The "In It Til..." Edition
Hello, all—
What a quick week it’s been. For those who have inquired, the wedding weekend in Wisconsin was very successful. Brewers game, check. Local grilled brats, delicious. Local frozen custard, even more so. Actual wedding—wonderful! Bonus track: made it in and out of Milwaukee airport as delegates were pouring in for the RNConvention and—double bonus— without this week’s Microsoft meltdown.
In other news: a weird thing happened at a friendly get-together this week. Someone I’ve known for many years— like 20? 25? was recalling how we had come to know each. As we chatted and she began to recall sequences of events, she said something like “oh yeah and you used to have those wild hair colors—blue, purple, pink!” and I said “huh, I never dyed my hair any colors like that.” And she said “yes, you did!” and I said “no, I definitely didn’t”. I found myself in the strangest position of arguing about my own, actual self. Like I actually know, for a fact, 100%, that I have not died my hair any colors in my adult (or even not-adult) life. I had a brief — one — moment where, having worn my hair basically in a crew cut for years, I bleached it with no other color put in, á la Sisqó at the turn of the millenium.
What do you do when someone is insisting on something that you know is not true. About yourself. And it’s not like words, which are indeed very hard to remember precisely. Like I would probably never say “no I never said that!” but rather “hmmm, maybe it was something like that, but I hope I didn’t mean it that way.” This is like re of a binary. Like— I’ve never dyed my hair a color. Like— I am very Google-able and I guarantee you that there’s no photograph that exists; also, there are friends and family and work peers who know me far better and longer and see me every day of the year for years and have never seen that. Like husband, sister, brother, children.
If you want to know something that makes it all the weirder, another woman standing next to the person who remembers me as a purple haired punkster said “yeah, I do vaguely remember that!” Well that really flummoxed me to no end.
My conclusion is that there is a person who resembled me in some other ways, maybe height, maybe temperment, maybe on the tennis court, maybe I don’t know what…! but the feeling was eerie and I wonder if any of you can let me know if I’m actually, finally so nuts that I can’t remember this but you do. Even better if you have a photo!
But I’m just saying, emphatically, that if I was a person who dyed my hair, how would I be that person for whom an enormous part of their “personal brand” (for so long that it was even before that phrase got invented) is *not* dying their hair? Do let me know!
In the meantime, un-dyed and as raw as can be: this week’s newsletter is all the news by, for, and about women. From Politics to Pop Culture and most everything in between.
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Stay cool and enjoy every day of summer!
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The Pic(k) of the Week:
What AI Thinks A Beautiful Woman Looks Like via The Washington Post
POLITICS:
The New Wave Of Powerhouse Donors Backing Abortion Rights via The Wall Street Journal
1400 Black Women Sign Letter Condemning Dems For Plotting To Ditch Biden via The Daily Beast
The Kamala Harris Social Media Blitz Did Not Fall Out Of A Coconut Tree via The New Yorker
HEALTH:
Blindsided By Breast Cancer via The Cut
RELATIONSHIPS:
The Instagram Account Of Dubai Princess Announces Divorce via BBC News
BOOK NOOK:
The Trials and Tribulations of The Boy Mom via The New Yorker
ARTS & CULTURE:
Alice Munro Was Hiding In Plain Site via The Cut
These Are The Defining Fashion Moments Of The RNC via The Daily Beast
The Woman Who Made America Take Cookbooks Seriously via The Atlantic
We Owe Shannen Doherty An Apology via The New York Times
SPORTS:
The Long Road To Olympic Equality For Women via The Wall Street Journal
WNBA Players, Bargaining Power Soaring, Seek Expert Advice On Labor Deal via The New York Times
OBITS:
Hattie Wiener, Sex-Positive ‘Oldest Cougar,’ Dies at 88 via The New York Times
Mary Martin, Who Gave Music Stars Their Start, Dies at 85 via The New York Times