The 'Comfort Plus' Edition
Dear Standard Time Survivor/Adjusters,
For some reason, this year’s hour knocked me for a loop. Wonder if it’s just me or my Covid hanging on in a particularly annoying way.
Supposedly, Standard Time is going to end and it will be Daylight Savings Time all year. I bet that is not gonna work either. When you think about it, there’s really no way to win. The sun, as much as we try to control her, is only going to be above the horizon line only a certain number of hours a day, throughout the cycles of the year. I mean it’s pretty obvious — if we stay on Daylight Savings, in New York it would be dark til past 8am the sun would still set around 5pm. You kinda just have to pick one evil darkness or the other. Next we can try to control temperature because IMO it’s the *cold* and dark that really gets you. Oh wait the whole planet’s on fire so that issue should be solved soon.
You know what is possibly more boring than talking about the weather? This. So, enough about that. On to this week’s news.
Although, something kind of funny (but was it?) happened this week. I was invited to a business dinner this week. It was a one-year reunion, of sorts, for 10 people.
In making some chit chat at the start of dinner, I was saying something about how I went on to say that it seemed like there were a few iterations of the invite that came across but that in the end, I thought it was really fun and positive that ten people who live in six different cities could all make the effort get together in the same place for one night.
The convener of the dinner jumped in to say “I’m going to be totally honest with you.” Few things send shivers down my spine and put me in amygdala brain state faster. Too many things could follow that statement. Am I being fired? Is there spinach in my teeth? He continued, “You’re right. I emailed you separately because—TO BE HONEST— I totally forgot about you!”
Okay— I love honest people who just say it like it is. I guess something in the way I phrased *my* part of the conversation was *not* straightforward— I was probably intimating that I thought something in the wording in my email invite was a little off? And why was I the only one on the email if it was a group dinner? Our host then added one more thing, repeating “To be honest, it wasn’t only you— I totally forgot about you and ______________! Just the two of you! I don’t know why, I just did!”
Okay again— I was still (sort of?) happy to be given the straight dope. And I was (sort of?) relieved to be forgotten along with Mr. X, who is a big deal kind of guy. So it wasn’t just me.
On the other hand, SHEESH! Radical Candor kind of sucks! Let’s go back to veiled politeness and awkwardness when it doesn’t really matter. But do tell me when you have to be honest, there’s spinach in my teeth.
Here in LA, there’s no more hours of sunshine than on the East Coast but the palm trees and blue sky make it slightly more palatable, at least for a few days. Let the light shine on all the week’s news by, for, and about women, delivered straight to your inbox every Sunday. They are the most important news items— Politics, Business, Health, Pop Culture, The Arts, Sports, and more. Enjoy.
If you aren’t already a subscriber, do it now:
If you have a story you think I may have missed, tell me:
And if you’d like to tell a friend about the Paper, please do:
Oh, and did I mention that we inadvertently booked the absolute peak of cherry blossom season? Great luck for us!
See you next week—
Lauren
The Pic(k) of the Week:
Nearing Her 109th Birthday, and Still Waiting For Her Day In Court via The New York Times
Politics:
Abortion Rights Swept The 2023 Elections via The Cut
Lisa Franchetti Becomes First Woman To Lead U.S. Navy via The BBC
It’s Feminist To Demand a Ceasefire In Israel and Palestine via The Intercept
History:
The Unsung Hero Who Saved Thousands Of Children During The Holocaust via Smithsonian Magazine
Health & Wellness:
Me And My Bosom via The Atlantic
We Need To Talk More Openly About Birth Control Side Effects via The New York Times
Women With Stroke History Fear Bias In Emergency Care via Black News
It’s Good To Remember, We’re All On Borrowed Time via The Washington Post
Campus Climate:
Female Archeologist’s Work Receives Overdue Recognition—90 Years Later via Inside Higher Ed
Science:
The Biggest Myths About Motherhood In The Animal Kingdom via Time
The Arts & Pop Culture:
Chef Nina Compton Of New Orleans Tells A Story With Her Dishes via Andscape
How The CIA’s Top Ranking Woman Beat The Agency’s Men At Their Own Game via The Washington Post
Why Don’t Women’s Clothes Have More Pockets? via The New York Times
Obituaries:
Beverly Moss Spatt, Protector Of Landmarks in New York, Dies At 99 via The New York Times
Grace Bumbry, Barrier-Shattering Opera Diva, Is Dead at 86 via The New York Times
And What’s Not To Love About…?:
The Untold Story Of The Washington Football Team’s First Black Cheerleaders via The Washingtonian