That's a wrap!

Tonight was present-wrapping night in the Kay/Williamson household. It started off great. We had everything we needed—Christmas tunes on Spotify, two pairs of scissors, four rolls of tape and two types of wrapping paper to keep things interesting.

But as I got wrapping, my enthusiasm began to wane. I need to start doing yoga again because, wow, who knew wrapping presents could be such a workout?

I tried sitting cross-legged on the floor. Uncomfortable.

I tried kneeling. Ouch my knees.

I tried sitting on the couch and bending down to wrap the present as it rested on the floor. Not that flexible.

I tried bringing the present up to my lap and wrapping it there. Bad wrap job; lots of wrinkles.

But I persevered and in the end, I did it. All the presents cheerfully concealed with colourful paper. That's a wrap!

Christmas smize.

In other news

• 'Heroes' actress and dolphin fan Hayden Panettiere and her ginormous fiancé had a baby. 

• The final episode of season one of 'Serial' airs this Thursday. If you haven't jumped on the Serial bandwagon yet, you have four days to catch up. Better start binge-listening now.

• In case you missed it, North Korea hacked Sony's emails, and we now know lots of juicy stuff about Hollywood's biggest stars, including:

• Angelina Jolie is a "minimally talented spoiled brat" (I actually could have guessed that one).

• Jennifer Lawrence got paid 7% of the profits of 'American Hustle', when co-stars Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale each got paid 9%. You could argue that BC and CB had larger parts than her, but you could also blame Sexism. I'm not sure what the reasoning was, but what I will say is that she made that movie.

• Matthew Knowles, Beyonce's dad, approached Sony about making a Destiny's Child film. Um, why didn't this get the green-light? Sounds like box office gold to me. 

• Woah—breaking. As I typed this (probably not), Kourtney Kardashian just gave birth to her son. On today of all days! December 14th! What's the significance, you ask? Today is already her son Mason's birthday. The brothers will have to share a birthday now. It's OK though. Char and Francie did it their whole life, and they turned out alright. 

• Martin Freeman starred as Bilbo Baggins in a Middle Earth/The Office mash-up for SNL last night. The concept was funnier than the result. But it's a thing that the Internet is talking about today. 

The end. 

Margaret

Today I...

Today I...

SAW a woman walking in front of me who had a giant splatter of white seagull poop on the back of her black jacket. I said nothing.

HEARD the latest episode of Serial. It was...meh. I am that horrible listener who wants answers and speculation and closure. That's not a complaint; it's a statement.

TASTED cheese toast with Tabasco sauce, the world's most delicious food. Tabasco sauce is the tampon of the culinary world—a bit uncomfortable at first, but after a few tries you never go back!

TOUCHED the first snowflakes of the season. Let's hope they aren't the last. They were big, fat flakes that made Edinburgh look just like Hogsmeade. Andy and I sang "let it snow, let it snow, let it snow" as we packed our bags for work.

Cheers,
Margaret

P.S. I am SO sorry about that tampon thing.

P.P.S. Proof?

We should be florists / Serial Ep 9 Review

Holy hell. It's 11:30pm. I'm sweating like a pig. My foot blisters are throbbing. I've got 30 minutes to write this thing. Here it goes.

I've just returned from a pre-nuptial gathering at Char's flat. She's getting married tomorrow. Her and Francie went to Sainsbury's, picked up a few bouquets of flowers, brought them back to the flat and we worked our magic on them. Magic none of us knew we had. But boy, did we turn those supermarket flowers into luxurious, boutique blossoms. As Nina Garcia would say, "They look expensive." The ultimate compliment. 

But really, you can't quite tell from the photo, but they look AMAZING. Turns out, it's not that hard. We may have missed our calling to run a flower shop. 'Margaret & Sisters Florist', we could have named it. I suppose it's not too late for a career change.

Gal talk!

I made the executive decision to keep the TV off during our bouquet-making session (shocking, I know). After all, what's the wedding eve night for if not a bit of gal talk! Here's what we covered:

• Dr. Oz turning out to be a quack (Francie didn't know)
• Birth canals. We reckon mine is large, judging by my wide hips (let's hope so!)
• Pizza, and how good it is (we split one, but wished we each had our own)
• The potential of HR departments, and the reality of HR departments (why they hafta be so ruuuude)

Serial Episode 9 Review

First, can you believe there's not going to be a new episode next week? I think I speak for all of us when I say: F-you, Thanksgiving. Waiting two weeks is going to feel like forever.

Anyhoo. For me, Serial episodes fall into one of two categories:

1) Evidence-based episodes. Lots of new tidbits to stew on (even though they never add up to anything)

- OR -

2) Narrative episodes. Not too many new facts, but a clear story arc that makes me ask: why is she choosing to say this now? Is she setting us up for a fall? What's her angle?

This week's episode falls under the second category. It was really interesting. Really, really sad. But it didn't leave me questioning the evidence (or lack there of). It left me wondering why Sarah would choose this time to present quite an Adnan-friendly episode, putting him back in our good graces after the Jay episode. Is she starting to slowly build up a clearer case for Adnan's innocence? Or is she getting us back on his side, only to blindside us with something damning next week? Or, could it really be true that she has no idea how the series will end? I can't believe that. I think she knows more than she's letting on.

OMG. FIVE MINUTES LEFT.

Gotta go.

- M

Serial Review: Episode 8

Woah, two reviews in a row. Sucks for those people who don't consume the same media as I do and only come to Madgespace for the sage advice. Don't worry, there will be more insightful wisdom in the coming days. But for now, let's talk Serial. Episode 8. The Deal with Jay.

Poor Jay?
Uh oh. It turns out that Jay is a kooky, beat-of-his-own-drum, remorseful, polite, lacrosse-playing guy who got put in a tricky situation and wanted to protect his girlfriend above all else.

Feeling a bit guilty? Me too. But let's not wallow too much in self pity. It's possible that Jay is even better at being a charming sociopath than Adnan! Maybe SK got lucky with two charismatic psychos for the price of one podcast. I'm open to all theories.

What's this about a pool hall? 
Another reason why we can't count Jay out 100%—Chris' story about the pool hall! Wow. Exactly how many versions of events did Jay dream up until the state landed on one they liked? Aye yi yi!

Barbie, William and I at a pool hall of sorts back in 2008. 

This isn't gonna end well...OR IS IT!?!
As we get closer to the end of this audio journey, I have a hunch that we're not going to get the tight ending we're all hoping for. We might get some troubling insight into the failures of our justice system, but I don't think we'll be any clearer on who did it.

OR WILL WE? Yep, I'll admit. I'm still hopeful that something amazing is going to happen. A new witness or damning DNA evidence from the rope. I'm still holding out for a complete WTF, jaw-dropping, text everyone you know, holy moly moment.

Sigh. How many days until it's Thursday again?

Cheers,
Margaret

Things that polarise us (plus a bonus review of this week's 'Serial')

America just had mid-term elections. Living in the UK (and banned from voting for being gone too long), I'm out of the loop when it comes to American politics. But if I had to guess, I would say that there have probably been a lot of heated debates both online and in the 'real' world over hot button issues like guns, abortion, taxes and all that fun stuff. How exhausting it can be...

If you've found yourself in the midst of a political debate with a friend, coworker or relative, and thought to yourself, "Christ! How did I wind up here? Can I rewind? I'm in too deep!", then here's my advice:

1. Recognise that there's no such thing as a right opinion. OK, occasionally someone will have their facts wrong. If that's the case, you might just be able to convince them with some statistics. But the root of 99% of political arguments is IDEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES! There's not much you can do about that other than try to understand where they're coming from and agree to disagree.

2. Care a little bit less. Apathy is underrated. You don't have to completely hide your passion under a bushel, but try to calm the shize down a bit. My sister Anna once taught me that the person who cries in an argument always, always loses. Maybe you're not crying in these political debates with your cousin/neighbour/colleague but, trust me, it's obvious if you're getting emotional.

I came across this great infographic showing the typical divisions between the Left and the Right. Reading through it, it's clear that both sides form their opinions based on certain values. When you identify with a certain side on one issue, it's simply because you're prioritising one value over another (e.g. equality over fairness). But the point is, there is value on both sides.

Click to expand.
Image by David McCandless & Stefanie Posavec via InformationIsBeautiful.net

There's also a UK version of the infographic (tweaked slightly).

Serial Episode 7: Review 

SPOILER ALET, this review contains spoilers. 

Speaking of polarising, the latest episode of 'Serial' is dividing the podcast's fans into two camps. Based on what I've gleaned lurking on the Serial subreddit, it seems people either:

• LOVE the episode and appreciate the break in character/evidence related plot points in favour of a more 'big picture' narrative. They see it as a "breathe of fresh air."

• HATE the episode, feel like they've learned nothing new about the case and are annoyed there aren't more hard facts to investigate before next Thursday comes along. They see it as a "waste of time." 

My thoughts? Well, being the nuanced, emotionally mature intellectual that I am, the episode both excited and disappointed me. I'm in both camps. OF COURSE it was thrilling to hear that The Innocence Project is investigating Adnan's case. And OF COURSE it was unsatisfying to have no new insight into the details of the investigation.

If I had to lean closer toward one camp, I would go with the LOVE folks. After all, I feel dissatisfied after every episode, simply because I'm always left wanting more (and I suspect that won't change, even after the series is over). So I'm used to feeling this way. It's part of what makes Serial so great.

I change my mind on Adnan after every episode too. This week, he's innocent (DUH). But next week, I'm sure I'll have diagnosed him a textbook sociopath. You wouldn't want me on your jury, I can tell you that!

If you're a Serial fan and haven't yet delved into the deep Serial web, here are some good resources worth checking out:

• Serial subreddit — Where the Internet gathers to discuss Serial. Heck, even Beau Willimon, head writer of 'House of Cards', created an account to get in on the discussion (although his posts are longwinded, philosophical nonsense, sadly). 

• Slate's Serial Spoiler Specials — Yep, a podcast about a podcast. David Haglund, Katy Waldman and Mike Pesca discuss the latest episode, what they liked, what they didn't, the story's narrative arc, predictions, etc.

• Rabia Chandry's blog— The lawyer and friend of Adnan who first introduced Sarah Koenig to the case. She's obviously majorly Team Adnan, so that's worth keeping in mind. 

Later,
Margaret