Friday Five- Good Friday Edition

Welcome to the Friday Five, where I share five things that caught my attention this week.

1)  The flowers are finally in bloom in NYC. It made me smile to walk out of our apartment building and see these bright, beautiful tulips greeting me.

2)  My eyeglasses fell off a shelf and so I had to add a trip to Warby Parker to my errands to get them fixed. While I wasn't too thrilled with their customer service when I purchased my glasses, their customer service to get them repaired was quick and efficient. I waited less than five minutes for a optician to straighten those babies out. In the middle of their store is this huge round column, and at the top of the column are color-coordinated books, sans their dust jackets.

Warby Parker

3)  While I was walking the Upper East Side getting all my Easter items, I listened to the latest Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend podcast. This week's guest was Patton Oswalt, a comedian who right now is starring on NBC's comedy, A.P. Bio, which is hilarious. Oswalt has guested on so many TV shows (Parks & Recreation, Justified, Veep, the narrator on The Goldbergs), I can prett much guarantee you've seen him somewhere. I laughed so hard listening to him and Conan that my side literally hurt by the time I got home.

Conan O'Brien's podcast is https://teamcoco.com/podcasts

4)  The second episode of FX's limited series Fosse/Verdon aired this week. Sam Rockwell plays choreographer/director Bob Fosse and Michelle Williams plays Fosse's wife and partner, Gwen Verdon who inspired him, worked closely with him, and was betrayed by him, and they are both brilliant. This week's episode dealt with Fosse directing the movie Caberet, and we got deep into their relationship from the first meeting to their affair while he was married to someone else, and his affair while married to Gwen. Williams was amazing in a recreation of a dance sequence from the Broadway show Damn Yankees. Don't miss this one.  The link to the trailer for Fosse/Verdon is here.

5)  So many great books published on Tuesday, April 16th! Last week, I told you about Stephanie Evanovich's Under the Table (my review here) and Helen Ellis's Southern Lady Code (my review here). I read Irish novelist Sally Rooney's Normal People, which tells the story of two young people, a wealthy young lady and the son of her mother's housekeeper, who have an off-an-on relationship over the years. It's beautifully written, and it's hard to believe Rooney is just 28 years old.

I read Alafair Burke's The Better Sister in just a few hours because I could not put it down. When Chloe's lawyer husband is murdered, she and her estranged sister Nicky (and his previous wife) come together to protect Ethan, his son who the police believe to be a suspect. The are so many secrets here, and I gasped more than once as they were revealed. It's a great airplane/beach read .My reviews of the last two books will be up soon.

I wish you all a Happy Easter and Happy Passover.

Southern Lady Code by Helen Ellis

Southern Lady Code By Helen Ellis
Published by Doubleday ISBN 9780385543897
Hardcover, $22, 224 pages

In 2016, I read American Housewife. a hilarious collection of short stories by Helen Ellis  I literally laughed out-loud at the stories of women with neighbor problems, reality show aspirations, book club issues and more. Her women get things done, and take no prisoners doing it. Given what happened since 2016, Helen Ellis was a little bit ahead of her time.

Her latest book is Southern Lady Code, a book of essays that is just as hilarious, though it is nonfiction. She opens with a story Making a Marriage Magically Tidy, where she confesses to not being the neatest housekeeper. When her patient husband asks her a year into their marriage to please keep the dining room table clean, as it is the first thing he sees when he comes home, Helen fears he wants a divorce.

She calls her mother in Alabama, who tells her that she married a saint and she needs to clean the damn table! Her mother is a frequent commentator in these stories, beginning her sentences with "Helen Michelle" followed by advice only a Southern mother can give. (Side note- my middle name is also Michelle, and after reading this I'm going to insist that my mother begin calling me "Diane Michelle" in a drawling Southern accent.)

The essay that I now consider a classic is The Topeka Three-Way which begins at a dinner party for three couples where the host asks "Have I ever told you my Topeka Three-Way Story?" How a person cannot want to hear what comes next is unfathomable to me. It begins on an airplane with a man who asks to switch seats with our host so he can sit next to a beautiful woman.  People were staring at me on the beach as I guffawed reading this.

Many of the essays deal with being married, and in How to Stay Happily Married, Helen shares some very sage advice for wives:

"Don't let him see you get out of an athletic bra or into a pair of control-top pantyhose. Don't wear eyeglasses on a leash. Don't lotion your elbows in front of him in bed. Don't remake the bed after your husband has made it."

She talks about her Grandpapa who insisted she write thank-you notes and "carried grudges like handkerchiefs". When she references Julia Sugarbaker's "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" rant, I could see and hear Dixie Carter giving that speech on Designing Woman. 

We learn that "a hair bow clip is a Southern lady's tiara". Ellis says that she is "not a dresser-upper" but she is "put together" which in Southern Lady Code means "you can take me to church or red Lobster and I'll fit in fine." You can fill a notebook with all the new phrases you'll learn.

I could go on and on (and if you should ask me what to read, you will hear more about Southern Lady Code), but suffice it to say that this is wonderful book to give all your girlfriends, sisters, cousins, your hairdresser, favorite grocery store cashier, anyone you truly like. Then you can all get together, make Helen's grandmother's favorite things (cheese logs, onion dip, mail-order ham), drink wine, laugh, and take turns reading aloud from your post-it note stuffed copy of Southern Lady Code.  Now that's a party!

If you like David Sedaris, Sloane Crosley, and Laurie Notaro, put Helen Ellis on your must-read list.

Friday Five- April 12, 2019

The Friday Five rolls on with five things that caught my attention. This week was a two-part one as well- we went back home to central New York for the weekend and returned to NYC.

Dinosaur fossil

1) We attended a fundraiser for Catholic Charities, which was held at the American Museum of Natural History near Central Park. I'd never been to an evening event there, and it was pretty cool. The cocktail hour was held in the main foyer, where the huge dinosaur fossil stands guard. Then we descended the stairs where the dinner was held under the Great Blue Whale model suspended from the ceiling.

The tables under the Great Blue Whale

2) We made a quick trip home to Auburn, NY where we attended a very successful fundraiser for our sons' Catholic School, St. Joseph School. It was so wonderful to see family and friends! We began our visit with dinner at my husband's favorite area restaurant, Rosalie's Cucina in Skaneateles. We shared their delicious warm spinach salad, and my husband had his favorite veal dish, while I had the Farfalle Con Pollo, which is fabulous and filling. At the end, they brought out their Banana Budino dessert, which is heavenly for banana lovers. Our dinner companions were a joy as well.

Banana Budino

3) On Wedneday, I attended a matinee performance of Broadway's Hillary & Clinton, starring the always amazing Laurie Metcalf (The Conners) and John Lithgow (The Crown). The show takes places in 2008 in a hotel room in New Hampshire during the Democratic primary. It also takes place in an alternate universe, so things are slightly different. The show is fantastic, and the performances outstanding. It is hilarious one moment, and heartbreaking the next. At its core, it is about a marriage, and it's very poignant. I highly recommend it.

4) I watched Mrs. Wilson on PBS' Masterpiece. The story revolves around Alison who, while working as an typist for MI5 during WWII, meets the charismatic Alexander Wilson. They fall in love, marry and have two sons. Alex is a spy for Britain, so he is gone for long periods of time. When he dies at home in the early 1960's, Alison discovers that she is not his only wife. Her journey to find out the truth about his life drives this fascinating story. An interesting piece of the story is that Ruth Wilson (The Affair, Jane Eyre) plays her own grandmother Alison in this three-part series. Again, I highly recommend it.

5) There are two amazing books publishing on Tuesday, April 16th. I got to read  an early copy of Helen Ellis' essay collection, Southern Lady Code, which is laugh-out loud hilarious. While reading about her adventures in NYC, I felt like I was right there along with her, and I can hear her mother's Alabama voice in my head drawling "Helen Michelle" and then sharing her bits of Southern wisdom with her. If you need a laugh (or two or three), pick this up next Tuesday. 

The other book I read was Stephanie Evanovich's novel, Under the Table, about a private chef who left her husband behind in the midwest to move to NYC with her sister. Her newest client is a millionaire who knows technology but is socially clueless. Zoey offers to tutor Tristan, and their friendship turns into something much more. Evanovich's books are always sexy and sassy, and who knew that a game of golf could be so hot. If you need a spring break read, put this one in your tote bag. 

I hope you had a great week, let me know in comments what you found interesting.

Friday Five- March 29,2019

Welcome to the Friday Five, where I talk about five things that caught my attention this week.

1) First up on the list, I like to listen to podcasts when I do my four mile beach walk when in Longboat Key. An NPR This American Life podcast from 2010 titled Petty Tyrant was riveting. It tells the story of the head of maintenance for the Schnectady, NY school district who terrorized the people who worked for him and how he got away with it for so long. It's a crazy story and you can find it here.

2) I volunteer at the Book Cellar, a used bookstore located in the basement of the Webster Library branch of the New York Public Library. (Our proceeds benefit branch libraries of the NYPL.) All of the items we sell are donated, and sometimes we find something really great. In one of our recent donations, we found a copy of Hamilton, the Revolution, a book about the phenomonal Broadway production. What made this so special is that is is signed by Liin-Manuel Miranda. A few weeks ago we discovered a signed copy of George W. Bush's book Portraits of Courage. We're on a roll!

3) I went to see a revival of Lanford Wilson's play Burn/This on Broadway. Keri Russell (whom I loved in TV's The Americans) and Brandon Uranowitz (whom I saw in An American In Paris and Falsettos on Broadway- he was wonderful in both) play NYC roommates whose third roommate died in a boating accident. When the dead man's larger-than-life brother barrels his way into their apartment, he causes problems when he won't go away. Adam Driver (nominated for an Academy Award this year for Blackk Klansman) plays the brother and he will probably get a Tony nomination. He was astounding, playing all shades of a very complex character.  It's only on Broadway through July, you can find more info here.  

4) Season two of Good Girls (Monday at 10pm on NBC) is so addictive. Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Mae Whitman (Parenthood) and Retta (Parks & Recreation) play three Detroit suburban women who rob a grocery store out of desperation, only to find that the store was laundering money for a group of thugs. They get themselves in deep in season one, and in season two each episode just gets more and more tense. My stomach is in knots (in a good way!) the entire time I watch it. Retta plays a mom who used the money to pay for her young daughter's kidney transplant and she just breaks my heart as she struggles with the morality of her actions. If you liked Breaking Bad, give this one a try here. 

5) I read two wonderful books this week- Elinor Lipman's Good Riddance is about a young woman who throws her mother's yearbook away in the recycling bin and what happens when her neighbor picks it up and creates a podcast out of it. It's funny and clever and pure Lipman. 

I also read Helen Ellis' book of essays Southern Lady Code, about her adventures living in NYC (in my neighborhood). Helen is from Alabama, and she recounts the words of wisdom her mother gives her about things a southern lady says and does. I loved Helen's last book, a short story collection titled American Housewife that is demented and delightful, and Southern Lady Code lives up to that one in laughter. (Full reviews on both to follow.) 

What did you do this week? Let me know in comments.