Pale is the New Tan

My cat is my hero.

As I lay on my bed typing my Macbook is glowing it's little apple symbol into my dimly lit room. Broken Social Scene band shirt on, comfortable blue jeans, hair still damp from the shower...a lingering cough from last week's illness. I'm here to write my Transatlantic Support Group post...I feel so uninspired. Who inspires me? Who do I look up to? It's so hard being a 20-something these days. All these plastic pop stars and stupid girls on Teen Mom are famous and we're left to wonder who we're supposed to look up to.

I came up with this idea late last night...that this week we should write about who our idols are. Who inspires us.

Some of my choices are so, so very white and Hipster-ish. A lot of them are authors.

1) Dave Eggers - When I read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius in High School I knew I wanted to write, but also knew I would never be able to write as well as that. I really took to creative writing after reading his second book, You Shall Know Our Velocity. He changed my perception of what a book *should* be.

2) Douglas Coupland - Overtime Coupland became a bigger influence to me than Eggers - maybe just because he publishes more often. I feel like Coupland's novels do two things really well: 1) They speak to the experiences of young people and 2) They give a sense of what it's really like to be a modern Canadian in the city - it's not always about canoeing and moose.

3) David Sedaris - I am inspired by his humour and honesty as a writer. He writes about himself without being boastful - in fact his self-deprecating style is what makes him so special. He's the reason I've been more interested in personal narrative style writing lately. I strive for this type of writing sometimes in my blog.

4) Christina Hendricks - In the world of Mad Men, you're either a Jackie or a Marilyn...or a Joan. I want to be a Joan...or at least a Christina. She makes me proud to have curves. I want to wear a pencil skirt and bright lipstick and dye my hair red. I have a bit of a girl-crush on her. Whenever she's on the cover of a magazine I buy it.

5) Leslie Feist - I want to be Feist. I love her voice, her talent, her humble nature. Unfortunately the only thing we have in common is our hairstyle.

It's time to curl up in bed with a good book - maybe make some tea. Have a good one!

And Tom, there's really nothing I would rather do, I'm happy just to blog with you :) See you Wednesday (hopefully).