November 14-November 21

Greetings from this mid-November week in which the temperatures plunged dramatically, the impeachment hearings confirmed Trump’s vituperous and embarrassingly childish abuse of power, and the Republicans continued to plumb new depths while trying to answer the question of how bad bad-faith arguments can possibly be before you have to stop making them. At least we got this guide to having Thanksgiving in your absurdly small NYC kitchen from Alison Roman, which felt very true to all of my experiences in overly-ambitious culinary endeavors. And don’t even get me started on that Alex Trebek video making the rounds, which is basically verklempt city. 

I had a lovely long weekend that involved a Friendsgiving at a friend’s place in Windsor Terrace (I made a riff on this stuffing, which people always seem to like) a daylong shopping extravaganza with my sister that involved putting items on hold at various stores and then not going back for them, and a Sunday afternoon screening of A Marriage Story at the Park Slope Nitehawk. I was early to the movie so I wandered over to Terrace Books and picked up a paperback of Elizabeth Strout’s The Burgess Boys, which I’ve been devouring on my subway commute all week as I prepare for my upcoming Thanksgiving in Maine. Speaking of reading, I’m perpetually in the market for a comfy reading chair, but until I find one that’s less than the price of my first car, I might have to hit up BookClub, this new bookstore/bar/reading lounge in the East Village. 

The big news for me this week is that tickets went on sale to see my hero Phoebe Waller-Bridge discuss her book Fleabag: The Scriptures at Town Hall on November 24. But my mom saw David Byrne’s American Utopia and loved it, and I’m also looking forward to the Janelle James Comedy Festival at The Bell House in early December. Turning to the week ahead, I'm planning on attending Agua, Vida y Tierra, a bi-lingual theatrical production about the history of Puerto Rico and Hurricane Maria that has a limited 3-night run this weekend in Gowanus. Alternatively, The Happiness Project author and Gretchen Rubin and her sister Elizabeth Craft are doing a live recording of their podcast, The Happier Hour, from Murmrr Theatre on the same night. Maybe it’s just me, but the bumper cars on ice at Floyd Bennett Field sound like a fun weekend activity, particularly if you have kids in your life who need to be entertained. And if you’re looking for something to do this evening, Threes Brewing is hosting a Beer & Cheese class with Saxelby Cheesemongers. 

So, go forth, you boisterous band of blithesome Brooklynites, and make the most of this Ideal Week—warmer weather is on the way if you can just hang on until tomorrow, and we've got lots of ideas for things to do with yourself once it's here! And please, if you haven’t already, take the time to consider signing the petition to help Rodney Reed, a death-row inmate who faces execution in Texas on November 20 despite extensive evidence of his innocence. A co-worker of mine built this very handy tool to help you contact 100+ Texas lawmakers and officials with just a few clicks—check it out! Then, we can get back to the business of getting the real criminals out of Washington.

—Kate Hooker