TV | Miss Al-Leigh

Hello again!
Today’s Sunday Book Club Review is “Bossypants” by Tina Fey.

Initial Thoughts:
For a long time, I had no idea who Tina Fey was because I didn’t watch too much TV. Eventually, even I couldn’t miss the impact she was having on pop culture with her skits on Saturday Night Live, especially her impression of Sarah Palin. Still, I never formed too much of an opinion on her. As I became more interested in working in the Entertainment industry, her name popped up more & more as a Feminist alley. She was different from other female celebrities. She was intelligent, funny, hard working, a writer! She was a woman in power in a male dominated industry! She has remained relatively scandal free which has helped me remain neutral, yet curious to dig deeper, hence my interest in her autobiography, “Bossypants”. Thank you to my friend Marcela for buying me this book for my birthday! Keep reading to see if I’ve been converted to a Tina Fey super fan!

Plot:
“Bossypants” doesn’t necessarily have a plot. The book tells anecdotal stories ranging from Fey’s youth to her time before SNL to her marriage & eventual journey into parenthood, among other topics.

Quotes:
– Pg 53: “I only hope that one day I can frighten my daughter…Right now, she’s not scared of my husband or me at all…How can I give her what [my dad] gave me? The fear of getting in trouble. The knowledge that while you are loved, you are not above the law. The World-wide Parental Anxiety System is failing if this many of us have made sex tapes.”
YES! I have been saying something similar to this since I was a teenager. I would watch my friends get into shenanigans & ask them, “Aren’t you afraid your parents will kill you!?!” The answer was always a laugh & a shrug, or a straight up no. I’ve never experienced that carefree feeling. Even when I do something relatively small but “bad”, I think, “Better not tell Mom I stayed up all night, ate a carton of ice cream, & drank half a bottle of wine!” because I live in fear of her judgement & disappointment. My mom is by no means harsh or strict, she just has high expectations. Perhaps Fey & I experienced this Parental Anxiety System because we have older parents that didn’t feel like they needed to be our friend. Whatever the reason, I was happy to find finally this connection with someone!
– Pg 225: “If Darrell [Hammond] is da Vinci, Will [Ferrell] is Monet, & I am me, in a wig.”
I found Fey to be a bit TOO self deprecating. Of course if she was full of herself, I wouldn’t like that either, so there’s no winning. I just feel bad for her – how silly is that! Seriously though, she fights this battle that females are just as funny as males & does a great job praising her friends, but often talks about how she’s not funny. It’s meant to be tongue in cheek but it was a bit off putting like, why am I reading your book if you don’t even believe in yourself?

Overall: B+
I gave “Bossypants” a B+ because Fey’s stories are well written, funny, & easy for me to connect with. However, I found that without a solid storyline to follow, no drama, no climax, I occasionally lost interest. The most interesting stories centered around Fey’s career before SNL & behind the scenes stories of SNL & 30 Rock. However, I might be biased because that’s where my current interest lies. If I was a new parent, I might find Fey’s tales of parenthood way more entertaining, I guess it just depends on the reader. Definitely a good choice for those interested in the Entertainment industry with a Feminist edge to it & of course, fans of Tina Fey.

Have you read “Bossypants” or another Autobiography of someone in the Entertainment industry? If so, what are your thoughts? Please feel free to share your thoughts & book suggestions with me in the comments below!

The next Sunday Book Club is August 7th & the book is “Turn of Mind” by Alice LaPlante.

Today’s post is going to be part Announcement, part Event Recap, part Personal.

To start, I’d like to share with you all that I received my first Acting callback!!! I’ve been an Extra in a few movies and music videos, but this is the first time I’ve actually been called back for an audition. I can’t reveal too much because it’s in pre production & I haven’t actually been cast yet. Even if I don’t get cast, I’m extremely excited because I came to SoCal to pursue an Acting career…but never really made any moves because of where I was living/my living situation/my job etc. I’m honestly not that focused on my Acting career any more because I finished school & chose a career path I’m very excited to pursue – but obviously to make a career as an Actress would be a dream come true. I’ve recently begun applying for parts just to see what would happen, so it feels great to have made it through 3 rounds of an Audition.

The Audition was for a non-airing TV pilot, so even if I’m cast it’s very likely my screen time will never actually see a screen, haha! I sent in my picture to a Casting Agency, answered some questions, & after they were reviewed, I was invited to participate in a Skype Interview/Audition. I talked to a really nice Casting Assistant, answered more questions (!!!), & was eventually invited to attend an In Person Interview. I drove out to Los Angeles to NBCUniversal (!!!!!!!!!) for the filming. The whole process was really fun and I was able to network with the other people there to audition. On another note, I saw Comedian Gabriel Iglesias in the NBCUniversal lobby & I’m slightly ashamed to say that I snuck a really bad picture of him because I was so excited 😀 His picture is below along with some really silly Selfies I took that day – enjoy! Click on them to make them full size!

I don’t usually talk about stuff like this but…the personal part of this is a reflection of how I’ve been feeling lately – get ready for some preaching! I really want to express how much y’all should appreciate the people that love you. So cliche but it’s seriously true. This doesn’t have to mean your family – I realize not everyone gets along with their family – but whoever truly has your back, value them. As my life has changed, graduating, moving back to SoCal, my Internship, my job search, this Audition, my love life, my friends & their accomplishments (babies, marriages, & such), etc etc, I have been thinking about my grandparents and dad a LOT. I wish they were here to offer me advice & cheer me on. I know they’re watching down from Heaven, but it’s not the same. However, they must have known I’ve been occupied by these thoughts because I had an interesting encounter the other day. I was walking through a parking garage late at night & all of the sudden I smelled my Grandpa’s cologne. It hit me & I immediately recognized the scent, it was so strong I looked around to see if someone was walking near me that might have had the cologne on – but there was no one around. I’m not usually one to believe in supernatural stuff like this, but I feel like there’s no other way to explain what happened & honestly it’s comforting to know that the people we love have ways to reach out to us even if it’s not with words. So my bottom line is, love the people that love you! One day all you’ll have is memories & you’ll want to feel like you did your best to let them know you loved them.

Okay, I’m done! Have a great week – I have some more exciting posts coming up so click that FOLLOW button at the top right to stay connected with me! Thanks for reading 🙂