Happy Friday!
Diner illustration by Lindsey Frances
Things that happened recently:
The Ohio special election is still too close to call, but I'm holding out hope that Ohio won't disappoint me (despite nearly 33 years of evidence to the contrary).
This Kathleen Turner interview is giving me life this week and making me want to watch this again. Other things making me happy this week: Lucy Sparrow's felt grocery store (I was obsessed with the New York iteration, her felt bodega); the Coney Island sideshow is about to sell its millionth ticket and it's one of only two remaining stationary sideshows in the country (a fact that I learned this week while reading this excellent memoir); this article about working in a sex toy shop was surprisingly thoughtful (and lead me to read this article about the female price of male pleasure, which I think should be required reading for literally everybody).
Apparently part of the plan to Make America Great Again is to bring back asbestos, a known carcinogen and all-around bad thing.
Things to do in New York this week:
It's Honey Weekend at Wave Hill, but honestly any weekend in the summer is a good time to visit this gorgeous spot in the Bronx.
I have plans on Monday to see The Spy Who Dumped Me, and I've been preparing by watching and reading all of the Kate McKinnon interviews I can find (here she is recently on Today, an oldie but goodie episode of Ellen, and, of course, this beyond brilliant Carol parody).
I keep seeing photos of Aloha Nights at the New York Botanical Garden (an after-hours celebration in conjunction with their current exhibition, Georgia O’Keeffe: Visions of Hawai‘i) and it looks like it's a lot of fun. The exhibition runs until the end of October, but the last Aloha Night is September 1st.
Things I've discovered recently:
This Daily Beast article about how an ex-cop rigged the McDonald's Monopoly game (for years!) and stole millions is long, but it's such a crazy story that I hadn't heard about even though I worked at McDonald's (for four years!) while this was all going on.
I recently started reading this book in anticipation of the movie and I was hooked from the very beginning.
Sabrina passed along this trailer for Lizzie, an upcoming movie about Lizzie Borden staring Chloë Sevigny and Kristen Stewart and I can't wait for it. I still think about our trip to the Borden house (and Oak Grove Cemetery) all the time, and I hope to stay overnight someday.
I actually have zero plans for this weekend as of right now and I'm totally fine with that. It's been so hot and humid here that I have no motivation to do anything except sit inside of an air conditioned room, hating every single piece of clothing I own. Next weekend my mom and I are headed out on a little three-day road trip, so I'm putting the finishing touches on our plans and looking forward to all of the diners, big things and abandoned delights in my future. The weather forecast is showing high 80's for the foreseeable future, but I'm over here like. Have a great weekend and I hope it's less oppressively hot wherever you are!
