The TueDo List: Gift Guide 2019 🎁 + Midlife Realness + Heather Frank
This Week
"I told you we already had mustard" (Image via The Cut)
Elinor Carucci’s raw, personal photographs feel like a mirror image of our middle-aged lives. The oldest woman in Australia has us thinking about creative ways to spend our retirement. GenX was the first generation to fully grow up in a Mister Rogers America, and it shows. Set an alarm for December 11th when pre-sale tickets become available for Alanis Morrisette’s Jagged Little Pill 25th Anniversary Tour, which will also feature 90s faves Garbage and Liz Phair. For anyone who’s thought about giving stand-up comedy a try. A new study shows that MRIs detect breast tumors better than mammograms. We’re sorry to see Kamala Harris suspend her campaign, but fervently hope there is a place for her in a future administration. The Twitter reaction to this Christmas ad for Peloton is priceless. Today is Giving Tuesday, so you might consider donating to one of these women-founded organizations: She’s The First, Girls Write Now, Moms Demand Action, and Higher Heights.
TUENIGHT GIFT GUIDE 2019 🎁
Editor's Note: This week we launch our mostly annual gift guide (that’s right, we’re grown-ass lady storytelling AND shopping). We’ve been sharing gift lists from some TueNighter writers since 2013 and over the next few weeks we’ll roll out a few of our faves. Starting with that illustrious “Girl of a Certain Age”, Kim France...
"To my mind, the point of gifting is to give another person something that becomes indispensable to them, or very nearly so. To that end, I like finding attractive, well-designed versions of useful, everyday things, because that way the items in question will actually be loved and used, instead of re-gifted or put away in a drawer somewhere—which is always the fear."
Click here to read all of Kim's fabulous selections!
TueNighter Gift Ideas: For the Menfolk
(Images via My Photo Socks, TeePublic, Amazon, and Good Medicine)
This week we asked TueNighters what they are getting for the guys in their lives. Here are some of the top contenders:
For one who claims he loves the dog more than anyone else in the family: Socks with the dog’s face on them.
For the one who knows all the words to No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn: The Beastie Boys Book.
For the one who wants that big screen experience: This mini projector.
For the one who wears it well: A custom made shirt or a pair of custom made shoes.
For the one who needs help trimming more than the tree: This reasonably priced electric razor (several TueNighters have already bought this based on the suggestion)
For the one who loves everything Star Wars: This Visit Tatooine long-sleeved T-shirt.
For the one who always wants a back rub: This pleasant smelling muscle balm.
Join the conversation on Facebook and let us know what the dudes in your life are getting this year.
TueNight 10: Heather Frank
Heather at home on stage
Age: I am 60 and a proud perennial
Quick bio: Heather Frank is a cabaret artist based in Washington, DC. Her most recent one-woman show was "Love in the Time of Coloring." She recently made her NY debut at Pangea and is working on a new show about the creative process, "I'm Making This Up," coming in 2020.
Beyond the bio: “I started my career as a professional writer and editor and then became an executive at media companies like AOL, Meredith and Gannett. Creating and performing have always been my love, though I channelled those interests in different ways. Cabaret brings all of my talents together at a time in my life when I'm feeling pretty fearless and generally unsupervised.”
1. On the nightstand: The new biography, Marjorie Merriweather Post: The Life Behind the Luxury by Estella M. Chung. I'm a deep admirer of all things Mrs. Post — her philanthropy, her business acumen, her glamour and her extraordinary capacity for enchanting people through extravagant and thoughtful hospitality. I love spending time at Hillwood Estate Museum & Gardens here in Washington, which was her home and is filled with so much joy and beauty. The museum's tagline is the best (and also true): "Where Fabulous Lives."
2. Can't stop/won't stop: Laughing.
3. Jam of the minute: I'm scouting songs for my new show, so I'm listening to a lot of things as I look for material. I just sang Carsie Blanton's song "Fat and Happy" in NY last weekend and I love it, and her, a lot.
4. Thing I miss: Other than people and pets I've loved, I don't miss much. I'm happy in the now and always excited about what's next.
5. 80s crush: George Clooney.
6. Current crush: George Clooney.
7. Will whine about: The divisions in this country and our planet. We all live here together and it's obviously in our best interest to take care better care of our world and each other. I think we need a Declaration of Interdependence.
8. Will wine about: I love Champagne and sparkling wine. If I'm going to be fancy, it's Veuve Clicquot. It's tingly and delicious and the company that the newly widowed Madame Clicquot inherited continues to celebrate enterprising women. And, orange is my favorite color.
9. Best thing that happened recently: My husband told me that he thought I should apply for a MacArthur Foundation fellowship. I told him that you can't apply for those, but I love him very much for imagining that he married a genius.
10. Looking forward to: Learning how to write my own songs. I have a plan for that.
Sponsors We Dig: The Woolfer
Four years ago, at the age of 46, I found myself in the throes of perimenopause. At that time, I was craving a space where I could talk to like-minded women about the indignities (and joys, ahem) of aging in a funny, completely candid way. So, on a whim, I started a community on Facebook called “What Would Virginia Woolf Do?”
The group, filled with advice, opinions, laughter and resources, unexpectedly hit a chord and has taken me on a truly wild ride. Our membership grew to 32,000 women, and I made the decision to take us completely off Facebook and move to our own private platform. A bold move if I do say so myself, but the launch went about as well as could possibly be expected (we even got a tiny piece of press!)
So, I’m writing to you to ask you to please subscribe and spread the word!
To sign-up: Go to www.thewoolfer.com and go to the Membership page here. It’s $35 a year and we offer a three-day trial. You’ll see on that page that you can also gift memberships to friends :) VIP membership gives you access to:
The full community (including 30+ subject and regional groups)
Giveaways (often books!)
Direct messaging with other members
A free listing in our business directory
And now through December 17th The Woolfer is offering discounted memberships to TueNighters for $25 annually! Just enter the codeTUENIGHT25 at checkout to receive the discount. Please email us at info@thewoolfer.com with any questions.
XOXO
Nina, founder The Woolfer
(This has been a message paid for by one of our sponsors, but we choose only sponsors we dig. So there.)
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