Red & Kitty Media | ampersand, the online home of writer and creative Rachel Brethauer

A friend is writing a screenplay about lifelong friendship, which has given me a hankering to rewatch Beaches. At Target tonight, making a bunch of new home-type purchases, I saw it and snagged it.

Time to curl up with wine and pizza and Kleenex!

For an assignment at school this week, I had to find an article to use as inspiration for a story. Finally given permission to indulge my love of the New Yorker and Atlantic Monthly (seriously, I have such a stack of magazines to read right now… I can’t wait for Spring Break so that I may spend a day or two reading them. Such luxury!), I stumbled upon an article revealing the identity of a popular online advice columnist.

Now, I’d never heard of Dear Sugar before last Wednesday, but damn if I’m not in love with her now. Such wonderful, thoughtful, caring advice. It’s so nice to not see snarky and condescending “advice” being doled out somewhere. Plus, the advice has made me cry more than once.

So, if you haven’t yet, do yourself a favor and get on over to The Rumpus so you too can spend some time with Dear Sugar.

Hot damn, 2011 went by fast. And 2012 is already exceeding that breakneck pace. Not to sound like a Cathy comic, but ACK!

This is long, long, LONG overdue, but here are some songs that kind of lit a path through the ridiculous 365 days that are now long gone. What this list of songs has taught me: I am a sucker for a love song. Or maybe just a sucker in general.

Brett Dennen: Sydney

Everyone loves a 6’4″ ginger singing a song I still like to believe is about Sydney Bristow. Or, y’know, friendship (and the kind of friend I’d like to be).

Scars on 45: Give Me Something

OK, so this song is a little bit Grey’s Anatomy, but this plaintive song from some delightful Scots spent a few weeks lodged in my head in the spring as I urged the universe to give me some kind of clue about what to do next in my life.

Ray LaMontagne: You Are The Best Thing

Not a new song, for sure. But the opening notes never fail to make me smile and crank up the volume. Plus, it’s used to great effect in I Love You, Man, just before an extra calls Jason Segel a “shit giant”.

Amos Lee: Flower

The first (18) time(s) I heard “My heart is a flower,” I immediately switched radio stations. It kind of skeeves me out to hear a guy sing that because it makes me think of how gross it is when women refer to their virginity and/or lady parts as a flower. BARF. But eventually, I gave it a shot. Usually when I happened upon the song halfway through.

The song grew on me, and over the months it started to remind me of someone, but my brain wouldn’t reveal who. It was one of those tip of the tongue-type deals. And then, one day in late August, I was driving around L.A. when the identity of the mystery person exploded out of my synapses. Luckily, it didn’t cause an accident. Unluckily, the mystery person and I had never met. Brains be weird, yo.

TV on the Radio: Will Do

I can’t even find words to explain why I love this song. It might be the kind of song I’d write if I had any songwriting/poetic abilities whatsoever. But alas, I am prosaic. (But you’re reading this… you already knew that.)

Also, TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe and his performance of “Unknown Legend” in Rachel Getting Married remains one of my favorite musical moments in a movie, ever. I can’t find the scene from the movie online anywhere, so this little bonus clip will have to suffice. Because it’s always time to listen to “Unknown Legend”. And not just because I’m a Neil Young-loving Canadian. It’s just truth.

Ryan Adams: Lucky Now

I don’t even have words. I just love this song endlessly. Growing up, getting older. Figuring out your new identity, coming to terms with who you used to be. But it feels like this is all happening from a good place. I want that so bad, but I still feel like who I used to be. And I’m not sure I want to be her anymore. When will love mend my heart, make me “Lucky Now”?

Wilco: I Might

This song feels like so many sunny Saturday mornings. Especially in the version I link. Because, for some reason, electric piano/organ = sunny Saturday mornings. The line “You won’t set the kids on fire/ Oh but I might”… kind of the hilarious and terrifying way I imagine parenting to be.

The Black Keys: El Camino

I couldn’t pick just one song off this record. The Black Keys, really, were my band of 2011. From how often I cranked “Tighten Up” on my commutes to seeing them in concert (rock on, John Labatt Centre!) in July to the perfection that is “Lonely Boy” (I would gasp in pure joy and excitement every time it came on the radio this fall), and the endless correlations I can make between every single song on the record and my ridiculous life. Plus it was basically the soundtrack to my entire December. So here’s the video for Lonely Boy. Put it on and dance your ass off. I dare you not to.

I will come up with better headlines for these posts. But right now, I’m sleepy. Today’s fun thing was eating a crepe for lunch. But also spending the day with amazing people who are massively successful and using their precious free time to give back to a ragtag bunch of graduate students. It’s wonderful to be with people who not only understand why you’ve decided to pursue this life, but are happy to help you in any way they can.

Of course, now my mind is racing, and as a result, I will spend a day of Spring Break figuring out a whole bunch of career stuff.

Or, to quote the inestimable Julie “The Cat” Gaffney: “I left my team in Maine to show the world what I can do.”

40 hours with no sleep. The excitement of new friends. Delicious cocktails. Tasty turkey burger. Flirting. An overflow of potential in every aspect of life. Hot damn was it a good night!