Happy Making Things During a Difficult Time
Two lady governors rock out, plus the NYC Mayor will shovel you out of the snow
Happy snow day all. I just got in from two hours of sledding in Clark Park here in Philly where I saw people use everything from a laundry basket to a Fed Ex box to get down the hill.
My friend Lexi had these sleds from Costco which were absolute chef’s kiss. But her parents brought along this tube from LL Bean which I am now obsessed with. I just placed an order.
It was a massively joyful scene and given everything happening elsewhere in the country right now I was even more grateful than usual to experience it. (P.S. I’ll have some ways you can support what is happening on the ground in Minnesota right now at the bottom of this email).
I want to share a couple of other things that have made me smile over the past few days. NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani told New Yorkers to shelter in place in the storm this weekend (and read Heated Rivalry).
But then he got out and helped shovel out the folks who didn’t listen to his sage advice.
No matter what you think of Mamdani’s politics (for the most part I am a fan), this is absolutely an argument for having more elected officials under the age of 109, people who will go out, get their hands dirty (and cold) and actually interact with other humans.
And speaking of elected officials who feel like real humans and not the political version of Stepford Wives, …I have not stopped watching clips of Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger getting sworn in as governors of N.J. and Virginia and the subsequent celebrations. Seeing the of these two women has been an electrifying jolt of hope in a very dark time.
Spanberger brought fellow Virginian Dave Matthews on stage to play her inauguration celebration and he giddily declared that her election has given him hope again too.
And then came the video of Mikie Sherrill rapping on stage with Naughty by Nature. I haven’t gotten down with OPP in a long time. But you know me, I’m always game.
There is a lot to be excited about with the election of these two smart, competent and caring women beyond the fact that they share the same soundtrack to the last twenty-five years of my life. I’ve been desperately in the dumps since my book Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win (about a woman running for Senate in PA, that I wrote 10 years ago!) has been tossed out of the development process in Hollywood because streamers and execs think America doesn’t want to see strong, capable brilliant women on screen.
This is actual feedback we have gotten.
I know in my gut they’re wrong. I’m only on the first season of The Diplomat, but I’m riveted. The Washington Post recently called shows like The Diplomat and The Pitt competency porn. The Post argued that Americans are desperate to see capable people making the right decisions in light of the horrible things happening in America right now and the absolute utter incompetency of the people in charge (I’ll take Iceland for $400, Alex).
I agree that we are desperate to see smart people fixing problems and extra points if those people don’t have a penis.
I got to head to New York for a very cool event with Quite Literally Books this week (they’ve having a 20% off sale during the Snowpacalypse. The code is SNOWEDIN).
Quite Literally was hosting a shopping spree for one lucky mom and daughter from Florida. They got five minutes to fill totes with books in the Strand bookstore and it was absolutely joyous. I’ll have a whole video to show you later this week.
I also got to sign a bunch of Everyone is Lying to You in the Strand so head over if you want one.
The team at Quite Literally also made me the above “well, read” sweater from Lingua Franca and I have barely taken it off.
I’ve been taking my own advice from my how to be more analog this year post starting with more low key hangs with friends. When I go to NY I usually try to have a Golden Girls dinner with Glynnis around 4:30 at the diner by her house. We ordered Matzoh Ball soup, steamed broccoli, French Fries and house red wine and it was utter perfection. I highly recommend an early friend dinner and an early bedtime these days. We need all the love and the rest we can get.
We also attended a neighborhood sing-a-long this weekend AND a pub quiz which we won. Our team name was SEATED RIVALRY.
The grand prize was a very large bottle of tequila which will come in handy if we are snowed in much longer.
Now onto some ways you can help in Minnesota. Here is a list from a trusted long time organizer in the state. It is very comprehensive and has a little something everyone can do.
If you want to call your reps Emily Amick has a guide for doing that along with helpful scripts.
Mamdani may have SAID "today's a good day to sit at home and read a cozy romance novel" but what he actually DID was make our kids - from 3K on up - do virtual learning. So I spent my day handling tech issues and frustration-induced meltdowns, only got out for a brief sledding trip during lunch, and read zero pages of Heated Rivalry or anything else. I realize this is very small on the scale of terrible things the government can do, but it is hard to feel like he's a man of the people when he (being childfree) did not share in our suffering.
This snow day felt like a collective deep breath and hug from Mother Nature - the opportunity to stay home with family and enjoy some time together! Thank you for spreading some positivity and joy! My favorite news story that made me smile was all of the Philadelphians sledding (or using card boxes) down the Art Museum steps 🥰❄️ PS - Naughty by Nature is cool, but as an elder millennial, any time I see Dave Matthews it still makes me smile too!