Welcome. Let’s talk about leftovers. It’s the day after Thanksgiving, and while I have been looking forward to spending the day with people I haven’t seen for two years, I was perhaps equally anticipating Leftovers Friday, which is the first day, really, of Leftovers Weekend. I hope you’ve availed yourself of a sandwich with all the fixings by the time you read this.
If Thanksgiving fare isn’t your thing, or you’ve had your fill of it, I hope you’re digging into something else. Joan Nathan’s matzo ball chicken stew, perhaps? Stouffer’s-inspired mac and cheese?
A holiday weekend is the perfect time to catch up on reading, and you’ll have no problem finding something to suit you from our Books desk’s annual compilation of 100 Notable Books. (I’ve got Jo Ann Beard’s “Festival Days†on deck.)
Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1970s-set “Licorice Pizza†is in theaters in New York and Los Angeles, and you can catch the animated film “Encanto†around the country. For those who prefer the comfort of the couch, Jeremy Renner stars in the new Marvel series, “Hawkeye,†on Disney+. If you’ve got a bunch of people with disparate tastes looking for something to watch together, that might be the thing.
I hope you have at least one chance this weekend to thoroughly catch up with someone, to hear about what they’ve been doing and how they’ve been dealing. Get other people’s stories. Tell them yours. Holidays are milestones, times for taking stock, when we measure our lives by what’s happened since this moment on the calendar last year. Or, perhaps, this moment two years ago.
Your list of lists.
P.S.
Tell us.
Thanks to all who have sent in their catharsis songs, the songs that have been offering them release from big emotions lately. Send yours to athome@nytimes.com and we’ll put them all together in one long exhalation of a playlist. (Check out our previous playlists here and here.) Or just write to us about whatever’s on your mind. We’re At Home and Away. We’ll read every letter sent. As always, you’ll find more ideas for leading a full and cultured life, at home and elsewhere, below. I’ll see you next week.
