Amanda Hocking

This opinion is most likely not popular, but I really enjoy the song “Diet Mountain Dew” by Lana Del Rey. I also don’t completely understand why people were so upset about her performance. Maybe it was because it was so over-hyped. I was in England, so I didn’t get to see SNL that night, and my Twitter was blowing up with how terrible she was, and I was all, “What the crap?!”

I finally saw it when I got back to the States, and I didn’t get it. It wasn’t the most exciting performance I’d ever seen, but her music sounded the way it does on her album. Also, I once saw Nirvana play on SNL, and Kurt Cobain was so high, he just lay on the stage and mumbled the words. I mean, it was grunge, so I guess that still counted as being pretty awesome. But the point was at least Lana Del Rey stood up when she sang. And she didn’t seem to lip sync or tear up pictures of the Pope. So whatever.

I also super loved SNL’s response to it last Saturday, when Kristin Wiig came out dressed as Lana Del Rey. My favorite part was when Kristin Wiig said, “In this age of dangerous school bullying, you have sent an important message: If you think someone is weird, you should criticize them as much as possible.”

Anyway, that’s enough about Lana Del Rey, who I’m actually not all that interested in, despite what it might seem by how much I’ve been talking about her. I just like the song “Diet Mountain Dew.” But I do not like the beverage Diet Mountain Dew. Only regular Mountain Dew. Which, as an aside, is IMPOSSIBLE to find in England or Italy. At the places I went to, anyway. And that’s what counts.

Now onto something that really matters to me: Are you guys watching Southland? That is literally my favorite show on TV that isn’t animated or Episodes. (I’m also not sure if Episodes is still on. I mean, I heard it was coming back, but it’s still not on, so I don’t know. But I really, really love that show.) I also really like Up All Night, but part of that probably is because I’m in love with Christina Applegate. And Dexter. (I’ve recently come to the conclusion that Dexter is basically just Batman. But better. Don’t tell Christian Bale I said that, though.)

So back to Southland. It really is the greatest hour of television you can watch. It’s a cop drama, but it’s not all easy answers. A lot of these shows, like CSI and Law & Order: SVU follow one case each episode, and it’s all glossy and dramatic. But Southland feels a bit more like an episode of Cops, but with more depth. It’s grittier and more genuine. Sometimes it’s really sad, sometimes it’s really funny, and there at times when it’s so intense I think I’m going to have a heart attack of intensity.

Also, it’s always at the risk of getting cancelled, and it was really nice of TNT to pick it up. It airs on Tuesdays at 10/9 central on TNT, and you should watch it, so it doesn’t get cancelled, because it’s awesome. And Regina King is super bad ass and could totally crush Mariska Hargitay in a fist fight or an “tear up” off. Michael Cudlitz is really funny & has a nice story line going, and Ben McKenzie is super pretty. Plus, he punched a snotty teenager in the face the other week, and I liked it. Oh, and Lucy Liu is on now.

This blog really has no point, except that it feels REALLY good to not talk about books or publishing. So I might write a whole series of blogs where I talk about everything about books or publishing. That might make me really happy.