FEATHERS, RALLYS, AND SOLO PARENTING FLICKS

LIFE OF A BOOKMAN

Bookman: 1. a person who has a love of books and especially of reading. 2. a person who is involved in the writing, publishing, or selling of books. Oh, hi that's me!!

Not outdoorsy: But I do love fly-fishing. So when one of my besties suggested that we bring books to Paris and switch with each other, I did not expect her to hand me The Feather Thief. If this real life story about a bunch of dead birds gone missing doesn't sound like it'd be your thing – you're not alone. But I can say that the history is just weird enough that I kept reading to find out why. Because WTF. It was both super informative and completely bizarre. Sometimes, that's just the kind of oddball fascination you need in your week. Also who doesn't love some heist content? There is a reason I've seen Entrapment nineteen million times. This isn't feather entrapment but it might as well be.

WOMEN’S STUDIES

What gets passed down becomes our history. A few for the canon:

I attended my first political rally last week and holy buckets does Kamala Harris know how to put on a show. Surrounded by 10,000 other people, I was amazed by the diversity of the crowd (and absolutely overjoyed to see all the elder white men turning up for Kamala). I refuse to believe that America isn't ready for a Black woman president, but I'm putting my time and my money where my mouth is: donating, knocking on doors, rallying, endorsing. Voting in this election isn't good enough, we need full mobilization.

When I returned home from the rally, I texted a mentor of mine a burning question that I couldn't stop thinking about my entire Vespa ride home: why, despite all the amazing women around me and all of the incredible organizations supporting women in politics, do I know so few women running for office?

She gave me her thoughts which have informed mine: You're the one you've been waiting for. Check out this always useful conversation I had with Amanda Litman on why you should run for something. And yes, a down-ticket works. But why not run big? It's what the dudes would do…

PASS IT ON

Stories are heirlooms. Here's one of mine:

This week has been all over the place – emotionally, mentally, physically.

I watched Babes and delighted in this sometimes cheesy, “friendship-is-everything. Just let me be a single mom with my bestie” comedy that was very relatable.

Good Posture got me out of a slump, a movie about an intergenerational friendship that sets a young woman on the right track, which was as satisfying as vegetables for dinner in the way indie films often are.

Random, but I'm fully obsessed with the Locket Widget, a photo sharing app with only your nearest and dearest. Like that Aura frame everyone gets for their parents, but for mobile.

Oh and because I'm a sucker for a good scam, the new Apple podcast Scamtown is some veryyyy good listening (and by listening to all the scams we become less likely to be victimized...I hope!? I pray!?).

Woman on xx