Lisa Birnbach with author Jami Attenberg

November! Holy cow! That was fast. November. Soon the leaves will change color and make their way to our streets and sidewalks, and you’ll be offered everything in a “pumpkin spice” option and you’ll see orange everywhere. If orange doesn’t flatter your complexion, don’t fret. Red and green will soon take over. Yes, there’s something for everyone.

My guest this week is author Jami Attenberg. She’s a very disciplined and prolific novelist, whose newest book, “All This Could Be Yours” could be your next great read.

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The 5 Things that made my life better this week are:

1. Pajama-like clothing. Ever since athleisure became the hugely popular trend that it is, the difference between what we wear at home and what we wear outside has become minimal – nominal? I know people who wear leggings day and night to everything. I know people who dress up for even the least important chore. Now fashion -- (we used to refer it in shorthand as “Seventh Ave”, but since fashion is global, Seventh Ave. just doesn’t carry as much weight any more) – has offered us stylish outfits that look like silk pajamas. I myself tried on such an ensemble last summer while I was on vacation, and now I want to wear pajamas out, but what does one wear on one’s feet with the pajamas? Let me know, please.

2. Forever stamps. Unlike most people I know, I still frequent the post office. I mail packages to my exhibits ™ frequently, and also mail checks (Google them, kids) to pay my credit card bills. I enjoy putting stamps on my letters, and love not having to figure out how many cents each one is worth. And I do not miss licking the stamps, as we had to do in the Dark Ages of the 20th century. Also, stamps have gotten cool – I have some with Marvin Gaye’s face on them, some with the Woodstock logo, and they are the adult’s version of playing with stickers.

3. Lunch. I don’t generally eat lunch when I’m home working, but it’s a pleasure to meet people over a quick midday meal. I know it’s not hip with millennials, but I make myself make lunch dates with people for several reasons. One is, I spend a lot of time alone – enough time in fact. I get a jolt of energy meeting other humanoids.

4. New York taxis. They get a bad rap, but lately I have found myself grateful to some very decent cab drivers. That plus the car service apps are lately misleading about how far the cars are, and there’s too much mystery about when said Lyft or Uber might show up. New York cabs have their own apps that streamline paying for your rides. One is called Arro and the other is Curb. Using either one you can pay for any taxi in New York. And I find there are fewer drivers speaking to their homelands for the duration of the rides these days.

5. Handkerchiefs. I’m finding that I prefer carrying a cotton handkerchief to stuffing my pockets with Kleenexes. And then I realize that choosing a washable hankie is probably preferable for the environment to wasting all that paper. I have some hankies that just turned up in my stuff. I don’t remember buying them; maybe my grandma hid them in my dresser years ago? WHERE DID THEY COME FROM? In Japan department stores have entire handkerchief departments! I wouldn’t even know where to buy new ones outside of men’s haberdasheries. And that concludes the historical portion of our podcast.