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Entries in ADVICE (196)

Wednesday
Apr272011

In Which Molls Will Date Someone With Many Disadvantages

Plz Advise

by MOLLY MCALEER

Plz Advise is an advice column. You can e-mail me questions about almost anything, but don’t like, take out a loan against your 401k or murder anyone based on anything I say. I'm not a doctor, duh. E-mail your questions to plzadviseme@gmail.com and keep them under 150 words.

Molls,

Recently, after working together and being friends for a few years, my best guy friend suddenly asked me if I liked him and informed me that he likes me. Is it worth risking a great friendship to see if it could be something more? I do like him, but I am happy being single and was not looking for any kind of relationship with him or anyone else. I am worried that if things don't work out then it will always be awkward between us and I don't know if it's worth it to lose one of my best friends. Also, I am not exactly crazy about the idea of a relationship with a coworker.

Lizzie

Don’t do it. It sounds like you’re not in a position to be dating, and if that’s the case, than the last person you want to test your limits on is someone that you respect, love and have to maintain a professional relationship with. You’re asking me, and in my world, work is just as important as friendship, maybe even more depending on the type of friend and how badly you want to succeed.

Do the easiest hard thing and tell him that, while you do think he’s cool/attractive/whatever, you’d hate to screw up your friendship and working environment to test out something you’re already pretty sure you’re incapable of doing right now. Do it today. Do it before you let him go another day wondering what could be and do it to his face. If he’s the immature type (which is what I’m getting from the whole, “I like you, do you like me?” thing,) don’t tell him there’s a chance you’ll change your mind over time. If you think he can handle that sort of qualification, throw it out there with zero promises attached. And maybe don't go drinking with him.

This dude’s not going to go anywhere, but hopefully your career will. Fingers crossed that he doesn’t turn into a psycho who can’t handle your fair, honest and polite rejection.

Molls,

A friend of mine recently became engaged and subsequently married. We had been out of touch for a little while, and while I wouldn't have been surprised to be invited to the wedding, which was in New York where I live and not in L.A. where she lives, I wasn't invited. No big deal - she knows that I would have trouble affording a gift anyway and it's not like we had stayed close. The problem is that every time I log onto Facebook, I see some new thing from the wedding or honeymoon. It's literally been two straight months of content from their wedding and it makes me feel bad. I don't wish them any harm, but is it bad form to unfriend her and her husband and possibly take out a contract on her life?

Ellie

Girl, ready for me to change your life? Go to your Facebook newsfeed. Find the most recent post about her dumbass wedding and run your mouse over it. A little “X” will appear in the upper right hand corner of the post. Click on it. A menu will pop up and there are three options: “Hide this post,” “Hide all posts by Silly Bitch (or whatever her name is,)” and “Mark as spam.”

If you’re feeling cheeky, mark that shit as spam. If you’ve taken a deep breath and put things into perspective, click the “Hide all posts” option. That’s it, boo. She’s gone from your feed and you don’t have to be the petty person who deletes friends on Facebook.

Also, reading your Facebook feed is for perverts, gossips and high schoolers. You might want to consider stopping all together. Not knowing what annoying people are up to is power.

Molls,

I'm a Facebook-less, 21-year-old, male, Education major, type O+, 6'5'' guy at Ohio State. About six months ago I broke up with a girl I was practically married to for four and a half years (too many hand jobs). In other words: I am experiencing females for the first time. Granted, I had a great time constantly getting drunk and stoned with friends and re-evaluating life for a few months from my couch, I'd prefer to become a functional member of society again. My problem is that I'm not a Bro and, it turns out, girls my age love Bros. I'm a pretty self-aware, outgoing person, but lose it when I encounter a girl - ESPECIALLY the interesting, attractive, confident type of girl I am drawn to. In no way am I trying to find myself in a relationship; I totally enjoy my own company and don't need a relationship to be happy, but I should obviously start getting my shit together. Ideas?

Jason

Did you seriously dump a girl you were practically married to because you were only getting handy action? Damn. Maybe you’re more of a “bro” than you thought.

I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you’re a kind of sensitive and quiet dude who’s not getting any play because you’re not traditionally good-looking or confident despite the fact that you’re not traditionally good-looking. (Straight-up gnarly dudes can reel in poon like freakin' marlin if they have swagger.) Maybe you have unusual interests or dress in a different style than your peers. Either way, you have to work on the confidence thing, if not so you can “get it in,” so that you can be a champion. I always think that bordering on straight-up arrogance is the way to go through life. Regardless of what anyone will tell you, no one’s that into people who are humble. Ask Kanye. I’m not saying you should be a jerk or something, but no one’s going to give you credit if you don’t give yourself credit.

Don't let your current situation freak you out about the future. The most desirable dudes I know couldn’t get action in high school or college to save their lives. People love act like kids go to college to find their soul mate, but they don’t. They’re there to learn some stuff, drink beer and set themselves up for a job in the real world. That usually means that the hook-ups are casual and based on stuff like looks and who has access to alcohol/a roommate that doesn’t mind if you have sex while they’re “sleeping” in the same room.

Not getting laid in college doesn’t mean you’re not going to get laid once you’re out of college or that you won’t be the first one of your friends to score an awesome chick whom you can get with regularly once most of the superficial fraternizing is out of the way. As a single lady who’s more than a couple years older than you, I can tell you first hand that pretty much all I’m looking for in a dude is someone who meets my definition of the word normal, likes most of the same stuff I do and will give me the longest leash possible. I would maybe marry a dude with a cleft palate and a stutter if he is supportive, likes The Police and shuts up and leaves me alone upon request.

To review:

1) Call your ex-girlfriend and tell her you respect her for being true to herself and not doing something that makes her uncomfortable because you ditched her, you bro.

2) Get confident, even if you have to fake it until you believe it,

3) Keep all the things you like about yourself intact. You’ll either find someone who likes those things about you too, or you’ll get comfortable enough to pull an Aniston and move to Malibu and get five dogs,

4) Chill the fuck out. Like, in general.

5) I'll date a dude who's practically handicapped.

Molly McAleer is the senior contributor to This Recording. She is a writer living in Los Angeles. She twitters here. You can find her website here.

Photographs by Jennifer Nies.

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Experience the Short But Vital History of Plz Advise

Plz Advise #1: Guidelines for Twitter Romance

Plz Advise #2: Everytime You Go Away

Plz Advise #3: How to Make Friends And Influence Bloggers

Plz Advise #4: More Of A Bro Than You Thought

Plz Advise #5: Martini Time

Plz Advise #6: A General Lack of Self-Awareness

Plz Advise #7: Dump Your Boyfriends

Plz Advise #8: Advice To Keep Close At Hand

"That's My Attitude" - Trina (mp3)

"Friends" - The Toasters (mp3)

"Can't Touch Me No More" - Tanya Stephens (mp3)

Wednesday
Apr132011

In Which Molls Teaches You To Be A People Person

Plz Advise

by MOLLY MCALEER

Plz Advise is an advice column. You can e-mail me questions about almost anything, but don’t like, take out a loan against your 401k or murder anyone based on anything I say. I'm not a doctor, duh. E-mail your questions to plzadviseme@gmail.com, and please keep them to 100 words or less.

Dear Molly,

How do you forget someone? How can I catalyze the beginning of this process? He's an opiate addict and a general emotional fuckwit, but I'm eternally pining for the person he used to be. Please help me stop this obsessive depression before I go insane.

Kara

Oh, you have a problem with opiate addicts? I would normally suggest just taking a shitload of opiates and going to bed as soon as you’re done with work so you don’t have to actually face any real hours of the day (work should keep you busy enough to not think about him, right?) but it sounds like you might frown upon that sort of behavior. Damn, girl!

Turn to your friends, good books and physical activity. Friends will keep you laughing, books will distract you and physical activity will keep you sexier than him.

I don’t know if you’re normally the kind of person that does creative things in your work and free time, but I always find that I experience the biggest rushes of creative energy after a break-up. In fact, the best work that I’ve ever done has been a direct result of losing love. I think that might be why all the best songs ever are about heartbreak.

Use this time to write a lot, paint, make videos or sing, whatever creative thing it is that you can think of that would make you happy. Maybe it’s knitting or something; it’s different for everyone. Keep your mind and hands busy with something that will give you a positive end result. When you’re done, you’ll be reminded of your own worth and how fine you are without a sad addict dragging you down.  Maybe it will even lead you to the next big thing.

Molls,

I'm not much of a people person and would like to change that. It's not like I'm crazy lonely or anything, I'm engaged and I have a couple really close friends that are like sisters to me but I am extremely closed off to most people.  I'm just naturally real quiet and I don't like to intrude, but I'd really like some advice on how to start a friendly conversation or make more friends in general. Any ideas?

Liv

Yo! I am still figuring this one out myself. I get so shy in certain social situations and stick mostly to my same group of friends. My roommate, however, is really nice and she just came home a little drunk from a date with a guy named Plain Larry, so I’ll just transcribe what she had to say about this:

“Um, I can’t believe you’re typing right now. This is generally totally an adult question and it’s like, wait, you can’t keep typing… This is totally something that you have to learn for yourself and that sounds totally bitchy and like, mean, but it’s like… Find your own way to connect to people and you can’t ask for advice for that kind of shit. Some people sit at bars, some people find a chat room on the Internet and say, ‘Hey, let’s meet up.’ Some people find people at the dog park! You have to find your own way first and it will lead to other people. You have to find out what you like first. If you like to sit at a bar, you will find other people who like to sit at the bar. You can think of the weirdest thing in the world and other people will like to do it. Also, everybody’s lonely. Especially in L.A. Is this girl in L.A.? I feel for her if she’s in L.A. and she’s thinking about making friends because it fucking blows. You know what? Tell her to move to New York City or take herself out of her comfort zone. Like, you know, that’s always good for a laugh.”

Molly McAleer is the senior contributor to This Recording. She is a writer living in Los Angeles. She twitters here. You can find her website here. You can find past editions of Plz Advise by clicking here.

Photographs by Jennifer Nies.

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"Close To You" - Maxi Priest (mp3)

"Close to Modern" - French Kicks (mp3)

"Too Close" - Next (mp3)

Experience the Short But Vital History of Plz Advise

Plz Advise #1: Guidelines for Twitter Romance

Plz Advise #2: Everytime You Go Away

Plz Advise #3: How to Make Friends And Influence Bloggers

Plz Advise #4: More Of A Bro Than You Thought

Plz Advise #5: Martini Time

Plz Advise #6: A General Lack of Self-Awareness

Plz Advise #7: Dump Your Boyfriends

Plz Advise #8: Advice To Keep Close At Hand

Wednesday
Apr062011

In Which Molls Handles Your Parents And Boyfriend For You

Plz Advise

by MOLLY MCALEER

Plz Advise is an advice column. You can e-mail me questions about almost anything, but don’t like, take out a loan against your 401k or murder anyone based on anything I say. I'm not a doctor, duh. E-mail your questions to plzadviseme@gmail.com, and please limit them to 150 words and under. Read last week's edition here.

Molls,

I have decided to move to California from Illinois. I'm 23, I'm not crazy stupid, and I know it's the right decision at this time. However, I'm scared shitless to tell my parents in fear they will disown me on the spot. I live with them still (real cool) and have only lived on my own when I was in college and then for four months in London (UK, not Kentucky). How should I tell them and present my case while avoiding their parental rage and concern?

Eve

If you were 17, uneducated and had no idea of why you wanted to live in Los Angeles, I’d understand your fear of your family freaking out upon hearing the news that you want to move halfway across the country, but girl! You’re 23! That’s exactly the right age to be thinking about how you want to live your adult life, and most parents are big fans of personal responsibility.

If you have a particularly close relationship with your parents or they’re closed-minded about anything outside of your home state, try to sell them on your dreams by demonstrating that you have a plan. Start working on west coast connections via social networks and alumni groups now, look into different neighborhoods and get an idea of what you’d be able to afford. You should definitely visit the city before you move, so if it’s at all possible, ask your parents to tag along so they can see where their precious baby’s gonna find her way.

And if they really go mental/threaten to cut communication/kick you out of their home? Fuck ‘em. They’ll probably get over it eventually. You’re going to be responsible for yourself long after they’re gone (like, forever) and you’re going to have to live with whatever life you make for yourself. Whatever that life is should be based on your terms.

Molls,

I have a problem. The guy I have been seeing is going away for the summer. We aren't in an exclusive relationship or anything so it wouldn't be a problem... if I hadn't fallen in love with him. I have never done this "casual" thing because I am too neurotic but he is worth the attacks of neurosis. There is depth to this relationship whatever it is. Now, I know what love feels like. And I know that when it's new (like it is now) it can never be certain. But I just feel like I should say something before he leaves in a month and a half. If not "I love you" then at least SOMETHING. What do you think?

Christine

I’m like this too, girl. I am. I’m not great at not emotionally vomiting on a bro after we’ve had some sort of romantic encounter, especially if I can sense he doesn’t want to hear it.

Playing it cool is the hardest thing to do, but dudes are mad textbook and fall for the dumbest mind trickery imaginable. The day before he leaves just be like, “I had a lot of fun with you. Call me when you’re back in town,” and then just PEACE OUT. Do not call, do not text, do not even look back when you’re walking out that door.

Go enjoy your summer before you start in with the,“I love you and I just needed you to know that before you pork chicks on other continents and make me feel badly about myself,” stuff. Maybe you’ll be the one who gets a shiny object waved in front of your face and by the time he comes back, you’ll be like “Fuck buddy, who? I don’t think I have this number saved in my phone.”

And for the record, I feel you, girl. I feel you. Emotionally unavailable men can be so sexy. ☹

Molly McAleer is the senior contributor to This Recording. She is a writer living in Los Angeles. She twitters here. You can find her website here. You can find last Wednesday's Plz Advise here. E-mail your questions to plzadviseme@gmail.com.

Photographs by Jennifer Nies.

Experience the Short But Vital History of Plz Advise

Plz Advise #1: Guidelines for Twitter Romance

Plz Advise #2: Everytime You Go Away

Plz Advise #3: How to Make Friends And Influence Bloggers

Plz Advise #4: More Of A Bro Than You Thought

Plz Advise #5: Martini Time

Plz Advise #6: A General Lack of Self-Awareness

Plz Advise #7: Dump Your Boyfriends

Plz Advise #8: Advice To Keep Close At Hand

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"Boyfriend (Ghost Waves edit)" - Best Coast (mp3)

"Our Deal" - Best Coast (mp3)

"Summer Mood" - Best Coast (mp3)