Mary Elizabeth Williams - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Dot-com urban mom.I'm a journalist and author whose byline has appeared in the NY Times, Time Out, the NY Observer, Salon.com, and other places. I'm also the culture critic for PRI's new morning show, , "The Takeaway." My book, "Gimme Shelter: True Tales from the Bubble," will be published by Simon & Schuster in early 2009. If you want the short version, pick up "Not Quite What I Was Planning," from the editors of Smith. Or just pick it up anyway.I also host Table Talk , the discussion area of Salon.com and frankly one of most enjoyable places on the web -- come visit me there!My own site is: maryelizabethwilliams.net , and I do most of my blogging at LiveJournal . Stop by and critique my design choices.I live in the furthest reaches of New York City with my family.Get MySpace Layouts from nUCLEArcENTURy .COM OR create your own using MySpace profile editor

My Interests

Pascal's wager. Occam's razor. The sword of Damocles. Foucault's pendulum. Zeno's paradox. Stendhal syndrome. Watching Schrodinger's cat play with string theory.

I'd like to meet:

The Beatles. The Rutles. The Parents. The Fockers. The Feebles. The Press. Your maker.And him .

Music:

Ella Fitzgerald and Justin Timberlake. U2 and Amalia Rodriguez. Squeeze and Lester Young. Sondheim and Coltrane. I am currently in the throes of deep girl love for Amy Winehouse.

Movies:

The Third Man. Rushmore. Local Hero. Sexy Beast. The Apartment.I've seen a lot of movies in my life and you can't make me like Godard, Chaplin, GWTW, or Citizen Kane.

Television:

30 Rock. Battlestar Galactica. Reruns of The Odd Couple.In a just world, there would be a 24 hour a day Arrested Development channel.

Books:

Victorian era Brits who wrote doorstop-weight tomes. Russians who did likewise. If you can injure somebody with it, I've read it.

Heroes:

Anyone who works and has kids and doesn't melt down at least once a day.

My Blog

July punditry alert!

I'll be on Court TV again this morning at 11.30 ET to discuss Phil Spector: the man, the legend, the wigs.Lessons I'm learning on the way: Blink less, close mouth more.
Posted by Mary Elizabeth Williams on Fri, 27 Jul 2007 04:19:00 PST

Harry Potter yes, Robin Williams no

Two quick bylines last week:My review of License to Wed for Salon, and my prediction for Harry Potter, for same.Pleasepleaseplease let Harry be okay....
Posted by Mary Elizabeth Williams on Mon, 09 Jul 2007 09:25:00 PST

Another punditry alert!

I'll be back on Court TV Wednesday morning, on Best Defense, talking about Phil Spector.Two weeks ago, I got to the studios as Paris Hilton was being sprung from the pokey for a short-lived breath of ...
Posted by Mary Elizabeth Williams on Mon, 18 Jun 2007 07:58:00 PST

Thought for the day

If you don't believe in evolution, if the God you worship in moves in such unsubtle ways you're willing to ignore scientific evidence of even more elegant, amazing design, you really shouldn't be al...
Posted by Mary Elizabeth Williams on Mon, 04 Jun 2007 06:37:00 PST

My "Heroes" wrapup

For Salon is up now.There were some plotholes and trite epiphanies, sure, but well, I'm a sucker for the show anyway, and there was a lot to love....
Posted by Mary Elizabeth Williams on Tue, 22 May 2007 10:32:00 PST

Best Falwell reaction story

Because I think person we really wanted to hear from was Tinky Winky.Eh oh, look who's dead.
Posted by Mary Elizabeth Williams on Wed, 16 May 2007 09:56:00 PST

My "30 Rock" wrapup

By the hammer of Thor! It was in Salon.
Posted by Mary Elizabeth Williams on Tue, 01 May 2007 09:58:00 PST

Kurt Vonnegut's and mine

Hello world. I'm proud to offer my interpretation of my asshole. Kudos to Spitznagel, for encouraging us to look in a completely different direction than our usual navel gazing....
Posted by Mary Elizabeth Williams on Mon, 30 Apr 2007 08:31:00 PST

Another reason to write today

I figure if I say it out loud and online enough, I can't wuss out. I've been thinking lately how lucky I am to have a home and to be able to write a book about the experience of obtaining it, and it s...
Posted by Mary Elizabeth Williams on Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:12:00 PST

Sorry, Gawker

I loved you on the whole Eric Schaeffer thing. But as a resident of the esteemed neighborhood myself, I've got to say:Seaman and Cumming is HILARIOUS....
Posted by Mary Elizabeth Williams on Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:22:00 PST