Turning 30: All the Cool Kids Are Doing It!

In less than two days, I will be 30! I have never been much of a birthday diva, but my friends keep telling me this is a big one. More than one of them have expressed they are a little freaked out about turning 30.

I started to feel depressed and old, but then I realized, some of my favorite celebrities are turning 30 this year, too. So that makes it cool, right? Right?!

Here's a quick rundown of some of the fabulous people born in 1981.

My fellow Virgo, and the queen of all things fabulous: soon-to-be mommy Beyonce

Smartypants Harvard grad and Best Actress winner Natalie Portman:

Ahh, Justin Timberlake. Even if he becomes a full time actor, won't the ladies of our generation remember him most as our favorite member of *NSync?

Another one of my favorite actresses: Julia Stiles. If you haven't seen her portray Lumen on Dexter, you are missing out!

Talk about reinvention, Britney Spears has fought back from the brink of a career meltdown.

Mmmmm. Joseph Gordon-Levitt. This reminds me, I still need to see Inception.

If you have a birthday coming up, remember my advice:

Age is just a number and as long as you get another birthday, life is wonderful, no matter how many candles are on your cake!

Bossypants and Inside Job

Just like a child waiting for Christmas, I have been impatiently anxiously waiting for two items I reserved at the library eons ago. Imagine my delight when I got the email a few days ago that they were both ready!

Yes, I am a nerd.

First up, Inside Job (2010) is a critically acclaimed documentary about the worldwide financial meltdown that came to a head in 2008. The film includes interviews with major players in the economic, academic, and political arenas. Told in five parts, it takes viewers back several years to show how changes in certain regulations and financial practices led to increased risk-taking that eventually resulted in the financial crisis.

What makes Inside Job a great film is that it takes complex issues and presents them in a way that tells a compelling, and at times, outrageous story of corruption, greed, and incompetence. This movie will probably make you angry, and if it doesn't, it should. It is a must-watch for anyone who is interested in learning more about what led to our current economic climate as well as highlighting some of the conflicts of interest between the regulatory and commercial realms.

This film is very well done, and if my review is not convincing enough, Inside Job won Best Documentary (Feature) at this year's Academy Awards. Watch it!

A final selling point? It is narrated by Matt Damon

I rest my case.

Next up, Bossypants by the hilarious Tina Fey of 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live fame. At just under 300 pages, this book is a very quick read thanks to the entertaining humor of Tina Fey.

Just looking at the back cover, with its made up quotes praising the book, you know this is going to be good. And it is good. Bossypants is not an autobiography per se, it is more a compilation of stories about pivotal times in Tina's life including her first foray in community theater as a teen, her work in the improv comedy trenches at Second City in Chicago, and her successes in New York City on both Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock.

My favorite part of the book was her recalling the auspicious luck of John McCain's pick of Sarah Palin as his Vice-Presidential running mate in the 2008 presidential election, and the surrounding notoriety it brought her. Pure comedy gold.

The remainder of the book contains funny anecdotes about magazine photoshoots, disgusting habits of male co-workers, and the burdens of being a mother, just to name a few. While humorous, the book is also revealing as Tina discusses her dilemmas about having another child (I guess we know how that turned out) and the ugly truth of sexism in television and the workplace. 


Bossypants is an enjoyable and entertaining read. I recommend it to anyone who needs a good laugh or who appreciates a strong, intelligent female.

Isn't Social Media Amazing?

On Sunday night, I happened to be watching a cable news station airing a re-cap of the Royal Wedding. As it ended, I began to turn the television off, but they interrupted programming with "breaking news" to say the President was going to address the nation at 10:30 p.m. ET. I was intrigued. The talking heads didn't seem to know what President Obama was planning to discuss, perhaps something about Afghanistan, they speculated.

I don't know why, but my first instinct was to check Facebook to see if anyone was commenting about the impending speech there. A few posts alluded to the breaking news and one of my friends even expressed nervousness over what the President might have to say.

Next, I found myself viewing my Twitter feed. By this time, the news stations were reporting that the President's address had something to do with Osama Bin Laden. I started going back and forth between looking at posts and updates on Twitter and Facebook. As the news spread, speculation grew. Finally, President Obama was on television announcing to the world that the United States had killed Osama Bin Laden during a super-secret Navy SEAL mission.

Reactions to the big news were posted immediately in real-time as word spread. It was amazing to read through the very real and sometimes disturbingly honest responses posted on both Facebook and Twitter. There were sentiments of excitement, fear, awe, gratitude, praise, and criticism just to name a few. Some of the posts were upsetting or annoying to read, but they were all raw and open.

I wasn't sure what I was feeling about the breaking news story, so instead I posted a comment that summed up how I was feeling at that very moment reading all the comments on Facebook and Twitter: "Isn't social media amazing?"

It was remarkable for me to realize that I was more interested in reading the reactions of people I know than listening to the talking heads on the news stations. Does anyone else feel the same way?

What interesting times we live in.

P.S. On a related note, check out this wild story about a man who unknowingly live-tweeted the raid on Bin Laden's compound.