Vote!

Just a friendly reminder to early vote this weekend, or regular vote on Tuesday (November 4th)! This, like every, election is important, and your voice deserves to be heard. Try as people might to silence it. Yes, those are all individual articles discussing different issues - there are that many different kinds of attempts to suppress voters this election - not to mention future elections. If they're that scared of you voting, that means your vote is that much more important.

Vote!

I Wrote a Funny Thing

And it's kind of blowing up the internet! It's this card for someecards. Just 7.9K more shares and it'll get to 200K shares!

It even made it onto HuffPo!

#Shonda + #Mindy = #BestShowEver!

Shonda Rhimes will appear on The Mindy Project. She will play - of course - herself.

Once I watch that episode, my life will be complete.

Get ready for a new definition of time: BSAM (Before Shonda And Mindy) and ASAM (After Shonda And Mindy).

[via HuffPo]

#HireTheseWomen

I'd #HireTheseWomen. I just hope that someday they #hireme.

Comedy Video: Past Selves Disappointed in Future Selves

Sketch group Mister Sister Comedy posted this eerily accurate portrayal of what it would be like if you had the chance to talk to your younger selves today:



I know my younger self would be very concerned with the fact that I hadn't already won an Oscar "at least for screenwriting!" if not acting. I know she would be very happy with my choice of husband, though. I actually had a conversation with my husband about this while we were at the Emmys (#humblebrag). He said, "My thirteen-year-old self would never believe I made it this far" and I said, "My thirteen-year-old self knew for a fact I'd get here. She's just angry I'm not the one who's nominated."

[via Jezebel]

Shonda Rhimes, Kinda Pissed there Needs to be an Award for the Award She Just Won

I love Shonda Rhime's work and (at least in print) personality. She seems like a great person to have on your team. That's why I loved that not only did she win a Diversity Award from the DGA, she also said this, "“When I heard I was getting a Diversity Award, I was really, truly, profoundly honored ... but I was also a little pissed off.... So was Betsy. So over many, many, many bottles of wine we discussed this.” “We’re a little pissed off because there still needs to be an award. Like, there’s such a lack of people hiring women and minorities that when someone does it on a regular basis, they are given an award.”

Goodbye to an Artful 2013, Hello to an Artfuller 2014!

I feel like a lot of year in reviews are pretty much either brag-fests or suck-fests - what did we accomplish, what went wrong, why this was the greatest year EVER OF ALL TIME, why this year BLEW DONKEY CHUNKS, etc. I was thinking about writing what I did and did not accomplish this year. I think it's a good idea to really sit and think and analyze, "How did I move forward and how can I learn from the ways I didn't move forward," but they may be better suited for personal introspection than a blog post read by a whopping seven people. Frankly, that's five and a half people too many. I will say this was a really big, super-stellar year for me, life-wise, and I'm very grateful for that. I hope 2014 brings a lot of amazing things, too, and not a lot of sad, bad, unhappy things. I hope I grow as a writer and finally start to live up to the opportunities I'm given and seizing. I hope I become a better friend, daughter, sister, wife, co-worker, citizen of my community and the world. And for you, my dearest seven readers, I hope you all had a fantastic 2013 and an even more amazing 2014. If nothing else, your loyalty to my ramblings certainly have earned you that much.

Not solid on what my resolution will be next year - last year was more photos, this year was more music... I'll keep you updated.

In the meantime, these two posts on the NKF blog are pretty solid reads.

Angie's Most Anticipated Movies of 2014

/Film always has a good idea of what's coming in the new year (though they are a little obsessed with superhero movies), and Angie's list (not that Angie's List) is a great example - a mix of movies I'm super stoked to see (especially The Giver!!!), but also movies I didn't remember were happening and now I'm excited about again (The Boxtrolls!). Hooray for movies!

PS. Her favorite movies of 2013 aren't bad, either. I still need to see a few of them (looking forward to finally watching Her, Inside Llewyn Davis, and Short-Term 12), too, so it serves as a good reminder!

The Artful Nails to Come (in 2014)

So what'd you think? Some progress, some devolution into obsession, not too bad. In 2014, I'm going to get some more colors (kelly green, cobalt blue) but not too many new colors (I'm quickly running out of space on my desk). I'm going to try and balance my themed nails (i.e. holiday) vs my abstract nails (i.e. chevron or wavy stripes). I'm also going to try and get a little faster at it. I think that will happen naturally, but who knows? Since there's no limit or anything, I'll try to do some more different, fun themes, like various kinds of art or nature things or animals. The sky's the limit! Or not, since I already did a sky one... Haven't tried a sunset yet, though.

I'd like to do some fun New Year's nails, but I'm super busy right now, so they might be New Year's themed but actually get painted after New Year's proper. We'll see!

And Also We're This Dog, Too

Yep, this is generally how I feel, too:



At least unless someone's asking me to how eat cookies. I can eat the shit out of cookies. Not literal shit, though. That'd be gross.

Today, We Are All This Cat

Or, well, actually every day I feel like this cat. It's so straight-up sad and hilarious, just like me:



I could watch that all day. Leap and flop. Leap and flop. Leap annnnnnnnnd flop.

2013 Black List is In!

The 2013 Black List dropped a couple of days ago, and Scott Myers helpfully categorized it for our informational digestion. One of the funniest things about the Black List at this point is that many of the films that are "un-produced" are such in name only at this point. However, that doesn't mean they're not great scripts (you'd hope at least some great ones are getting produced, right?). The good news is there are almost twice the number of women writers on the list as last year. The sad news is that means they still only make up about 18% of the writers on the list. I guess we have to take what meager progress we can take. On the funnier end, in a moment of weird Hollywood synchronicity (which seems to happen a lot - Armageddon, Deep Impact anyone?) there are two separate scripts about the making of Jaws and two separate scripts about Mr. Rogers. Weird, right? Head on over to GITS to read more!

'Catching Fire' and 'Frozen' Kick Box Office Ass + Thoughts on 'Frozen'

'Hunger Games: Catching Fire' and Disney's new 'Frozen' have proven (for the billionth time) that having well-rounded female protagonists in big studio movies pays off. Both are on track to break all kinds of records - Catching Fire is the third movie ever to break $250 million on or under eight days (the other two: The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers - so basically, Katniss is equal to the entire Avengers team) and Frozen may pull in $100 million in its first five days, shattering Thanksgiving weekend records.

What makes me even more happy about this is that both films are really good! I've already commented on Catching Fire (though I could go into further detail: I haven't even mentioned Jena Malone's perfect depiction of Johanna!). I just saw Frozen this afternoon, and I really loved the strong story of sisterhood, the delightful takedown of traditional Disney princess romances, and the way the hero, Anna, completely leads the film. She is not a passive protagonist: She constantly makes bold choices and gets herself into and out of trouble. Without spoiling anything, the ending proves this point to the nth degree. An extra perk? The movie passes the Bechdel Test within the first five minutes.

Bonus! Jennifer Lee, the screenwriter/animator behind Wreck-It Ralph wrote and co-directed Frozen. She's the first female director of a Disney animated movie, and I think the influence is both clear and welcome. I say this not to take away from Ms. Lee's individuality as a writer/director (I'm sure Kathryn Bigelow would HATE it if someone said that her directing clearly had a "female influence"), but simply as a woman who has experienced a lot of the same emotions, relationships, and thought-processes that I saw onscreen today that have not been present in any previous Disney features, which makes me think (logically) that Ms. Lee may have had something to do with that.

Sidenote to anyone else who saw Frozen: how much did you love the "You fell in love in one day!?" takedown (yes, I realize Anna and Kristoff kiss at the end of the film, but they have a very different "one day" than Anna and Hans, plus they only kiss and aren't getting married or anything rash like that)? And Anna telling Kristoff, most assuredly, that the way to end the eternal winter was simply to talk to her sister (and work things out like two normal human beings, instead of blowing the whole thing out of proportion like they'd do in another movie)? Loved it.

Oh! And I'm SO HAPPY that Kristen Bell is finally in a good movie. That lady deserves it!! Way to go, Woman Formerly Known as V-Mars!

Kids' Books: All About the White Boys

File this under "Blaaaarg":

According to a comprehensive study of children's literature from the last 100 years by the University of Florida:

• 57% of children's books published each year have male protagonists, versus 31% female.
• As with television and film, books with animated characters are a particularly subtle and insidious way to marginalize based on sex, gender and race. In popular children's books featuring animated animals, 100% of them have male characters, but only 33% have female characters.
• The average number of books featuring male characters in the title of the book is 36.5% versus 17.5% for female characters.

Isn't that completely nutbar? It's unsurprisingly worse for children of color:

• Of an estimated 5,000 books released in 2012, only 3.3% featured African-Americans; 2.1% featured Asian-Americans or Pacific Islanders; 1.5% featured Latinos; and only 0.6% featured Native Americans. 

This is 2012, not 1912! White and/or male writers need to gain some perspective and include great characters who are women and people of color. Furthermore, we need to inspire and nurture and encourage women and people of color to become children's authors and illustrators in the first place. The same holds true, of course, for children's TV, video games, and movies. 

Entertainment is a two-way mirror on society: the more society changes, the more entertainment must change, and I guarantee you that the more entertainment changes, the more society will change, too. Children are sponges. They absorb what they see. We need to make sure what they see reflects an equitable and multi-faceted world filled with the people who actually populate it, not just the ones who happen to be in charge right now.

[via HuffPo]

Diversity Gap at the Emmys

This startling infographic by Lee & Low books of the lack of diversity at the Emmys is truly astounding but simultaneously unsurprising. We have got to get more writers, directors, and actors of color (and women) on and offscreen! I will say, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of women nominated for directing this year (and winning in comedy!). Also, a great win for Tina Fey and Tracey Wigfield for comedy writing as well as Abi Morgan for miniseries or movie writing. I hope it's the sign of a new dawn of women writers and directors!

[via HuffPo]

I Want to Be Katie Dippold!

Man, this lady's really got it going on! Tons of talent and using it for the good. Way to go, Katie! Let me know if you ever want to trade spots for a day. But like, only in the career way, not in the social life way. I've got a good thing going with this whole "watch lots of TV and read Game of Thrones" thing going on and I wouldn't want to ruin that with all your hip LA parties and shindigs and hootenannies.

Anyone Else Excited about "The Heat"?

I know I am!

A bunch of articles are talking about it - what does it mean for Hollywood to have two women in a man's genre and not give a shit, etc etc. The Daily Beast has a pretty thorough (if depressing) take on it. As depressing as it is that more movies about women don't get made - especially comedies - I'm really excited because this one is both right in my "this is the kind of movie I want to see" wheelhouse and also it's supposed to be good! And, yes, it's the first of its kind. And while the progress may be excruciatingly slow, it won't be the last of its kind. And it may even spark more - slowly but slowly onward and upward.

Plus, I don't know about you, but I need a break from all these superhero movies. Since when does an action film need to be two hours? And double since when does it need to have a ninety minutes of action in it? I get so incredibly bored just watching things get destroyed. It is not fun.

I Heart the Superamazing Shonda Rhimes

Don't know who she is or why you love her (you do!) - check out this NY Times profile on the creator of "Scandal" and "Grey's Anatomy" - i.e. ABC's Thursday nights.

Hey, We Got Hitched!

Our beautiful centerpieces, by Rusty Glenn Design.
Photo by Kelly Kate Photography

It was a beautiful, magical whirlwind. We're so happy. Thought you'd like to know!

We Need More Women Comedy Directors (and also directors in general, duh)!

Comedian and writer Diana Wright gathered the data and discovered that of the top 10 highest-grossing comedies each year for the last ten years, only 4.5% of them were directed by women. Pretty abysmal if you ask me. I assume the number of women who wrote those comedies was higher, but I can't imagine by too much. Funny ladies, we've got to break through - I don't know how, I don't know when, I probably know where (Hollywood?) - but we've got to. Clearly, no one's going to do it for us (or, honestly, probably even cares all that much that the current state of affairs is the worst).

Challenge accepted.

[via ThinkProgress]