Party like…it’s your birthday
Or party like it's mine...because it is 🤣
Milestone season is upon us. Proms and graduations galore, with no shortage of accompanying celebratory photos and smiling faces on social. That led me to think of my own such milestones, and…because I have aging on the brain…was thinking about the ages of my parents in those big moments.
They were 43 and 44 when I graduated from HS, 47 and 48 when I graduated from college, and 55 and 56 when I got my Master’s.
Gulp.
When I had *all* of my spring milestone moments, my parents were younger than I am now.
Today I turn 58.
I’m old AF.
Damn.
Sometimes perspective is a godsend, other times it’s a bitch slap. Today it’s the latter.
Whoopsie.
None of us is getting younger, so let’s get to it…here’s what I’ve been…
…Watching…
Of course, I’ve been watching my long-standing, old-reliable programs, namely The Amazing Race, Survivor, and Grey’s Anatomy, plus a twist on the old reliable Real Housewives franchise, Love Hotel.
No spoiler alerts but the finale of TAR went exactly how we wanted it to—the team we wanted to win won, and the team we wanted to lose lost. IMO this season featured the biggest a$$hole contestant ever. I don’t think their partner will ask for a divorce after watching it back, but they should.
Survivor has had another solid season—finale airs tonight. I’d be ok with any of 3 of the final 5 winning; two of them I don’t think deserve the million. Other than that, 🤐🤫
Grey’s concluded what feels like season 164 this past week. Despite the technique of reviving old storylines with new characters, I keep on watching, even though I knowit will never return to the McDreamy “glory” of the early days…back when the soundtrack was as fresh as the characters and their plot lines. I’m loyal if nothing else.
Bravo’s Love Hotel (4 episodes in) is a dating show that aims to put the “wives” back in “housewives” as it attempts to match four housewives with an ideal suitor. It’s exactly what you’d expect from this kind of reality show—campy, dramatic, and entirely unrealistic.
The Four Seasons on Netflix was a big draw, what with all the hubbub, the star-studded cast and the connection to a very popular movie that I vividly remember not being allowed to see EVEN THOUGH IT WAS PG when it came out in 1981. Whatever. The series was enjoyable—some funny lines, a few twists, and with 8 30-minute episodes, it was an easy watch.
What I was allowed to see (inexplicably so)—AS A 9-YEAR-OLD—but will not be watching now as it celebrates its 50th anniversary, is the also-rated-PG movie, Jaws. I was so scared after seeing it that I insisted on sleeping in the trundle bed in my older sister’s room, threw up in the middle of the night, blamed “the bad hot dog” that I ate for dinner for making me sick, and then was frozen with fear every time I had to take a swimming lesson at Wessagussett Beach for the entirety of the summer. Good times.
A week ago Saturday, it was 48° and raining, and I was very happy on the couch with my coffee. I saw that Save: The Katie Meyer Story was premiering in 10 minutes, so I settled in to watch it. Katie Meyer was a standout goalie for Stanford soccer who sadly died by suicide in 2022. This program offers some insight on her life and death and is infuriating as it is instructive. Worth a watch.
I also found myself home alone with time to kill and in a certain frame of mind recently, so I watched One Day for the fourth time (don’t ask). I wrote about my maiden voyage with it here, and my musical journey related to it here. If you don’t know anything about it, go watch it now. So good.
I’ve been following (rather than watching per se) three big-name trials:
Karen Read V2…when I mistakenly assumed I would not be as invested as I was in the first trial because it would just be more of the same…until I listened to opening arguments and realized that it is the same, only completely different. It reinforces the importance to rethink things and to apply new ideas and findings if you want to do better. Much of this trial seems to be rooted in a “bore and confuse them with irrelevant details and hope they remember what we want them to remember when they deliberate” strategy. I really don’t think she hit him, she hit him, she hit him, but I am also not sure hos many trials it will take to get there. (Re: “hos” IYKYK; otherwise Google “hos long to die in the cold” 🤣🤣🤣)
Diddy. 🐖🐷🐗🐽. Just absolutely reprehensible what people think they are entitled to…what they think that money can buy. So many people who go through life without a seeming single consideration of or care about the consequences of their actions on others. Beyond disgusting. Innocent until proven guilty, I know, but if I were a betting woman I would take the over on the “How many people has Diddy f-cked up” bet, whatever the number is.
Kim Kardashian…I mean, how did I not know the harrowing details until now??? I know she got her celebrity off of pretty much nothing, but still. Bound and gagged? Gunpoint? Jewelry stolen? This ain’t no Great Muppet Caper, I’ll tell you that.
I got lucky again with the Lucky Seat ticket lottery and scored $39 seats to see Kimberly Akimbo at the Emerson Colonial last Tuesday’s. I met Kerri in the city, we had dinner at Stillwater (on Kingston Street, perfectly situated for a show at the Colonial), and then went to the show, which was fun, funny, sweet, and very well done—and also very interesting how it all worked because it’s a small cast (I think of 9). Our seats were great, Dress Circle Right (we got a deal!), and the best thing was that there was a vacant seat next to me because we needed to co-opt it when The Man With the Longest Torso in the World sat down right in front of Kerri, completely obstructing her view. In summary, we had a blast.
Sports are always on the TV here, whether in the background or foreground, and the last month has been great—that time of year when lots of sports are in season, so lots of sports are on the telly.
Hoops
NBA. Sad end to the Celtics pursuit of Banner 19, what with being unexpectedly and unceremoniously knocked out of the playoffs and Jayson Tatum sustaining that Achilles rupture (with a very long recovery time). Layer on the contract statuses of Al Horford and Luke Kornet along with new ownership, and, well, anything goes…Banner 19, which was very much within reach at the start of this season, may be a big old pipe dream at the start of next season. We shall see.
WNBA. Everyone watches women’s sports, right? I love how many games are being televised, love the interest in the game, and am generally glad not to be viewed as an outcast for building my schedule around the televised games, which I did in the early days of the league. I’m still annoyed by the focus on interpersonal dynamics vs actual play, but…maybe that will shift in time.
Baseball. If you don’t know that I love the Red Sox, you haven’t been paying attention. That’s not a problem, just don’t act like this is some big bombshell. Sox have been hot and cold, but in this weekend’s series with the Braves, they gave up too many runs early. The highlight was the win (obviously) but the highlight within the highlight was Raffy Devers hitting his first-ever walkoff HR to win it in extras. (His grandy of a slam the next day was grand but was lost in the wake of the 10-4 loss.) But it’s a long season. And I like the new Green Monster-inspired City Connect unis. Also…it made me very happy when I read that Alex Cora skipped Monday night’s game to attend his daughter’s college graduation festivities—even Major League managers need floating holidays. 🤣
Golf. When a good golf match is on it’s equal parts soothing and exhilarating. Sorry not sorry. And Scottie Scheffler’s infant son Bennett crying every time Scottie walked away was totes adorbs.
I’ve also been watching some playoff hockey, because even though the Bs tanked this season their giving half of their team away has given me something to watch now. (And how could they extend bad decision making Don Sweeney—the future is bleak.) All we’ve got left for viewing (and rooting for) is Brad Marchand and his Florida Panthers…now that Jim Montgomery’s Blues, Charlie Coyle’s Avs, and Bruce Cassidy’s Golden Knights have been knocked out. Also, this sad story has a nice part, and with everything wrong with the world, I’m including it here. Summary version: Mark Schiefele’s dad died the morning of G7, and he played on, though his team ultimately lost. The handshake line in hockey is sacred like no other sports tradition. Convince me otherwise:
I’ve talked about this show before and am done watching Season 1 but want to re-recommend The Pitt (unless you have ER or hospital-related trauma in which case I’ll steer you away from it). It premiered on Max which might be rebranded back to HBO Max by the time Season 2 comes out. (TBH when they named it MAX it made me think of Cinemax more than HBO but I’ve been out of the branding game for a while now so what do I know???) One of the best shows in a *long* time.
…Listening to…
Death-inspired selections. Morbid, maybe. But when an artist dies, you crank their music up.
The Alarm. I have long loved “Rain in the Summertime” and “Walk Forever by my Side” (schmaltzy but aligned with my life and my vibes when it was initially released; I was utterly lost in my life and the thought of anything persisting forever was a lifeline). After news of Mike Peters’ death broke, a friend of mine recommend “Strength” so I played that one too. It’s the kind of music that transports me to a certain time and place and allows me to reprocess it with the wisdom of “the ages.”
When I heard that Jill Sobule died, I thought it was so sad. When I heard she died in a fire, I thought it was so tragic. And probably preventable. I mean, you can take the girl out of the fire and life safety profession, but you can’t take the fire and life safety awareness out of the girl, and I’m wondering whether the house had working alarms. She was always under the radar, left of center—despite having a hit song off the Clueless soundtrack. I’m grateful for Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” because it brought some much-needed attention to Ms. Sobule’s seminal work. (Also, when you’re not staying at home, bring your own alarms. Always nerdy, potentially life-saving.)
And a social media inspired one, ’Til Tuesday. My love of ’Til Tuesday goes waaaaaaay back (to that NYE show at The Paradise in 1989), and connects through the weekend that I touched upon here. Weird that I didn’t talk about that here, at least not that I can find…but anyway I went to see Aimee Mann in Chicago in March 2024 with one of the bestest and greatest friends of all time, the one who I went to that 1989 concert with…so when I saw that ’Til Tuesday had reunited over the weekend to play at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, it damn near killed me that I wasn’t there—following along with Instagram stories together was the best we could do this time around, and it was sublime. These are the kinds of auditory memories that take me back to places and spaces I wouldn’t change for anything, because—good, bad, ugly, or otherwise—because they represent moments that are the fiber of my being (versus a mere part of my story, as noted under The Alarm above) and thus an inextricable part of who I am today.
I’ve been enjoying some new stuff too, notably a kick-ass cover (you know me and a good cover!) of Oasis’ “Don’t Look Back in Anger” by Portugal. The Man. I heard it on the radio and was instantly hooked, but Shazam couldn’t locate it. Fortunately, I found it easily online at the XM playlist website, and even more fortunately, the song is on Spotify. Phew. It’s so great. And the song that best aligns with my life right now is Bebe Stockwell’s “Minor Inconveniences.” Maybe because my life feels like one minor inconvenience after another right now, yet still “I say I’m fine.” 🤷🏼♀️ Other songs that have hooked me from first listen of late are: “Bonnet of Pins” by Matt Berninger, “Nothing I Need” by Lord Huron, “Live Well” by Palace, “Bad State of Mind” and “In Between” by Treaty Oak Revival, “Wanna Be Loved” by Red Clay Strays, and “Give it Time” by Goose. Most of these can be found on my current in-progress 2025 playlist if you’re inclined to have a listen to a musical manifestation of my 2025 brain.
…Reading…
I only mention this category to hold myself accountable. Because I still have not been reading any books. My “to read” piles (yes, plural) are a disgrace, my Kindles (yes, plural) are bursting…but my uncooperative brain refuses to settle such to allow me to relax, focus, and enjoy.
Even the adult poetry Mad Libs are collecting dust. 🤦🏼♀️
(In my defense, I continue to read a lot of nonfiction that reads like fiction (aka summaries and details of what’s going on in the world) and I have been “researching” and writing a lot. I have two “big” projects that I am working on, with zero idea of what will come of them…nevertheless, I persist.)
…Cooking, eating, and drinking…
I feel like my cooking has gone the way of my reading of late, but I have cooked more than I have read.
We had some friends for dinner the week before last, and I made this Grilled Flank Steak with Blue Cheese Butter as our main course and these Vanilla Cupcakes for dessert, only with this Coffee Buttercream Frosting (use 1/4 of this recipe for the six cupcakes.) Pro tip: if your butcher offers trimmed flank steak for a few bucks more a pound, spend the money—this was the most perfect cut of flank steak I have ever enjoyed. Also, consider doubling the cupcakes if you’re making them for four people and love a sweet for breakfast the next day). The frosting is soooooo good. So much so that on Mother’s Day, I made a messy chocolate layer cake (this Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake) just so I could make the frosting again. Big hit. So what if the cake looked like a giant Whoopie Pie? It was delicious. And it didn’t look *that* bad for my second layer cake ever.
I had two occasions for solo dinner at home so 1) I finally got around to getting those ahi tuna steaks from Fresh Market that I’d heard so much about and seared my first tuna steak…did it with crispy rice cakes and sautéed spinach. Overall, a learning process, but still a good one. And 2) I was looking for something quick and easy and because I had some Rana fresh linguine in the fridge, so I went with a version of Cacio e Pepe based off of this recipe. While my short-cutty version of things was nowhere near Roscioli’s, it did take me back to that basement/wine cellar table and the dinner we had there that night in Rome. (Both did the job though neither was particularly worth photographing.)
As far as what we’re drinking in the morning, my brother-in-law who lives in MI is a big coffee guy and he’s taken to gifting me with coffee as a thank you when I pick him or anyone in his family up at the airport (which during the academic year is *not* infrequent 🤣🤣🤣). This is what we enjoyed last week.
Both were delicious. Now that we’re finished our MI coffee off, The Ladies of the 220 will be running on Dunkin.
And in the evening, at cocktail time, because I adore the ritual of making them almost as much as I enjoy drinking them, here’s what I’ve been mixing up of late:
Lockheed (a Paper Plane, but with Pineapple Whisky), Spicy Chocolate Margarita (but should be called Spicy Pineapple, the chocolate is a subtle flavor), a Black Manhattan (cold May nights call for winter drinks by the fire), and an Aperol Spritz (aka a Poperol Spritz in honor of Leo XIV).
I recently was drinking an Orange Gatorade Zero and felt duped when I noticed that the nutrition info on the label reported FIVE calories. So it’s more like Gatorade Five. Punk’d!
Also, when you go out to eat and ask for water but then for whatever reason (e.g., beers taste better) don’t drink it during the meal, do you find yourself guiltily chugging it down before you leave, so as to not be wasteful or to be that a$$hole who wasted the server’s time making them get it for you???
…And…in closing…what else I’ve been doing…
I saw this posted on social the other day, and I felt it. Every morning starts with a Wordle update from Mom…so what that means is I know she’s ok and that my Wordle score will be either Mom + 1 or Mom +2. She crushes it. Though today I actually tied mom, at 3. And then either Spelling Bee is getting harder, my brain is atrophying in real time, or both…but nevertheless I remain committed (to a fault) to achieving “Genius” status daily. And if word games aren’t your jam, whatever your small joy is, hold on tight to it! (But not so tight that you strangle it.)
Midday still finds me walking, walking, walking…thinking, thinking, thinking….walking…thinking…thinking…walking. Last week I read about “Japanese Interval Walking” as the latest “better than 10K steps” craze, so I looked into it. 3 minutes of moderate walking followed by 3 minutes of aggressive walking, “as if you’re late to a meeting”, the article suggested—for 30 minutes. So I set a timer for 3 minutes, strolled for 3 minutes, and when the timer went off I hit “repeat” and then hustled for 3…and did that for the duration of my full loop. When the workout ended, there was a marked (and positive) change in both my pace per mile (lower) and average heart rate (higher). Those Japanese people are on to something, and this might be the greatest thing of theirs since I discovered forest bathing. It’s been great for the seven walks I’ve taken in the last week using the approach…though I’ve noticed that by the midpoint I can’t remember if I am in a moderate interval or a faster one…so every time the timer goes off I tend to treat it as a fast one, but then inevitably peter off by the end…so ultimately it becomes more Pedestrian Pundit Plateau Pacing. But still, the numbers don’t lie, and my pace has *really* picked up. As an aside, if you walk with a dog…no matter how cute you think your dog is, it is *not* cute when your dog jumps up on my leg while I’m walking.
In general, something I’ve been consistent with over the last 15 years or so is saying “yes” to doing something, particularly when my gut reaction was “not a chance!” And over the last five years, I’ve been even much more open—to new experiences, ideas, people, etc., etc.
Though it isn’t always easy for me, it is something I’m grateful for. Though it can feel hard, it is always rewarding (though, admittedly, the reward sometimes comes in disguise or on a lag 🤣🤣🤣).
Anyhow, you may or may not remember but a while back I crowdsourced songs for a playlist from this audience. Once I had enough submissions, I made the playlist available. And then I did what I promised—I thought about everyone who submitted a song when I listened t it, and I reported on those thoughts, and I’d like to call particular attention to this song and these thoughts:
Dakota. Well…we went to high school together, and I can’t say we were friends then…nor were we enemies…we just were plain old classmates, I guess. And then at some point relatively recently we connected on Facebook, bridging a decades-long gap, and I’ve come to truly appreciate your always-thoughtful engagement. You’re retiring soon (good for you!) and I’m looking forward to having a beer to celebrate and catch up on the last 40 years—plus I owe you one! (And this is a great song that I hadn’t heard before, so thanks!)
Last Wednesday I put my money where my mouth is. I met “Dakota” at a local brewery, bought them that beer, and we had a very fun night. But I’ll tell you this…when you’re trying to get to know someone while also catching up on some 40 years with them *and* trying to play a respectable game of trivia all at once…it’s hard.
I feel like a middle-of-the-pack finish is perfectly respectable. We really were so busy chatting that we just settled answer and went back to it. We weren’t even thinking about it, let alone overthinking it. 🤣 (Though I’d have like to have paid enough attention to beat Bookish babes and Brendan. They were extra.) In closing—reach out, bridge the gap, make the plan. Your life will be richer for it.
Enough already. I need to drink some coffee and get ready for my 9:30 pedicure appointment.
Thanks for being here as usual, but especially so to celebrate my birthday with me—bet you didn’t know you’d be doing that. I hope you have fun plans to kick off the unofficial start of summer, ideally with a long (or even extra-long) weekend to spend enjoying whatever you enjoy most. Despite that nasty (in New England anyway) very un-summery forecast.
Love you too.
Still trying to make it a habit; supplemental audio commentary here:
Cake looked awesome! I can’t wait to try the recipes.