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Staying Apart, Together: Everybody's working for the weekend

Kelly Lawler   | Paste BN

Once again, I'm really excited for the weekend. 

I don't know about you, but recently I've felt time slipping away from me during the week. There's a lot to be done with dog walking, dinner and my current quest to buy a house in one of the craziest housing markets in years. It doesn't help that the days are shorter and darkness is falling not long after we start the dishes. 

In a reversal of pre-pandemic life, the weekends feel a little longer than normal these days. Maybe it's because I'm not sleeping in until noon anymore. (I'm not going out to parties and bars until the wee hours, so why sleep the day away?) Maybe it's because the weekends also bring a deep sense of accomplishment in my personal life for doing little things like laundry, baking and video chatting with friends and family. Maybe it's because by not going out and about, I'm actually doing all the important little things to take care of myself – exercise, meditation, reading – that we've been talking about here for the last six months. 

So this weekend I will enjoy my free time even if I know it isn't actually any longer than a weekend a year ago.

Do you feel the same strange perception of pandemic time? What are you doing to take care of yourself on the weekends? Email stayingaparttogether@usatoday.com with your full name and location and I may use it in a future newsletter. 

Know someone who could benefit from this newsletter? Forward this email and they can sign up, here. 

Today's must watch

Looking for your next quarantine baking project? May I suggest the infamous meat trifle from "Friends"?

You remember the scene: Monica (Courteney Cox) tasks Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) with making Thanksgiving dessert, much to the dismay of the rest of the group. After a mishap with the cookbook, she accidentally combines two recipes and adds layers of beef, peas and onions to the dish. 

"Friends: The Official Cookbook" by Amanda Yee (Insight Editions, 175 pp.) aims to recreate that dish for reasons I don't understand. My colleague Hannah Yasharoff not only made the meat trifle, but a video of herself doing it. And she ate it, too. She claims she really liked it, probably because there isn't beef with peas and onions, but rather a conservative sprinkling of candied bacon. 

In the wise words of Joey, "What's not to like? Custard? Good. Jam? Good. Meat? Good." Watch her video and read her full review here. 

Today's other newsletter

Is it possible to subscribe to too many newsletters? I have 450 unread emails on Gmail, and I still say no! 

I'm really proud and honored to introduce you to a new one we have been working on: "This Is America," Paste BN'S first newsletter centering on race and identity. The newsletter has been put together by a bunch of my colleagues and friends, and here is what it is all about, in their own words: 

With a vibrant, unflinching look into current events, popular culture and the key figures who define life in America today, This Is America's goal is to spark crucial conversations and build bridges between Black, Indigenous people, people of color and their allies. While this newsletter will be written from a Generation Z and Millennial perspective, it is open to everyone for discussion and discourse.

Each weekly edition will feature a rundown of the week's crucial events, Q&As, original reporting and some hot takes for good measure.  

My coworker Fatima Farha started it off Thursday reflecting on her experiences growing up as a young Muslim woman in the post-9/11 era. Looking back on her earliest memories since the tragic event, Fatima looks at how the repercussions of 9/11 impacted her identity as a Muslim, and how it affected Muslims across America.

You can subscribe to This Is America here. You know you want to. 

Today's reads

Today's TV recommendations

For Steve Waddell in Kentucky

Which streaming services do you have?

 Netflix, Prime, PBS, YouTube

What shows have you watched in quarantine so far?

Documentaries, "The Night-Shift," "Emergency Rescue Down Under" 

What are you favorite shows of all time?

"Nova, "Nature," "Wild" series, "Antiques Roadshow," "Good Eats," "This Old House"

You should watch...

I appreciate a fellow PBS devotee! If you are looking for more documentaries, Netflix has a really good selection these days. I've recommended "Our Planet" to another reader, but clearly you'll also appreciate the dazzling nature shots. For more medical/first responder drama, Amazon is streaming all the seasons of Fox's "House," which laces medical drama with Hugh Laurie's sardonic wit. I also think you might like "Somebody Feed Phil" on Netflix, a docuseries in which Philip Rosenthal (creator of "Everybody Loves Raymond") goes on food tours around the world. Like "No Reservations" with a bit more self-deprecating humor. 

Today's pet

A reader claims this good girl is "perfect," and how can I disagree?

"This is our perfect pet," say humans Rookie and Jordan Shifrin. "She is a rescue Yorkie and we adore her. We named her Allie and in just over a year with us, she runs the house."

Allie, of course you are perfect. 

That's it for this Saturday. I will back in your inboxes on Tuesday afternoon wondering where the month of September has gone. Don't forget to send pet pics, TV recommendation requests and coping tips (and your full name and location) to our new newsletter email address, stayingaparttogether@usatoday.com. I adore hearing from you. 

All my very best,

Kelly Lawler

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