This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Montclair chapter.
We all have things that we love. When I find things that I love, I become really invested and passionate about them. I also feel that it’s important to share these interests because you may just find you help someone else discover their own new obsession! Being that I have too many random loves for different things, I decided to narrow it down to one of my main ones: media (or all things film, television, music, books, etc). Below are three sections of my current media-related obsessions that hopefully you too will find interest in!
A Movie, A Podcast, A Newsletter, and A YouTube Channel To Check Out
(Categorized by three of my Favorite Female Celebrities)
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence is my favorite young Hollywood actress right now. It’s not just because she graced the December issue of Vogue with such beauty and sincerity but because she’s just taking the industry by storm and I absolutely praise her for her down-to-earth, talented, humorous, and overall good qualities. Even though the very trilogy that jumpstarted her career (The Hunger Games) has just come to an end, her career is certainly no where close to fading. From the same director that brought you the J.Law we love in Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, coming out this Christmas is her next starring role in the new film Joy. And from what the trailers gives away, it looks like this may be a performance no one should miss.
Lena Dunham
A few months ago Lena Dunham and her best friend/co-producer, Jenny Konner, debuted their monthly newsletter, Lenny Letter. Lenny covers topics including feminism, style, health, politics, friendship and more – and it’s really worth the read. She has featured written pieces from well-known women like Emily Ratajkowski and Jennifer Lawrence, who recently wrote a Lenny piece that went pretty viral as she covered the wage-gap between men and women in Hollywood. Another thing of Lena’s to check out that I’m currently loving is her podcast series that aired in October called Women of the Hour with Lena Dunham. So far, the series is broken up into 3 episodes split between Friendship, Body, and Love & Sex with additional interviews with respectable female celebrities, like Emma Stone and Jemima Kirke. Lastly in all things Lena Dunham, If you’re a GIRLS fan like me, it was recently announced that Season 5 will be airing on HBO on February 21.
Karlie Kloss
Finally, if you haven’t checked out the YouTube channel of the gorgeous and sweet American model/NYU Student Karlie Kloss, I totally recommend it. Her channel, called Klossy, shows behind-the-scenes personal shorts and other fun videos. I genuinely enjoy viewing her videos because they’re a fun, relatable, and a creative spin on the life of not just a model but a genuine human being.
Four Enlightening Reads That Are *Mostly Worth the Read
(*If interest applies)
Eat Pretty
Eat Pretty by Jolene Hart is a “Nutrition for Beauty” book that I recently purchased after a quick scan in Urban Outfitters. I’m definitely not a diet book buyer and I wouldn’t necessarily categorize this as a diet book but more as a lifestyle book. I’ve recently become interested in creating a more internally and externally nutritious lifestyle for myself and this book really inspires and provides guidance to help you develop a clean body inside that shows on the outside. This book really emphasizes the saying, “You are what you eat” and it doesn’t highlight temporary changes but practices how to make lifetime changes with not only eating habits but stress management, hormonal balance, and mindful living in general. Jolene Hart also has a website, beautyiswellness.com, where she blogs about health, lifestyle, and staying grounded.
Read This If You Want to Take Great Photographs
If you’re not planning on getting into photography anytime soon then you can just skip this obsession of mine but this is another book I shamelessly grabbed at U.O. Read This If You Want to Take Great Photographs by Henry Carroll is a simple photography book (if the title doesn’t already give it away) about the fundamentals of composition, exposure, light, lenses, and other important techniques. Being a Film minor, I use my Nikon camera for cinematography but after feeling like I got that down pat, I thought I should probably start using my camera for it’s full capabilities. Though I love snapping pictures on my iPhone, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to develop a deeper skill in a new craft and this book is uncomplicated yet informative enough to really help you learn to do so.
Sick in the Head
This is a good one. Sick in the Head by Judd Apatow (comedian, producer, writer extraordinaire) is a collection of intimate and funny of conversations he’s had over the past thirty years with some of the most famous names in comedy. These celebrities include, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Stewart, Louis CK, Chris Rock, Jimmy Fallon, Lena Dunham, and a lot more. It’s enlightening, comical and definitely a great read for men and women.
Elite Daily
Lately, I’ve been completely spamming my Facebook friends with shared articles from this online blog. But I’m sorry, I can’t help it. This site posts some seriously relatable pieces and if you haven’t checked some of them out, you really should. From motivation to love, life to humor, Elite Daily really covers it all. The most recent motivating piece I read was called The Law of Attraction: 30 Ways You Can Attract What You Dream Of written by Kylie Kennedy.
Mellow Tunes For Perfectly Content Background Music
(Brought to you by Apple Radio)
What comes with winter and the colder weather is a new vibe. Winter is the season for curling up and getting cozy. And lately, the background music I’ve been enjoying around my apartment has been sweet, mellow tunes that really compliment this internally warm and externally cold time. When I’m reading or writing, enjoying breakfast or dinner, studying or simply just working around the apartment, this type of music really gives me that rustic cozy cabin on a snow white day or loving winter in a coffee shop type of feel and I really dig it. By mellow I more or less just mean some happy tunes to play in the background that add some contentedness to your day. Now I know everyone has different phases and tastes in music but if you’re connecting to what I’m saying, I recommend tuning into these “radios” on Apple Radio (which is what I use) or I’m sure Pandora or Spotify will do too! My current stations include: Seaside (The Kooks) Radio, Chris & Thomas Radio, New Slang (The Shins) Radio, Jack Johnson Radio, Mumford & Sons Radio and Mary Jane’s Last Dance (Tom Petty) Radio.