I donated to my friends of friends’ go fund me, several artists’ raffles, and started a ‘to pack in case of emergency’ note on my phone. We still need to do an updated picture tour of our house for 2025. I found this document to be sobering but incredibly helpful in disaster planning.
My union reached a tentative agreement for a contract we’ve been bargaining for over 200 days. I am absolutely thrilled and relieved. Now all of our collective action momentum can be aimed at the state level!
My husband and I had great dates at a Blazers game (and a Blazers bar) and Hale Pele (where I am working my way through sampling the entire tiki menu), and we started a movie night routine (more on that later).
My sister adopted a second dog, and when she brought her home, we went to her house for pizza and Mario Kart. It was such a good night! We also had a sister date night at Someday after my winter haircut.
Reading
Lifeform by Jenny Slate (audiobook)
I love how weird Jenny Slate is. Sometimes when she goes on her neurotic tangents about wanting to be loved, I am like, YOU ARE JENNY SLATE. WHO WOULDN’T LOVE YOU?! But then she gets so weird, and I think, oh yes, no one is easy to love. Parts of this book I completely fast-forwarded through because they were so disconnected from the rest of the story. I like that Jenny Slate has multiple modes for us to put together the story of her life — her books, movies, and stand-up routine allow her to show us a full picture of who she is, or at least how she wants to be perceived. Also, I could read birth stories all day long, and hers is especially lovely.
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields (paperback)
I texted my friend Morgan that I wanted 2025 to be my year of backlist books, so I grabbed this paperback off my shelf as my first one. This won the Pulitzer in 1995, and I assume at the time it would have been considered pretty experimental in terms of form. The novel opens with the protagonist witnessing her own birth and is told in vignettes, letters, and through the lens of multiple characters over the course of her life. The language, pacing, and some narrative features are all simultaneously reflective of the time period it takes place and the time period Shields wrote the book, which makes me feel like I need to give a disclaimer when recommending it, but I’m not going to. I deeply enjoyed it.
The Mouse on the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary (paperback)
We hosted my dear friend Yash and her parents for dinner. They brought Ari two books - one animal encyclopedia book and this, which was one of Yash’s favorite read alouds as a child. I put it on the shelf, thinking Ari wasn’t quite ready for it, but a week later, he grabbed it and asked it to be our book. I’ve been impressed with his ability to focus without illustrations and recalling previous chapters. This is another one where the language is noticeable to me, particularly the use of the word “waste basket” instead of “trash can” and the structure of sentences compared to kids’ books published today. I also looked up my first word of 2025 — “zwieback.” I expect we’ll finish the book in the next week or so.
"When Your Son Goes MAGA” (NYT gift link)
As someone who was raised in a conservative/libertarian home and now living in the PNW, I found this to be interesting but not surprising.
Dear Abby: Man finds his sister’s childhood promise to ‘marry you one day’ hasn’t faded as she’s aged (Oregonian)
Do you think this is real? Also, the quality of response from Dear Abby has changed significantly. Is it outsourced to AI now?
Chip/Skip/Trip (Kottke)
I always wondered how people got these WASP-y nicknames!
“Our Kids Cannot Learn About Sex Just from Squeamish Gym Teachers” (NYT gift link)
The best sex ed I have ever witnessed came from Language Arts/Science teachers who teamed up with the guidance counselor and social worker for comprehensive healthy relationship and sex education. As part of the class, I had several students interview me regarding what makes for a healthy relationship and my history with pregnancy and childbirth. Obviously not every teacher would be comfortable answering these questions, but I was happy to share. I wish I had been in that class instead of the traumatizing youth group and home economics sex ed classes of the early 2000s.
“The Last Pregnancy” (Italics Mine)
I consider Edan to be one of my north star mom mentors — I’ve texted her with some pretty stupid questions and she always answers with kindness. This is a personal essay on reproductive rights that we don’t hear enough.
Watching
A Complete Unknown (theaters)
To quote my dear friend Sandy: Boy am I glad this didn’t come out when I was in high school, or I would have made this my entire identity for at least a year.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Hulu)
Jonny’s first movie night pick! I love movies about friendship, especially teenage friendship. The protagonist of this movie walks such a line between being deeply endearing and a total self-involved idiot. In other words, a perfect representation of high schoolers. I liked that it’s also about trying to make something that matters, which is hard for anyone but especially a young person.
The Last Showgirl (theaters)
I had to walk out of this movie an hour in because the way it was shot made me nauseous (other movies that have afflicted me: District 9, The Hunger Games, and American Honey). I still ride for the Pamela Anderson renaissance and enjoyed the spirit of what I saw.
Cha Cha Real Smooth (Apple TV)
My first movie night pick! The lead actor should have been played by someone who looked younger. Predictably, Timothee Chalamet would have been amazing in this role. It felt very much like a version of this happened to the writer/director — how satisfying it must be to retell the story of what happened to you and also make out with Dakota Johnson. If it didn't, I think I'd be more impressed. My final thought is that the title needed workshopping.
Severance (Apple TV)
After watching the first two episodes of season two, it is abundantly clear to me I need to rewatch season one (or find one of those nerdy recap videos on YouTube) if I am going to process all that’s happening.
I hope you are comfortably warm and in good health. As my former middle school boyfriend eloquently puts it, I’m sorry you got an email.
With love,
Lexie
Yay, congrats on the union agreement!!
Omg The Mouse on the Motorcycle! Haven’t thought of that book in years.