We Found the Ultra-Pricey Ice Cream Maker Lorelai Gilmore Got as a Wedding Gift. (She Should Have Kept It.)
My daughter got me watching Gilmore Girls when she was in middle school. We missed the first couple of seasons, which I didn’t realize at the time, and watched it sporadically. Several years ago, as streaming became a thing, I found them on Netflix and started watching from the beginning. The show had been rather abruptly canceled, so the creators of the show, the Paladinos, never got the ending they wanted. Then came the reboot, which I also watched – my friend Caitlin had a viewing party, which was so much fun! I even made homemade pop-tarts for the event.
Since I’m letting that secret out, here’s the other: I have two shows that are my guilty pleasure – I watch the entire run of Gilmore Girls, then watch the entire run of The West Wing, another show I didn’t watch when it aired the first time around. A co-worker pestered me into watching – she had the whole series on DVD, and I fell in love with Aaron Sorkin. I’ve watched everything the man has written, and I’ve watched Sports Night and The Newsroom several times, and The American President, the forerunner to The West Wing, more times than I can count. But The West Wing & Gilmore Girls remain in constant rotation.
I’ve watched all the Palladinos’ shows that I know about, too: Bunheads was terrific but short lived, and I loved The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, too. One of the things I like about rewatching shows is that I don’t have to pay as close attention; I can read while I watch, always a bonus for me. I’ve been rewatching shows that I love for as long as I can remember – I watched I Love Lucy over and over throughout my childhood and even some years into adulthood. And I still watch an episode now and then, especially when I want to cheer myself up. I’ve always credited that amazing cast with getting me through my parents’ divorce.
Are there any shows you watch over and over?
The thing that I don’t understand is how emotionally invested I am with these shows. You would think after watching the President get shot over and over on TWW I’d be immune to it, but no, I still cry at that episode and several others. I’ve tried watching other shows that the stars of these shows moved on to with limited success; I loved a few, gave up on the rest.
I totally bought into this little Gilmore Girls gift from Wirecutter at the New York Times, and agree with their reasoning. If you are a fan of the show, let me know what you think!
Book News
AI is coming for your audiobooks. You’re right to be worried.
Apple and Google want ‘Madison’ and ‘Archie’ to read to you. Major publishers are hiring A-list celebs for the same job. Who will win?
How an Iowa School District Used ChatGPT to Ban Books
Using ChatGPT’s guidance, the Mason City Community School District removed 19 titles—including Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Toni Morrison’s Beloved—from its library shelves. But there is another truth: Educators who must comply with vague laws about “age-appropriate” books with “descriptions or visual depictions of a sex act” have only so many options.
Food News
Stop Trying to Convince Me Tinned Fish Is the Height of Luxury
Can we all admit that tinned fish is just okay?
This article made me laugh! When my husband and I were in Portugal in April, we noticed a lot of tinned fish. Entire aisles of supermarkets were filled with the little tins. And my personal favorite, a chain of touristy tinned fish stores that were incredibly beautiful; their design was based on the world’s most beautiful library at the University of Coimbra. Can you tell which is which??
Hint: In the center photo, those gold brick-looking things are actually cans of tuna packed in olive oil with gold leaf! Those were the most expensive in the store, around € 20. The fish in the supermarket was much less expensive; that’s how I knew this was a tourist trap. The cheapest cans in this fancy store were about €4, which was about the same price as the most expensive cans in the supermarket! Then again, I didn’t see any cans with gold leaf there, but I didn’t look very hard.
In the photo on the right, you can see books wrapping around the wall into the ceiling. Those were trompe l’oeil, painted to look like a library. It was an interesting store for sure. And thanks to Eater, I guess my trip to Portugal was on trend.
Apparently, the library was used as inspiration for some of the scenes in the Harry Potter movies. The students at the university wear a uniform of – wait for it – long black robes! They are not mandatory, but it seems most students wear them.
Other News
My kids came to visit a few weeks ago. My grandson, Jonah, is almost 2 1/2 years old and loves to help in the kitchen. We made chocolate chip cookies, and he truly did help! I had everything measured out and ready to go for him. He cracked the eggs and helped me put them in the mixing bowl. He dumped the sugars, flour, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips in next (and blew my mind when he told me we need flour and baking soda to make cookies!) Then, he helped scoop out the cookie dough. He got a few chocolate chips as a “chef snack” for helping.
A few days later, he helped make the frosting for my daughter’s birthday cake and carefully placed confetti on top. But the funniest thing was he found this giant “dinosaur egg” in with the toys I keep for him. He immediately ran to the counter to crack the egg! Then he surprised himself by putting it back together without any help. We had so much fun together!
As always, thanks for reading, and stay safe.
Thanks to The New York Times and The Washington Post for allowing me to “gift” my readers with free access to these articles, a lovely perk for subscribers.
Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™ 