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Hello Crush,
In last week’s Letter I said that I didn’t think I’d be getting another one out before taking off on vacation, but then a couple significant developments came up in the dish-everse involving long-time CRUSHes and I didn’t want to wait to get them out to you. Plus, I realized I had a pile-up of letters from CRUSHes that I hadn’t gotten to.
So here it is.
But I may actually, after this one, be off for a week or two.
Enjoy!
In This Letter.
+Lisa Ellex’s Show My Ex-Husband’s Funeral Will Be at the IRT in Greenwich Village in April. Dish will be there on April 10th. If you’re in New York, should go!
+Mike Troiano's Substack The scoreboard is a lie. + His Bad Girl Pasta Recipe
+Dear Dish ... What are those breathable, comfy panties, again?
+Social Media I Loved This Week.
+Our Song of the Week
Lisa Ellex’s Show My Ex-Husband’s Funeral Will Be at the IRT Theater in Greenwich Village in April.
She’s the Writer of Some of Our Most Popular Dating Columns, Including Willing, Quiver and others.
Dish Will Be There April 11th. Want to Meet Up?
Following a sold-out cabaret run in January, Lisa Ellex’s show My Ex-Husband’ s Funeral is moving to IRT Theater in Greenwich Village for a limited run beginning Thursday, April 9th. Lisa is the show’s writer and also the author of some of our most beloved columns, including Quiver (which looks back at first love), Willing (a series on dating after divorce/being widowed), Extended Encounters (about marriage) and The Solo Series. In My Ex-Husband the cast of 10 is backed by The Undertakers – a trio led by music director Declan Mills and the show is directed by James Lundy.
Following the show, the audience is invited to stay for the repast to enjoy offerings from the bar and a jazz set with The Undertakers.
Dish is planning to attend the April 11th show. Want to meet up at the repast afterward? Get your tickets here! And let me know you’ll be there by shooting me a note at Dish@PrimeCrush.com.
Show time for April 9-11 is 7:30pm and April 12th is a 4pm matinee. Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 on day of show.
Read a review of the show in Nite Life Exchange.
IRT Theater is a grassroots laboratory for independent theater located at 154 Christopher Street, NYC.
Here are some of the stories of Lisa’s that CRUSH Readers have loved the most.
Dish Stanley
Crush PoV
Crush PoV
Want to be interviewed by Lisa for an upcoming PrimeCrush story? She writes regular columns for us on midlife dating stories, how your first love continues to shape your life and how you met your husband/wife and why it’s still working after all these years. If you tell Lisa your story, she’ll spin it into a yarn. Write her at LisaEllex@gmail.com. Make sure you put PrimeCrush in your subject line so she catches it.
The Lyrical Gangsta (CRUSH Reader and My Friend) Mike Troiano Has A New Substack
Mike Troiano
And it’s good.
Here‘a a taste — the first three paragraphs of his review of George Saunders’ latest novel
"There’s a certain kind of man you’ve met. Maybe you’ve worked for him, or watched him from a distance, or read about him someplace. Maybe he’s in your feed a lot. He’s built things, accumulated things, seems to dominate rooms, industries, people, nations. Society’s rules seem not to apply him. He’s discarded the social contracts and cultural norms that bind the rest of us, and - liberated from those constraints - he sure seems to be winning a lot.
Is he? He doesn’t seem to think about it, ironically, what it means to really win in life. You should, though.
George Saunders’ new novel Vigil is a reflection on that question. The book takes place over a single night at the deathbed of K.J. Boone — an oil baron and climate change denier who arrives at the end of his life utterly convinced he has nothing to regret. He lived big, won big, and the world is better for it. Isn’t it? A spirit named Jill Blaine has been sent to comfort him in his final hours, as she’s comforted 342 souls before him. The problem is that Boone doesn’t want comfort. He doesn’t think he needs it. And that, Saunders suggests, is the whole tragedy."
And here’s the Bad Girl Pasta Recipe Mike Shared With CRUSH Way Back When
About Mike and his Bad Girl Pasta Recipe: Mike is Italian on both sides. Sicilian on his mother’s side, and Calabrese on his father’s. “There was a lot of yelling,” he offers nonchalantly. Mike learned to cook at the elbow of his grandmother, "Mama," from whom he also learned that a beautiful bowl of pasta is a bowl of love (and other important lessons about feeling the presence of love he shares here.) "I've long held we can taste the presence (or absence) of love in the things we eat ... We can feel the love in most things, actually ... in the work of artists, writers and directors.")
Here’s the story of puttanesca pasta as it was handed down to Mike (most likely from "Mama").
"Italian sex workers don't make a lot of money, and they don't have a lot of time for lunch.
They needed a delicious lunch that could be made with pantry staples, a pasta sauce that could be prepped in the time it took to boil the water, and done in th time it took to cook the pasta. Thus was born Pasta Puttanesca, or "Bad Girl Pasta" as it's it's known in Mike's house. In Italian, roughly speaking, Pasta of the Whores.
Thanks, ladies."
Oh, and for the red wine to pair it with? Mike says "Something that can hold up. Santa Cristina, maybe, or a nice Pinot (like a Cristom Mt. Jefferson from Oregon.) Nothing fancy."
Thanks, Mike. All that love? We're feeling it.
Dear Dish ...
A place for all of our "letters to the editor.”
Hey, Dish!
Loved the Invisalign piece in the most recent Letter. The eating thing is SO rough. I just had to pull them out to have three forkfuls of quinoa because I couldn’t make it to our 7:45 reservation. The tablets are a game changer (alone for travel) and with the pod while I drink my coffee.
Also, from earlier Letters: loved your Belle Burden review. I think part of why it was so compelling is that we could see ourselves in her world or in part of her story (or at least I could).
-Di
Dish!
CRUSH Letter Number 223 was one of your very best Crushes — and it’s a high bar!
-Steve
Dish,
I’m been wanting to get Invisalign, so your piece was extremely helpful. Keep ‘em coming!
-D.
Dish,
I read the Belle Burden book based on your review. Whipped thru it on a flight to Las Vegas. Lots to digest. Have already recommended it to a handful of friends.. Eagles at Sphere was amazing!! Also love the new artist, KELS, that you recommended.
-Daphne
Dish,
I like reading the CRUSH Letter because, as a man out dating and looking for love, it’s like getting a confidential look at the other side. Thanks.
-Craig
Dish,
I got tickets to see KELS in Brooklyn when she’s here, and I learned about her from this week’s CRUSH Letter. Can’t wait. Thanks!
-Karen
Dear Dish,
I would never have picked up the Belle Burden memoir if I didn’t read it in CRUSH. So much there and now my book group is reading it so we’ll have a lot to discuss. Congrats on getting the compliment from Belle on your follow-up piece with the advice. Well done!
-Mary
Dish,
I loved the Valentine’s Day story about how you fell in love with your late husband.
-Deb
Dish - look! You could throw a sweater over your newly refashioned feather dress! PS: Share a pic of how it came out please?
-Sarah
Dear Di, Steve, D., Daphne, Craig, Karen, Mary, Deb and Sarah: Thank you, thank you, thank you. And yes, Sarah, I’ll post a pic. The dress is in my NYC apartment, so that will have to wait until I’m back up there.
{And here’s a handful of notes I’ll throw into one bucket.}
Dear Dish,
Did you end up getting your eyebrows done? Can you write about it? - Marie
Could you let us know what you think of the Dermaflash! I am a huge fan of dermaplaning but I just use a drugstore blade. Wondering whether it’s worth the $199 or so. I liked the Rosalia dance video rec! - Sherry
Would you update us on how it’s going with the thinning hair thing, and whether you went to Dr. Baumann? It’s been about a year since you wrote about that and wondering what works? - Kate
Have you tried one of those Korean scalp treatments? They are getting a lot of buzz and I know you were trying hair treatments. I’m wondering if they are worth it. Thank you. - Ben
If you use a vibration plate, can you report on it please? Thanks. - Linda
Have you tried the Hug Vibrating Cock Ring from Dame? I haven’t seen a review. - Sophie and John
Could you please repost / update your reccs on lube? - Mark
What about crepey skin? - Judy
I love all the dating stories in CRUSH, from you as well as other authors. Have you written something with your actual dating advice, though? I don’t remember that (if you did) and took a scroll through past Letters. - Kim
You posted something about these breathable, comfortable panties you like. What were they again? I remember they had a great name. Thanks. - Christine
Dear Marie, Sherry, Kate, Ben, Linda, Sophie and John, Mark, Judy, Kim and Christine: I’ll work on responding to each of these (with the requested information, etc.) while I’m on my long flights to/from New Zealand. Thanks for your interest.
CRUSHes, have you tried any of the products/services that CRUSH Readers ask about above? Got any further feedback, rec's or questions for Dish?
Social Media I Loved This Week
Song of the Week
Last Train to London by Rikas
This version by Rikas is a cover of the Electric Light Orchestra song that originally came out in 1979. I think it’s a light, infectious, feel-good, fun, retro disco thing and it makes me smile. Who doesn’t need more of that kind of noise in their life?
See you in a couple of weeks, CRUSHes.
XO,
Dish
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The Crush Letter
The Crush Letter is a weekly newsletter from Dish Stanley curating articles & intelligence on everything love & connection - friendship, romance, self-love, sex. If you’d like to take a look at some of our best stories go to Read Us. Want the Dish?
