Wowie wow wow, happy Friday and happy Day After Thanksgiving! I’m thankful for a great week in a fantastic year. It feels like 10,000 years since I last wrote to you! Every day this week has felt much longer than 24 hours. In a good way, though! I just have a lot going on, internally and externally! So here are some updates.
Almanac Girlies, Be at Peace
Some of you may remember that, last year, for my birthday, Myles got me a copy of The 2025 Old Farmer’s Almanac. I was thrilled, and this year, when he gifted me the 2026 edition, I was thrilled once again! All of the weather/climate info is interesting, so are the celestial movements, but I really love the bits of poetry and trivia you encounter each day when consulting the almanac.1 It’s a happy way to start the day, or interrupt a day that has gotten boring and stupid!
Then, a few weeks ago, I heard a vile rumour that the 2026 Farmer’s Almanac would be the last. Devastation! Where would I find such folksy proverbs as “New dishes beget new appetites”? Well. There’s a goodnews-badnews happening!
Good news: The Old Farmer’s Almanac, of Dublin, NH, is fine, per their website.
Sad news: Farmers’ Almanac, based in Lewiston, ME, will cease publication. It’s sold out online but you may be able to find it in-stores!
While I didn’t realize I was an unintentional Old Farmer loyalist, the Farmers’ farewell message made me strangely emotional. Listen:
Though the Almanac will no longer be available in print or online, it lives on within you. So go ahead—plant your peas when the daffodils bloom. Watch for a red sky at night. Tell the kids how granddad always swore by the Almanac. That’s how our story stays alive.
Dang! Okay. I will never forget you, rural juror.2 And, while I’m sad for the Farmers’ family, I am happy to know there is still at least one wide-ranging almanac still in circulation. Also, my little foray into the almanac blogosphere brought me to this very interesting post, which describes the “engravings” on the traditional Old Farmer’s Almanac cover.
Here Are You, Christmas [Songs]
The Grinch is back in the news this week! What a slime. Taylor Momsen, aka Cindy Lou Who from the 2000 live-action Grinch movie, appeared in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, singing her recently-re-recorded-and-re-released version of “Where Are You, Christmas?” That’s how I learned about the Pretty Reckless Christmas album! Yay!!! You see, Taylor Momsen is the frontwoman of a band called The Pretty Reckless. In high school, I saw them open for Marilyn Manson. SO. This is the Christmas album we, as a society, need right now.
I was already thinking about the Grinch before yesterday, though.
Earlier this week Myles and I watched a Hallmark Lifetime holiday movie3 called “A Christmas Arrangement.” It’s about two rival florists, pitted against each other in a multi-round Christmas floral arrangement competition. And they find…love?! It was fine, as far as these holiday movies go, up until the last 7 seconds before the credits rolled. Then, it was the greatest holiday movie ever, because of a specific lyric in the credits song. Myles and I heard it, both of us doubled over laughing, tears spilling down our faces in disbelief. Look:
I used to agree with the Grinch! I USED TO AGREE WITH THE GRINCH!!!!!! Are you kidding me!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who agrees with the GRINCH! Are you CRAZY!!! Also, is a non-Grinch movie even allowed to say the word “Grinch”? Is that why this song was hard to track down? Luckily, I did find it. Listen to the song for yourself (1:12 is this line), in case you think that magnificent closed caption is a fabrication. “I used to agree with the Grinch,” what on earth! Who says that!
I’m also happy to inform you that Alex Melton has finally put his “Pop Punk Goes Caroling” album up on all the music streaming platforms. His choral arangement of Blink-182’s “Feeling This” is not as good as a thorough scalp massage, but it comes pretty close, if you need to wash your brain.
Finally: I have been listening to the karaoke version of Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) a lot, because the only lyric is “Christmas!!!! CHRISTMAS!!!!” delivered in heightening states of excitement/desperation. 10/10 no notes
New Job Same Me
Okay, not to be all LinkedInfluencer on main, BUT I gotta tell you about my new job. I am now over at Hidden Door, a fanfiction-y online role-playing game + publisher. It’s a little like Dungeons & Dragons, but based in the worlds of beloved novels/series, and loaded with tropes. So, if you’re playing a game, instead of encountering, say, a giant ogre with +10000 speed and super-thick armor, you might encounter…a political rival with weird romantic tension. Or a haunted house, with, oops, only one bed, so you’ll just have to share with the neighbor that you dragged on your adventure! We’ve got 9 active “worlds” to explore right now, and more coming soon (including, like, the next couple days?!?!). You can do some witchcraft in Wizard of Oz, and Oz University (if a certain Jon M. Chu film4 has inspired you). Read a never-before-published Alan Dean Foster short story, then play in the alien symbiote buddy-comedy world! We’re partnered with 831 Stories (a veritable treasure trove of rom-com content), Pressman Films (our adaptation of The Crow graphic novel is REALLY dark and twisted and good), and more to be announced. Oh! And Pride & Prejudice, which I’m currently playing using a pirate modifier, so I can try and charm Captain Darcy.
When I said I was “off to work in the fanfiction mines,” I thought it would be fun. But turns out, so far, it’s actually…really really fun. I love having a stake in the game itself, finding bugs and contributing high-concept character ideas. I LOVE being in a global environment of total nerds, who are all feeding off each other’s excitement. I love coming up with silly ideas to bring us to players, and help those players learn to play the game. And I especially LOVE being told, “Okay, we like your whole attitude, just go ahead and…have at it.” That’s what I’m doing!
Day one was mostly onboarding/paperwork/trainings/meetings. Day two, I made this:
(The post is also on our Instagram!)
If you want to help me out, please, sign up for early access (FREE) and play the game (FREEEEE), at least a few plotlines’ worth. You can play on desktop and on mobile, just in your browser. No downloads required! If you break the game/find a bug, report it, leave me a comment/email, and I will write you a haiku or limerick in thanks.
Interesting: According to Facebook, I started a new job 7 years ago this week! My second job in NYC, not counting the temp work at Marc Jacobs and Carnegie Hall. I almost wore this dress to the office this week, but changed my mind. I’ll have to wear it next week and film something ridiculous.
I’m DONE With Reading (Well. No)
I did it!!!! I met my reading goal (55 books this year)! And now, I will STOP READING BOOKS until 2026.
…kidding. KIDDING. I couldn’t even fake it for 0.05 seconds. I felt gross just typing it. I looooove to read BOOK. Here are a couple of notes on that, and also other miscellany that didn’t fit anywhere else in this newsletter:
My 55th book of the year was All Fours, by Miranda July. This was super trendy last year, which means of course I didn’t get to it til now. It’s really, really great, deserving of all the praise. I like when a book that is totally removed from my own experience still hooks me! The unnamed narrator of All Fours is a working artist of intermediate fame, mom to a 7-year-old, wife to a…guy…who does not reciprocate her enthusiasm, for the marriage or for life in general. As she enters perimenopause, she plans a cross-country road trip, which does not go as planned! And instead she winds up going through a psychosexual tango of absurdity. All I knew about this book was that there was a very graphic Pee And Other Stuff scene, and that it was about desire, and that I saw it on every subway ride for 6 months before it blinked out of the zeitgeist. But hey! It deserved the zeitgeist. Some really special prose and scenes.
My 55th book was almost a reread of Little Women, which I will finish this weekend. I am inching closer and closer to Beth dying (spoiler!!!! sorry!!!!) and have thus resisted, so I wouldn’t cry on a weekday (too busy!) but now…it’s time.
I went to my first dance class in a while, the Angela Trimbur Balletcore class, where we danced to that new Rosalía album I’ve been obsessed with. The dance was fun! My favorite part was when I fell on my BUTT! I will absolutely return to the Balletcore class to do this routine again/get the hang of it.
Did you know? Andrew Lloyd website? I didn’t. Sound on while you click around.
WIDNBTW
Remember, my fellow Americans, 99% of Black Friday deals suck. God wants you to coupon. Here’s What I Did Not Buy This Week:
Anything from Little Obsessed, a miniature-centric shop. I was looking for a Specific Thing, which they didn’t have, but they DO have a lot of other things, which I will be shopping for once I get more time-sensitive shopping done. MOM, DON’T GO ON HERE, OKAY? I’M GONNA BUY YOU SOME OF THIS.
Anything from Zara, though I LOVE these mannequins in their windows:
A seal-shaped resin croissant with a butter pat fidget. I don’t even know how someone enters this level of genius craftsmanship.
Carrying cases for your Tamagotchi, to make it look like the Littlest Pet Shop virtual pets. I feel targeted.
A new Rifle Paper Co mug to replace the one I BUSTED this morning. Did you know? Apparently, you can crack a mug in such a way that it gets a tiny pinhole, which will hose down your kitchen with coffee! Pictured here with water, for demonstration purposes:I did find this (Corkcicle, insulated, less-breakable) version of the same Nutcracker design. But, oh man, if I’m getting a new Rifle Paper Co mug…it’s gonna be this nativity one. Rifle Paper Co Baby Jesus is extremely blessed.
Cheery library stickers!!!
Retro-style wrapping paper or notebooks from Fiona Hewitt, whose designs continue to be some of my favorite neon kitsch.
Finally: This fantastic Die Hard advent calendar. I did NOT buy it, but I was gifted it by my mother, as a Thanksgiving treat. Thanks Momma! I mean…welcome to the party, Momma! Or the easiest one: Yippee kai yay, mother.
And with that, I am off to eat a leftover turkey sandwich! Not a “leftover turkey” sandwich. A leftover “turkey sandwich.” With rosemary ham. And baby lettuce. Not because we had a turkey yesterday, but because we made big sandwiches yesterday. I have maple-chipotle goat cheese, a tall tower of deli meats, and 8 King’s Hawaiian sweet rolls that require my attention. So, ta ta, for now!