The TueDo List: Period Reads, New Jams and Judy Blume

By Laurie White

Rumer, Tift Merritt, and Ani DiFranco

This week’s issue is about that time of the month, which may or may not be this weekend depending on your life and cycle. But is it ever really a bad time for chocolate, good stories from good women, pretty songs and Judy Blume? Nope. So happy weekend — whether or not there’s a cramp currently in your style.

Period Jams

No one compares to Karen Carpenter, says this ‘70s child raised on her music. But Rumer’s voice comes pretty close, as do her tunes perfect for a lazy afternoon. Her new album, Into Colour, isn’t out in the U.S. until early 2015, but it dropped this week in the UK and Japan and you can get a free download of the single “Sam” from her website. Meanwhile, I’m catching up on her previous releases and feeling like I’m on a sweet musical trip to when my flare jeans were much tinier.

In other women-in-music news, Ani DiFranco released Allergic to Water, and the wildly talented singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tift Merritt joins D.C. area legend Mary Chapin Carpenter and others for two nights of benefit shows in the D.C. burbs.

The Chocolate Cure

It’s only November, but I can see from the uptick in Internet complaining — and the insanity of snow outside of my very own window — that a lot of us are already cold. And since I’m that cliche of a chocolate freak when my period rolls around, fall and winter give me the perfect excuse to hit the liquid chocolate stash. This Food & Wine roundup of the best hot chocolate in the United States has me craving it from the gorgeous pictures alone.

Most of the restaurants and cafes housing the best hot chocolates are too far away for even this super hormonal chocolate lover to travel, but the Chocolate Caliente at D.C.’s Oyamel made the list and it really does look like it’s worth a trip into the city. Alternatively, N.Y.C.’s MarieBelle will send their 20-ounce chocolate tin — Aztec, Spicy (with chipotle and ancho chiles) or Dark varieties — right to my house. At $26, it’s more than a dollar per ounce, but I guess I could always drink it just once a month when I really need it. (Right.)

Periods According to Judy

My mom unwittingly taught me about periods when she gave me — an insatiable, advanced reader — a Judy Blume boxed set. The Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret author will be at the Miami Book Fair on November 22, discussing her childhood with public radio station host Alicia Zuckerman. Zuckerman is also the host of the Sally J. Friedman Reality Tour, a walking tour through Blume’s childhood neighborhoods. She’ll host a radio spot today about the tour on WLRN — 91.3 in most of South Florida, 91.5 in the Keys and streaming live at wlrn.org. Luckily, it’s on the site right now for those of us who love Judy and are nowhere near South Beach.

Period Reads

The memoir shelves runneth over right now, and if I had good sense I’d claim cramps real or imagined to take a weekend off from humanity to read. Taking to my bed with Amy Poehler, Sophia Loren and Wonder Woman doesn’t sound like a bad idea at all.

Amy Poehler’s Yes Please was released at the end of October and it’s a must-read, just ahead of Sophia Loren’s Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: My Life. But the new release that I’m most excited to pick up is New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore’s The Secret History of Wonder Woman, which delves into this super hero’s origin and her male creator’s feminist history.

And don’t forget, the folks at HelloFlo are offering $10 off their care packages and monthly plans, perfect for you or a young lady in your life. The college care packages are pretty cool. Use the code “TUENIGHT” in their shop. (Coupon expires 12/31/2014.)

Originally Published November 14, 2014. Updated April 5, 2021.