Pat Taub
“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 copies of Diana’s wardrobe. I was intrigued by the class juxtapositions, with back-to-back images of the Royal’s opulence next to those of the poverty rampant under Thatcher. I was reminded of the class divisions in the US at present.
“Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments”
Saidiya Hartman, author of “Wayward Lives,” is my new favorite writer. I started this book after reading her prior book, “Lose Your Mother,” where Hartman takes the reader along as she travels to Ghana in search of her slave roots. “Wayward Lives” is the result of Hartman’s painstaking research into the lives of young black women who traveled at the turn of the century to New York City and Philadelphia in search of better lives. Hartman breathes new life into her subjects, determined to represent them as much more than historical footnotes, crediting them for their independence and refusal to follow prescribed roles.
Presidential Madness
Increasingly Trump and his crazed minions, like Giuliani, resemble the plot of Shakespeare’s “Richard the Third” in their efforts to steal the election, while ignoring record-setting Covid infection and death rates. How much longer will we be subject to this madness?
Thanksgiving Cooking
I’ll be alone for Thanksgiving since my family is scattered at great distances. I had blown off a solo turkey dinner until I watched Melissa Clark’s video for a scaled-down, simplified Thanksgiving dinner. Now I’m inspired to make her turkey breast wrapped in bacon. (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/dining/one-pot-sheet-pan-thanksgiving.html)
Melissa Clark’s simplified Thanksgiving menu for 2020
A Divided Nation
As I watch the news, I’m heart-broken seeing cars backed up for miles waiting for free food, or of people swelling food lines in big cities, I’m left with gratitude for my good fortune, while furious at our government’s refusal to pass a new stimulus package, leaving countless Americans at risk of losing their housing and without money to supply their kids with food and winter boots. We can do better. My Thanksgiving prayers will be for a kinder nation.
