It is a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one’s life and find at the end that one has no more...
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“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
What? A Second Lockdown!
Just when we were getting Covid under control, overnight the infection rates skyrocketed. With every state setting infection records, we all know what that means: another lockdown coming our way. Now that I’ve been through one lockdown, what have I learned to make the second one bearable? Experience has taught me to accept my erratic Covid [...]
Pat Taub
Casting Off Regrets
Nervously I opened my aging report card. I earned respectful grades for healthy living, close relationships and meaningful pursuits, but a low grade for managing my regrets. No surprise. I tend to resemble Lady Macbeth uttering “Out damned spot!” In my case, it’s regrets that I can’t rub out rather than blood. I’m haunted over screaming [...]
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
Post-Election Survival Tips
As I write this, it’s Election Day. I set my alarm for 6:15 in order to be at my polling place when the doors opened at 7 am, anticipating a quick in-and-out. Instead I waited for over an hour in the cold, flanked by young voters. While I’m hugely relieved to see the end of a nerve-wracking campaign season, I’m on pins and needles [...]
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
What I Miss About Shopping
Months of COVID isolation without the option to shop left me examining my shopping habits. Over time it became clear that my shopping was spurred on by a consumer driven reflex, and not because I needed any more clothes. I realized what I miss more than purchasing a cheap Chanel knock-off are my shopping companions. Shopping for me, like for [...]
Pat Taub
Country Images, Democratic Convention, Mail Mess & More!
Country Snapshots I’ve been spending most of the week this summer at my country retreat in Waldoboro, Maine. Last Sunday, with two old friends, I attended a dinner at a pig farm that hosts monthly meals in their charming meadow. Here’s two photos from the dinner: a mama pig and her piglets and tables ready for guests. It was a little [...]
Pat Taub
How Did We Become So Obsessed with Aging?
My grandmothers and mother lived into their 80’s, transitioning into old age with only minimal complaints. They didn’t take mega doses of vitamins, or exercise madly to stave off the Grim Reaper. Nor were they bombarded with advice on how to slow the aging process. Both of my grandmothers dressed up almost every day. My paternal grandmother [...]
Pat Taub