Friday 5ive- November 4, 2022

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. The weather has been glorious here this week, 70 degrees in the first of November is all right with me.

1)  Wendell Pierce is one my favorite actors, so I was excited to see him as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman on Broadway this week. I lucked out and scored a $35 rush ticket and got a great orchestra seat to see this magnificent production. Pierce was absolutely mesmerizing, and his interpretation of an iconic role in American theater will go down as legendary. You could hear a pin drop in the house during his powerful monologue. Sharon D. Clarke was his equal as his wife Linda, a proud woman who fiercely loves her husband. Everything about this production was fantastic. It was interesting how differntly this play resonated with me at my age now than it did when I read it in high school. I admit I had tears rolling down my face at the end of the show, and I wasn't the only one, I could hear sniffles all around me. This show is a must-see, and I would have gladly paid full price to see it.

2) After watching Matthew Perry's interview with Diane Sawyer last week, I got a ticket to see him interviewed by former Entertainment Weekly editor-in-chief Jess Cagle about his memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing at Town Hall on Wednesday. The discussion was fascinating (Cagle is a terrific interviewer), and Perry seemed more at ease and comfortable in this setting than with Sawyer. He also looked better in person I thought, other than his pants and socks were too short, which he joked about. He also joked when drinking his water saying "Vodka- that's an odd choice". Perry spoke of his twenty some-odd years he has spent in and out of rehabs, and the $9 million dollars he has spent on booze and drugs and rehabs trying to get sober. When Cagle asked him why he wrote the book now, Perry said that he finally feels secure enough in his sobriety to do it. He told of taking 1800 milligrams per day of opioids, a number that is unfathomable. He said he often felt three things throughtout his life that contributed to his problems- he felt needy, that he wasn't enough, and that he didn't matter. The crowd was made up of many millenials who began watching Friends during the pandemic, and they felt free to yell out Chandler's lines during the discussion. I started reading his book, and it is enlightening and well written. More on that next week.

3) Early voted began this week in NYC, and I voted on Tuesday night after work. The process couldn't have been easier, and the NYC Board of Elections did a great job making it run smoothly at my polling place. Tuesday is Election Day (why is it not a national holiday?), and if our democracy is to survive, we all have to play our part and vote. I hope you will. 

4)  I just watched the last few episodes of Netflix's Derry Girls, and I know I wrote about it a few weeks ago, but the three season series finale was so brillantly done it deserves another shout-out. This season concludes with the characters voting in a referendum on the Good Friday Agreement as to how Northern Ireland should be governed. It was hoped that this agreement would end the violence that plagued the country for years. There's even a special surprise guest at the end. Seriously, watch this series, you won't be sorry.

5)  I'm still on my nonfiction kick, reading Ann Hood's memoir Fly Girl about her years working as a TWA flight attendant during the anything-goes 1970's. The things the women in that job had to put up with would shock people today. Hood shares her experiences at the training school in Kansas, where the competition to get into the school was tougher than getting into Harvard. They had to learn everything about all the different types of aircraft they would be working on, and any small infraction could lead to being dismissed from school. Once they got their "wing" (singular, only pilots got to wear two wings on their lapel), they could exit their flight only to find a supervisor waiting for them just outside the jetway ready to weigh them to make sure they were under the maximum required weight or measure their skirt to make sure it wasn't too short or long. One of the most interesting things I learned was that for first class passengers, the flight attendants had to slice chateaubriand tableside, and toss salads in the aisle. Now you can barely get a bag of chips. Hood loved her time as a flight attendant (until the end), traveling the world and frequently able to take her parents with her. The experiences she shares in Fly Girl will make you nostalgic for a time when people dressed up in fancy clothes to fly as you look around the airport and see people looking as if they are going to a sleepover at a friend's house and it's bedtime. 

Have a safe, healthy week and don't forget to VOTE.

Friday 5ive- October 14, 2022

Welcome to the Friday 5ive,  a weekly-ish post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. As I look outside my window, it's a glorious autumn day, shining sun and temperatures in the 60s.

1)  I put a bag of Paul Newman's popcorn in the microwave and the bag burst open in the microwave. Luckily it was near the end of the popping process so there weren't unpopped kernels all over the place. If this is a new design where you can serve the popcorn right out of the bag, it appears to be a failure.

2)  I wrote out and mailed forty postcards this week, encouraging women to make a plan to vote. Thanks to Moms Rising for sending me the prepaid postcards with the addresses. I hope you have a plan to vote in this most important election this year, and if you want more information, go to MomsRising.org. 

3)  It's that time of year to get your flu shot. About ten years ago I got a bad case of the flu, and after that I have gotten my flu shot every year and have not had a problem since. I didn't even feel the shot go into my arm, that's how good Helen is. My husband and I both got our shots together, it's a fun date night (or rather, early date morning.)

4)  We have been waiting for the return of the third and final (say it ain't so) season of Derry Girls on Netflix. The show is a sitcom about a group of teenage friends and their families from Londonderry in Northern Ireland during the 1990's. I laugh so hard at this show, and Sister Michael, the school principal, is my favorite. Liam Neeson makes a great cameo in one episode as a policeman interrogating the group about a school break-in. He is hilarious and needs to do more comedic roles. 

5) In this week's reading, I eagerly dug into  an upcoming book by one of my go-to authors. Amy Poeppel has a new novel titled The Sweet Spot coming out in February of 2023. It's a funny, charming, sweet story about a three women who end up caring for a baby who is not theirs. One of the women is Melinda the ex-wife of the father of the baby (who dumped her for a younger woman, successful lifestyle guru  Felicity), one is Lauren, a artist whose works are being sold by Felicity, and the third woman is Olivia, who had an unfortunate interaction with a customer that led to her being fired by Felicity. The setting of Greenwich Village in NYC is another character, and all of the characters are so interesting and well-drawn (my favorite is Lauren's mother-in-law), this one is a perfect happy read. Put this one on pre-order now, it's a great Valentine's gift to yourself or Galentine's gift for your besties.

I hope you have a happy, safe, healthy week. Until next time.

Friday 5ive- June 24, 2022

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly-ish post featuring five things that caught my eye this week.

1)  We visited our home near Sarasota this week with friends and after a wonderful dinner at Casa Antica Ristorante where we had some truly delicious wines, we popped up to the rooftop bar at the ArtOvation Hotel.   They had a watermelon cocktail that was quite refreshing, a fantastic view of Sarasota, and no one fell into the pool.

The view from the rooftop bar 

2) My dear friend Kelly brought me a special gift- a vintage Tommy Hilfiger dress with a bookcase pattern and a matching belt. Could there be anything more appropriate for me? It's darling.

3) File this under "You Never Know What You'll Find On An NYC Street". I was walking to the bodega across the street from our apartment to pick up a forgotten dinner ingredient and I found this set of 15lb dumbells. If I could have carried them back to our apartment, I would have, but would I have been able to use them on Peloton strength workouts? Probably not.

4) When I returned from our trip to Florida, I had two book boxes waiting for me. The first was titled "Stories & Suspects- A Bantam Mystery Box" from Bantam publishers. It had five mystery/thriller books, a cookie from Carnegie Deli and a silk sleep mask from Brooklinen inside. This was a great surprise, I had no idea it was coming from Random House. I think I'll read Nonna Maria and the Case of the Missing Bride  by Lorenzo Carcarterra first. I'm in an Italy state of mind now.

The other box was from Book Club Girl to celebrate their podcast's second anniversary. I really enjoy listening to the podcast, hosted by Tavia Kowalchuk and Bianca Flores, where they interview authors and we get to hear an audio clip from the book. This season they had Lucy Foley discussing her bestselling The Paris Apartment, Vanessa Riley discussing Island Queen, and one of my favorites Jenny Colgan talking about The Bookshop on the Corner. This box had some terrific summmer swag including four fabulous books, a lightweight tote, a travel tumbler, and an outdoor blanket perfect for taking to the beach or park to lay out and read on. I'm going to read Piper Huguley's By Her Own Design first. It's a novel about a Black designer, the granddaughter of slaves, who designed Jackie Kennedy's wedding dress. I've had my eye on this one for awhile now. 

  5) I read one great book this week. Seamas O'Reilly's Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?, a memoir recounting his early childhood in Derry, Northern Island. Seamas was just seven years old when his mother tragically died of cancer, leaving her husband to raise their eleven children. You might think this is a sad story, and it is at times, but Seamas recounts some hilarous stories from his childhood that had me laughing out loud, and people asking me "What is so funny?" It really is a love letter to his strong, loving, funny, compassionate father whose abiding Catholic faith sustained him throught his life. If you liked the Netflix series Derry Girls, you will love Did Ye Hear Mammy Died. I loved it so much I sent a copy to my Mom for her birthday. (Shout-out to the river's end bookstore in Oswego, New York for getting the book to her in just a day and a half. They have the best customer service!) 

Stay safe and strong my friends.