Movies & Noodles Please!
Meet your new OTP
Hello Dames Nation! We, a self-proclaimed freelance writer power duo, are pretty jazzed to guest write this week. Anna Goldfarb is the author of the humor memoir Clearly, I Didn’t Think This Through. She also writes about relationships, careers and pop psychology for the New York Times, Vice and Medium. She lives in Philly and has a three-legged cat named Eleanor. Jen A. Miller is the author of Running: A Love Story, writer of the New York Times Running Newsletter, which is weekly, and a newsletter about freelance writing, which is infrequent. She lives Philadelphia-adjacent [mere blocks from Dame Sophie, in fact! -- Eds.], and her dog is named Annie Oakley Tater Tot (she picked her up while in Idaho on a road trip to see all 50 states - #jenin50 if you’re curious!)
We are also very good friends who try once a month to go to the movies in the middle of the day, followed by lunch, often at Philadelphia-grown restaurant Han Dynasty, which is so good it always makes Anna do the John Mulaney shoulder shuffle.
We have done the right thing and seen Oscar-worthy movies, but honestly, we most often like to go see hot dudes do smashy! smashy! stuff, which is why we reached peak existence when we were the only two people in a recent screening of Hobbs & Shaw.
If you want to chat with us about what you read in this issue, we’re on Twitter at @byJenAMiller and @AnnaGoldfarb.
Friend-of-Dame Jen
When the Dames asked me to write this newsletter, I jumped up and down and said sure! And not only because Dame Sophie is my neighbor (I could, say….shoot a pigeon off my back patio and she’d hear it.) [I could! And then I would text her about the gunshots & birdy murder sounds! -- Dame S.]
Peak neighborliness!
However, I did not know that I would be asked to do so shortly after the death of my Grandmother. I am not as up on pop culture as I would like to be, but here’s what’s been rolling around in my world.
One thing that helped me very much during this time was listening to the audiobook of The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love and Loss by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt - as read by the authors themselves. The book was drawn from a year’s worth of emails they wrote back and forth to each other. I *knew* about Gloria Vanderbilt but not in any deep way - just read her obituary to get a taste of her life.
How do you say...de-gorgeous?
I didn’t think listening to more about sadness would help, but it did. I got it through my library’s Libby app (so it was also free free free).
At the same time, I read the physical book That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson Duchess of Windsor (and they overlapped! Vanderbilt’s aunt, Thelma Furness, was Prince Edward’s mistress pre-Simpson). If you’ve seen The Crown, you know a bit of Simpson’s story - how Elizabeth became queen in part because her uncle gave up the throne to marry a twice-divorced American.
A classic look, honestly
She’s also been sort of a person people want to portray - everyone from Lia Williams (in The Crown) to Faye Dunaway to Jane Seymour to Gillian Anderson have given it a crack.
It’s easy to boil Simpson down to the consequences of that action, but like all people, she was a person - a complicated person who made questionable decisions. This book shows that.
I have been reading a lot about the time before World War II and the rise of the Nazi party for [frantically waves hands] reasons. If you are also interested in this time period, I have a few recommendations:
Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill by Sonia Purnell. I hate how much the role of women in war has generally been pushed aside. This book works to reverse that.
The Clara Vine Series by Jane Thyne. These are fiction - books about a half British/half German actress who decides to stay in Germany in the run up to war and work for the British government. There’s suspense and romance, but also how “normal” citizens saw things go from worrisome to horrific. It’s uncomfortable - but it should be.
The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell. If you spend any learning about the era in time, the Mitford sisters are going to appear, so you might as well read about them. This Vanity Fairpiece does a good job in showing why this is the case.
Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel, Nazi Agentby Hal Vaughn. There was a blip on twitter when Chanel issued statement about how the Chanel brand should not be referenced, which prompted many people to remind the general public about Coco Chanel’s wartime activities which were Not Great. I am a collector of vintage fashion and have a pair of two-toned Chanel pumps, which I purchased before I knew this. I won’t sell the shoes, but I have put my search for a vintage Chanel suit aside (though if I found one at a thrift store, I would not leave it behind).
And to bring things back around to the modern day: I can’t read two books that take part largely in the 1930s and not want to paint my nails a very bold red (Vanderbilt talks often about her memories of her mother’s red fingernails). So this week I painted them one of my go-to shades: OPI’s “Got the Blues for Red.” Its looks very close to color worn by Phoebe Waller-Bridge in this absolute FOREVER MOOD photo of her celebrating being recognized for Fleabag while surrounded by her Emmys. I know smoking is bad and should not be glamorized at all, but my brain is still stuck in the 1930s, so you’ll have to forgive me just once at this point in time.
Shine Theory in action
A Few of Anna’s Favorite Things
I shouldn’t be trusted with money because I spend it on stupid things: a jade roller I’ve used twice, oversized scrunchies, and a $34 tin of incense (why?!?). I’m especially susceptible to targeted marketing, which is a problem when it comes to skincare. I have no idea what I’m doing. I can’t decide if I need a product or I just desire it because I’m a sucker for sleek packaging. Glossier, Sunday Riley, Drunk Elephant –– I’ve tried it all. I also subscribe to roughly a million skincare subreddits and Facebook groups too, which only heightens my interest in trying more things. Exhale. It’s a lot.
Now now now!!!
Like most people who are waist-deep in their skincare addition, I’m always on the hunt for the ever-important holy grail product. Maybe this will be the one true moisturizer I’ll need. It’s a perfect storm of optimism, curiosity and straight-up materialism. I basically end up just walking around with my wallet open anytime I wander into Sephora because I’m so clueless. Someone just tell me which eye cream will actually turn my life around, if such a thing even exists.
I mean, come on!
Because I have such a mix of low and high-end products –– argan oil from Trader Joe’s, a milky cleanser from the Rescue Spa –– my shelf looks like a cross between a garage sale and Nordstrom beauty counter. Chic! There’s a tension here because I enjoy snagging a bargain but I also want to use high-quality items. It’s hard to find products that satisfy both requirements.
So imagine my delight when I tried the $6.99 Q10 serum by the Inkey List! Sephora sells it. If you’re curious about serums but don’t know where to start, this is a terrific one to try. It quickly absorbs into my skin and doesn’t have any icky fragrances or irritating additives. My skin feels comfortable and hydrated when I use it. I like it so much that I haven’t even wanted to try any other serums all summer, which is the highest compliment I can give for a chronic product-hopper like me.
My other favorite thing besides obsessing over skincare products is playing video games on my Nintendo Switch. I didn’t start playing games until recently but it’s replaced watching reality television as my preferred pastime. As it turns out, video games have come a long way since the Oregon Trail or whatever mindless junk I played in middle school.
Ahhh that’s the niche Xennial stuff
I especially love games that let me play a female character, like Stardew Valley, Gris or the Dragon Quest Builders series. It’s a powerful feeling to see someone that looks like myself in the games I play.
While the majority of my favorite games involve strategy, puzzles and light combat (that’s a nice way of saying I’m slaying monsters), sometimes it’s fun to switch gears completely and lose yourself in something more simple just for the hell of it. The Untitled Goose Game definitely fits that bill. You don’t even need a Switch to play it, as it’s also available for purchase on Mac and Windows, too. In the game, you play a goose with two goals: annoy everyone and cause mayhem. As far as objectives go, every scene (a garden, a shop) comes with a to-do list. Items on the list might be things like steal a radio, lock someone in a shed, or make a person hammer their thumb with a well-timed honk.
Classic slapstick, 2019 style
I’d probably be arrested if I tried any of these light crimes IRL, but there’s something cathartic about flapping your (virtual) wings at people just because you feel like it. I don’t know if my fussy skincare routine will ever truly make me look younger, but this goose game definitely makes me feel like I’m a kid. Happy honking!
Two Bossy Dames is brought to you by:
1. Dame Helen Mirren being CARRIED into the London premier of Catherine the Great while also maybe wearing the jewels from the movie.
2. Gritty’s first birthday jaunt.
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