i feel like absolute garbage today but was still able to enjoy the cinematic masterpiece Laura Dern at the Car Wash pic.twitter.com/ctva6miPSa

— Matt Erspamer (@erspamer_matt) September 5, 2019

Last week I read an interview with Laura Dern I considered covering in which she talked about the trials of being a single mom. She has son Ellery, 17, and daughter Jaya, 14, with her ex Ben Harper. Laura said something cryptic about it. She said “On the hard days, it’s stressful and there is too much going on as a single parent—and it can be hard to carve out a minute for yourself. I have never had anybody else bully me in my single parenting life.” Is she hinting that her ex was controlling about her parenting? Is that an issue they had? I don’t know. I skipped it because people generally don’t care about her and there was a lot to parse. This story is more fun though. Laura posted an Instagram story in which she was super enthusiastic about going to the car wash. I’ve posted that above [via The Cut] and here’s a partial transcript.

Do I love a car wash. I get so excited. Nothing makes me happier. I think this is the car wash that I came [to] with my grandma when I was little. Honestly my favorite thing is watching the car get washed. That’s fantastic, they’re so beautiful.

I’m sort-of like that about getting ice cream, especially when I find a new place which makes its own. (That happened just last month!) I remember it being such a treat to go out for ice cream when I was a kid, similar to what Laura is saying, and plus I love ice cream. So I try to get my son to go to the ice cream shop with me as often as possible. Also it’s worth paying more for a smaller portion so I don’t eat the whole pint. (The Haagen Dazs crispy trio layers with coconut, caramel and chocolate is amazing. NOT the one with white chocolate.)

We actually don’t have any car washes in my area which vacuum your car for you. I mean the ones which will vacuum your car quickly before running it through the wash, similar to the car wash on Breaking Bad and the one which Laura is using. I’m googling this now so I can find one. There’s a car wash about an hour from me which does this. I live in the sticks so I have to drive to do a lot of things, but at least there’s no traffic here, it’s quite safe and you can always find parking. Now I have another thing to look forward to this weekend. I didn’t know I wanted to get a car wash, but Laura sold me on it. I’m going to dinner and then we’ll get ice cream after at the new place!

photos credit: Avalon.red