I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: GARFUNKEL & OATES-“Fuck You” (2009).

My coworker sent me a link to this Garfunkel & Oates song.  Garfunkel and Oates is a comedy folk team comprised of Kate Micucci and Riki Lindhome.  This song was featured on Scrubs (seriously) because Micucci played “Gooch,” creepy Ted’s girlfriend on the show.

The song is kind of sweet and funny, but also rather dirty (just like Scrubs).

This version is under two minutes, but there’s a new version (complete with kazoo solo) on their website.  The new version plays up the confusion of the kiss you/fuck you chorus a little more with some very funny lines.  You can also see a bunch of their other funny, catch, dirty songs like: “Gay Boyfriend,” “Sex with Ducks” and “This Party Took a Turn for the Douche.”

So cute!

[READ: April 20, 2012] “Miss Lora”

Junot Díaz is back with another short story–I smell a collection coming out soon.

This one is about Yunior and his brother who died of cancer (as most of his stories are).  But in this one, his brother is more of a presence than an actual character.

For this story is all about Yunior and his lengthy affair with Miss Lora.  Miss Lora was a neighborhood older woman–not too old, but certainly older than the kids.  She was super skinny–totally flat in front and back–but she was very muscular.  She liked showing off her gymnasts’ body in a bikini.  The women (like Yunior’s mom) didn’t think much of her in town, but she didn’t seem to care.

And, although she wasn’t all that much to look at, Yunior developed a bit of a crush on her.  And then one day he realized it was mutual. 

Yunior was dating a girl, Paloma, who was a very good girl–she wanted her life to be perfect so she could escape her life.  And that meant no mistakes–so sex was not an option for her.  Yunior respected that, but was really disappointed.  But he also knew that he couldn’t cheat.  His father was a cheater and his brother slept with everyone, so he wanted to be different.

But when Miss Lora invited him over to watch a nuclear disaster film–this was in the 80s when Red Dawn and The Day After were what we watched–they jump right into bed.  And they basically stay there every day.  They are very discreet–his mother doesn’t know, Paloma doesn’t know and when Yunior’s mother goes away for a few days, they spend the weekend at his house.  He can’t stop, and yet all of this behavior makes him very very anxious–and he’s very anxious to begin with (hence the nuclear war films).  His anxiety gets even worse when she gets a job at his school.

Given the kind of stories that Díaz usually writes, and the way stories like this typically end, there’s not a lot of fireworks here–no massive displays of anger or betrayal.  And that was a nice change.  I mean, you know things aren’t going to be perfect, but the fallout was more subtle than it could have been.

The ending jumps ahead quite a bit, but it does give a nice wrap up to the story.  Díaz’ writing is really enjoyable.  His stories are fast-paced and funny–even when they are dark.  I’m always surprised at how much remorse Díaz seems to show about his childhood (assuming that these stories are based on reality), so it’s good that he can turn them into stories to exorcise those demons.

For each of searching I include: Junot Diaz