Midweek Moment

A round up of reading, watching, and comedy recs

The sun is out in New England, and wow, that is a relief. Vitamin D makes anything feel possible.

Here’s a quick mid-week round-up of fun things to check out.

Reading

I never thought I’d be one of these people but I’m reading three book at once. It feels….necessary. There’s just so much out there and my Audible subscription makes tedious tasks just a bit more fun (laundry: I’m talking to you).

A recent gift from a dear friend introduced me to I’m Not Your Muse, an illustrated overview of the unsung (mostly) women who are left out of the record. For example, Clara Driscoll, who worked as the head of the glass studio at Tiffany’s. Since only unmarried women were employable, she worked alongside other “Tiffany Girls” both before her first marriage and after her widowhood. She’s reportedly the designer behind thirty Tiffany lamps, but it’s pretty guaranteed you’ve never heard her name.

Don’t forget essayist, poet, and community leader Jessie Redmon Fauset, known as the midwife of the Harlem Renaissance, and more ‘are you kidding me, how did I not know about this person?’ revelations. We couldn’t support them then, so go ahead and support them now.

Then there’s the book I’ve been meaning to read for years. A colleague at my very first job out of college couldn’t stop talking about The Secret History by Donna Tartt, and I’ve wanted to read it ever since. I tried reading Tartt’s “The Goldfinch,” and was so depressed by it that I gave the damn thing away. I didn’t even want it on my bookshelf.

“The Secret History” is a riveting, beautiful, and dark novel. Loosely based on Tartt’s experiences at Bennington College, the story chronicles a year in the life of a small group of college students whose obsession with their professor (and each other) leads them down a murderous, sex-crazed, entitled path. One reviewer called it “the thinking person’s thriller.” I listened to Donna Tartt read it herself which gave me more insight into how she feels about these characters; her voicing, accents, and cadence tell us more about these made-up people than the words on the paper. If you haven’t read this 1992 classic, let Donna Tartt read it to you herself.

Watching

I just started watching the 2002 version of The Forsyte Saga on Netflix. I think there is an older version and a newer version, but anything with Damian Lewis gets my vote. Based on John Galsworthy's novels, the story centers on (you guessed it) The Forsyte Family over decades. It’s taken all my willpower not to Google what happens, so needless to say, I highly recommend it if you need a high-level period drama fix.

Damian Lewis plays the villain “Soames Forsyte,” and Gina McKee plays his very depressed wife, “Irene Forsyte.” (Acorn Media)

A trashy treasure I have fallen in love with is Hulu’s That Thrifting Show with Lara Spencer. The former Good Morning America co-host has long dabbled in DIY (Flea Market Flip, Antique Roadshow FYI), but this one is fun and easy. Two sets of designers are given two days and $2000.00 to furnish a specific type of room (assigned early in the episode), but there’s a catch: everything in the room must be thrifted. Facebook Marketplace does count. Once the room is finished, three judges come in and critique. The winner (judged on style and thrifting expertise) gets to keep all of the furnishings from both rooms. Let me be clear, some of these rooms are TRAGIC, and I wish there were higher stakes and more tension (like, couldn’t they be doing a real room in a real house??), but it’s still mind-numbingly delicious.

Comedy

I’ve been watching a lot of stand-up recently because we all need a good laugh right now. I’m a longtime fan of Sebastian Maniscalco’s physical comedy, and his latest special does not disappoint. Performed in front of a sold-out crowd at the United Center in Chicago, he effortlessly weaves us through the hilarity of his everyday life.

Marcello Hernandez is a stand-out cast member on SNL, and I was super excited to see him perform his own material. His Netflix special, “American Boy,” is funny, punchy, and feel-good. He walks onto the Miami stage with his mom, making the audience feel that she is giving him permission to make fun of her for the next 60 minutes.

---

Take care of your hearts.