Greetings from LA, where the cotton candy sunsets are more spectacular in the winter and we enjoyed an 80 degree Christmas Day. This time last year, we were in a snowstorm in Jackson Hole, enduring sideways snow on the slopes, so I’m feeling very comfy and grateful to have stayed put.
Reading
This feel-good story about a stranded tour bus and a Korean culinary Christmas miracle melts my heart. My ultimate favorite holiday tradition: The Hater’s Guide to the Williams Sonoma Catalog! The benefits of doing absolutely nothing. Related: Why we should “stare into the abyss” more often. How to reduce meetings and make decisions asynchronously. A really comprehensive guide to every nepo baby in Hollywood. The GOP supported electoral reform that prevents Trump-style election result shenanigans. Newly-elected congressman George Santos is a made up man! His explanations are not satisfying, either.
Werk Werk Werk
The most watched TED Talks of 2022 include two of my favorites from the year: the Shankar Vendantam one, about how our future selves are unknowable to us, and the one from Dan Harris, on how loving yourself expands everywhere else. I did my annual personal year-in-review on HeyElise, a tradition since 2004. And have you pre-ordered FLAWLESS?!
Watching
Fleishman is in Trouble, the TV series, is maybe than the book!
That satisfying ending to White Lotus season 2. And for all the Portia fashion haters out there, here’s this contrarian take, in praise of her outfits
The Holiday, because, I dunno, it’s Christmas and it was a weak moment.
A little personal note to those of you still reading: I brought back Hu’s Letter in the spring after a long pandemic hiatus and I have to say, it’s been personally rewarding to do this again, saving links for the Hu’s Letter, and getting notes from you and being pen pals again. Thanks for our ongoing relationship. It means something to me.
To doing absolutely nothing and staring into the abyss,
Elise