The TueDo List: Galentine's! + Pretentious Gum + Jennifer Owens

Jane Fonda gave us a trifecta of shero worship: She went completely gray, wore an Elie Saab gown she previously donned in 2014, and casually slung her red coat over her shoulder as a symbol of her work with “Fire Drill Fridays,” the protests she’s been leading EVERY WEEK to urge action on climate change. Parasite may have won all of the big awards, but translator Sharon Choi was the breakout star of the Oscars. Sure, she won Best Supporting Actress, but this video of the Gay Men’s Chorus singing a tribute to Laura Dern at the Independent Spirit Awards is our favorite moment of this awards season. Margit sent Karen an early #Galentine and this newsletter gets a shout out. We’re digging these honest Valentines cards. This is a worthy long read on the underappreciated talent of Roberta Flack. Weekly inspo: Our new favorite comedian is 86 year old Lynn Ruth Miller, who started her stand-up career at age 71.

FEBRUARY THEME: RISK

Embarking on My Own Year of Yes

By Taiia Smart Young

"There was a single rule to my Year of Yes. It was this: if there was free time on my calendar, then I’d say yes to an invitation and worry about the details later. Oh, and the request had to be legal. I was completely unwilling to see if orange really is the new black."

Keep reading...

Obsessed: Pretentious Chewing Gum

(Images via Instagram)

When I was growing up, I frequently snitched a stick of my mom’s Big Red, lurking among the errant tobacco flakes of Pall Mall Gold in the bottom of her handbag. But I kinda fell out of love with chewing gum and didn’t bother for decades — until I spied a painfully well-designed package of all-natural chewing gum at my grocery store checkout.

The flavor? FENNEL. Fennel?!? Represented by a single little fennel-y frond on the crisp, white square box. And next to it: coffee (bean), maple (leaf), spearmint (leaf), and cinnamon (stick). I was intrigued by both the design and the flavors, but showed some restraint and bought only three. Open the cute little box and inside I found rough-textured grey-brown little nubbins all cuddled together smugly. Eco-chewing gum! No colors! No GMO! No gluten! No plastic! (Who knew chewing gum was made of plastic? Now I can’t un-know it.)

Fennel chewing gum, turns out, is a revelation. Herbal and fresh, almost unidentifiable as fennel unless you really think hard about it. But so, so good! Cinnamon and spearmint were similarly delightful, with spearmint being a sweet whisper and cinnamon having a hot and spicy bite, just like Big Red. And I am happy to report that the joy of shoving four or five pieces of gum in your face is not at all reduced by the fact that this chewing gum feels almost chic — especially because there are cute little post-chew wraps in the package for you to use after you’re finished, like little blotting papers. Some pleasures in life remain unchanged, even if the gum itself does not.

—Stacy Morrison

TueNight 10: Jennifer Owens

Jennifer hanging out in her neighborhood in Brooklyn

Age: 52

Quick bio: Jennifer is an editor, writer and speaker who tells stories to and about women, with a focus on career, family and health. She works with clients through Jennwork, her two year old content agency, and her newest project, The Breadwinners podcast, just launched on Messy.fm. Jennifer serves on the board of ProCon.org. Her punk band Two Minute Thrills plays in dive bars (where else?) around NYC.

Beyond the bio: “I feel like I’m in the perfect moment right now. My kids are older and (literally) need less hand-holding, my spouse still makes me laugh, Pilates has me standing straighter than ever and I get invited to shout obscenities on various stages. Then there’s my work, which is all about speaking authentically to women. I love it — and love the people I get to work with.”

What makes you a grown-ass lady? “That I’m still supporting my family despite the crumbling nature of media. I started out as a newspaper reporter, pivoted to magazines, moved to digital and now audio. I just keep hustling.”

1. On the nightstand: There are sooooo many right now. A few are:The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk (I’m working with a mental-health startup), Why We Can’t Sleep by Ada Calhoun, The Lives of Robert Ryan by J.R. Jones.

2. Can't stop/won't stop: Pilates

3. Jam of the minute: A toss-up among “Juice” by Lizzo, “Future Me Hates Me” by The Beths and anything by Pat Benatar

4. Thing I miss: My car and the ease of parking that comes from living anywhere else than Brooklyn, NY

5. ‘80s crush: Rick Springfield

6. Current crush: Adam Driver

7. Latest fave find: The Mixmax email platform is attempting to change my life for the better, at least when it comes to scheduling meetings.

8. Last thing you lost: Always an earring. My cowl-necked winter coat seems to eat them for snacks.

9. Best thing that happened recently: The Breadwinners podcast went live. My smarty-pants co-host (Rachael Ellison) and I have been working on this for months and now it’s here!

10. Looking forward to: Two Minute Thrills playing live again!

It would be super if you could share us with a friend.