Lisa Jakub's Blog, page 8

Never enough: growing up airbrushed

I’ve been going through old photos to use in my bookand I just found this headshot fromwhen I was 16 years old.

The blue pen marks indicate the parts of me that should be airbrushed.

That’s the world I grew up in.

Even at 16, I had to be fixed, airbrushed and prettied up. I was never quite good enough as I was.

Now, when I look back at that time, I see a girl who had glowingskin and the ability to exist solely on Doritos while still having a thigh gap.

At 35, that thigh gap is long gone, but you k...

The freedom to fail

I’ve been thinking about vulnerability lately.

I suspect that’s because this blog just passed one million views, I’m working with my editor on my bookand recently did a reading of a chapter for an audience of about 100 people. All this is wonderful and I’m so grateful but it also kind offeels like standing naked in front of a football stadium.

Therefore, I’ve been thinking about what it means to put yourself out there, letting yourself be seen for the truth of who you are, and standing courageo...

Farewell to Robin Williams: a thank you note

Robin Williams died today.

It seems surreal to write that.

But since writing is the way I process the incomprehensible — I find myself writing.

Everyone is tweeting and facebooking and calling into radio shows about what a great talent Robin was.

Yeah. He was. But that wasn’t what I adoredabout him. It was the fact that he was an incredibly kind human being.

When I was 14 years old, I went on location to film Mrs. Doubtfire for five months, and my high school was not happy. My job meant an increas...

Viva L’Italia

“If we get married, we should have our wedding here because it’s so romantic.”

I choked on the chocolate chip gelatoI was shoving in my face.

“Dude – you can’t just say shit like that.”

(I’ve always known how to ruin a moment.)

But the thing was – I loved him exactly because he’d say shit like that. He was confident and authentic and didn’t play games.

We’d been dating for all of 3 months – but we’d been friends for 5 years before that. And suddenly one day, I couldn’t imagine life without him. He...

Book news!

Apparently, this is what a signed book deal looks like

I’m thrilled to announce that the wonderful folks over at Beaufort Books will be publishing my memoir, You Look Like That Girl. It will be available on shelves and as an ebook infall of 2015.

Thanks to all of you for reading, sharing and supporting my writing. I was so nervous about putting my words out there, but you have given me the confidence to pursue this crazy publishing dream. I can’t thank you enough.

The book will be very similar t...

Clubbing baby actors

I just wanted to fit in.

Desperately.

All 15-year-olds just want to fit in. They skulk around like those fish on the ocean floor who can alter their skin color to match the rocks. That was me –trying to blend like my survivaldepended on it.

But Mrs. Doubtfire was still in theaters, breaking all kinds of box office recordsand 20th Century Fox wasputting two-page ads in TheHollywood Reporter thanking everyone for buying a movie ticket. Blending was getting harder to do. ButL.A. was my life now and...

Panic attacks, social anxiety and other perks of being me

At age 13, battling a panic attack just before a press conference for the movie Matinee, at Universal Studios

Recently, I did an interviewand we discussed anxiety disorders. I realized that although I’ve written about that topic inother places, I’ve not addressed it muchon this blog.

It can be challenging totalk about panic attacks and social anxiety. We’ve been taught that it’s either nerdy (think someone with high-waisted pants, sucking on an inhaler at a party) or it’s just regularstress tha...

Childhood choices: is it okay to recruit a 9-year old?

Jaden Newman is 9 years old. She also just became the youngest person ever recruited by a college program.

Jaden plays basketball. I’m no talent scout but I saw a 30-second video of her playing – and she’s damn good. Clearly, the University of Miami thinks so, too.

While I understand why many people arecelebrating this fantastic achievement, it still makes me squirm a little. I’m not sure that we should be celebrating colleges recruiting 4th graders.

It’s wonderful that Jaden is such a talented,...

The things we leave behind

The smell of humidity and rot was strong in the air. But it was a pleasant smelling rot – the gentle softening and giving way of enormous trees to a million tiny insectsand bacteria. Butterflies sliced zigzags through the air and landed on sun-warmed rocks to splay outtheir saffronwings. Branches strewn out on the path suddenly lifted their serpentine heads and lazily slithered into the brush.

What my Dad wanted for his 60th birthday was to go hiking with me. I’m not sure, as a daughter, what...