Who's RAD? Hannah Friedman!

And we're back from a semi-vacation from RAD with debut author Hannah Friedman, a very funny young woman and recent Yale graduate (TBM oozes jealousy) who has chronicled her teen years in a memoir titled, Everything Sucks: Losing My Mind and Finding Myself in a High School Quest for Cool.

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Random Q&A:

What color best describes your personality and why?
Is Rainbow Sherbert a color? I love all those swirly patterns... I'm a huge fan of art in all of its forms, and I like to fill my days with as much reading, writing, music-making, and window-shades-closed boogying as possible. I'm a mess of contradictions and can be indecisive in addition to passionate about creating and learning, so I like the idea that I'm more than one color wrapped into one.

Describe yourself in 3 words.
I am Hannah.

If you had a t-shirt that could say anything (as in printed on it), what would it say?
Flagrant Self Promotion

Complete the sentence: The last thing that ever crossed my mind was ___.
…I should probably answer those fun blog questions instead of continuing to sit here painting my toe-nails sparkly blue. Hey, is my favorite color sparkly blue? Remember that retainer I had that was sparkly blue? Who designs sparkly blue retainers...?

If you had a superpower, what would it be?
It's a tossup between invisibility and the power to freeze time. If I get a Harry Potter-esque invisibility cloak that I can share with my friends then I'd probably go with that one. Lots of mischief to be made. On the other hand, I don't think I'd ever have a problem meeting writing deadlines if I could freeze the clock. Hmm…and here comes that indecision again.

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the guest blog:

Hello all! So here's the deal: my book includes a live monkey, a dead friend, sex, drugs, SATs, a national scandal, a diet disaster, and all the rest of that fantastic awkwardness that makes our teenage years so deliciously angst-ridden. I wrote this book because it wasn't around for me to read it. It includes everything I wish I had known growing up but was too afraid to ask about.

I knew all about perfect rich girls with designer purses and cocaine habits from sexy movie and TV portrayals of teenagers who are played by 26 year old 80 lb. actresses, but I didn't need to hear about those girls. I wanted to hear about the girl who was so nervous about her first kiss that she nearly fell over, and the girl who felt like such a freak she was sure she'd never fit in anywhere, the girl who pretended, who worried, who wondered about the purpose of education and her place in the world and how to shave your pubes without getting those gross little red bumps. And I didn't find that girl in any of the books I read. So I wrote this one.

Some things you might be wondering about: Amelia the monkey is still alive (mostly) at the ripe old age of 42. Her vision is probably that of an old woman wearing sunglasses through an evening fog, but she still manages to get around spryly enough to hide behind doorways and lunge out at my toes whenever I am carrying something particularly heavy/spiky/hot.

What's next for me? Well, I'm glad you asked. Because to be perfectly honest I'm f***ing terrified. All my college friends have these fancy "real jobs" with "real paychecks" and some sort of magical "health insurance" dealie where you get your anti-depressants and eyeglasses for free. Sometimes I feel like it's something I should look into. But another part of me longs for the freedom of the artist, and entertains the ridiculous notion that sometime soon I'll get paid gobs of money (gobs of chocolate or gobs of kittens would also be acceptable,) to sit around squeezing out my ideas. To that end, I encourage you to check out some of my youtube experimenting, and possibly even get involved with video collaborations! It's a very exciting interactive creative platform which has allowed me to do what I love without the aggravation of going into cold sweats before I enter an audition room... seriously, just check it out. I'm kind of funny.

Please do let me know if you guys have any questions. You can reach me at writinghannah@me.com, and if you like the book I encourage you to write an Amazon.com review, because otherwise in order to get enough money to move out of my parent's basement I'm going to have to go to law school or something. And seriously, would even a large gob of kittens (which I would estimate to be approximately 300 kittens,) soothe the trauma of having to write constitutional law papers instead of hilariously candid and self-indulgent memoir chapters temporarily titled things like "the verge of virginity"??? You tell me. Really, tell me. Go to writinghannah.blogspot.com. And buy the book while you're at it. Thanks so much for your support.

Much love & laughter,

Hannah Friedman

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Well, I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did, and I hope you visit Hannah online at her website: http://hannahfriedman.com/, her blog: http://www.writinghannah.blogspot.com/, or Twitter: http://twitter.com/writinghannah. And don't forget to check out her Newsweek article that I'm sure all teens nearing college decisions will appreciate.

And, of course, don't forget to read Hannah's memoir, Everything Sucks, 'cause it's true, lots of things do.