For what it's worth, I like April Fools, at least conceptually. It has gotten a little dicey recently, because with AI, isn't everything susceptible to being one great April Fool?
It's funny - my previous employer used to do a gangbusters job of April 1st media. Our intranet site was delightful. I was missing it this morning, and then my old boss sent out a group text about this being the first year with no BCBST April Fools articles. One of the folks who is still there sent us a screenshot. So apparently, it's not just me.
I'll be honest - I am struggling a little with loss, nostalgia, fitting in, etc. I always think I'm pretty good at putting on a game face, but a friend who I saw over the weekend commented afterward that there was a "general heaviness" to my spirits. Which tracks. So, apparently, my usual sparkly self isn't so sparkly.
I need to work on that - I'm not saying I can will myself into delightfulness, but I can surely get a little less meh. I am getting a haircut tonight - that should help - or, at the least, it can't hurt. Plus a little therapy talking with my stylist, who, like me feels a little unsettled in this world these days. So, that's a start. The other thing that I have happening is an eye appointment Saturday - and that is really welcome. My eyesight is typical of a woman of my advanced age - my progressive lenses need a little more oomph. I wear them for anything that is between three inches and three feet from my face. My distance vision is A-OK. Well, that's not entirely true. I have astigmatism that makes headlights at night super fun and disco. Maybe that's the key... look for the sparkle outside me, and focus less on the disco within.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I was able to get the dog into the tub yesterday. This time of year, she sheds so much. She has an undercoat that is fine and fluffy - and her overcoat is a bit more wiry and terrierlike. It's all good. But she just hopped right in and let me scrub her down. She doesn't like the process, but she appreciates the outcome. We all slept better last night. I put clean sheets on the bed, clean people, clean dog. I recommend it.
I am caught up on my serial programs for the moment. I am currently watching DTF St. Louis and The Pitt with fervor. I started Rooster, and it's good for a laugh. I also just started Hacks. Hacks, of course, is several years old, so I could easily binge it over a few months. And I probably will. I happen to like Jean Smart a lot. And I secretly like Vegas.
My husband is not a fan of Las Vegas. He understandably hates the scam that is legalized gambling, the crowds, the loud tackiness of it. Basically, he hates all the things about it I adore. The excess, the lights, the action... neither of us has ever visited outside of work - but remember, my work back in the day required some entertaining customers, and that included my Vegas trips. I miss that stuff.
 |
| I once won $100 on Kitty Glitter in Atlantic City. It was marvelous. |
Is it too hot to hoot there? Yes. But do I care? No. I had some fun. I'd love to go and enjoy a less gross hotel, nicer food, nicer casinos. My time there was decidedly budget. And that's fine.
But more than Jean Smart, and Las Vegas, I enjoy standup. And the process of writing, and being misunderstood and underestimated. I also like Hannah Einbinder. I just learned that her uncle is the late Paul Newman - brother to Laraine Newman... am I the last person figuring this out?
Back when the show first came out, two different people told me the show reminded them of me. I am not clear whether it was Ava, Deborah, or both... I don't hate that. I mean - so far, two episodes in, neither of them are especially sympathetic. For different reasons. But at the same time, I relate to them both, so maybe the point here is that someone can be awful and wonderful simultaneously.
Now, DTF St. Louis is a horse of a different color. It's honestly one of the wackiest things I've laid eyes on in awhile. It's a limited series, and I think it's about to come to a close. It's about sex, obviously. But it's also about friendship, and money, and murder. It's got Jason Bateman in it - and I'll watch him wait for an Uber, which, I'm sure he never has to do. Lucky guy. But the show also features Linda Cardellini, David Harbour, Joy Sunday and Richard Jenkins - it's just kooky, and funny, and just a little sad. It's a sweet little diversion from reality.
Now, The Pitt. Well, it's definitely an obsession. I can't explain it better than that. It's perfect for a liberal healthcare-adjacent worker. Plus, Noah Wyle has aged nicely. I first fell in love with him in 1993. I'm in love again in 2026. We've grown old together. Plus - I grew up with a nurse and a hospital administrator for parents - so, I see people in Pitt that I know. Not so much my parents, but their colleagues. There are some serious archetypes covered in these episodes.
Plus, having been to the ER for both myself and my loved ones... I get the ebb and flow. I have told the story that twice, rather than go to the ER closest to my house, Vanderbilt, I drove to Franklin, because the severity of a kidney stone, or a cut in my leg at Vanderbilt is going to be a nothingburger. Go to Vanderbilt when you've fallen from a balcony, or been burned, or hit by a pedal tavern. This has been proven to be useful. Though I did catch some grief from folks for driving with pulsate bleeding. Fortunately, the heel of my Birkenstock collected the blood, mostly.
While the medicine in The Pitt is impressive, it's the humanity that makes me happy. Whether it's snarky Trinity Santos, brusque but compassionate Nurse Dana, oft maligned Dr. Mohan, or the gambling den of security officers... they all have something happening in their inner lives. And they bring it with them.
It'll be over in a few weeks, at least until the next season - then I can focus on... probably Hacks, more fully.
A few years before my father died, I asked what change in his lifetime was most amazing to him. I expected civil rights, computers, space travel... he said, "Television. It looks so good, and there's so much of it."
He was right. I remember not long after we moved into the house, we bought our first flat screen TV. Dad came to Nashville and commented on how ridiculously large and unnecessary it was. But he parked himself in front of it for a significant portion of the weekend. The next week he went out and bought the exact same set.
I think he would have loved The Pitt. He wouldn't have cared for DTF St. Louis, probably. I know he wouldn't like Hacks. Women being dirty. That kind of made him uncomfortable. He loved Sarah Silverman, but she also made him a little uncomfortable... I think he probably never saw Amy Schumer, but it would have been a similar reaction.
You just never know. I mean - I'm not sure my husband would like either Hacks or DTF St. Louis. I'm fairly sure The Pitt wouldn't be his thing. I watch these if he goes to bed early - which happens from time to time. He's gotten into an early wake-up habit, so he needs to go to bed sooner than I do.
Anyway - that's what's been up with me and mine. We're good.
Comments