I thought maybe this should go in MPSIMS, but she’s a literary figure, so I’m putting it here.
Anyway, I think I want to marry Sarah Vowell - the girl on “This American Life” whose voice sounds sort of like a hinge in need of lubrication. But pleasantly so. She also did the voice of Violet in Pixar’s “The Incredibles”.
I’ve heard her on the radio and been completely taken by her storytelling. Then I found some interviews in which she talked about her books, her obsession with history, upbringing, etc. This girl is amazing. One of the most pleasantly witty and insightful people I’ve come across. I was surprised to find how young she is - her storytelling style is a bit old-timey.
I just saw the video she made for the Incredibles DVD, and I think she’s hot. True, she’s almost a classic nerd. But you know how some women talk about men who are “sexy ugly”? Like Mick Jagger and Harvey Keitel? I think Sarah Vowell is “nerdy sexy”. Her voice just makes me crazy, especially when she talks passionately about history.
If I could choose any famous person to have lunch with, it would be her. Just to hear her talk about history.
I’m smitten. Got to go to one of her appearances. And hey! She’s got a twin! Oh, the possibilities!
Well, I love her too, but platonically. I guess when it comes right down to it I don’t have a lot to say about her. I liked it in the Incredibles DVD when she made her Violet figure cuddle with her Abraham Lincoln busts. That was kind of exciting.
She’s been on the Daily Show a few times (I’ve never caught her on NPR, although I know she stops by pretty frequently). She’s always so articulate and geeky and cute! I could spend hours – nay, days! – listening to her talk about history.
looks up her appearances and shrieks Noooooooes! She was in my old hometown on Sunday! Why did I not forgo my Monday classes and take a bus up, hmmm? Hmmm?
I adore her too. I’ve been on a This American Life kick lately, and she’s been a frequent guest of the show. I really love her perspective on life. Her review of the Rock & Roll Training Camp is hilarious.
Yeah, Sarah Vowell rules. I first started hearing her on This American Life; I’m not sure what else she did before that. While the other storytellers on This American Life also tend to be exceptional, Sarah’s my favorite. That hour-long show she did about following the Trail of Tears with her sister was phenomenal.
A friend of mine is totally into her, and pines for her regularly. We had a “babes of NPR” conversation the night he met my girlfriend, who wasn’t put off by my confession of impure thoughts about On the Media’s Brooke Gladstone, which is a good sign.
Sarah showed up in Gigantic, the They Might Be Giants documentary. As a fifteen-year fan of the band, that only raised my esteem for the woman. (For the record: when They Might Be Giants played Brooklyn’s Prospect Park last summer, they were introduced by Brooke Gladstone. It appears my own little world is more interconnected than I’d previously thought.)
I’ve only seen her once, but I was taken with her too. I bought her book, Assassination Vacation, after seeing her on The Daily Show last week. She’s funny and smart and doesn’t try to hide it with self-deprecation.
I never remember the names of people on This American Life, but I’ll listen more closely from now on.
She was here in Madison a couple weeks ago, i went and got her book signed. She sked how to spell my first name, …she asks innocently, “is that spelled T-O-M???” Me: “Umm, yeah.” I’ve loved her since way back when too. Our sense of humour is the same.
Highly recommended. She delves into Robert Todd Lincoln and his appearance everytime someone was assassinated, which I always found fascinating. She also spends a great deal of time going to places that one wouldn’t necessarily associate with the assassins or their targets, but which are tied in nonetheless.
And she talks about her relationship with her nephew, and his fixation on darker things, which had me rolling.
Assassination Vacation is pretty funny. I don’t know a lot about American presidential assassinations, so it’s cool that Sarah Vowell has a way of talking about history as if it’s already common knowledge while telling you all the details you need to know in case you know nothing. She makes me feel smart, but really I’m just following along with what she’s telling me and later I retain nothing. That’s not actually her fault.
What I liked about AV and Partly Cloudy Patriot is that she has a real knack for making weird, trivial-seeming tidbits about historical sites very relateable and immediate. Like, “oh yeah I could go look at that. But I’m not going to.” To me, she makes it feel like all these things happened in our own back yard and you could run out and see everything she’s talking about if you weren’t so lazy. I will NEVER get off my ass and take a little trip to see diddly squat having to do with history and that’s probably why it will never come alive for me but she really gives you the vicarious feeling that you’re doing just that. She’s doing the leg work.
So I guess I’m saying that even if you aren’t good at history, she gives you the feeling that you are. I bet people who are good at histroy will enjoy her even more.
If I were doing an animated thingy, I would hire Sarah to do the voice of an intelligent young girl- a character who looks small and cute but is actually very wise, kind of like a Peanuts character. I know Sarah did the voice of a teen in The Incredibles, but I was listening to an old piece she did about Frank Sinatra and was astounded by how much she could pass off as a believable young girl. Of course, not many young girls would be talking about what song to play during a Sinatra death announcement, but that’s what makes it funny. She wouldn’t be talking about Sinatra, of course, that’s just what the piece was about. Now I’m rambling.
I just listened to one of the clips from Seeker74’s post. Interspersed between bits of her story were song clips from a relatively obscure guitar player who happens to be my all time favorite.
Perhaps she had nothing to do with the selection of music. But I bet she did, and it makes me lust for her that much more.
I’m sure she did. She’s a musicista. If you look in the Salon archives you can find her music essays. I’m not sure, but I think in her first essay collection, Take the Cannoli, there are a lot of music essays? I’m not sure becasue that’s the one my libraries don’t have and I haven’t gotten around to ordering it.
