Liars and Saints

 She was a Maplewood Mom, and she wanted to complain about our schools. Many other Moms pounced. "You want to go after our over-worked school employees? Martyrs--every one of them!" This became a kind of rallying cry: "LET'S HEAR IT FOR SCHOOL-WORKERS! LET'S  GIVE IT UP  FOR THE MAPLEWOOD EDUCATORS!!!!" "My child's teacher is THE BEST!!!!!" "Oh my God, Ms. F-- at Jefferson is LITERALLY a saint!" (Curiously, school-workers seemed not to see these fulsome messages--or seemed to greet the messages with silence.) Then someone wrote in search of a budding entrepreneur who could make a "smash cake."  The "official" local baker wouldn't accept the task.  But then *another* Mom said that the local baker *would* construct a smash cake--on the down-low. You won't see the service listed on the bakery website. However....if you ask nicely..... And I found myself Googling "smash cake." This is my life.....

 I'm always eager to find a new voice; at the same time, I can be demanding, so then my reading world becomes a little echo chamber, a home *only* for Ruth Rendell and Anne Tyler. "Good Company"--a splashy new novel by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney--has at least a few memorable characters. There is Margot, who has a prominent role on a long-running "ER"-ish show, and whose character must die "for ratings reasons." Margot sort of likes fame, but she hates having to sanitize her past, in interviews, and she doesn't love when the bossy costume-designer hovers near the snack table. ("You're having bread AND pasta salad.....?") Margot complains about paparazzi, but also, if no one is noticing her in a crowd, she might dramatically drop her handbag as a way of calling attention to herself. Margot's good friend Flora has had less success in the performance world, and she decides to give up when she finds herself bored in the chorus of Broa...

 Many are writing about Jennifer Holliday (Tony Awards, 2021).  "She sounds great." "That was a Judy Garland-level transaction between singer and audience." "That was an actual performance, not just two celebrities looking happy to reunite and sing an abridged ditty from 2002...." But what happens in Holliday's big song? The speaker learns that her dude is leaving her. Though there is ample evidence to the contrary, the speaker says, "You're the best man I've ever known!" She won't go. She appeals to history: "We're part of the same place....We both have the same blood, same mind...." The speaker puts her own weakness on the table: "I don't wanna be free." Everything builds to a simple, direct, explosive bridge: "Tear down the mountains. Yell, scream, and shout. You can say what you want. I'm not walking out...." In the actual Broadway production, Effie falls to her knees, and as she sobs,...

 My admiration for "SVU" only grows. This past week, we had a two-hour marathon, and it gave us so much. It gave us "The Good Wife"'s Ben Rappaport as a smarmy Cuomo-esque politician. It gave us the greasy guy from "Billions" as a greasy guy a bit further uptown. We had the theater world's Maddie Corman as a quietly calculating mom-in-peril. Let's recap. There is a human-trafficking ring; Ben Rappaport is caught, but imagines he can just silence the witnesses. Several people die "in suspicious circumstances." Ben Rappaport evades serious consequences by turning in his lawyer, and the lawyer seems to evade consequences by offering to turn in "an ex-president" (surely a reference to Donald Trump). To make the case against Trump, or Trump's people, Olivia's team needs to locate one teen victim. But the victim's father won't cooperate; he is an unpleasant man who repeatedly undermines his wife (a nice, classic SV...

  We meet all sorts in our neighborhood. Here's what I have little patience for. My frenemy is extremely sweet, but he has children who are the ages of my children, and there is a weird undercurrent of competition. My frenemy says: "We have three weddings to attend this year, and fortunately we've found babysitting coverage so we can make every single one." Also: "We have a free live-in nanny. She is the mother of my bestie, and she has been alone for several months. She actually thanks *us* for the privilege of caring for the infant. She says she is laughing for the first time in eons....." I don't really know how to respond to this sort of thing. I say "GREAT!" and I imagine digging my claws into this guy's neck. That's my life, for now.

  Great characters make a story. "Tim All Alone," a famous picture book, has little Tim returning home from a sea voyage. But his parents are gone! The house is empty; a sign says, "For Rent." A nightmare begins. Tim--convinced that his family is alive--returns to the high seas for a search mission. A benevolent captain gives him jobs, so that he is "too busy to feel sad." But the ship explodes; a matron briefly kidnaps Tim; a new, mean captain treats Tim as an enslaved person. At his lowest point, Tim finds comfort in the company of a small black cat. This book is a bit old-fashioned; the writer doesn't hesitate to point out that good things grow from Tim's courtesy and pluckiness. I don't mind the homily. I'm just a fan of the twists and turns, and a fan of the lively illustrations. Edward Ardizzone wrote, and wrote, and wrote--and drew and drew--and he counted Maurice Sendak among his many admirers.

 My son is beginning to talk! It's a treat. He has something like his own language, which is half-English and half-Martian. ZEEEEE! means "Susie." HEEEEHHHHHHH is "head." And BABA seems to be "bottle." The greatest thrill is "Hi" and "OK." Josh has mastered these words, but he doesn't know when to use them, so he spends a big part of any day just shouting HIII! at the Venetian blinds. "HIII! Ohhhh-KAAAAY!!!" I'm reading many adult novels out loud--because Josh doesn't really pay attention, and I'm just hoping some osmosis is occurring. But you can bet we'll purchase "A House," by Kevin Henkes, upon its release, in one week. I'm including some small works of art that Henkes has been studying--here, with the text. Can't wait for Tuesday.