Lisa Birnbach with Lauren Acampora in the podcast studio - at The Field

Hi Friends. Is the world driving you mad? Do you think you’re developing nervous tics every time you hear your phone ding? Are you developing nervous tics if you don’t hear your phone ring or if it’s your office mate’s phone? Do you want to hibernate for the next year and half? Do you wonder if you should eat meat or plant based burgers? Do you feel hamstrung by indecision and stress? Then join me, and consider figuring out what small things make your life better. It helps reset your day.

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It is with pleasure that I introduce you to today’s guest, Lauren Acampora, the novelist whose book The Paper Wasp was published a few months ago. And though her protagonist is likable, she goes dark. Very dark. Nevertheless, Lauren’s Five Things are full of light and pleasures, like the joy of living in a small town. It’s all below. Keep reading!

Now on to my 5 things that made my life better this week:

1. Wonder of wonders, I finally performed kind of a standup comedy routine. It wasn’t a comedy routine, exactly. It was more of a storytelling thingie, and it made me nervous and distracted for weeks! Now it’s over, and I couldn’t be more relieved. For years and years people have encouraged me to take the stage and try it. I prefer to be less emphatic “joke teller,” and a more relaxed funny person. But when Sydney LeBlanc who curates the Uptown Storytelling program at the New York Society Library approached me out of the blue last year, I finally decided to go rogue and say yes. I told nobody about it. If I were going to bomb I was going to bomb quietly, under the radar. Anyway, it went very well, and got me thinking about polishing my piece for another turn.

2. Hadestown. Across town, on another scale altogether you can see a fantastic version of Eurydice and Orpheus and Persephone’s myth in this Tony award winning show. I don’t want to say “I knew it” but I knew it when I saw this show in a much earlier version off Broadway at the New York Theater Workshop, a great incubator of theater. I’d been urged to see it’s bigger Broadway version, and I’m glad I did. Highly recommended.

3. Sweater Weather. It’s come much, much earlier than it did the last few years, but cool days are okay with me as long as the sun is out. I don’t think I need any new sweaters or coats or jackets this year. Hope I hold to that.

4. May I be the last one here to extol long walks? Over the long weekend I took a long walk – and I’m going to go further and call it a hike – so sue me – with my friend Maria. She said what we said on the road stays on the road, so I cannot reveal any of the brilliant ideas we developed. But we got our 10,000 steps done and more so.

5. I want to say a special call-out to Congresswoman Nita Lowey. Nita Lowey has served in the US Congress, representing New York’s Westchester County since 1989. In 2001–2002, Lowey served as the first female chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. She is the chair of the House Appropriations Committee. Mrs. Lowey just announced a few days ago that she will not run for reelection. She’s been a dynamic and passionate leader in the House and I salute her service.