TueNight 10: Laurie White

By TueNight Crew

(Laurie in front of and behind the camera)

Age: 49

Basic bio: Laurie White is a writer and editor with a long history on the internet (most recently at mom2.com) where she likes to build community and tells people to mute themselves as nicely as she can. 

Beyond the bio: I got sober seven years ago, and while it’s not my whole story, it informs pretty much everything I am and do. I’ll be 50 this year and I’m concerned mostly with using my voice for good. COVID (I had a mild case in June/July that was still pretty rough), the terrifying political situation, and a desperate need for white people to act for racial justice requires me to think about how I can be useful. I start a new role soon running social for the libraries in my county, and I am more excited about this than I’ve been about anything in a long time. I was a college counselor and professor before I went into digital full-time, and it feels like perfect timing to get to support public service, education, and literacy again. My mantra is “keep walking,” and that’s what I’ve done so far. 

What makes you a grown-ass lady? I do my best not to stay in the wrong place or situation for very long, to own my choices, trust my intuition, tell the truth, do what I say I’m going to do, pause before I react, and tip like a person who’s worked a lot of retail and food service. I keep people around me who keep me honest, make me think, and make me laugh. This is probably my number one survival skill.

1. On the nightstand: So many flair pens and a blank book or two. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett; Real Life by Brandon Taylor; Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino.

2. Can’t stop/won’t stop: A paint by numbers app that I should delete from my phone, but I won’t. Drinking Topo Chico. Updating @hooverthepuggle’s Instagram. Texting. 

3. Jam of the minute: Gaslighter by The Chicks. The Highwomen record. Unabashedly 80s Spotify playlist. 

4. Thing I miss: My friends. Sitting in the comforting noise of a coffee shop for two hours, working on whatever. (I actually have the Coffitivity app that mimics the ambient noise. It’s that serious.) 

5. ’80s crush: John Taylor, then and forever. 

6. Current crush: Dan Levy. Hannah Gadsby. My ebook app. Always my dog.

7. Latest fave find: I discovered Schitt’s Creek this summer years after the rest of the world, and at the best possible time in my pandemic life. CBT. Thayer’s Witch Hazel (my grandma was right—mosquito bites, skin toner, it fixes everything.)

8. Last thing I lost: My favorite mask, which is a thing I have now. 

9. Best thing that happened recently: I spent two weeks isolating at my favorite beach. Zoom meetings are a lot better with an ocean view. A new work opportunity. A socially distanced evening with an entirely COVID-negative family. Biggest gift of all.   

10. Looking forward to: A vaccine. Moving freely about the planet. Concerts. Sanity returning on November 3. (I hope I hope. Please vote.)

Originally Published October 1, 2020. Updated April 2, 2021.