Animal Kingdom

After just missing it in theaters, I watched Animal Kingdom last night. Despite the fact that I cried twice and had to pause it and ask questions, I liked it. I should have anticipated the violence, but I was surprised by the up close shots of people dying. That being said, my chief critique is that the most attractive actor dies early.

Ticket2TearTown

Apparently a lot of my time now is spent thinking about what makes me cry. To that end, I started a new secret Twitter feed.

I don't feel strange disclosing that information here, because this blog is also a secret.

The next logical step would be to start a secret Tumblr about secrets but that has been done.

I would like to expand upon a recent piece about the saddest movie scene of all time. My thoughts are that science is wrong in this instance. The most tear-inducing scene has to be from Radio Flyer or A League of Their Own or an old standby like Terms of Endearment. Or maybe I was born too late to appreciate Jon Voight tears?

Cry Baby Cry: Songs That Make You Weep

I call BS on this piece from NPR's All Songs Considered department. There is no mention of Landslide or Silver Springs? Are they not human?





And for my dad:

If you don't take money, they can't tell you what to do

On Tuesday I saw Bill Cunningham New York at the Nuart. The Nuart is a funny, one-screen theatre that shows independent films, and great selection of hits and misses from the past on Fridays at midnight; their Spring 2011 calendar includes a documentary about searching for mass graves in Chile, and The Muppets take Manhattan. Something for everyone!

I really enjoyed BCNY as a profile of a quirky guy with strong thoughts on fashion, ethics, and material frivolity. As Mike will attest, you do not need to have any interest in fashion to enjoy the film. If you are like me, you will cry intermittently, and laugh a lot too.

I strongly believe that one of the best parts of seeing an independent movie in a small theater is watching the wacky trailers that you can only find in that environment. Here are two of my favorite trailers from this movie (I am sparing you the one with the surprise goat birth):

Do you want to cry about the passing of a beloved pet?

If so, I have some links for you!!!

• Dogs in the NYT
• Cats in the NYT
• Cat the Cat

Clash's devotion to Elmo cost him his marriage

This LAT review of a documentary about the man behind (or, underneath and inside?) Elmo did not make me cry, even though it mentions other people crying. Is this a victory for me?

And yes, Elmo bro got divorced due to his Muppeteering commitments. That is embarassing.

Blood, Bones, and Butter

I might want to read this when it comes out. I read Gabrielle Hamilton's personal essay in the latest New Yorker and enjoyed it, though it took a surprise turn to tear town. Seriously! Came out of nowhere.

On the subject of food and books, I think I also want to buy this cookbook when it is reprinted. I may even eat at Julienne this weekend. Their chewy graham bars are well-received.

Tear Town: Other people must go there too

I don't like reading sad articles at my desk and crying over them, but I do it anyway. I must not be the only person with this problem; otherwise, there would be fewer articles like this about a young mother's death as chronicled by Facebook, or maybe less pieces written by recent widows about their husband's final days.

Related: Are Joyce Carol Oates and Joan Didion friends? Did JCO go to JD with questions about how to write about a dead husband?

If you want to learn more about being a widow, or you just want to cry for a while, please listen to this Talk of the Nation interview.

I tried to find a nice cat picture to lighten the mood, but it is a futile task.

Elizabeth Edwards

If Game Change was honest, she may have been a crazy b, but given her life circumstances I don't begrudge her that. Goodbye Elizabeth Edwards. This obit is nice.

Modern Love and a fondness for kitties

I don't usually read the Modern Love column in the NYT because it freaks me out, bores me, or both. This week's was very nice I think; it offers a somewhat uplifting trip to tear town, and touches on what it means to be a friend, a family, and do for others (things I have been thinking a lot about lately).

This Related Searches list at the bottom of the screen cracked me up:


Who wants to search for grief, and why does it need to be categorized as emotion?

Visiting Teartown at your desk

Sometimes, people cry at work. Maybe they read sad articles, maybe they had a sad thought, maybe they had a terrible conversation with an authority figure.

I think crying at work is ok (real talk: I do it all the time!). Some people disagree with me.

Eg. Kelly Cutrone:

And Joan:


3-joan
Uploaded by nervemedia. - Check out other Film & TV videos.


also

The Girl in the Window

I may have linked to this amazing article about a girl locked in a closet til age 7, found by authorities, and adopted. The author Lane DeGregory (a UVA alum!) just won a Pulitzer. It goes without saying that this piece is a one way ticket to tear town.

If you aren't crying yet, you can listen to this segment on Talk of the Nation about becoming a widow.

Goodbye Marty Ginsburg

RIP. If you want to be inspired and saddened at the same time, please take a look at this illustrated essay on visiting the SCOTUS and Ginsburg in particular.

Related: Did you know that Akin Gump has (or sponsors?) a SCOTUS blog? There is an item about who the real "activist judges" are; I haven't read the whole thing yet, but I hope it gives me a reason to stop hating Clarence Thomas so much.

Still Related: When Thomas bails I guess I can start hating Alito more.

Tear Town gets Urban

Intervention is the worst. I am not allowed to watch it (or Hoarders).



I like the Autotune version better.


Thanks to MG.

Do you want to cry and think about your mom?

If yes, read this.

If not, do anything else.

Sometimes when I wonder if I am the only person sitting in my cube, pretending not to cry, and hoping my boss doesn't come ask me a question, I read the comments section in a post like that and realize I am not alone

Straw poll: what is a more morally reprehensible waste of company time, applying to jobs or tearfully reading essays about motherhood?

Moving to France, the moon, Canada

Today is full of sad stories like this and this, and Mike was robbed! Things really went downhill after the Dodger's win yesterday. I am ready to leave.

Update: I wonder if crazy Target lady was just upset that the Cynthia Vincent shoes were basically sold out, or that the Zac Posen collection was so heinous?

Living in Teartown

Nobody knows why we cry, but we do.

Latest stories to make me cry:

• Researching the Holt and Stone Weeks fellowship


• My second read of "The Dime Store Floor" by David Owen in the New Yorker.

Jenny sent this to me. I should buy her this out of gratitude.

Roger Ebert Profile in Esquire

I have never watched his show or read one of his movie reviews but this is a great piece.

See Ebert's reaction here.

Ebert is on the left.

A new zooborn!

Yesterday I started reading this article about the rise of heroin as a cheap alternative to Oxy; it is part of an LAT series called The Heroin Road, and reads like an extended episode of Intervention. I was ready to cry by 10 am which is a record for me.

I quickly pulled it together, switched gears, and read about the birth of a baby elephant at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park. Check him out on the elephant cam!

Never doubt the healing power of Zooborns.

The Autobiography of an Execution

Last night I listened to the Fresh Air interview with David Dow, author of Autobiography of an Execution. If the Amazon reviews are accurate, the book may not be a great read, especially if you are looking for info on the death penalty (in Texas, the most active by far of all dealth penalty states). But I found the interview to be very interesting, and recommend it (I do not, however, recommend listening to that interview, followed by this one about a little girl's advice for her unemployed dad, and then watch an episode of Intervention. I did that, with catastrophic, tearful results).

And if you want to learn more abotu the death penalty in Texas, and probably cry, you should definitely read this New Yorker article by David Grann. It is amazing and terrible.

Alternatively, if you feel that we don't have enough capital punshment, move to China!