I Heart Miranda July

I first fell for the lovely Miranda July when I saw the adorable, quirky movie, "Me, You, and Everyone We Know." She wrote it, directed it, and starred in it. In addition to movies, she's written essays and books; she's a performance artist; and she's also a musician.

The New York Times recently had a feature where they had celebrities discuss their favorite summer movies. I love the little essay Miranda July wrote:

I was 11 the summer I saw "A Room With a View." Too young for romance? Not at all, I was a very passionate 5-year-old, so by 11 I had already survived several romantic (if entirely fantastical) storms. But this was the first time anything had ever really happened. By really I mean I was really sitting there in the movie theater, I really saw it -- the kiss amid the cornflowers. And then I came stumbling out into the night, and walked silently between my parents, trying to imitate the child I'd been 90 minutes before and conceal my transformation into a woman in love. Not with anyone, not Julian Sands or Helena Bonham Carter -- just in it, drowning in it, love.
Obviously nothing normal could ever happen again. I wouldn't go to sixth grade in the fall. I doubted I'd even be living with my parents by then. I looked up at them wistfully. They would worry about me, but ultimately I knew they'd understand when they saw how mutual it was. Yes: I knew love loved me too, the way it held me in its thrall.
I got in the backseat of our car as a sentimental gesture, out of respect for the family we had once been. But as we got closer to home, I had a sinking premonition. I would go to sixth grade. I would probably even get caught up in it, and get excited about something provincial, like a purple backpack. My heart was exhausted; I pressed my head against the window and searched the night sky.
What was the point of anything now? And why would anyone make a movie that turns you against your own life? Damn "A Room With a View." I'd been so happy before, so innocent and satisfied. I'm still working through this, by the way; I've made very little progress over the last 26 years. And watching it again and again only seems to make it worse.

She also recently contributed a piece for Dossier, an arts magazine. They asked "cultural notables" to contribute a story about their first sexual experience. Miranda described how she was 17 (she said "I think [my mom] was surprised it had taken me so long."), and her boyfriend was a 27 year old grad student at UC Berkeley. He was so poor that he didn't have a bed, so they just did it on the floor. I love how she ends the piece:

We went out for a few months. It was an intense, formative time for me. I was thinking very hard about everything, including, but not only, feminism. One night I suggested we drive up to the hills overlooking the city. We parked and stood together on the edge of a cliff. I asked him to go down on me while I looked at the view. When he stood up again, I broke up with him.

Finally, when looking for pictures of Miranda July, I stumbled upon this. How great is this poster for "Me, You, and Everyone We Know"?!

This is the inside joke of all inside jokes: see the movie. 

P.S. Are we surprised at all that her parents were professors and writers...and that they founded North Atlantic Books -- a publisher of "alternative health, martial arts, and spiritual titles"?!