Friday, June 29, 2012

I Almost Forgot: Lesley Arfin is Awesome


Man, I forgot how much I love Lesley Arfin. I used to read her now-defunct blog Cafe Con Lesley religiously and it took me watching this new Style Like U video to be reminded of her wit and brilliance. I love the honesty of this video. How many times have you read an interview about people who 'struggled and struggled until they found their late-blooming success'? These interviews always skip out the parts about the reality of self-doubt and the complete disorientation of that 'oh god, what am I doing?' feeling, so what I really love about this video is that Lesley doesn't. She is completely honest about how things went tits-up every now and then but without resolving to a 'but now, I've made it'-style happy ending. Things are good for her now, she is a main writer on HBO's Girls (which if I'm honest I wasn't massively won over by, but maybe I'll give it another go) but life continues to be great in parts, and when it's not great, that's okay too. There is so much emphasis today on things going right all the time, and on individuals always being happy, so I like Lesley's approach which feels more realistic and trial and error based. It says 'don't sweat the small stuff.'

One thing that often stands out to me in interviews with women in their 30s is that they often seem pretty sorted when it comes to their own self-confidence and competence when it comes to knowing 'how to get stuff done', in a way that starkly contrasts myself, my friends, and women in general of my own age. Lesley reflects this when she talks about how much more hung-up she was about her body in her 20s. This interview reminds me to be less hung-up, in all aspects of my life because it's so easy to get into a funk when you forget that shrugging your shoulders and pulling a 'whatever' sign with your fingers is a pretty okay way of powering on sometimes.

20 comments:

karen joanne said...

I love her attitude to life! Am looking forward to watching girls when it comes on over here!

www.littlekjf.blogspot.com

victoria said...

hahahhahahah lesley is awesome! i loooove Girls too

Unknown said...

ahh i remember cafe con lesley! so good.

x
trendobsessed.blogspot.com

Natalie Hughes said...

Love this interview!

Jessica said...

Definitely give Girls another chance, it gets better and gets very funny.

Lesley is great - I think she's right about feeling calmer and happier in yourself as you get older, but I don't think I'll ever get past that feeling of wanting to be just like the cool girls, I want to be just like her!

Joy said...

im only 19 but i cant wait till im 30!! so jealous of those people who are completely comfortable in their skin.

MOOD by me said...

Love Lesley and love Girls too, but I didn't put the two together before - thanks!

Anonymous said...

Great smart interview, and love what you have said in the second paragraph. I've felt like that sometimes years ago, not too confident, until I realised that I have to believe a little more in myself, be more confident... just give myself a chance, you know? I'm just 22 and I'm sure that in some years I'll be even more confident than know 'cause I guess it's a long way til you really become who you have to become and you're happy with in it, but after big changes in my life I think I'm following the correct path.

Oh and love the photographs from your trip in America, amazing photos! They look like out from a 70s road trip movie, I love them all :)

kisses!

Unknown said...

I'm so glad that she's writing one of the most important HBO sitcoms of our time, Girls.

http://www.designers-artists.com

ouestladiscotheque said...

So weird but exactly what you have written and what Lesley says is exactly what I needed to hear right now - so thank you :)

Also if you haven't already I'd probably give Girls a second chance - I loved it, although I didn't know anything about it before so wasn't expecting anything....
- Charlotte xxx

Matthew Spade said...

mmhmm she seems pretty cool, i'm nearly in the 27-30 not having a clue bit

Anonymous said...

come back!

Anonymous said...

come back!

casper+pearl said...

great, love this!

lots of love from the c&p girls,
casper&pearl blog
xx

Anonymous said...

Thank your for the link to the BBC programme, and for your lovely comments :)

SofĂ­a Premat said...

she's geniuss!

Anonymous said...

It's hard to like someone so openly racist...

http://gawker.com/5903468/a-girls-writers-ironic-racism-and-other-white-people-problems/

Samantha said...

definately give girls another chance, but more importantly, where art thou? seriously missing your updates!

jessica said...

her diary book was probably what got me into brutally honest and darkly humorous writing so many years ago.
hats off to lesley.

Susie said...

Thank you for sharing this fantastic interview, I'm also a huge fan of Lesley's since her Cafe Con Lesley days. Stick with Girls, it doesn't get properly funny until the 4th or 5th episode and then it is hilarious. Also, Lesley makes a brilliant cameo as one of Hannah's co-workers, totally worth watching for!

PS. What she says about girls dressing like the 90s now being way better than how girls actually used to dress in the 90s is so true!