Second Letter From Karen
Hi
It’s only been two days since the inauguration, and I need to go on a news media diet. Not a fast!! I feel a responsibility to know what’s going on. And with my spare time, I hope to create more, perform more, read more and watch more. I want to offer my services to Netflix. They do a lousy job of labeling their programming.
They need better genres. For example:
1. I don’t understand what is happening
2. Gross
3. This got a good review for some reason
4. British
5. Finally, something good.
OpEd
People are still talking about Luigi, and I’m surprised that they continue to lionize him. I understood the initial reaction by some. The little guy finally stuck it to the insurance industry. Believe you me, I had UHC for years and I spent many hours crying and screaming with them on the phone. They punish their clients for going to the doctor.
But Luigi wasn’t a UHC client, and he wasn’t going to the poorhouse because of his medical bills. He was a once talented lovely kid who in his mid-twenties injured himself and slowly went off the grid. I don’t know if it was his physical pain alone or something going on with his body chemistry, but his behavior seemed less like a warrior and more like a man who wasn’t in his right mind. My days as a lawyer are long behind me but I do remember that the legal standard for insanity isn’t the simple question of whether the defendant is mentally ill? It’s basically a mental disease or defect that causes someone not to understand the nature of his crime.
By all accounts, Luigi understood what he was doing. But that doesn’t mean that stuff wasn’t going on. But one thing he isn’t: is a hero. No matter how horrible an insurance executive is, random individuals can’t be permitted to decide whether he lives or dies. There are far worse people out there, AHEM, but it cannot be that the way to address these monsters is to kill them.
Distractions
Read: The Wedding People by Alison Espach. It’s a wonderful little fairy tale about friendship, family and loss. It’s so funny. I really enjoyed the audio version.
My TV obsession right now: is The Queen’s Gambit, but I think I’m the only person in the world who hasn’t seen it. Start watching this very second if you are in my former position. Otherwise, I would recommend escaping to Masterpiece Theatre and lose yourself in the updated All Creatures Great and Small. It’s got animals and scenery and is surprisingly pleasant even though Hitler is always somewhere in the background. My Scottish is terrible so I get the English subtitles.
Film: If you liked the movie A Quiet Girl, you will enjoy Small Things Like These. The Irish express their pain in a completely compelling way. Cillian Murphy is fantastic.
Yum: If you like spicy food, get yourself some Blank Slate Garlic Chile Oil. I add it to everything but my coffee. Put a little of it in a container for the flight just in case you have to eat airline food. Or send it to your college kids. I just this very second tasted their Zhug, which is equally amazing.
Something I learned this week: My son called me from college the other night and his first sentence was “How are you doing?” When I complimented him on his generosity of spirit, he told me he learned that from Modern Family. So I am here to tell you to let your kids watch TV.