LZ Sunday Paper Newsletter: The "Storage Wars With Myself aka High Class Hoarders" Edition

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Happy Easter!

The past 7 days were spent a) going to Europe for a quick, fun, interesting business trip and b) (finally yet also still half-assedly) finishing sorting through ~50 boxes of letters, datebooks, memorabilia, and other detritus of early life, school life, work life, and family life. (In my dreams I could call it "archiving", but in real life it is called "piling boxes in the living room and sometimes spilling into the dining room and making the whole thing a bit unlivable"). As I (again, let me be clear: quite half-assedly) went through envelopes, bags, and folders, I'd pull stuff out and really look at it. I was very delighted with many of the objects and wanted to share, so I sent alot of pictures of very specific items to many, many people. Most seemed to like it. But I wondered whether it was all becoming very Miss Havisham and they thought about me sitting around with my boxes of stuff, reminiscing about everything from (amazing) camp letters to (hilarious) performance reviews.

But seriously, does everyone have thousands -- literally -- of letters, cards, missives of all sorts? Birthday cards, wedding invites, birth announcements, ticket stubs, doodles, call sheets, every expired passport and drivers' license, resumés dating from 1984, closing documents, film budgets, casting notes, notes from the studios, christmas cards from clients, hundreds of thank you notes, remembrances, bullies' passed notes from 2nd grade, Mother's Day cards from the late '60's, art and writing samples from now-famous people, drafts of pompous speeches, Middle School English papers, report cards, school newspapers, vacation postcards from every decade. Many people, places, and things I absolutely would not remember unless I had the physical goods to remind me. Many I could do with a bit of forgetting.

The datebooks, address books, and call logs from early childhood through to the dawn of digital are even more mind-blowing than the diaries and journals. The latter are interpretive and mood-based. The former are factual, quotidian, and pedestrian--in a good way. It makes life and history very easy to track. It is comforting to look and see what I did, where I went, and who I called every day! And it was especially fun and satisfying to recall exact addresses of childhood friends, camp friends, college friends, loads of family, even production offices and office buildings and apartments, long-demolished.

Remember when you were going somewhere and you had to "call for directions"? Well if you know anyone I've known for the past 30 years from out of town, and want to know how to get to their house, I have the directions! Of course now Google Maps and Waze gets us everywhere. Our Google Contact Lists and iPhones store it all, and we just delete the names and numbers when no longer relevant.

What will happen when historians try to reconstruct our society's lives from "sent mail" and Google Calendars? They're all cached but they're all lost, at the same time.

I suggest that everyone scroll down and start reading articles, because this was (yet another) big week. But if you are wondering, let's say, what my exact schedule was like my very first week at 1515 Broadway, at the first "real" job I ever had, in September of 1994, at VH1, here it is. Actually, according to my notes it was at VH-1, avec 'dash,' pre-rebrand (which is what I was hired for)!

Or perhaps you'd like to see my first Cannes Film Festival ID card, which is fun and cool for sure (though my haircut does not appear to be either of those things). Thinking about it also made me remember having to talk my way through French airport security with a breast pump, three months after my first kid was born.

In two different piles I found an incredible, hilarious Holiday Card and, from almost ten years to the day, this lovely thank you note from Joan Rivers. I sent a pic of it to each of the people listed on the envelope. They each sent back their own lovely remembrance of her, which was incredible and re-bonding in and of itself.

And in case you're wondering not whether to cut the cord, but actually when you got your first Cable TV subscription, perhaps you have a letter from your sweet Dad, reminding you of that historic occasion, using one of his own, 100% unironic, signature catchphrases in the process.

Fascinating! At least to me and, quite soon, my new Manhattan Mini-Storage facility.

Here is this week's short one-week storage box of important news by and about women in business, politics, digital, media, film, tv, fashion, sports, literature and general pop culture for you. There's always something important to find out about, and there's always a laugh, too.

You can peruse the back catalogue -- which doesn't take up closets, shelves, or expensive mini-storage units -- for the issues you missed, forward the Paper to someone you think would enjoy it, or sign up at LZSundayPaper.com.

Please send me any items of interest or send questions/comments: here.

Sometimes there's so much interesting stuff out there I can't wait 'til Sunday so I tweet it during the week. Follow me @LZSundayPaper.

And don't forget, follow me at my @LZSundayPaper Instagram. It's fun! Way less reading! Just a visual fun house that speaks to the themes of the Paper.

See you next week from a much more organized house with lots more closet space.

LZ

THE PIC(K) OF THE WEEK:

Constance Markievicz was second in command at the rebels' St. Stephen's Green outpost in Dublin

The Sisterhood Of The Easter Rising via The New York Times

NEWS & INSIGHTS:

What's At Stake In The Latest Supreme Court Showdown Over Contraception and Religious Freedom via Mashable

Donald Trump's War On Women Is Officially In Full Swing via The Washington Post

Rush Loves Catcalling: Limbaugh's Defense Of Street Harassment Shows Why Donald Trump's Rise Was Inevitable via Salon

4 (Intersectional!) Ways To Stop Campus Assault via Ms. Magazine

First Brunei Airlines All-Female Crew Lands Plane In Saudi Arabia (Where They're Not Allowed To Drive) via Newsweek

BUSINESS, MEDIA, DIGITAL, TECH:

As Women Take Over A Male-Dominated Field, The Pay Drops via The New York Times

Sir Richard Branson On Virgin Hotels, Women and The Future Of Travel via BisNow

Amazon Should Allow Shareholder Vote On Gender Pay, SEC Says via Fast Company

Why Are Women-Owned Small Businesses Getting Only 5% Of Government Contracts via Fast Company

Four Ways Emerging Tech Is Empowering Women via The Guardian

How A High School Senior Won $150,000 By Inventing A $35 Medical Device via Smithsonian Magazine

ARTS, FASHION, LIT, SPORTS & POP CULTURE:

Hustle Is A Political Act: Michelle Obama's SXSW Keynote Shifted The Spotlight via NPR

Why Hillary Clinton and Beyoncé Should See 'Eclipsed' On Broadway via Rolling Stone

Model Yazemeenah Rossi, 60, Stars In New Barrier-Breaking Swimsuit Campaign via People Magazine

Book Review: Sext And The Single Girl via The New York Times

THE REST:

Inside The Elite, Super-Secret World Of L.A.'s Coolest Girls On Facebook via Fusion

New York's First Female Crime Boss Started Her Own Crime School via Atlast Obscura

There's No Need To Slut-Shame Melania In Political Ads. Trump Is Horrible Enough! via Slate

DESERVES ITS OWN CATEGORY, THIS WEEK:

Indian Wells Official Quits Over His 'Coattails' Remarks On Women via The New York Times

Only A Man Could Forget When Women Ruled Tennis via The New York Times

AND WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT:

Actually, Jimmy Kimmel and Hillary Clinton Did A Pretty Great Bit on Mansplaining Last Night via The Mary Sue

The LZ Sunday Paper™ (soon to be registered trademarked and copyrighted) launched at the dawn of 2014. We expose and recirculate interesting content that is about, and frequently by, women in business, with a dose of ultra-relevant culture. We think that culture comes in size high, medium, and low. Our audience for this content is vast and not gender-driven. Every week we expect at least one good laugh. Send suggestions, clips, or names of people you think might enjoy this to LZSundayPaper@gmail.com.

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