Here’s something to be happy about this week: Better Things is back and better than ever, thanks in large part to creator Pamela Adlon, who keeps it so real for GenX women. Photographer Deanna Dikeman photographed her parents waving goodbye every time she left after a visit, over the course of 22 years, and the results are breathtakingly beautiful. Unexpected items to stock up on - in case of a (gulp) quarantine. This ad from Knix entitled “Age Doesn’t Matter” shows models of all ages, shapes and sizes and we are here for it. Sometimes being on the receiving end of an apology leaves us feeling awkward. For anyone who wonders how Lloyd Dobler’s life turned out. Some invented words for living as a woman in a man’s world. Elizabeth Warren dropped out, but maybe we’ll be ready for a woman President in 2152.
Obsessed: Life in the Time of Coronavirus
(Image via Grace Church)
I’m writing this from the Delta Sky Lounge at New York’s La Guardia Airport, where I am waiting to board a flight to Orlando, so I can get a Lyft to Winter Haven in order to meet up with my husband to spend the next few days with our son and his college baseball team as they play ball through their spring break. Yay? I mean, look at me all fancy pants in the Delta Sky Lounge! Naturally, I used a Clorox wipe on the table and seat before I parked myself as far away from other people as possible. Oh, look, there’s a teenage girl with a mask hanging half off her chin while she uses tongs to place food on her plate from the breakfast buffet bar. So many people touching those tongs. Surely, that half a Klonopin I took in the car over here will kick in any minute now.
These are weird times, for sure, as we have been discussing quite thoroughly in TueNighters. This sense of dread hangs over us as we wonder if we’ll be like Japan or like Italy? Watching the smattering of school closings in the New York area feels like a game of musical chairs. And yet...people are out at restaurants, at airports, clearing the shelves of Target and Costco.
On the bright side, I’ve packed two great books I’ve been excited to read: Dear Edward and The Women in Black. The latter is blurbed by Hilary Mantel saying, “The book I most often give as a gift to cheer people up.” I think we all could use that right now. And later today I’ll get to give my college kid a big hug, after a tough time on the pitching mound at yesterday’s game. And then we’ll all Purell.
—Karen Gerwin
TueNight 10: Barbara Rushkoff
Selfie Barbara on the left, embroidered Barbara on the right
Age: “Old” as my kid says. Actual: 58. Feels like: 12 on a good day.
Basic Bio: Barbara Rushkoff is a former ’zine editor (Plotz), fact-checker (People) and music writer. Her latest project is under the guise of yr_resting_stitchface on Instagram where she embroiders people who have made a creative impact on her life.
Beyond the Bio: “I’m a perpetual late bloomer, so having a kid in my early 40s made a lot of sense. I live in a small town just outside of NYC, where I am pretty sure no one cleans to post punk music or remembers most of the people I'm embroidering. I recall that time in my life when music was so interesting and new and people connected with each other through live shows, record stores and making mixed tapes for each other. I miss that. Mid-life crisis through music and memory? Maybe. But I’m enjoying the people I’m connecting with on this new level.”
What Makes You a Grown Ass Lady: “Acceptance. Just accepting where I am right now, and really truly not giving a fuck about what other people think — but not in a rude or mean way. I’m confident in my decisions — both in life and fashion (I wear overalls a lot and I AM OKAY WITH THAT). I trust my gut when it comes to my daughter and am honest and loving with her about life. I have really dialed down my own emotions and anxiety (thanks therapy!) to be the best mom/wife I can be.”
1. On the nightstand: Clothes Clothes Clothes Music Music Music Boys Boys Boys by Viv Albertine. Also dry eye drops, and an old clock radio because the new ones are too bright for me. #oldlady
2. Can’t stop/won’t stop: Being interested in new music
3. Jam of the minute: “New Magic Wand” by Tyler the Creator and the album The Official Body by Shopping
4. Thing(s) I Miss: Collagen, finding vintage gems at thrift stores, New York circa the ’80s, my best friends who live overseas
5. ’80s crush: Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs, both in looks and voice
6. Current Crush: Florence Pugh. She is totally captivating.
7. Latest fave find: Coconut Bliss dairy free ice cream. If you’re allergic to dairy, this is the stuff.
8. Last thing you lost: I have a very rare autoimmune eye disease and last year I lost vision in one eye. It’s since been restored through multiple surgeries and yes, I get the irony that I do fine needle work that requires good sight. I am beyond thankful for my doctor and while I know that this may not last forever, I am grateful every day that I get to do what I love to do. The most humbling thing ever, actually.
9. Best thing that happened recently: My embroideries (30 of them!) are in a local art show. It was so lovely and gratifying and cool to hear people’s remarks and try to guess who everyone was — right in front of me. So much fun.
10. Looking forward to: Living more in the moment, spending more quality time with my husband and daughter, SEEING everything more clearly.
MARCH: EXPLORE
This month we're exploring — not just new landscapes in the great, wide world, but internal landscapes, too. Sometimes travel can shift and change those landscapes in surprising and life-changing ways.
Fear and Fresh Air: How Two Trips to Mexico Set Me Free
By Deesha Philyaw
"My lifelong bad habit of not reading the fine print has been rivaled only by my bad habit of ignoring relationship red flags. Ignoring the fine print landed my acrophobic ass on a pissed-off horse on the edge of a cliff in Mexico. Ignoring red flags landed me in a second marriage that should not have been a second date..."
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