Category — Uncategorized

We finished Fleishman Is In Trouble this weekend. I’m glad we stuck with the show (it’s also a book) because the last two episodes were phenomenal. It’s about growing old and changing and wishing you were still the person you were when you were young, even though you want all of adulthood, too. While I don’t share Libby’s thoughts about life, she felt familiar to me, as if she were someone from my Israel trip or Hillel experience.

We followed the final episode with seeing old friends the next day. It was the group’s last Bar Mitzvah. Meaning the parade of B’nai Mitzvot started about a decade ago, and we’ve been steadily attending (or, one time, hosting) them every few months until today. It was the youngest child of the friend who married us, so while we’ll still have B’nai Mitzvot in our future — my friends still have younger kids, and I have cousins, etc. — it was the final one for this group. Next up is weddings.

Which feels like a weird fact. I am still so young. There was an article making the rounds last week about how we don’t feel our age. I definitely don’t. I feel like I’m barely an adult. Like we’re all still the same people we were 20+ years ago when we’d host dinner parties where most people would sit on the floor because we didn’t have enough furniture. When we’d nap on a Saturday afternoon because we had zero responsibilities, and then go out at night during an hour when I’m usually now in pyjamas. I am still that person at heart, even if I don’t see her when I look in the mirror.

Spending time with people who remind you who you are is nice.

March 3, 2020, was the first time I wrote about COVID. Back then, I didn’t know how much to worry.

It’s hard to gauge how much to worry. I don’t worry about the flu, and the flu is much more widespread. (Though I do get a flu shot yearly, so that may explain why I don’t worry about the flu.)

And I wondered if we may be stuck at home for a week! Or two! I have a note to myself in my bullet journal to purchase lemons in case this ever happens again. Because they last a long time and allow me to make many dishes. I clearly thought that this would be over in a week or two, and maybe we’d have a few years before the next pandemic.

But we’re three years in. And the world has moved on, except when it doesn’t move on. We’ve managed to stay safe by making no concessions with masking and vaccinations, though I no longer believe we’ll be able to dodge this forever, even if we don’t change anything we’re doing.

I guess on Friday, the wheel turns, and the next COVID year starts again.

I love a good chronology game. This one gives you five photos, and you have to guess the year they were taken, going solely on what people are wearing or the cars in the background. You get points depending on how close you are to the true answer. Even when I don’t score high, I enjoy seeing the results when they tell you when each picture was taken.

My high score so far is 1540, which feels low.

How did you do?

I read a really simple but game-changing article on Washington Post (that’s a gift link). It goes through the fact that people are willing to be kind to others in a way that they’re not kind to themselves, and the author suggests that we pause and ask ourselves what we need right now.

My eyes went over the words, backed up, and thought about them. I think many Gen Xers were raised on the messaging that we should suck it up and deal. I say that to myself all the time.

But I tried it the next time I hit a wall. What did I need right now? A cup of tea. A pause to read a chapter in a book. Permission to push something off my calendar. That’s what I needed. So that’s what I gave myself.

It’s a weird feeling — taking care of yourself.

Television feels like an all-or-nothing thing. Either we have too many things we’re interested in seeing, or there is zero that feels worth watching over reading a book. But right now, we’re at the start of a “too much we’re interested in” moment after a long dry spell.

We’re currently finishing Fleishman Is In Trouble, which I didn’t love at first, but which I’m glad I gave a chance because the later episodes are fantastic. And we’re watching Hello Tomorrow, which I love so much that my heart hurts.

Other things I want to see:

• Three Pines (out now)
• The Reluctant Traveler (February 24)
• Ted Lasso 3 (March 15)
• Schmiggadoon 2 (April 7)
• The Afterparty 2 (spring)
• Big Door Prize (spring)
• Empire of Light (movie)
• Ripley (no release date)
• Good Omens 2 (no release date)
• Moonflower Murders (no release date)
• The Other Two 3 (no release date)
• The Palace (no release date)

What are you excited to see or watching?