I'm not so great at updating personal preferences. My favorite TV show is the same cheesy dramedy I devoutly devoured in 3rd grade prime time, and I still favor bands from the earnest days of "rock alternative" whose marks on the collective psyche were made roughly around the same time I was learning to speak. Still, I like to think I'm open to change. Hence the latest in embarassing personal habits I would never make public if I ever thought anyone was actually reading this thing.
So here it is: my usual brain-busting roster of Lois & Clark DVDs has been temporarily replaced by The Tamra Davis Cooking Show. For those who aren't in the know, Tamra Davis was the "It" female music video director of the '90s (and current wife of Mike D) who is responsible for some deliciously classic Lemonheads, Luscious Jackson, and Sonic Youth vids from the golden years of 120 Minutes, including SY's epic Bull in the Heather video featuring a surprisingly charming Bikini Kill-era Kathleen Hanna jumping manically alongside a visibly pregnant Kim Gordon. It's every bit as lovely as it sounds.
(Tamra Davis also happens to be responsible for such cinematic pots o'gold as Billy Madison and the legendary Crossroads, but I ain't no IMDB so the filmography stops here.)
I found out about Tamra's show through GOOP, the subject of many a media marm's fascination and despair, and I have to say, it is some entertaining shit. I just can't get enough of Tam Tam's aging hipster-cum-yuppie monotone as she narrates the step-by-step procedures for such Whole Foods friendly treats as "Oatmeal B-Side" and "Hamptons Crepes" while her flaxen headed tykes do tragically cute things in the background. Every so often she'll invite friend-couples and their kids along to partake in her family-friendly organic creations, such as pals Ben and Christine (as in, Stiller and Taylor), and Christy and Ed (Turlington/Burns), and the shows close off with the photogenic families eating their photogenic meals. Life is good for the creative, white, and wealthy.
The show is a picture of what my life, in an ideal future world, would be. Beautiful bi-coastal kitchens with an unnatural bounty of natural lighting, a Jewish musician husband and no monetary concerns, cute kiddies and cool friends. Watching Tamra's show is like stepping into her life for 5 minutes at a time and forgetting my thousands of dollars of student debt, free of shaky future prospects and the constant threat of failure that looms over my shoulder. In this alternate universe, I am the woman too accomplished to worry about a mid-life crisis, so mellow and carefree that my voice doesn't even need to register pitch. Why bother, man? And yet, it makes me feel kind of dirty, kind of nervous, and kind of like eating this, if only to put myself in my due place.
