This is the first September 11th I believe I haven’t been in New York City since 2001. It’s a weird feeling. It’s just a fluke that I’m on the West Coast now. I don’t feel like I’ve bailed on New York, but I am kind of incredulous that I didn’t even realize it was the anniversary of the World Trade Center tragedy this week. We have so many other tragedies to “monitor” at this moment.
Nevertheless, when one is away from home and from one’s tv pre-set to the news, it is relaxing. I hope you had a restful Labor Day wherever you were.
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!
Since we’ve been away we’ve been asked if we would like to move to California, something that happens on most trips I make to Los Angeles. Is it because the person asking me used to live on the East Coast too and finds it contrary to want to live with cold winters and slush and crowds and subways?
There is a new take on my choosing to live in New York, and this is that since COVID had such a profound impact on New Yorkers in the Spring, some press is now calling New York City “dead and over.” It’s true that my neighbors who have summer homes outside the city have transplanted themselves to that house – for a long haul that seems so pleasant they are thinking of it as a more permanent residence. Some families just decided to return home – wherever that was – for more space at a lower price, and at an easier pace. My particular NY neighborhood has been vilified as “increasingly squalid” and “filled with junkies and sex offenders.” The exaggeration is coocoo. Life is similar to what it was, though we are never without our 70% alcohol wipes or gels. We just have to be patient.
Lisa Birnbach and Christopher Buckley
Meanwhile, this week’s interview was done on the East Coast and feels kind of East Coast. Could be because I was chatting with writer Christopher Buckley. The son of Conservative thinker, writer, and publisher William F. Buckley, Jr. who founded The National Review, Christopher was sitting in his family house in Connecticut, in his father’s study, I believe, surrounded by.. let’s call it Buckleyana. Christopher’s new satirical novel is called Make Russia Great Again. It’s published by Simon & Schuster. If there’s one thing you can say about the Trump administration: it’s more or less satire without the humor.
First, my five things:
1. Burgers Never Say Die. It’s a burger stand essentially, that #ExhibitB introduced me to last year. It’s the only hamburger I have dreamed of or yearned for. Fried flat, with crispy edges, pickles, and I think some kind of Russian dressing. It’s in Silverlake, and it is not worth a plane ticket, but at half an hour on a freeway? Yes, yes, yes.
2. Kismet restaurant. This terrific Middle-Eastern cuisine restaurant in West Hollywood sent out an email to their patrons (I’d eaten there once or twice on earlier visits) talking frankly about how hard it was to stay in business during the pandemic. (Los Angeles restaurants have been closed except for pickup and delivery and some outdoor tables for months.). It was a poignant letter. And we ordered dinner from Kismet, and it was good.
3. Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles. Founded in Hollywood, in 1975 by Herb Hudson, a Harlem expat, there are eight branches of this fried chicken restaurant in Southern California. This fried chicken is so good. And you know how I feel about fried chicken.
4. We did something that felt “normal” in the sense of “a fun thing we used to be able to do before the pandemic without worrying about it” this past week. We had an afternoon visit with another family in their house and back yard. Conversation! Laughs! Parents and exhibits! Fruit trees! Pastries! It was a huge highlight. Thank you to M, MJ, M, and P.
5. #ExhibitBaby
Christopher Buckley's 5 Things:
1. Wife Katy
2. Air conditioning
3. Julian’s borscht soup.
4. Movie: Dr. Strangelove
5. Pear’s Soap
More About Christopher Buckley
Make Russia Great Again
By Christopher Buckley
Published by Simon & Schuster
Website: ChristopherBuckley.com
The 5 Things That Make Life Better podcast is recorded and produced at The Field in NYC https://thefieldtv.com
My team is Shpresa Oruci, Michael Porte, Sam Haft and Boco Haft.