If you live alone, if your family is scattered far and wide, if you recently lost a partner or spouse, if you can’t afford the plane...
Short Takes
Lisa Montgomery, Home Altar, “Suffragette” & More!
Lisa Montgomery A story that got lost in last week’s horrific storming of the capital is that of Lisa Montgomery, the first woman prisoner executed since 1952. Montgomery was imprisoned for a horrific murder that has been attributed to the extreme sexual and physical abuse she endured growing up. Serendipitously, I had just finished the [...]
Pat Taub
Snow, Deb Haaland, Xmas Memories & More!
SNOW! My city of Portland, Maine was on track to receive 6” of snow but we got 17!” This morning I took one look at my buried car and went back inside. Once it warms up, I will tackle all the snow covering it. My heart goes out to all the unhoused in this bitter weather. I learned of two unhoused who died this week. It makes my heart [...]
Pat Taub
My Xmas Tree, “Caste,” A Great Crime Series & More!
My Christmas Tree Although I’ll be alone this Christmas, I’m not eliminating holiday décor, although it’s been greatly reduced from former years. As a young wife and mother, I went crazy, stringing garlands all over the house, baking gingerbread cookies for the tree, and even sending out homemade gift baskets to relatives. Decades later, [...]
Pat Taub
Covid Thanksgiving, Sophie Loren, A Record Setting Group & More!
Covid Thanksgiving I surprised myself by adapting to my orphaned Thanksgiving better than I had anticipated. Even though I wasn’t cooking a big turkey dinner as I have on previous years, I decided to scale-back and cook for myself as if I were my own guest. I made a turkey breast, stuffing, cranberry sauce and asparagus, topped off with [...]
Pat Taub
“The Crown,” A Great Read, Thanksgiving Recipes & Much More!
“The Crown” This week I binged on season 4 of Netflix’s “The Crown.” I thought it was the best season yet. Standout performances included Olivia Coleman as Elizabeth and Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher. It was almost eerie the way Emma Corrin captured Diana with the same shy tilt of the head, wearing clothes that were exact [...]
Pat Taub
Election Insanity, “The Queen’s Gambit,” Fall in Maine & Much More!
Election Insanity Thanks to the Goddess that the Presidential election will soon be resolved, as the ballots from Pennsylvania and other battle ground states are expected to be counted very soon. Now we have to wait and see if Trump accepts the results. If not, I’m prepared to join any peaceful protests that ensue. A Biden win doesn’t [...]
Pat Taub
Lisa Savage, A Perfect Roast Chicken, A Great Read & More!
Lisa Savage My pre-election jitters are bonkers, making me very grateful that the end is in sight. Just four days to go! I hate being boxed into the “lesser of two evils” choices. My preferred candidate was Bernie, but I will vote for Biden, because Trump is truly evil. All is not lost: one vote I can happily make is casting my [...]
Pat Taub
Lee Sharkey, Two Film Recommendation & Election Crazies
Lee Sharkey This week Mainers mourned the passing of Lee Sharkey, 75, a beloved Maine poet and peace activist. I got to know Lee after she and her husband gave up their country space for easier living in Portland. Her accomplishments were many: she was a co-founder of the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, co-editor of the influential [...]
Pat Taub
Barrett Hearings, Lisa Savage, Spirited Old Ladies & More
Amy Coney Barrett Hearings Nothing like having a Handmaid become our next Supreme to cast me deeper into my Covid-election despair. A bright spot of the hearings (if you can call it that) for Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court was when Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) used his time to document how dark money has become [...]
Pat Taub
Scary Trump, My Father at 15, An Entertaining Film & More!
Unhinged President Trump is no longer a laughing matter. Everyone I know has gone from making jokes about him to genuine worry that he’s seriously unhinged. Referring to a recent interview with Fox, one pundit called Trump, “as high as a giraffe,” for making ridiculous charges, like saying California’s water shortage is because [...]
Pat Taub