Very often my “stuff I love” posts are about anything and everything, but for this one I’m focusing on entertainment.

Maigret

I gotta admit, I was never a Rowan Atkinson fan but I absolutely loved him in this show. It is wonderfully done, about a French detective in the 50s solving cases. The entire show is in English (even though they are all French, which somehow, I also found charming) and the set design and stories will keep you interested.

Amos Lee’s Mission Bell

I was introduced to this one from my friend Katie (a musician and voice-over talent who I adore) and her husband Jim (musician and also someone I adore) and I could not stop humming the songs to myself after I left their house. I picked up the CD and it now accompanies me in the studio when I’m painting. Amos Lee is very much a poet, which I love.

Joans Brothers’ Happiness Begins

Okay, ya’ll, I’m not the target audience for this type of music (or am I? why typecast myself?) but I really enjoyed this album. (And I’m old school like that. I still call them albums.)

The songs are great, both pop-inspired catchy and introspective satisfying. I also have one playing in the studio with me while I paint.

Lauren Daigle’s Look Up Child

I so adore this CD and find this music to be inspiring and souful and (for me) tear-worthy. These songs make me cry, but only in the best way.

Elinor Lipman’s On Turpentine Lane

I’ve adored Elinor Lipman’s writing for a long, long time. In this world, we need smart, funny voices that can help us look at the world differently and allow us to take ourselves less seriously.

Lipman has been a favorite author of mine for evah! She’s on my “Last Supper List” even though I’ve met and talked to her (and most of the people on my list aren’t.)

This book is a romantic comedy that will give you a break from this crazy, over-scheduled world, and allow you to just relax and laugh a bit.