A Few Things

Hello, Friends. How are you? How was your week? Last night our kids got back from Cousins Week 2019 — the 10 year anniversary of that tradition! It was started by my sister Sara, and it has done remarkable job of keeping the cousins connected, even though my siblings and I often live far apart.

This year, my brother Salem organized it. It seemed like it was going to be a smaller group this year, but the plans were so enticing, that more and more people wanted to come — and then everybody wanted to come because it felt like everybody else was going to be there. FOMO is such a strong pull. Hah! Salem did an amazing job. Our kids are exhausted, but happy.

No big plans for us this weekend, but Ben Blair and I have a short trip to North Carolina next week, and we’re heading out on a red-eye Sunday night. Ralph also has a trip starting Sunday — he’s traveling to France for a few weeks, and really excited to spend time with friends there.

How about you? How is your summer going? Ready to dive into weekend links? Here are a few things I’ve been wanting to share:

-A remarkable essay from a woman who has experienced three failed adoptions.

-Today, you can join a worldwide vigil to shine a light on what’s happening to the children in Trump’s concentration camps. (Scroll down here to find local events in your area.)

-Shortly after her marriage ended, Nora Ephron came across an apartment in the Apthorp, a celebrated Beaux-Arts building on the Upper West Side, and fell in love (again).

-Kansas slashed taxes, promising an economic miracle; all it got was a huge deficit. Then it revoked the tax cuts, which financial conservatives predicted should have been a disaster — instead, the budget is back in surplus.

-Police report that a Florida cop planted meth on dozens and dozens of innocent random drivers. One of those drivers lost custody of his daughter. (WP)

-Every time you sharpen this pencil you make a rainbow.

-They adapted and illustrated the Mueller report — so we’ll actually read it.

-Nematodes (very tiny worms) that were frozen for 41,000 years, have been brought back to life.

-“Our laws essentially force driving on all of us—by subsidizing it, by punishing people who don’t do it, by building a physical landscape that requires it, and by insulating reckless drivers from the consequences of their actions.”

-Researchers found that in states where it’s legal, teens use less marijuana. (Is it because teens don’t want to do what their parents are doing?)

The nine rules of “Freddish” — the positive, inclusive empathic language of Mr. Rogers.

-A clinic in Cleveland delivered the first baby in North America using a uterus transplanted from a deceased donor.

-Fascinating. But also eye-rolling. Drama at a fancy Brooklyn preschool.

-Olive has me hooked on this vitamin E oil. It’s inexpensive ($7) and super thick — you have to sort of press it in to your skin. One bottle lasts a loooong time. I like to put it on at night and let it absorb while I sleep.

What is the ideal marriage age?

-Haha. Shoppers who don’t bring reusable bags to this Canadian grocery store leave with bags that read say things like, “Wart Ointment Wholesale” and “The Colon Care Co-Op.”

I hope you have the best weekend. I’ll meet you back here on Monday. I miss you already.

kisses,
Gabrielle

P.S. — Remember the kiddie car wash DIY? So fun on a hot day!!

6 thoughts on “A Few Things”

  1. I also read the brooklyn pre-school article and found it…crazy?

    On similar wealth/class notes – I’m curious what anyone thought of the Vanity Fair article on mom influencer culture and slow living.

    A lot of people found it snarky, and I don’t necessarily disagree with that. But I found the larger point to be very true – about how the concept of “slow living” is sold to us and so wrapped up in privilege.

    I have followed one of the influencers in that article for years, and found her inspirational for a long time. Recently I’ve been asking myself about how the concepts of privilege, wealth, wellness culture, etc are so intertwined, and it has really made me stop and think! I wish I had more cultivated thoughts right now. I’ve read the article a few times and can’t stop thinking about it.

  2. Praise Vitamin-E oil! I made the huge mistake of following bad advice to go tanning the day before my wedding. Even with a low setting, I got absolutely fried and my face looked like a tomato. On the day before my WEDDING.

    Gratefully, my future mother-in-law said to put Vitamin E oil on my burn. I only could find liquid capsules at a drug store (this was back in 2000) so using a safety pin, I pricked a hole in each capsule and squeezed it on my face.

    I hardly slept that night with pre-wedding excitement and thick goo on my face but it WORKED! I washed my face in the morning and my burn was 90% gone.

    This sounds so much like an ad for Vitamin E oil now, ha!

    “Thank you Vitamin E!” (insert bride with a grin and two thumbs up)

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