Spring Social Night | June 2019

Hi everyone,

How's it going?  I have to stare at the calendar each day to remember what to do.  This is such a busy time of year.  This Wednesday, please unwind with us and take a night off from worrying about what you're going to bring to the next potluck.  And no reading required (not that it ever is) for this one.

Drop us a line and let us know if we can hope to see you on Wednesday!

Follow-up:

Hello everyone,

Good to see you last night.  Corinne, the lights and table were beautiful -- even with that pesky spider who thought he was invited to the party.

Did anyone discuss Becoming any further?  I didn't get a chance to bring it up.  But I wanted to share a story that is sort of related.

A couple of weeks ago I took my son to his swim class at the Arlington Boys and Girls Club.  He spotted a poster of a famous person on the wall and asked, "Is that the president?"  I did a double take and said no.  Trump is white, last I checked.  But then I realized that my son was asking if the black man on the poster was Barak Obama.  "No," I added, pausing for a moment to jog my memory, "That's Shaquille O'Neal.  He's a famous basketball player."  (N.B. The poster was large, but not life-sized.)

The culture is changing.  Even if just regionally.  At the school spring concert last week, the kids concluded their selections by inviting the audience to join them in singing "Lift Every Voice and Sing" which African Americans have dubbed the Black National Anthem (originally written in 1900, set to music in 1905, adopted by the NAACP in 1919, performed by famous black singers every since).

I didn't know there was a Black National Anthem.

Okay, it's raining and I'm expounding on the state of the nation, but we do have room in this email for less serious matters -- like frivolous and escapist summer reading and viewing recommendations!  One of you mentioned Mira T. Lee's Everything Here is Beautiful which I found to be a breath-taking, poignant debut, so I feature it here.  Please click here to view the entire list I've compiled so far on my blog**.  (Since there are several newcomers to this list, I have a note about the blog below.)  If you have other recommendations, please send them my way and I'll add them to the list!

Next month, join us for a discussion of Bad Blood by John Carreyrou.  You may also want to check out the HBO documentary The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley.

Hope to see you there!

**Note: While I hope to uphold the opinions and recommendations of the Tipsy Mamas as a separate entity from my blog, I am aware that there is other content on the site that does not represent the views of the Tipsy Mamas.  If you like, dislike, or disagree with something, please feel free to comment directly on the blog or otherwise more personally offline.  As always, I love discussing books and ideas with you all!