You know the portmanteau for the classic breakfast & lunch is brunch, right? Now a word all on its own. In my family, when we sometimes had pancakes or omelets for dinner, the exhibits ™ called it “brinner.” Today I am coining the term Sprinter,™ for Spring that feels like Winter. Save for one heavenly day, it’s been a dreary season. I want to put my parka away, but I don’t dare.
Never mind that. Today our guest is Caroline Hirsch, the sleek and chic comedy impresario, and proprietor of New York’s premiere omedy club Caroline’s, and the/a producer of the new film, “Ask for Jane.”
Before she joins us, let’s get to the five things that made my life better this week.
1) The staff and doctors of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at NYU Hospital. They took swift care of my son’s son, and kept him in their purview for the last week. I wasn’t allowed inside, but they helped fortify my kids’ moods when they were low, and now, have released the darling bambino. I couldn’t be more grateful.
2) Doris Day. You may not know who she was. Then again, if you’re part of this universe you probably do. She was a wonderful actress and singer in the movies in the 50s-70s. In the 1960s she was the number one box office star for four years in a row. Bigger than special effects. She was everything from an Alfred Hitchcock blond in The Man Who Knew Too Much to a singing advertising executive in “Lover Come Back”. Her voice was honey; I can hear it even now. She was cute in a realistic Kristen Bell sort of way, freckled, button-nosed, and slim. She could look gorgeous, but she had attainable beauty, nothing exotic or incomprehensible. She lived for 97 years and devoted the last 20 or more years of her life to animals, and particularly dogs. If you’ve never seen her oeuvre, check it out.
3) Went to see David Sedaris give a reading over the weekend. I’ve enjoyed his work in The New Yorker over the years, but I wanted to see a writer in command of a 700 seat theater. It’s a rare skill to be a writer who can sell out a reading, let alone hundreds of nights a year. (His anecdotes from his journal mostly concerned book signings and readings from Atlanta to London.). I wanted to see the magic. And it’s really just him, a very good story writer, who takes you on a couple of unexpected turns before the ride ends exactly where it began. He held the audience at Town Hall in the palm of his hands. I have a feeling I was the last one to see David Sedaris perform. Have you? What do you think?
4) The one pretty day we had, I enjoyed walking amidst the lush greenery and shrubs, and hearing birds chirping their heads off. It’s always so unexpected for me in the midst of a busy city to hear birds, particularly the comforting trill of the mourning dove. Nature: it’s still here, by some miracle!
5) Bill Nye the Science Guy. I like him and I admire him. He’s been making science fun for years, something that Mr. Milliken failed to do when I was in biology in the 9th grade. In fact, I was completely turned off of science before I finished high school, but as an adult I find myself reading the Science section of the New York Times every week, and thoroughly too. (When you’re taught that you are “bad” at a subject in school, you give it up. Turns out I was possibly taught by unskilled teachers.). Bill Nye does more than make science fun. He reminds us all that science is real, that it matters, and it’s not some woo woo liberal hokum.
And now, Caroline Hirsch’s 5 Things:
1. Her two three year old dogs Stella and Sybil – that she still calls her puppies.
2. Her home on Long Island.
3. Her art collection – The Nevelson piece in particular.
4. Playing golf.
5. Her work.
And number 6 – Colleen, her personal trainer for 20+ years.
