Shaved Meats, Piled High: September 2022 edition

Nobody Knows Anything 

Warning: My website has been hacked. Don't go there, don't gaze at it, don't even think about it or your devices could end up in a Raiders of the Lost Art meltdown. We're working on it. Also, couldn't get links to work on Tiny Letter this month. 

The title of this month's edition of my newsletter is credited to William Goldman, on the subject of Hollywood/movies, but it feels applicable to everything. You know what no one knows? The interiority of another person's life. 

Last month, the production on Lady in the Lake was temporarily halted because -- I have no idea what happened. While I have an executive producer credit on the limited series based on my book, this does not mean I am involved in day-to-day production. I do not comment on the day-to-day production for that reason. And that was a position I made clear to some reporters three months ago. In order to have a meaningful comment on the production, I would actually have to report the story myself. 

But also -- my life during August was an absolute shitshow, a shitshow that is ongoing, and while I would consider it a dreamy privilege to have an opinion about something other than my personal shitshow, I don't have the time and resources to develop one. 

It was a tough month. At one point, a good friend I don't see often enough, but someone I have known for 30+ years, found me sitting outside the fitting rooms in the Timonium Target having a nice public cry while my daughter tried on back-to-school clothes. My friend is a big-hearted person who has survived tougher things than I'm dealing with right now, but she sat with me and listened to my small-t troubles, which felt so large to me, then gave me advice and a hug. 

Reading/Read: Shy, by Mary Rodgers and Jess Green. 
Re-reading: Hello My Love, Goodbye, Lenora Mattingly Weber, Heartburn, by Norah Ephron (audio version). Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, Elizabeth Taylor. 
Me, Me, Me: My walking took a hit in July -- the combination of travel and a heat wave resulted in my first sub-5-mile-daily-average since December 2020. Happy to note that I rebounded in August; I averaged 5.8 miles a day, my best month of 2022, in which I'm averaging 5.4 miles a day. 

Also, I held a baby. I would love to insert a photo of me holding the baby here, but Tiny Letter is loading all the photos at the top, which doesn't work at all. But trust me, it was the highlight of my month. 

Laura Lippman
September 2022