NOTE: If you are reading this, this is my written Blog. To LISTEN, please SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio – or wherever you get your Podcasts. It helps get my podcast noticed. And if you’d like to rate it as well, PLEASE DO!
It is what it is. So says the president. I’m just going to say here that he is uneducated and crude, and doesn’t care about Americans. If that offends you, I have a feeling you should leave the room, as we approach Election Day I may become downright partisan! (Just kidding. I am deeply offended by his determination to financially profit from his time in office.).
But he has existed in a hermetically sealed environment for years, even when going outside and breathing the fresh air of nature and the world in its entirety was possible. He lives in a Trump bubble – which allows him to go to his own golf courses – all the time – and Mar-a-Lago. He never enjoyed touring; he enjoyed staying at his various hotels, exposed to only a certain slice of society. But I digress.
For me, it is never what it is. Does that make sense? There’s always a deeper place to go to find out why it is, or what can be changed or how it can be amplified. (It’s one of the reasons I like reading fiction so much – character development.)
And reading I have done, once I was able to recapture my concentration, attention, and nerves. Most of you know how much I love to read. It’s the most escapist thing I can do, besides dreaming.
Lisa Birnbach and guest Sheila Nevins
My guest this week is the formidable, accomplished, opinionated, and always surprising Sheila Nevins. Now the head of MTV Documentary Films, Sheila created and was president of HBO Documentary Films. She worked at HBO for most of 35 years, and produced over 1000 documentary movies, including the work of such directors as the Maysle brothers, DA Pennybacker, and Liz Garbus. In the process the documentaries won tons of awards – Oscars, Peabodys, and Emmys over the years. Sheila herself has won 31 primetime Emmy awards, more than any other person ever. Her book, a memoir which leaves you wanting to know more, is called You Don’t Look Your Age… And Other Fairy Tales.
The 5 things that made my life better this week:
1. I finally tried Lloyd’s carrot cake. I’m a lifelong New Yorker, and I’d never heard of this apparently famous confection until I met a family from Westchester. The story is that a man named Lloyd Adams started baking in his kitchen in Harlem, with a view to making people happy. In 1985 he was able to open his first bakery shop in Riverdale, in the Bronx. Lloyd died in 2007, but his bakery lives on thanks to his wife and children. There’s a branch in East Harlem, and though the business is called “Lloyd’s Carrot Cake”, they make other kinds of cakes and cupcakes as well. I’ve tasted the carrot cake. It’s very, very good. They ship nationwide!
2. Method’s Antibacterial Spray. I was looking for Clorox products and couldn’t find any. This sort of “fancier” line smells much better than bleach. (No, I’m not going to sip it.). Well maybe with a spritz of Aperol? NO. I KID. I do still spray my groceries and some packages when they arrive. Call me old school. And I like this stuff.
3. Blue light reading glasses. I can’t believe I didn’t mention them before. They look the same as any other pair of reading glasses but they are said to be easier on the old eyeballs than normal ones. I don’t know if they are helping me, but I don’t think they are hurting me. Lots of online retailers and opticians offer them. Try them yourself and tell me what you think. (A lot of people like Caddis brand, but my tiny head is too narrow for them, so I’m trying Eyebobs.)
4. Competence. The one thing that this endless quarantinarama has taught me is that to some extent, I am capable. I can now follow a recipe and make a tasty dinner. I can bake something edible at least half of the time. I can parallel park our car beautifully about half of my tries. And every time if I don’t feel pressured. I can clean my house and do the laundry adequately. I can reach genius almost every day on the New York Times’ Spelling Bee.
5. Dr. Fauci. He’s clearly telling us something, even sometimes by his very absence. Listen to this brave and credible doctor. He will lead us to where we have to go. And wherever you go, wear a mask, please!
Sheila Nevins | Photo Credit: Brigitte Lacombe
SHEILA NEVIN’S 5 THINGS:
1. Money in the bank
2. My dog
3. The tree outside my window (realizing nature has outsmarted me)
4. Eating cake without gaining weight
5. Making people laugh / being outrageous in expressing the unexpressed - carefully, of course
MORE ABOUT SHEILA NEVINS
You Don’t Look Your Age…and Other Fairy Tales
By Sheila Nevins
You can follow Sheila on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @TheSheilaNevins
The 5 Things That Make Life Better podcast is recorded and produced at The Field in NYC. My team is Shpresa Oruci, Michael Porte, Sam Haft and Boco Haft