Five
‘WHO? Weekly magazine and The Read
I love the no-gambling celebrities and pop culture news explained with jokes and biting points, and these two great podcasts never let me down. I implicitly trust the host. Never miss an episode! My stepchildren are his 15 and 17 and as teens know nothing exists outside of their bodies and cellphones so they don’t excite me . It’s nice to have my pop culture brought to my ears by people who are interesting and more knowledgeable than I am.
6
“Gone Girl”
When I read Gone Girl for the first time, I was shocked. It’s a very good book – very clever, very interesting and detailed. I read it once a year. This is my comfort book, so it probably means I’m sick, but I don’t care! (By the way, where’s Gillian Flynn’s next book? No pressure, but there’s pressure too. Miss you, I missed you!)
7
my car
You don’t even have to go anywhere. I’m very happy to spend time in a warm car with heated seats and a book (“book” means “cell phone”). I don’t like my car that much right now, but I still would rather sit in this car and listen to thoughts reflecting off the walls of my brain than anywhere else. Did you know how wrapping a baby in a burrito can stop a baby from crying? That’s me in the car. The tears disappeared when I put on my seatbelt. If her wife said I’d call her in the car, she’d definitely know she’d be talking about herself.
8
household clippers
I shaved my head for the first time when I was 16, the day before I entered my senior year of high school. Since then, I haven’t stopped cutting my own hair. I have worked with many barbers, and I loved them all. I appreciate crisp (unnecessary) lineups, but that’s not how I’m in the NBA. Literally no one cares if I don’t have a well-crafted hairline.
9
playlist
As a kid, I was always making mixtapes for people. Now you can create playlists no matter which music platform you’re using. It’s much faster and less labor intensive. “Hey, I like you, but if you’re taking a liking to me, it’s also plausible to deny it.” and post them on Instagram and link them in newsletters. I like to create very specific playlists for myself (“7 Songs to Run Errands To”), but I also enjoy making them for my friends (“A Collection of Music That Will Trick You Into Thinking I’m Cool”).
Ten
gel pillow
We purchased a new mattress a few years ago and the salesman gave us two premium gel pillows as a bonus. Now I never have. It doesn’t get too hot, but the best part is that you can do it, even if you’re a side sleeper who, like me, prefers to stuff your pillow into a makeshift inflated tube. It stays crunchy, so you won’t be sad in the morning if you just squish it and put it back into shape instead of crying over the broken pillow. Genius technology! I will never go back again.
Dina Gackman is the author of So Sorry for Your Loss, a book of essays on grief.
