"The End of the World Comes Later..." 😂

On passing the smell test. And how are you getting through Tuesday?

Thanks for reading gotham girl. This is a free post, so feel free to share it on social media, just be sure to include a link. Sincerest thanks to every single paid subscriber. You’re keeping the lights on around here, and I can’t thank you enough for it.

---

Yeah, Season 2 smells GREAT.

Hello, Lovelies, How the hell are you? Li’l stressed? I feel you.

Btw, whoever is making Michelle Obama’s suits these days, sign me up.

Michelle will get you through.

I've been taking care of boy-men for the last five months non-stop. 

I've been cooking, cleaning, solving, settling disputes, tracking down doctors, and prescriptions, and going that extra mile to make jazz playlists, brownies, and balsamic-glazed slow-roasted tri-tip ALL to make them feel special. 

And last week, all I wanted was a break and to feel a tiny bit special.

I was so completely ready for special. Here are the shoes and books I packed for it.

Excellent Women by Babs Pym!

This all comes after years of flip-flop anxiety.

Spoiler alert: it did not happen.

In fact, I got the opposite.

I got: You’re boring, I’m busy, and Who are you again? 

Which sort of made me laugh because it was absurd and not the end of the world. (That comes later.) But because here’s the thing about growing up GenX ... You don’t really ever think you’re special. You think… I’m just lucky to have my own record player and to drink from the hose! And to have gotten to see Bowie live in the 90s.

And when things don’t feel right, and all your ET senses are tingling, you get on bikes, sneak out after dark, and STAGE A RESCUE—because, this, my friends, is your 1980s filmic training—as a life practice. (I’m sure there’s a book in it somewhere.)

Last week when we chatted, I’d been in a tiny shit-hole airport trying to get on a puddle jumper that was broken and the lone grumpy TSA lady, who was the SPIT of Frances McDormand, would not let me bring my deodorant and even though it was travel-size and I said, “You gotta be kidding me. I looked it up! I can bring this, and, trust me, you want me to bring this. I am a smelly, alchemical-midlife-lady-witch-girl who has been in the country with bears for months.”

I even looked it up in front of her on my phone and said, “SEE, it's allowed in my suitcase in the hold below—the FAA says so.” 

And she said, “No, you can't bring it in here because this is a sterile space.” 

And I looked around and said, “This is not a sterile space. This is a space from Trainspotting.”

And she said, “What the fuck is Trainspotting?” 

And I said, “How the fuck do you not know Trainspotting?” 

basic cultural literacy

And she said, “Ma’am, do you want to get on this plane?”

And I stopped talking, but when you are a woman who does thankless errands all day, preventing one more stultifying trip to CVS is a hill you will all-too-gladly die on.

---

There is no marvelous this week, there is only how you get through it.

Bingeing The Diplomat

SEX HAIR IS EVERYTHING!

I relate to this character so much because I always get accidentally put in charge of things I don’t want to be in charge of because I look responsible and somehow have stupid Class President Energy.

I still always forget my hairbrush whenever I travel. My hair always looks messy no matter what—it's like a crazy, curly bird's nest. I walk around with constant sex hair even though I basically have no sex ever. 

Plus, sidebar: thank God The Diplomat is back because I am so goddamn sick of Scandi procedurals where nothing ever happens, and whatever does is completely predictable. If I wanted to watch brooding people stare at the snow all day, I could just Skype with my cousins in Sweden. People need to stop recommending these.

Stress-baking?

I am baking this emotional support pie (among other things). It’s a bourbon brulee pumpkin pie with rum-spiked whipped cream… I basically want everyone in our house to be in a drunken sugar coma so that I can get stuff done.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

crust - but I’m with Nora on this… you can buy your crust

• 2 cups sifted All-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon of Granulated Sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 large egg lightly beaten

• 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar

• 1/4 cup ice-cold water

• 3/4 cup cold unsalted butter cut into pieces (1 1/2 sticks or 12 tablespoons)

• 1 egg white lightly beaten

filling

• 3 large eggs

• 1 15-ounce can of Pure Canned Pumpkin

• ¼ cup sour cream

• 2 tablespoons bourbon

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger

• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

• ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

• ¾ cup Pure Maple Syrup

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 3 tablespoons Granulated Sugar

Instructions 

crust

• Add the flour, sugar, and salt to a food processor and pulse just until combined. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, vinegar and water. Add the cold butter pieces into the food processor and pulse until small coarse crumbs remain. Sprinkle the water/egg mixture over the flour and pulse again until the dough comes together.

• Remove the dough with your hands and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

• After 30 minutes, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

• Roll the pie crust out into a 12-inch circle (if you’re using a 9-inch pie plate). Fold it in half to pick it up and gently place it in the plate, unfolding it as you go and trimming any excess off of the edges – you can also use a fork (or another decorative idea!) to press the edges down. I like to fold the edges over slightly and then use my finger and thumb to make a ripple in the crust.

• Cover the crust with parchment paper and fill it with pie weights or dried beans. Bake the crust for 15 minutes, just until it’s lightly baked and barely golden. Once it comes out of the oven, brush it lightly with a thin layer of the egg wash. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

filling

• To make the filling, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin, sour cream, vanilla extract, bourbon, and spices in a large bowl.

• Heat the maple syrup in a saucepan until it’s simmering. Let the mixture simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until it’s slightly thickened. Remove the syrup from the heat and whisk in the cream, gradually streaming it in and making sure to continue to whisk.

• Whisk the maple mixture into the pumpkin filling until combined. Pour the filling into the pie crust. Bake the pie for 55 to 60 minutes, until the center is barely jiggling and set. Remove and let the pie cool completely.

• I like to refrigerate the pie overnight before serving. Right before serving, sprinkle the Baker’s Corner Granulated Sugar on top and use a kitchen torch to melt and brûlée the sugar until it’s crystallized and golden. Serve…

---

Burying myself in work. 

I'm supposed to leave for China on the 14th. 

I finished the adaptation of Ellery, but the rule in US TV comedy is that you need three fast/funny jokes per page. So that's the remaining task… to make sure they all land. No thuds. I often need a collaborator for this.

For me, the process is much like doing the Times Spelling Bee, I can solve it quickly, but I have to study it for a minute, then look away for ten seconds at something completely unrelated, and then look back at the configuration of letters and the seven-letter word sort of automatically appears to me in a Queen’s Gambit-style visual.

That's also how it usually works when writing a jokey bit between characters. But then, I need the other person to help me push it further and tell me, “No, that blows. What about x?” Joan was great at this.

Also, meditating on this…

And doing a spot of yoga!

Lastly, my dear friend

Kim Van Bruggen

is hosting election/holiday de-stress yoga, if you want to join us, here we are…

PRE-HOLIDAY ELECTION DE-STRESS YOGA CHALLENGE

When all else fails… Puzzles!

I am obsessed and can easily kill/squander many hours with any visual or word games.

My newest fave is: https://alphaguess.com/

But how do you plan to get through it all?

---

A Bit of Brain Candy

Wasn’t Janey Godley wonderful?

And don’t forget… Even though, the end of the world comes later…

So, that’s what I’ve got this week. Yours in pie and pajamas – xoxo, gotham girl

p.s. “The end of the world comes later” is a quote from a dear friend, the Emmy-award-winning costume designer, Jacqueline Saint Anne, who always manages to fix everything on set and in life… on the fly.

---

---

*As an Amazon Associate, gotham girl may earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.