elizalou.com

Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

My resolution for 2015 was to “stop worrying.” While I didn’t stop altogether, there was much less space in my head overall to waste a ton of time worrying. There are only so many hours in a day! Actually — who am I kidding? I still worried a ton. It’s like the things to worry about got way more serious and catastrophic but I didn’t have the time to really worry about them? Or maybe once you have a child you just learn how to block stuff out a lot more or you would never be able to get through the day? I don’t know.

Keeping it simple, my resolution for 2016 is to be nicer to the cat.

Did anyone close to you become a parent?

Other than me (wow), my brother and sister-in-law had their second child and she’s a delight.

Did anyone close to you die?

One morning just after Thanksgiving, my old dog’s legs splayed out like he was on ice and he never really recovered. He was going on 16? 17? Who even knows? A pound dog taken in by CAAWS then taken in by me who survived a severe & acute GI hemorrhage, a week in the vet school ICU, blood and plasma transfusions, a blood clot in his spleen and a splenectomy, near liver failure, a two-week hunger strike, and cancer of the nether regions to name a few. His name was Zuko and was crazy from the jump since I brought him home in the spring of 2001. He terrorized the cats and the mailman, failed out of obedience school because he couldn’t figure out how to walk around the cones, ate MaryLiz’s jewelry and garbage out of many cans, scratched a human cornea, ruined a house full of wall to wall carpet and then easily a dozen large area rugs, tried the patience of everyone who ever met him, basked in the sun, and loved me through the darkest days. The end was quick and merciful and happened at home thanks to a vet with a kind and gentle heart. I loved/hated/loved him and miss him.

What places did you visit?

I visited the midwest for my son’s birth and NYC and the beach.

What would you like to have in 2016 that you lacked in 2015?

A cleaner fridge and a more orderly home in general. I am no minimalist, I have realized and come to terms with, but I’ve gotten better about giving away what just takes up space for no good reason, and I want my child to grow up in a relatively orderly environment. Also I would like 2016 to have more cupcakes from my favorite local coffee shop. Every time I ate one in 2015 I was reminded that cupcakes are a pleasure.

What dates from 2015 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

The birth of my son. Seeing Hamilton.

Did you suffer illness or injury?

Not really! How wonderful. Other than a bonkers cough that lasted over five weeks and I thought would be the end of me. Apparently coughs just take a long time to get over. Who knew?

What were the best things you bought?

Tickets for Hamilton the second they went on sale — one of my smarter moves in life.

And though I didn’t buy it — my parents did — this used piano is probably my other favorite purchase of the year.

Whose behavior merited celebration?

Obama just being Obama. And Michelle just being Michelle.

Where did most of your money go?

Childcare.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Baby’s first smile, baby’s first clap, baby’s first laugh, baby’s first sitting up, baby’s first crawl, baby’s first understanding of silly games. I am realizing that the dumbest, simplest things are the most exciting things ever when he is figuring out how to do them. It’s just the best.

Also this plate of food cooked by my mother on Thanksgiving was very exciting.

What songs will always remind you of 2015?

Baby, Don’t You Cry (the pie song from Waitress) because I sang it to my baby every night before bed. The Hamilton soundtrack.

What do you wish you’d done more of?

Yoga. Turning forty is no joke. Yoga was my most consistent “hobby” of 2014, and I only went a handful of times in 2015.  I did take a lot of walks this year with the baby and remained appreciative of the beauty all around us but I probably should have been running instead! Things are definitely falling apart in strange and alarming ways.

What do you wish you’d done less of?

Watching my baby sleep in the baby monitor when he was totally fine and I should have been sleeping too. Dumb!

How did you spend Christmas?

The usual routine, which I like a lot: Mass, delicious lunch prepared by mom, family, lounging. Obviously, that it was my son’s first Christmas made it extra fun.

What was your favorite TV program?

• Funniest shows I loved this year: Playing House and Catastrophe and The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Broad City

• Most underrated show if you don’t count every storyline involving the dumb, annoying dad: Shameless … the kids are SO good and I remain in love with Lip Gallagher.

• Overall favorite Feel Good Show: Jane the Virgin

• Favorite new-to-me show that produced most tears shooting forth from my eyeballs: Call the Midwife

• Best police show full of kick-ass ladies: Scott & Bailey

• Returning favorites that moved me the most: Transparent and Last Tango in Halifax and Getting On and Rectify

What was the best book you read?

I honestly don’t have a great memory of books I read this year because I did a terrible job keeping track and started so many I never finished. I definitely loved The Marvels by Brian Selznick, who has never written a book that hasn’t basically blown me away.

What did you want and get?

Good reports every doctor’s appointment.

What did you want and not get?

I can’t really think of anything … overall it was a really good year.

What were your favorite films of this year?

I only saw four movies in the theater this year – The Duff, Mockingjay: Part 2, Star Wars, and Creed … for someone who doesn’t really know all that much about Star Wars other than seeing them as a child, I really loved this movie on a visceral level. And Creed just moved and thrilled me beyond measure. I’m sure I watched some movies at home but at this moment do not remember any of them.

What did you do on your birthday?

My son was only about five weeks old, so I was very delirious, but two friends basically insisted that I join them for sushi and The Duff. This was very sweet but in truth I remember almost falling asleep at the sushi bar and barely remember the movie. Hashtag This Is 40.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

I guess I am just so grateful for life as I know it that I can’t even answer this question. This might sound gross but is very true.

What kept you sane?

Family, friends, co-workers who are so very awesome. Also, I really do not know how I lived without podcasts as part of my daily life so I am going to attribute much of my sanity this year to this wonderful medium as a whole, much of which I have yet to experience.

• It is not an overstatement to declare that Totally Mommy saved me in the early days/weeks/months of parenthood.

• Theater People is the most satisfying and delightful podcast in existence if you’re a theater fan and same goes for Extra Hot Great and TV.

• thirtysomething podcast … Right or wrong, I probably have logged more hours watching this show than any other in my lifetime, which is weird on a lot of levels, not least of which is that I was 12 when it premiered and watched it in real time and a billion times since. Hearing the writers and actors of this show dissect it all these years later is a joy. The hosts are definitely still getting their legs under them and ask way too many getting-into-the heads-of-the-characters-based questions for my taste, and for what will amount to a historic oral history of the show, that they haven’t figured out a way to get decent audio is criminal — I realize I am taking it all bit seriously — but honestly. All of those complaints aside, props to the hosts for making this happen in the first place. If you owned the soundtrack on cassette and then compact disc and still cherish your tattered copy of thirtysomething stories and sang hallelujah when you found it streaming on Hulu Plus, this podcast is for you.

• When I need to laugh, all I need to do is turn on Ronna and Beverly, which honestly makes me laugh so hard that sometimes I feel like I need to pull over in the car. If “laughter is carbonated holiness,” as Anne Lamott says, then this podcast is kind of like church for me these days.

• How to Be Amazing ~ Michael Ian Black is just a really good, thoughtful, funny interviewer and he could give lessons on this to many other podcast hosts in my opinion. Solid.

• Broadway Inspirational Voices podcast, hosted by and featuring interviews with members of this gospel choir, is another must-listen for Broadway fans. One of my goals is now to see this choir live.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

The cast of Hamilton. Especially Leslie Odom, Jr. and Renee Elise Goldsberry, the co- MVPs.

What political issue stirred you the most?

Black Lives Matter.

Whom did you miss?

My siblings, nephews, niece, and friends & their children who live far away.

 Who were the best people you met?

Not to be a broken record, but my son. He is so funny and magic and fun. He is the best.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

All from Hamilton …

Life doesn’t discriminate

Between the sinners and the saints

It takes and it takes and it takes

And we keep living anyway

We rise and we fall and we break

And we make our mistakes

And if there’s a reason I’m still alive

When so many have died

Then I’m willing to wait for it

:::

When you smile I am undone,

My son. Look at my son.

Pride is not the word I’m looking for.

There is so much more inside me now…

You outshine the morning sun,

My son.

When you smile, I fall apart

And I thought I was so smart

:::

There are moments that the words don’t reach

There is a grace too powerful to name

 

Life:

• Eight months of life with my baby can basically be summed up by these lyrics, a song from Hamilton, probably the most beautiful of all 46 songs. My child’s name is not Philip but you get the idea.

Oh Philip, when you smile I am undone. My son. Look at my son. Pride is not the word I’m looking for. There is so much more inside me now. Oh Philip, you outshine the morning sun. My son. 

Books:

• You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day ~ Entertaining but I think I would have liked it better had she talked more about Dr. Horrible and less about gaming. (What I know about gaming stops at Super Mario Bros. on Nintendo and thus I am not exactly the target audience.) But I really, REALLY admire her for speaking out against the hateful horror of Gamergate and in general like her a whole lot.

• Watch Me: A Memoir by Anjelica Huston and Never Broken by Jewel ~ Zzzz.

• Books I’m most excited to read: Mindy Kaling’s new book and Carry On by Rainbow Rowell.

TV:

• Felicity ~ Still on my rewatch of this show which has been going on for many months. Here is the truth: season 4 is such a slog and they must have realized it and decided to throw in the time travel as a way to just get through it. Does anyone care about Noel and Sean’s work at the design firm or Noel’s boring girlfriend there? (No.) Or Javier’s friendship with (the great) Bitty Schram? (No.) Or Ben’s baby? (No.) Or Felicity cheating on her art history paper in Sue Sylvester’s class? (NO.) The time travel stuff is so ridiculous but at least it’s lively and entertaining. Is it too late for Keri Russell and Scott Speedman to reunite and get married in real life?

• Rectify ~ Nothing is better than this show.

• Scott & Bailey ~ Finished this and enjoyed it a lot. I don’t know if there’s a fifth season, but I hope so; that said, I hope a character who seems to be departing is not actually departing because she is one of the best and I love her.

• Wet Hot American Summer ~ Delightful, as is the documentary Hurricane of Fun, behind-the-scenes footage of the filming of the movie. The cast members were babies and so silly and it honestly reminded me of the home videos we made in high school and college. Except we were not comedic geniuses. I really loved watching both of these.

• Playing House ~ Its return for a second season was the happiest TV news this year, and it did not disappoint. One of my favorite memories of this season was talking to my friend S. after the last two episodes aired while she recited lines of dialogue and then just laughed and laughed and I didn’t have to say anything, I just could sit there and listen to her laugh over and over. That’s friendship and that’s this show to me.

Movies:

• In and Out ~ I have seen this many times and it’s so strange to watch it in 2015 but I’m here to tell you that as dated and lily white as it is, this movie is still very sweet and charming and the performances hold up. Joan Cusack? Kevin Cline? Tom Selleck? Debbie Reynolds and Wilford Brimley? Random small parts by J. Cameron, the mom on Rectify and Shawn Hatosy, who shows up on season 4 of Felicity? (Whatever happened to him? He’s so good.) They are all so terrific and it’s so delightful.

• Wild ~ Just okay for me. I really do like Reese and obviously I love Laura Dern forevermore for the gift of Enlightened, but overall it kind of bummed me out.

Podcasts:

• By the Way, In Conversation with Jeff Garlin ~ I’ve only listened to the Lena Dunham & Amy Poehler episodes, both from 2013, but they were both utterly delightful. I don’t know much about Jeff Garlin, but the way he talked to Poehler about how the best moments of his life were when his sons were small enough to fall asleep on his chest made me feel real tender towards him. [Addendum: The whole time I listened to these episodes I pictured Jeff Garlin as Jeff Ross! No. I made myself LOL there. I am dumb.]

• Theater People ~ I continue to love this podcast, and the Laura Benanti episodes are basically too good to be true.

• You Made It Weird ~ Glen Hansard, you have my heart for all eternity. This was a true joy to listen to, all two-plus hours of it. Glen Hansard is a treasure among men. And the Keegan-Michael Key episode is REALLY interesting. Adopted! Found his birthmother! Born again! So much I did not know about him before and unsurprisingly hilarious all around.

• Totally Mommy by Elizabeth Laime … loved her recent interviews with Lennon Parham & Jessica St. Clair, obviously, as well as Kate Spencer. This podcast enriches my life. I know that might sound weird, but it’s true.

• The Andy Greenwald Podcast ~ Abigail Spencer + Aden Young from my beloved Rectify. I loved this interview very much. Rectify is just so special.

Favorite things on Internet:

• Stephen Colbert. Beautiful. I think I will never forget this interview. It resonated with me on an extremely deep level.

“It was a very healthy reciprocal acceptance of suffering,” he said. “Which does not mean being defeated by suffering. Acceptance is not defeat. Acceptance is just awareness.” He smiled in anticipation of the callback: “ ‘You gotta learn to love the bomb,’ ” he said. “Boy, did I have a bomb when I was 10. That was quite an explosion. And I learned to love it. So that’s why. Maybe, I don’t know. That might be why you don’t see me as someone angry and working out my demons onstage. It’s that I love the thing that I most wish had not happened.”

I love the thing that I most wish had not happened.

I asked him if he could help me understand that better, and he described a letter from Tolkien in response to a priest who had questioned whether Tolkien’s mythos was sufficiently doctrinaire, since it treated death not as a punishment for the sin of the fall but as a gift. “Tolkien says, in a letter back: ‘What punishments of God are not gifts?’ ” Colbert knocked his knuckles on the table. “ ‘What punishments of God are not gifts?’ ” he said again. His eyes were filled with tears. “So it would be ungrateful not to take everything with gratitude. It doesn’t mean you want it. I can hold both of those ideas in my head.”

• The Generous Audience Engagement of Lin-Manuel Miranda + Rae Votta’s lovely take on the Ham4Ham shows.

• Slings & Arrows Is the Show Rachel McAdams (And All of Us Deserved) — Truth. Love forever!

• An Interview with Herpreet Singh.

• Hamilton opening night video. This is lovely. This is also how I found out Stephen Pasquale is dating Phillipa Soo. And another one! There’s a moment when Lin-Manuel Miranda’s wife looks at him with such love that it made me teary.
  

• Leslie Odom, Jr. and the Relevance of 1776.

• Trailer for Taking Flight from the Louisiana folks that brought us the wondrous Morris Lessmore.

• Foster & Groff.

• When Rainbow Rowell sorted her characters into Hogwarts houses.

• Hamilton B-roll. Lots of it. Worth watching for Daveed Diggs along. I can’t even deal with him, I really can’t. I guess much of this could be considered spoilery if you are strict about that kind of thing before you see a show.

• Rembert + Lin-Manuel. So good.

• I first saw Marin Mazzie in Kiss Me, Kate in 2000 and saw her as Diana (opposite the lovely Mr. Danieley) in Next to Normal in 2011. She is simply as good as it gets, in my opinion, and when I read this post about her fighting ovarian cancer, I was stunned and moved. My heart overflows for her and I admire her more than ever. I’ve probably listened to her singing “Back to Before” about 10,000 times. She is (some Next to Normal spoilers here –>) beautiful and amazing and  wonderful, always and forever.

Pets Still Alive:

Both. God help us all. I took the dog to the vet since he was peeing all over the house, which was killing me softly, and other than a UTI he was fine. She said his labwork was “beautiful.” Then went on to say, “We should all be so lucky as to have labwork as beautiful as this dog’s!” To which I heaved a gusty sigh then reminded myself to be grateful that he is so damn healthy at 15. Antibiotics have helped with the peeing, PRAISE BE.

Flowers, Trees, and Plants:

The crape myrtles continue to amaze. I will be sad when all the blooms fall away. And the magnolia trees are no slouches either.

Best Trips:

Went to the beach with my family in August. It was great to all be together. As always I spent time in the store where I got the call about my cancer diagnosis, but it didn’t make me feel weird or sad, it just made me feel very grateful.

We stayed in a different house this time; I liked how it had porches that made you feel like you were in the woods and the view from the roof.

Didn’t spend a ton of time on the beach; my sister-in-law gets credit for the photos below, but I look forward to when my baby is a little bigger and we can really tear it up.

Back in March, while still in the delirious throes of newborn life and maternity leave, I decided that by the time my baby was 7 months old, I would be fully ready to leave him for a weekend and jet up to NYC, old me-style. I bought tickets for Hamilton the morning they went on sale and also for Fun Home and Something Rotten. This seemed like a really good idea at the time. Fast forward to August, when I was in NO WAY prepared to leave him, but by this time my sister and I had plans to meet up in the big city, and I felt like bailing would be ridiculous and dumb and that by the time I got there, I would be happy about it. And I was, even though a flight delay had me spending the day in the New Orleans airport drinking beer with strangers/new best friends instead of in the city and landed me there much later than planned and I missed Something Rotten altogether.

But I got over it and got to spend a morning walking through the city on my way to meet Molly for bagels and iced coffee and a walk on a gorgeous Saturday morning, which has become one of my favorite New York traditions. Bagels with Molly are extra delicious bagels.

Then it was time to sit on the front row for Fun Home that afternoon. Somehow I didn’t realize this when buying my ticket and it was strange to have my toes on stage but it was also just so wonderful. It is a truly intimate and beautiful show, and having read and loved the book so much all those years ago, I was just so touched by the whole damn thing. Sydney Lucas and “Ring of Keys” surpassed all expectations, and even though I don’t love Michael Cerveris’ singing voice, his acting is so good that I decided he earned that Tony, and Judy Kuhn, BROADWAY LEGEND NO BIG DEAL, was so good as the mom that I might never get over “Days and Days and Days.”

My sister met me at the theater, and we had a super delicious dinner at Fig and Olive, where they initially sat us in a real dumpster of a table downstairs right by the kitchen, and she went to ask the hostess if we could sit upstairs, and the hostess not only moved us upstairs but moved us to a window table that I think must have been the nicest table in the place. Life lesson reminder – you should ask for what you want because sometimes the answer is yes! Damn, that was a good dinner.

Then it was time for Hamilton at the Richard Rodgers, fittingly also the home of In the Heights, and we sat next to Rooney Mara and her boyfriend and mom and brother and in front of Tobey Maguire, but the celebrities were not the most exciting part. Above all I just felt so happy to be a part of something as special as this creation with my sister next to me. If I had to pick my favorites, they would be Daveed Diggs, Renee Elise Goldsberry, and Leslie Odom, Jr., and I wish they could each win a Tony, but the whole company is so strong and it’s just such a first class production top to bottom. It was almost overwhelming and hard to take in. Fifth row center was such a joy at Hedwig that I copied that plan for this, and it was a strategic error to be sure because I did not take into account the vastness of the stage or the way the cast moves alllll over it at Hamilton. It would have been smarter to sit farther back. Lesson learned. But I still felt like I was witnessing the life and breath of something so special in theater history and I just felt so proud of Miranda and Kail and Lackamoire and Blankenbuehler, the whole team whose work I fell so forever in love with on In the Heights, and truly it was wonderful! In every show we’ve seen together and/or loved together, a moment crystallizes as THE moment, like “Sarah, come down to meeeeeee!” in Ragtime and “I wish I had taken more pictures” in Avenue Q as two examples. In this show, the moment is four words, and they are “Forgiveness. Can you imagine?” Over and over and over that moment replays in my mind. Anyway — backlash, whatever, I’m sure it’s coming if it’s not already here. I don’t care. I loved it and haters gonna hate.

48 hours away from my baby is not something I care to repeat soon, but they were (other than the travel shenanigans, hate you Delta!) well spent with the city & sister I love so very much. Next trip to NYC will be to see Waitress, some way, somehow. I know that “Baby, Don’t You Cry” won’t be in it but I love that song and sing it to my baby every night and love that movie so much and have full faith and confidence that it will be beautiful and great. Until then, I’ll remember this trip as an awesome memory with my sister…Look around, look around, at how lucky we are to be alive right now, in the greatest city in the world…

Life:

• Phew! I could write a million words on life as a mom and the baby who has changed my world in a million ways, but words fail me on this at this moment. It’s the hardest but the best.

Books:

• I have now officially finished 3 novels in 2015! This feels major. I read Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Ofill, which I liked well enough, and The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert, which I probably would never have gotten through had I not had several hours in a row, sitting in a car repair shop, to read the first few hundred pages and get sucked in. I loved it very much, and I still think about it a lot. The news that it’s being made into a film thrills me, and I’ve already cast Miranda Hart or Gwendoline Christie as Alma. I also read and very much enjoyed Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg. It gave me New York-ache.

• I also read Born with Teeth, Kate Mulgrew’s autobiography. I really liked it; maybe because I was in the middle of season three of Orange Is the New Black and really feeling a lot of Red love at the time. Other celeb autobiographies that were just okay: Giuliana Rancic (of interest: the cancer parts and the Jerry O’Connell parts, both very dishy); Brooke Shields (just okay); Candice Bergen (I did watch every episode of Murphy Brown and enjoyed the parts about that; overall, she comes across as kind of snobby?); Maria Bello (sort of boring); Ali Wentworth (funny and worth reading though I wish I knew the real identity of her former arch-enemy now best friend Daphne) … I think that’s it.

TV:

• Speaking of Miranda Hart … OH, CHUMMY. I really loved Empire, don’t get me wrong, and Cookie Lyon made a major impression on me that I thought would not be soon surpassed, but that was before I met Camilla Fortescue-Cholmondeley-Browne, AKA Chummy on Call the Midwife. The first time I started this show a few years ago, I was so bored and couldn’t get through it, but then I read a few of Al’s write-ups on Previously.TV and became intrigued; those and my friend/neighbor, who is obsessed, persuaded me to give it another go, and thank God. I love it 100% and shall surely weep when I catch up and there are no more to watch. Thank the Good Lord for return of my beloved Last Tango in Halifax!

• The Crimson Field ~ World War I, English nurses, France field hospital, wonderful, devastating. Also: the very, very, very, very, very dreamy Richard Rankin.

• Scott and Bailey ~ Kind of like Cagney & Lacey, but in Manchester. Excellent and very addictive.

• Catastrophe ~ Much more hilarious and sweet than I anticipated.

• American Voices ~ On PBS. PBS just makes my life so much better. This was super enjoyable and Sara Bareilles’ take on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, a song I didn’t even think I liked, convinced me for a moment that it is the greatest song in the American songbook. (Scroll to an hour and 8 minutes into that link to hear it.) I think I just love her. Anyway, I came down from that ledge, but still. There is something to splendid to me about watching masters mentor youngsters. It does my heart good. Really great show. Sara and Ben Folds are so winning together that I almost cannot even take it.

Music:

• I have no idea when in this lifetime I will see Jurassic World, but I sure love this music. Takes me back to the summer of 1993, just after high school graduation, seeing the first movie for the first time. And the fact that Bright Abbott / Andy Dwyer keeps becoming the biggest movie star in the world over & over makes me so happy.

• Very excited about the new Jason Isbell album no matter how gut-wrenching the songs shall surely be.

• I went to see Idina Menzel’s local stop on her World Tour. She was hoarse and a bit strange, to be honest, but No Day But Today, the gay guys joining her for Take Me or Leave Me, and the little children joining her on Let It Go made it worth the steep price of admission. When I saw the OBC of Rent in the spring of 1997 after being 100% obsessed with it, in a way that really and sincerely basically consumed my every waking and sleeping thought for nearly a year, she was the only original cast member whose understudy went on that day and I have always lamented that even though Kristen Lee Kelly was great. So I’m glad I was able to spend an evening with her at long last.

Movies:

• We Are the Best ~ Loved it.

• Closure ~ Really good documentary. The subject of the film also has an excellent blog.

• Tig ~ I liked it.

• The Lion’s Mouth Opens ~ Wow. Powerful. Here is an unspoilery look at the film that is very moving unto itself.

Podcasts:

• Theater People is so good that I backed its Kickstarter campaign, which is something I had never before done in my life. Patrick is such an engaging host, and I love his unabashed enthusiasm and how much a super fan he is of the people he interviews. It’s really a true delight and a treasure!

• Mystery Show by Starlee Kine … so good. Really enjoying this one.

• How to be Amazing by Michael Ian Black … I discovered this one because of his interview with my beloved Lin-Manuel Miranda as I feverishly consume all-things-Hamilton-media in advance of seeing the show. I knew I liked Black because of how much I liked his book (You’re Not Doing It Right), but he’s also a good and careful interviewer and I’ve now listened to enough podcasts to know that there aren’t that many of those. (I know a lot of people like Alec Baldwin’s interview podcast, but I think he is a TERRIBLE interviewer and I cannot abide him and it makes me very retroactively sad because of how much I love Jack Donaghy.) I’ve only listened to Miranda, Amy Schumer, and Elizabeth Gilbert so far, but they’re all good.

• Totally Mommy by Elizabeth Laime … another plug for this one, without which I truly do not know how I would have made it few my first few months of motherhood. That is a dramatic statement, but it’s just helped me so much.

• Extra Hot Great by the Previously.TV gang … This is just a solid, reliable, well-rounded, truly satisfying podcast week-to-week, without fail. And Again With This, which is a walk down 90210 memory lane, is a delight as well. That show was so formative during my high school years. The first season aired before we properly had Fox as an actual cable channel, and I watched it over the air on a tiny black and white television in my bedroom and then the rest of the high school years unfolded as my own did. It is so stupid and terrible but it was a big part of my life back then.

• I have really tried to branch out from white guys interviewing white guys in terms of my podcast experiences; that said, I really enjoyed Pete Holmes’ new interview with Jimmy Kimmel and old interview with (hearts) Rob Delaney (flowers). The way that Rob Delaney talks about being a dad is very, very swoony.

Favorite things on Internet:

• Tara Ariano’s interview with the actor who plays Rogelio De La Vega, one of my very favorite characters on TV. This is (unsurprisingly) wonderful.

• Joe Reid’s homage to the debut of Best Friends Forever. And his tribute to one of my favorite SYCYTD moments ever. Basically, everything Joe Reid writes.

• This photo made me weepy. I loved In The Heights, I love A Chorus Line, and I remain so excited to see Hamilton that I basically cannot contain myself. (Video of the Hamilton cast’s tribute to A Chorus Line is here. Amazing.)

• On Sadness, Family, and the Parenting Lessons of Inside Out.

• Beautiful post.

• The only thing that rivals my excitement about seeing Hamilton is my excitement about seeing Fun Home! Grateful to have bought my ticket before it won all the Tonys. Love this love letter to the show from the Keenan-Bolgers. And let’s just watch this over & over until the end of time.

• Coldplay’s Game of Thrones … particularly the way Jon Snow twirls a microphone.

• This beautiful post about the president’s eulogy in Charleston.

• Wonderful ode to wonderful tWitch.

• I have no idea when I will ever see this movie, but this post delighted me on a deep level all the same.

• My siblings and I spent untold hours watching the Rocky movies as children and Friday Night Lights as adults … needless to say I am very, very, very, very excited about Creed.

• I deeply love Waitress the movie and sing its song to my baby every night when rocking him to sleep. I doubt that song will be in this musical, but I really wish I could see it all the same.

Pets Still Alive:

Both. They wear me out. They are 14 and 15 and are ruining rug after rug to the point where I am not buying any more until they are both dearly departed. I don’t have much left for them at the literal end of the day and there are only so many more hours of my life that I can spend on my knees scrubbing their accidents out of grout.  I looked down earlier today and there was cat litter and also cat barf stuck to my bare knee, hours after this morning’s latest grossness. This is just the real, hard, sad truth. I love them but the day the dog peed all over the bumbo seat flipped a switch in me and now I love them in a very different way.

Flowers, Trees, and Plants:

My backyard is a disaster thanks to the end of the world summer thunderstorms we had almost every day for several months there. I’m about to let it just Grey Gardens itself. It’s too much to even tackle at this point. It would take too many chainsaws. I guess I’ll just hire someone to do it. That and install a dishwasher. I’ve washed 14 years of dishes in this house by hand and I am done. Done I tell you.

At least we have the day lilies and the magnolias and the crape myrtles.

Best Food Eaten:

Bruch at Shaya? It is so good. I would like to crawl inside one of its warm loaves of pita bread and live inside of it in the winter. It’s just a really great place to eat brunch and I wish I could go daily.

Honestly, though, I don’t think anything has tasted better this summer than the Thai Trifecta … ginger, lime, and coconut … from the one and only Hansen’s Sno-Bliz. It tastes like sunshine and happiness.