Friday 5ive- May 8, 2020

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a blog post about five things that caught my attention this week. It seems like every week is either a day or a month, nothing in between.

1)  We have decided that since we will be home, we should jazz up the balcony a little bit. We found these plants at a nearby Home Depot and they do brighten up our outdoor area. Now we just need the warm weather to stay. The bottom photo is the view we had from our balcony on Sunday night.

2)  We also made a stop at Costco, where we scored a 30 pack of toilet paper and 12 pack of paper towels. A swing by the meat department found it completely empty, and a sign limiting people to 3 packages of meat per person.

3)  Many of you know of my family's love of Peleton bikes. I'm so glad we have one, especially now that most gyms are closed. I was very excited to see the Peleton truck making a delivery to someone in the neighborhood, I know that Peleton has sold a lot of bikes in the past two months.

4)  Two shows that we like to watch have returned- Billions on Showtime, and Ozark on Netflix. Billions is about a hedge fund billionaire, played by Damien Lewis and his nemesis, a former US Attorney, now Attorney General of NY, played by Paul Giamatti. It's a very intense show, and there are a lot of moving parts. Frequently we look at each other and say, wait, who is that and what are they talking about? The other thing is that Paul Giamatti speaks very low and quietly, and you have to turn up the volume to hear him. 

Ozark is back for a third season, and we've heard it's the best one yet. Jason Bateman and Laura Linney play a couple who have gotten involved with laundering drug money for a Mexican cartel. Each year, they get in deeper and deeper. The acting is fantastic, and Julia Garner won an Emmy last year for her role as a tough, smart young woman who works for Jason Bateman. 

5) I finished one book, Jenny Colgan's Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend, which is perfect for fans of Bridget Jones' Diary. It's about a young London woman who goes from high society to living with four guys and cleaning their bathroom. It's funny and a little rough around the edges compared to Colgan's other books. My full review is here.

I'm in the middle of Colum McCann's Apeirogon, about two men, an Israeli and a Palestinian, who each lost a young daughter to violence. It's a remarkable, stunning novel and I am reading it slowly to ponder and savor it. The power of his words just knock me out. I can tell this will be one of my favorite books of the year. 

I hope you all stay safe, healthy and home.