factory?!  You need to get out more!").  Other times it's snarkier ("How do you not know who Jim Parsons is?  You need to get out more."  Insert eyeroll;  bonus points if it's lazy.).  But there's no mistaking that it's never a term of endearment.  That's because the speaker (we'll call him "the extrovert") deems himself worldlier and worthier than the speakee (that would be "the introvert") and therefore justified in dispensing his glib, disingenuously cruel-to-be-kind advice.  But I've always been of the opinion that it's not getting out more that grows a more knowledgeable, interesting, and ultimately more empathetic human.  It's staying in.     

So you can imagine my delight upon finding Hallie Heald's 41 Reasons I'm Staying In: A Celebration of Introverts.  If ever there was a book that countered the aforementioned life-of-the-party propaganda -- or, indeed, that was designed for the new normal shelter-in-place lifestyle of the COVID pandemic -- then it's this one.  Dedicated to "all the introverts I've met and may never meet," Heald's strange and fanciful picture book challenges the inherent shame of the home-alone-on-a-Saturday-night stereotype, elevating solitude to an art form.  Her forty-one for-one activities range from the hilariously selfless "midwifing for my gerbil" to the self-indulgently creative "designing my Halloween costume" to the downright dark "making voodoo dolls of my exes."  Each pursuit illustrates (both literally and figuratively; the pictures are a hoot) that it doesn't matter what you do in hermit mode as long as it makes you feel like you, a commodity that's all too elusive when in a crowded club or conference room. All of us feel like this some of the time, and some of us feel like this all of the time.  And I for one am a homebody who firmly falls into camp number two.  

And that's why it's so great that 41 Reasons I'm Staying In applauds those of us who prefer our own company.  Because sometimes being alone isn't about being on the outside looking in.  Sometimes it's about being on the inside looking out.  Not in envy, but in the kind of comfort that can only come from being where you know you belong.

You know.  In your favorite chair knitting a tracksuit, singing to a sourdough starter, or curating a cicada circus while The Big Bang Theory hums in the background.  

Game, set, and match, lazy eye.

TV Tuesday: Going in With a Bang

My mind is a runaway train of ideas that I (for some reason) feel compelled to chronicle.  And today I got the idea to start a TV Tuesdays column.  Each Tuesday, I'll blog about a TV show.  It may be a general series description, a recap of a new episode, a nostalgic look at a beloved rerun, or even just a tenuously TV-related topic.  I'm keeping the field wide open so as not to stump myself too early on. 

That having been said, let's get started. 

I didn't watch "The Big Bang Theory" when it premiered on CBS five years ago.  I think I thought that it was one of those banal sitcoms that spun on the strength of pitting creepazoids against beautiful women.  (Even now I watch it On Demand instead of in real time.  At 8:00 p.m. on Thursday nights my heart belongs to "Community.")  But when the reruns first aired on TBS this past fall I realized that I'd been too quick to judge, proving once again just how much TBS has enriched my life.  I found offbeat scientists Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, and Raj to be oddly endearing, right down to their social ineptitude, unfashionably colorful clothing, and blend of bathroom and brainy humor.  At the nucleus of the hilarity, of course, is Dr. Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons).  I have a kind of love-hate relationship with him.  His overbearing control-freak ways are anathema to my live and let live sensibilities, but he's just so funny and idiosyncratic (those Emmys don't lie) that I can't help but be charmed by him.  In my estimation, his stock only rose when his equally brilliant and eccentric girlfriend Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) entered his orbit.  

Being in the arts and crafts business, I got a kick out of the episode where Penny (Kaley Cuoco) starts making flower barrettes called Penny Blossoms to sell online.  Her excitement at landing a huge order quickly dissolves when she realizes that she mistakenly promised next-day shipping.  The guys soon exchange their equations for rhinestones, diving into an all-night craft-a-thon.  Surprisingly, it's the acerbic Sheldon, Penny's toughest critic, who encourages her to embrace entrepreneurship when things seem bleakest.  In the end, another comedic calamity explodes, putting the kibosh on the blossoms and sealing Penny's fate as a Cheesecake Factory waitress.  A fitting microcosm of the creative life if ever there was one.             

As for the current season, I'm still an episode behind.  Which means that Stephen Hawking will be joining my next pizza night.

Movie Moment: The Muppets

About four months after its Thanksgiving weekend debut, the bf and I finally succumbed to Muppet mania.  Like most people, I'd been looking forward to The Muppets for its color, comedy, and all-around craziness.  But I was a little disappointed, which made me feel curiously guilty (I mean, this was the Muppets!), so much so that I defensively chided myself, "Well, maybe that's because you're not five."

Speaking of being a kid, "The Muppet Show" was a little before my time, but I saw The Great Muppet Caper, Muppets Take Manhattan, The Muppet Christmas Carol, and of course, that hallowed mecca of Muppets, "Sesame Street."  Miss Piggy was my favorite.  Her wardrobe was so dazzling that it outshone her bad attitude.

But back to the movie at hand.  Sweethearts Gary and Mary (Jason Segal and Amy Adams) travel to LA to celebrate their anniversary with Gary's kid brother, Walter, in tow.  Walter, it should be mentioned, is not a man, but a muppet (the philosophical ramifications of which are examined to song later on).  Loveable but odd, Walter has been unknowingly driving a wedge between the two-cute-for words Gary and Mary for the better part of ten years.  Mary, like so many women before her, has had it but is too sweet to say so.  As a result, romance is tossed out the window as the trio sets off to tour the old Muppet studio only to find that it's fallen into the clutches of an oil-hungry opportunist (Chris Cooper).  Stricken, Walter leads the way in rounding up his heroes, finally persuading Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Miss Piggy, and the rest of the gang to reunite to perform one last show to save their studio.

Despite a star-studded cast comprised of Kristen Schaal, Jack Black, Rashida Jones, Alan Arkin, and several others, the storyline falls slightly flat.  Nevertheless, highlights include Amy Adams's retro-cute outfits (her inaugural one is in Ronald McDonald-worthy red and yellow), Emily Blunt as secretary to Miss Piggy's Paris plus-size Vogue editor, a la The Devil Wears Prada (red wig and all!), and Bret McKenzie's Oscar-winning song "Man or Muppet," during the course of which "The Big Bang Theory's" Jim Parsons makes an appearance as Walter's alter ego.  As a side note, "The Big Bang Theory" in general and Jim Parsons (as Sheldon) in particular are growing on me.  But more on that later.