TueDo List: Best Pies + '80s Makeup + Our Fuck-It Era
Plus, a TueNighter crosses her 300th finish line...
THIS WEEK
📖 READ: Jezebel closes after 16 years. “What if I had been fat? What fucking difference would it have made?” How are fashion schools addressing size inclusivity? Sandwich Generation 101: Trials of caring for aging parents, taking care of yourself and coping with anger as a caregiver. Charmaine Arjoonlal’s gripping essay. We’re with Brooke Shields in our fuck-it era.
👀 LOOK: A couple’s massive collection of old phones, spanning 52 years. The 100 best movies of the '70s. The red carpet for Glamour’s Women of the Year. ‘80s makeup trends making a comeback in 2024. Finally, McDreamy dubbed sexiest man alive.
🛒 ADD TO CART: New book from the NYTimes’ Overlooked folks, chronicling the obituaries of extraordinary people whose deaths went unreported. New specs from this Black women-owned biz. Liquid kimchi, TueNight’s Liz says, “I put that shit on everything.”
😋 YUM: On your marks, get set, BAKE! Recipes from The Great British Bakeoff. A collection of the best Thanksgiving pie recipes.
🤣 LOL: Don’t have a pet cow? Get one! Hysterical pet voiceovers.
📺 WATCH:
This week: Lady Bird Diaries, the First Lady’s personal audio diaries from inside the White House (Hulu). Agatha Christie meets The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo in the whodunit, A Murder at the End of the World (Hulu).
Thurs: Season 6 of The Crown (Netflix). Brandy and Heather Graham in Best. Christmas. Ever! (Netflix).
Fri: Prequel to the The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Theaters). Carey Mulligan and Rosamund Pike in Saltburn (Theaters).
Sat: Kennedy, a docuseries marking 60 years since JFK’s assassination (History Channel).
Early Bird Pricing Ends TONIGHT… Did you reserve your spot?
We’re throwing an epic party to mark a fantastic decade of sisterhood and unforgettable Gen-X storytelling — and it just won’t be complete without YOU!
Can’t make it in person? We’ve got you covered! We’ll be live-streaming our event and online tickets are also available for purchase. Whether you’re joining us in person or diving into our live stream, let’s create memories, share stories, and party the night away. You absolutely don’t want to miss this — see you there!
STORY: How I Went from Cancer Survivor to Running 300 Marathons
By Julia Khvasechko
Picture it: A crisp, early November day in 1999. I’m sitting in a wheelchair at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, a very special place for me, watching a parade of runners go by. It just so happens that I’m perched at mile 16 of the New York City Marathon. I’m mesmerized by the runners; I’m also jealous of their strength, as I am battling a rare type of brain tumor that developed from glial cells called an oligodendroglioma and, at this time, unable to walk unassisted, I am 25 years old.
I notice some runners get extra kudos as they run by. I’m intrigued: Who are these runners? Some are very fit and run effortlessly, while some are really struggling. All shapes and sizes and ages, all walks of life, it is humanity at its best.
“Are they famous?” I ask someone next to me. They tell me, “No, they are running for Fred’s Team; they are running for us.”
I get chills up and down my arms. These runners aren’t just running a race, they are raising funds for Sloan Kettering. They’re giving back. And they are inspiring.
I made a deal with God that day: I asked the universe to regain my ability to use my body again, to regain my strength and in return, I would run for Fred’s Team.
Once I made that decision, it was no longer about me.
First, we make our habits, then our habits make us. I stopped feeling sorry for myself and changed my mindset to get to work.
Julia will be sharing her story at our Birthday Bash on November 21 — don’t miss it!
TUENIGHT 10: Alix Strauss, Award-Winning Author and Funeral Aficionado
Your Age: 54
Basic bio: Alix Strauss is a trend, culture and lifestyle journalist; an award-winning published author; and a speaker. She is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, among other publications. During the past 25 years, she has written over 1500 articles. Her books include: The Joy of Funerals (St. Martin’s Press & Palagram Press), Based Upon Availability (Harper Collins), and Death Becomes Them: Unearthing the Suicides of the Brilliant, the Famous and the Notorious (Harper Collins). She is also the editor of Have I Got a Guy for You (Simon & Schuster), an anthology of mother-coordinated dating horror stories. Her work has been an optioned for several TV and film projects. Strauss lives in Manhattan.
Beyond the bio: I am a die-hard New Yorker, lover of carbs and sweets, pilferer of kitschy ashtrays from restaurants and bars (even though I don’t smoke) and I still use a paper calendar. I can also quote all three Parkers: Sarah Jessica, Posey and Dorothy; Dorothy’s my favorite of the trio. I recently got into an argument with my mother and called her a narcissist. Her retort: “I’m not, I was just thinking of myself at the time.” True story.
What makes you a grown-ass lady? That I can realize how quickly people confuse difficult with those of us who are specific; that needy is not the same as being in need; and that constantly being told “well, nobody else had a problem with this” doesn’t mean you were wrong, it means that no one else spoke up about it.
Can’t wait to see y’all at TueNight’s Birthday Bash next week!
