Notes from a Hired Pen: Meet Bonnie the Button

Readers!

Big news at the offices of Jen A. Miller! I adopted a dog! Meet Bonnie the Button!

Bonnie is a year-ish, 20 pound-ish sato who flew here from Puerto Rico two weeks ago, via Zani’s Furry Friends. Soon after, met her foster at the Tractor Supply in Bordentown, N.J. and took her home.

She’s young and floppy and silly and hasn’t had an accident in the house since Saturday. She also loves rides in the car (phew) and wags her tail so hard sometimes that her whole body wiggles. We’re working on her tendency to bite the sleeves of my coat and steal my Birkenstocks, but I think this is the start of something great.

I will miss Annie forever (and my first dog Emily too) but it’s so nice to have a dog in the house again, even if I spent part of his morning telling her the rug is not a chew toy.

How is this freelance related? Does it have to be? Just kidding. I adopted Emily when I became a full time freelancer. Then, as now, I live alone and work alone. So it’s nice to have a dog around, not just for the company, but to force me to leave my house and engage with the world. My neighbors, who were so used to see me walking laps with Annie, are thrilled for me too.

This also means I cancelled my trip to Florida, but I think for the right reasons!

Recent Bylines

“The trick to finding new, brand-name athletic clothes for cheap” for Slate

“Why the Harvard president scandal is a cautionary tale for HR pros” for HR Dive

“Changing the system: marginalized communities and cancer” for InventUM

 

What I’m Reading

• Starter Villain by John Scalzi. If you think that the cat in a suit on the cover of this book is just a playful image and not what the book is about, you’re wrong — sort of. Not the kind of book I usually read, but I enjoyed it.

 

What I’m Watching

• Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story. I knew of Jimmy Savile and how terrible he was, but I didn’t know the full story. This Netflix documentary broke the story down into two parts. In the first, it shows how Savile rose to such prominence in the UK, including being an almost advisor and confidante to Margaret Thatcher and then-Prince Charles; and in the second, how he also used his fame and position to abuse hundreds of children.
• Murdoch Mysteries (season 16). I finished the most recent season of my beloved historical Canadian detective show, just in time for the new season to start up. I also recently discovered that there’s a Station House N. 4 beer. I must go to Toronto to try it.
• Nyad. I described this to a friend as an “uplifting lesbian sports biopic.” I liked it! And I could fully enjoy it since Diana Nyad, who it’s about, recently renounced her previously transphobic views. I agree with my favorite podcasters and fashion bloggers Tom and Lorenzo that it’s great to see Jodi Foster, who is Nyad’s coach, get to play an out lesbian. Also, if you like stories of cool women doing cool shit long after we’re supposed to fade into the background, try Audrey Sutherland’s Paddling My Own Canoe. I wrote about her for the New York Times in 2020.
• The Zone of Interest. I am trying to see all the best picture nominees, and crossed this off my list yesterday. It’s about Rudolf Hoss, the commandant of Auschwitz, and his family, who they live next to the concentration camp. It’s also so much about, as many others have said, the banality of evil. It’s also the most impactful use of sound in any movie I’ve ever experienced.

Nail Polish of the Week
Rock at the Top by Essie. What a great way to cover up an oops! I did my nails with Essie’s no to-do, which is a warm brown, and then took a shower too soon after, which smudged everything. One layer of this glitter top coat, and I can’t even see where I missed up. It’s good to have on hand.

Until next time!
Jen A. Miller

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