HAPPY FRIDAY!
As you can probably tell from the headline, this newsletter has a pro-snow agenda. More on that below, but consider this your fair warning.
In any event, I feel immense gratitude this week and not just because of the snow. It’s a mostly because of the snow. But it’s also because of you. Thank you for being here and for reading. I love you. And I like you.
Gary Gulman’s new special Born on 3rd Base
I cannot tell a lie, this first one is not from this week. But I loved this so much I actually may end up watching it again this week, so it counts. Gary Gulman is a comedic genius and is just so fun to watch. If you haven’t watched his other comedy I HIGHLY recommend starting here, otherwise, do yourself a favor and watch his new one on Max. I won’t give anything away but there were a few moments related to shopping where Rachel and I looked at each other and said “has Gary Gulman been listening in on us? Could Gary Gulman please listen in on us?” Must. Watch.A few refreshing Emmys moments
I’m a sucker for big communal television events. And since the Olympics are not until this summer (who is taking me to Paris?), awards season is really scratching that itch at the moment. I was especially taken by this year’s Emmys, which I found surprisingly entertaining and much more thoughtful than other awards shows I’ve watched this year.
The classic cast reunions were sweet. The ceremony moved quickly. But most of all I was thrilled to see a refreshing amount of reality (or as real as Hollywood can get) both on the red carpet and on stage. Ayo Edebiri, for example, telling Laverne Cox that she didn’t “dream of nights like this” but rather of “dental insurance.” Beef creator Lee Sung Jin talking about having $1 in his bank account (relatable) and revealing the way personal experience with suicidal ideation influenced the show and praising the ways storytelling makes us feel seen and heard. I haven’t been touched by an awards show in a long time, but those moments are worth the watch.
Having great neighbors
One evening in the middle of this week I found myself suddenly and violently ill. I felt feverish, had chills, nausea and stomach pain. In short, I was laid the f*ck out. What I initially thought might be COVID turned out to be a pretty gnarly (yet thankfully swift-moving) norovirus situation. But when I couldn’t leave my house, my wonderful new neighbor left a COVID test and a jug of Pedialyte outside my door. I felt immense gratitude for her and life in New York. Thank you, neighbor!!SNOW! Snow. Snow!!!!!!
I recognize that it’s only mid-January, so I might take this back. But right now, after 700 days, I was so ready for snow. I love it. I welcome it. No snow for 700 days just felt goddamn apocalyptic, and I could not contain my excitement seeing the white stuff (turned eventual gray stuff) on the ground. In a workshop I went to last week we had a writing prompt that was just “winter.” This was before the snow, and I wrote a little something for it that I’m sharing with you here. Maybe it will inspire you to share your own wintry thoughts. Or maybe it will just make you annoyed. Either way, here it is:
Maybe I'm romanticizing but there used to be so much snow. When I was a kid, winter felt like one big snow storm. And I'm sure it wasn’t, and I'm sure our parents hated it, and I'm sure the women who I used to stare at walking to the subway in their fancy outfits and sneakers and wonder why they would ruin a perfectly good outfit with such an ugly pair of shoes hated it, too. But there was nothing like it. It felt like the only time of year where being a kid in the city kind of felt like being a kid anywhere else.
I always loved when something happened that stopped the usual flow of things, that proved that the systems we have in place like school and work and commitments are really just made up. It’s why I also love movies and shows that break the fourth wall. And so I loved a snow day because it felt like we were all having this secret experience at the same time that was nothing like our normal day to day life.
We would stay up late watching NY1 and waiting with bated breath to see if they would announce that our schools were closed. Usually I wouldn't make it late enough to find out, so I'd dutifully turn my pajamas inside out – a surefire way to ensure snow would come – and fall asleep, hoping to see the street blanketed in white stuff outside my 4th floor window once morning hit.
OK, that’s all my little snowflakes. Have warm, cozy weekends if you live in a cold place and cool, mellow weekends if you live in a warm place! Or both if you live in either one of those places. Have whatever kind of weekend you want to have!
Love,
Jamie AF