#MicroblogMondays: Odds & ends

I'm afraid I haven't been very good lately about flagging interesting/relevant articles & posts that I've read to share with you all here. A couple recent ones of note:  

• Pronatalism much??  I remember thinking that when I read a few weeks ago about the U.S. Department of Transportation's new order to give funding priority to communities with “marriage and birth rates higher than the national average.” (!!)  I filed it away mentally to include as an item in a future blog post, and was reminded of it again when Lyz Lenz drew attention to it in a recent Substack post:  "Make America Isolated Again."  Have a read (but take your blood pressure medication first!)(joking/not joking). 
• Pronatalism much (part 2)??  As has been my habit since I was, oh, about 10 years old, I watched the Oscars on Sunday night (even though I'd only seen one of the nominated movies, "Conclave").  I mostly enjoyed the show, with one major exception. I hear "A Real Pain" is really great, and that Kieran Culkin deserved the Best Supporting Actor statuette he won -- but did anyone else cringe when he called out his wife in his acceptance speech and reminded her that she now "owes" (!) him not just one but TWO MORE KIDS?? (!!) Ugh...
• I've been enjoying Lisa Sibbett's Substack, "The Auntie Bulletin." A recent post outlined her strategic plan for 2025 & beyond. Worth a read, and lots to look forward to! 
• Friendship issues are huge for those of us living without the children we wanted: navigating the inevitable changes that happen when all our friends are having babies (and then grandchildren...!), how to make new friends when your old friends seem to abandon you for other mothers, etc.  This Substack post by Hailey Caulfield of "The Waiting Room" addresses some of these issues: "The space between us: Friendship, change, and the unspoken grief of growing apart." 
• Life coach & podcast host Lana Manikowski also has a Substack: "Childless. So Now What?" Most of the posts I've read to date are short but very much on the mark. From a recent post, "Never Be the Same":  
  

People love to say, “Everything happens for a reason,” but I found no comfort in those words. The truth is, some things just happen. Some dreams don’t come true. And sometimes, life takes a turn we never saw coming. But does that mean we’re destined to live a mediocre life? To settle for a version of ourselves that feels lesser than?

No. Absolutely not.

• Glynnis MacNicol (who is childfree by choice and wrote the wonderful memoir "No One Tells You This" -- reviewed here) revisits the 1978 Jill Clayburgh movie "An Unmarried Woman" in this Substack post.  (I remember seeing it, years ago, albeit not a lot about it, other than that it was really good.  I'd love to see it again although, as MacNicol points out, that's sadly easier said than done.) Says MacNicol: 

One of the reasons I keep returning to it, is that it’s one of the rare films, or television series, that allows a woman a happy ending that doesn’t involve marriage or a child. Another is that it’s a near perfect film. Jill Clayburgh’s performance is one of the best.

(FYI, Clayburgh's character does have a daughter in the movie. Also of note: she was nominated for an Oscar for the role, but lost to Jane Fonda in "Coming Home.")   

On another note, you'll be seeing fewer gift-linked articles from the Washington Post from me in the future.  I recently cancelled my longtime digital subscription to the paper. I've been meaning to do so ever since the publisher killed an editorial endorsing Kamala Harris before the election. Several other things have happened since then to reinforce that decision, including the departure of several writers I respected, and the publisher's decision to kill an editorial cartoon. 

I thought I'd wait until closer to when my current subscription rolled over in May to unsub (any cancellation on my part would not kick in until then) -- but the straw that broke the camel's back was the resignation of the editorial page editor, after the publisher announced a new direction for that section, one that would advocate “personal liberties and free markets” -- but not publish opposing viewpoints on those topics. 

It made me sad (for one thing, it was a very cheap subscription -- if/when I ever wanted to subscribe again, I could wind up paying up to 10 times more!). There are still some writers there I enjoy reading, and I love their Friday books newsletter.  I grew up worshipping Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein from the Watergate era;  I read Katharine Graham's memoir, "Personal History," years ago (a great read!), which only increased my admiration for her.  I'm sure she would be rolling over in her grave if she knew what's happened. :(  

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.