Observables #37

on LA, podcasting and flailing, adored

Natalie and I did a trip to LA over the weekend to attend a podcast conference. (I asked Simon if that sounded cool—going to a podcast conference. He said, “Not really.”) What was cool was having a 15-minute conversation with Latif Nasser from Radio Lab about telling stories and how a good interviewer finds a story. They don’t just relay information. It got both Nat and me excited about finding the place where narrative storytelling and interviews meet in what we do on Sister On! Oh, and we are rebranding—stay tuned!

Jessica Chastain’s changing face in The Eyes of Tammy Faye. The makeup artists won an Oscar for their work. I watched it on the plane which prevented me from weeping about all our good intentions that go awry and Tammy’s “heart for God.” Growing up in the church that language is so familiar to me. I don’t know quite where to put that language now. I still have a heart for God but it feels more complicated.

Anne Lamott sums it up well here:

ANNE LAMOTT @ANNELAMOTT

My experience with being a human is that we are all in the same boat - so ruined, so loved, so not in control of so much. Flailing; adored.

I told my friends that I was going to wear a peasant dress to a podcast conference. So I did. Every day. (Just like this sweatshirt last week.)

Permit me to show you the criss cross at the back.

I’m feeling affirmed that even the serious Sarah Polley is having a fashion moment:

@realSarahPolley @realsarahpolley

I'm suddenly interested in the fashion. God help me.

Signs in the sky.

Our waiter’s face which started so upbeat. Until I asked:

“So, are you an actor?”

He said, “No, this is my thing. I might go into management. I failed as an actor/model in New York. Then LA.”

So much revealed so fast.

I said, “Not fail. Redefine.”

Or maybe I didn’t say quite that. It gets a little foggy at this point, as something heavy was settling over us. Was it the weight of our failed dreams? Moments before we had been collectively rejoicing about the squid ink pasta.

“Dessert?” he asked.

It was a pastry baked in a wood burning oven with strawberries and salted caramel ice cream—the best dessert of my life. But I could still taste the waiter’s sadness in every mouthful.

Flailing, adored.

This week on Sister On! we offer up our existential crisis travel log from LA!