When I was in high school, I wanted to be like Peyton Sawyer on One Tree Hill. Peyton loved listening to music and working with artists. Peyton was a fan of Tegan and Sara and so was I. 10 years later, my dreams came true. I met Tegan and Sara in person! In the last month, I went to their book signing, read their memoir and attended their concert.
I went to Western University (the one recognized by Playboy) and I didn’t party much. I think about this all the time and even more so now that Olivia Wilde released her directorial debut, Booksmart. Now I regret it!
Some of my favourite female celebrities like Busy Phillips and Lena Dunham endorsed Booksmart and now I understand why. It’s a great movie about female friendship and coming of age after high school. It’s filled with good music, good laughs and good lines.
In university, I rushed to write an essay about Michelle Obama’s image in the media. Fast forward to last night, when Michelle came to Toronto on her book tour and spoke in front of 15,000 fans. The pre-show was a highlight reel of Michelle’s most memorable moments in the media and in the White House. Ellen DeGeneres did something similar at her show in March, without a photo with Queen Elizabeth.
A few minutes before Michelle came onstage at the Scotiabank Arena, a few Canadian stars came out to reflect on their own stories. ELLE Canada’s Editor in Chief Vanessa Craft appeared first and I just met her last week at a fashion industry event. Next, Dan Levy talked about storytelling as an actor. He has appeared on this blog a few times, so that was a fun surprise! The Property Brothers also spoke, but separately.
Make room for another documentary about the obesity epidemic. In Fed Up, narrator Katie Couric walks viewers through history to explain why so many Americans are overweight.
In addition to featuring numerous interviews with professors, politicians and doctors, Fed Up chronicles the lifestyles of a few students. The students provide testimonials in between clips of them at home, school and doctor appointments.
In 1977, when a government report was released encouraging the food industry to manufacture food with less fat, food manufacturers responded by decreasing calories and increasing sugar. I like one doctor’s approach to explaining how consuming sugar affects our metabolism. “You can eat a bowl of Corn Flakes with no added sugar or you can eat a bowl of sugar with added Corn Flakes,” he says. “They might taste different, but below the neck, they’re metabolically the same.”