Pre-pandemic, I worked with my therapist on mindfulness and being present. But 2020 has changed all that, as we all know. This year has been too chock full of awful moments. I am lucky to be over-employed, which keeps me out of trouble most of the time. When not working, I allow myself to be distracted. To avoid “the now.” Recently I binge-watched Lovecraft Country (and injured myself while watching it). But I couldn’t just leave it at that. I also listened to all the companion episodes of the official podcast with Shannon Houston, one of the show’s writers, and the incomparable Ashley C. Ford. Every year around Halloween I try to be a little braver and get into the spooky mood. But I’m ready for lighter, fluffier distractions now. Even if the weather isn’t. We had a strange morning of eerie, orange skies, and thundersnow. It was like being trapped in a Halloween snow globe. And yes, my son and I will be carving pumpkins and baking Halloween cookies. But soon I will be turning to comedy. Five good comedy-related things:
- Since he launched it, I’ve listened to every episode of Mike Birbiglia’s Working it Out podcast. And I have a ticket to watch him perform an hour-long set on Saturday.
- My favorites from Butterboy Comedy return to the virtual comedy scene Monday night. Along with some very special guests, like Marcella Arguello, Sydney Washington, and Eugene Mirman.
- This is fun — “The Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2020: These are the 20 comics who industry insiders expect will break out soon.” I was only familiar with four of them. Gimme more comedy!
- The Politically Re-Active podcast — hosted by two of my favorite comedians, W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu — is back. I didn’t realize just how much I missed them, together.
- Showtime Orders Variety Series Featuring ‘Desus & Mero’ Writer Ziwe Fumudoh. She is extremely talented. I’m curious to see what she comes up with!
Earlier this week we had our first legit snowstorm of the season. Makes me want to hibernate. My people of MENA were not built for this climate. But I will call upon my heritage to create some comforting meals this weekend. Like a big batch of mujadara, some Lebanese flatbread, and za’atar-spiced beet dip.
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