I can eat everything but, since my surgery, some things (like pistachios, which I love) are easier to swallow than other things (like almonds, which I’m ambivalent about). And I wonder: Do certain foods go down easier because I like them, or do I like them because they go down easier?
I met a Ukrainian couple over the weekend, visiting from Boston. They came from western Ukraine, near Lviv, the part of the country that before the war was part of Poland. (The Polish writer Stanislaw Lem was born in Lviv.) They said that in their former town, schoolchildren are now taught Polish instead of Russian.
One of the shocks of this year’s Miami Open came yesterday afternoon when Magda Linette of Poland knocked off hometown favorite Coco Gauff in straight sets. I was sad to see Gauff wipe away tears as she exited the court, but I was happy for Linette, who is twelve years older than the American and entering the winter of her career.
She is the quiet, thoughtful, empathetic Polish woman on the tour. Last year she posted a long message on social media about the plight of Ukraine, and the players from that country who can’t go home. (Her missive was prompted by people asking her if she got tired of constantly traveling.) I had rooted for her before, but after that display of sympathy and understanding, she became my favorite player.
I was on assignment this past weekend in Palm Beach (the reason for my absence here on Friday), and Saturday afternoon, strolling down one of the vias off of Worth Avenue, I came to a small jewelry shop where an English bulldog sat watchfully in front of the main case with an even sterner than usual don’t-mess-with-me expression. On the door was a sign: “NOTICE! We take security seriously.”
We watched the last two episodes of “Douglas Is Cancelled” on Britbox the other night, and never have I seen a series take such a dramatic and worthwhile turn. The show that starts out as a witty take on cancel culture becomes, after the halfway mark, a gripping drama about predatory men – and insensitive men who blithely accept the behavior of their predatory colleagues – in the workplace, in this case media. It’s also, winningly, about the strong women who stand up to them.
The Miami Open begins this week:
“They come every spring. In a city that values appearance, they are taller, leaner, fitter than the rest of us. They spend their days outdoors. They don’t (for the most part) waste their night clubbing. They show up on time.
“They make a mockery of our much-vaunted diversity.”
- from "The Subtropical Open," from the June 2024 issue of The Miami Native: https://www.miaminativemag.com/articles/the-subtropical-open