PicoBlog

I was having brunch with a pregnant friend the other day when, while sipping an overpriced mimosa, she said something poignant: It took my breath away. She was, of course, correct: women experience much more hormonal changes than men do over the course of their lives, even if they never have children (which is obviously a wild hormonal ride). But I found the itch of defensiveness creeping up my spine, too.

Last week, a story I wrote for Vogue featuring some cool gals went live. It was all about their favorite jewelry brands. You should shop it if you have a big anniversary/budget to blow. But some of my favorite jewelry pieces, the ones I wear with abandon, are on the more affordable side. Let’s start with picks you can shop now + then we’ll get into vintage favs in the coming weeks!

En estas semanas he tenido la bendición de estudiar el libro de Deuteronomio con un grupo de jóvenes. Esta ha sido una experiencia edificante y retadora para mí. En una ocasión uno de los jóvenes trajo la siguiente pregunta, ¿quién es el profeta al que se refiere Moisés en Deuteronomio 18:15? Esta es una pregunta que he escuchado en otros foros también. Aquí quisiera tratar de responderla, considerando tanto el elemento (a) gramatical como (b) contextual.

Kristjan’s back! And I just so happen to have time this Saturday, so you’re getting stream notes from me. (In case you missed my news on X/Twitter: I’ve got a new job, which I’m absolutely loving, but it’s also leaving me with very little time for personal writing, especially on weekdays. I will write on Substack when I can though!) A very nice stream (lasting 47:55), with plenty of gems of wisdom from the GOAT.

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedIt’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them. I was so preposterously serious in those days, such…ncG1vNJzZmiokaKyra3LnpivnaljwLau0q2YnKNemLyue89oqK6npJp6sLKMrZ%2BeZZSWxm6ty52mrqtdncK5uMSyZGxvkQ%3D%3D

This spooky season, I’ve been cherry-picking the Halloween episodes of several nostalgic TV series: Home Improvement, Roseanne, and, most notably, The Simpsons, whose Treehouse of Horror specials were a staple of my childhood. The Simpsons will air its 31st Treehouse of Horror episode this year. Out of those 31 episodes, 18 contain a parody of at least one novel, novella, short story, or memoir. (Note that several Treehouse of Horror segments are based on films that were themselves based on a written work: for example, the Treehouse V segment entitled “Nightmare Cafeteria” is based on the film Soylent Green, which is based on a 1960s sci-fi novel called Make Room!

We suffer from short-term thinking syndrome when it comes to money. It hasn’t always been this way. It’s also not entirely our fault. In the 1990s I was a night owl. I also had a television, with cable. It’s amazing how things change. Back then, we had infomercials. 30-minute TV ads with high-pressure sales tactics. They were incredible to watch. I thought so at least. What mesmerized me was how well they tapped into what people wanted at the time.

Sinead O’Connor has died. She was 56. You’ll forgive me - this one is a little raw. In some ways, I feel like I’ve been anticipating this news for a decade (and I can’t have been the only one). There was a grim inevitability about it. That doesn’t make it any easier to process this actual news. I have loved the music Sinead O’Connor made since I first heard it. I have written about her often, specifically that moment.

Given the situation in Gaza, some might interpret a new book entitled Judaism Is About Love to be either satirical or slightly chutzpahdik. But its author, Rabbi Shai Held, President & Dean of New York City’s Hadar Institute, is all too serious in his argument that the idea of love lies at the historic heart of traditional Jewish life. It’s an intriguing, if idealistic, interpretation. Christianity, he suggests, appropriated this idea, thereby creating what he considers the anti-semitic trope of Judaism being the religion of law rather than love.