Meredith Fineman 👩🏻‍💻👟🐶⚡️

Some beautiful seders this Passover week - from big @robin_bronk throws a literal wedding every year, to small and humanist (with @craven_je ), to written haggadahs (by @gabbibirkner ). Through all these lovely celebrations I felt lucky to be a part of - I couldn't help but worry that a lot of people are thinking of jews and Judaism with more contempt than ever before. We get entangled with Israel and its importance for our people, and yet while we tell stories on Passover about freedom and oppression were what we fought for, that those in charge have lost the plot. While it's always been unsafe to be a Jew, it feels like the antisemitism has reached a fever pitch. Reform judaism holds the multiple truths simultaneously, and yet that is often drowned out by the atrocities Israel commits in 2026. I worry this nuanced and humanist approach to Judaism is disappearing and many reform Jews struggle with current events. I hope the real story of Passover remains being told - that our people fight for peace and the freedom of all people. 🍷 🥚 🥗 🫓

thirty years, five cities, a funeral, a wedding, and a cow. @thepaintedbark

One year with Happy, my rascal boy! (I got him a mcdonald's hamburguesa to celebrate and he lost his mind.) @lhasahappyhomes

👁️👅👁️ almost 2 years in LA // last day of 38 today // lunar eclipse // some other toxic aquarius leo shenanigan thing ⚡️🌟 🥹🥹🥹 grateful for the palm trees and friends and connections and new words to write and creative people and silly goose time and and and and. 🌴 thank you to my friendships for letting me make Valetine's Day about meeeee. 📷 @gillydoesnthaveinstagram

🏒 93 percent of people say writing a book is a bucket-list goal. 🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Most never start. 🌟If Rachel Reid hadn’t written her book, #HeatedRivalry wouldn’t exist. Talent isn’t the blocker. Starting is. Join me January 28 for a free webinar on book proposals and how we can work together on your book in 2026. Cohort + coaching spots available. Link in bio.

In case you're listening, on the eve of what feels like the first day of the year, I told you all my plans and schemes and writing for 2026. I told you about the state of the world and AI and voice and silly tv shows and new books. I told you a few secrets. I need help with the outline for this novel. I know you're traveling through space and time and matter and air and water, it won't take long. Will you call me when you get a second?

My Liminal Space week was a thing of beauty - best friend @danamarlowe1 came to visit with her sons. I love showing people LA, and they packed more into a week than most people do in six months. We ran pillar to post, and I wrote furiously. I am endlessly grateful. Plus, I knew Dana was a real angeleno when she called to brag to me about a parking spot. 🌴🙂‍↔️🌟

Flyering in Silverlake for your LA-based @substack feels like a true use of mixed media. I got your attention!!!! but I'm so sorry there's no free matcha. [Link in my bio for newsletter, today it's about The Pilates Industrial Complex.] This is Fine comes out on Mondays and Fridays. Thanks to my lil helper @da.gny 💕

I am very sick of being so serious on Al Gore's internet. As someone who has written online for two decades, I'm back to silly goosery with my writing. I have relaunched my Substack and general newsletter This is Fine. There will be business talk, but there will also be hard-hitting journalism like today's post, Five LA Hats That Let Everyone Know You're A Slut. Link in the bio. Thank you to @lucy.andersen for her constant pitch-perfect vibe. LOOK AT THE POLLY POCKET IN THE LOGO!!!!!!

Even though I've only been gone from DC for a year and a half (and am dramatic), I forgot that leaves change and are orange and red and faint yellow in the fall, and that dc air smells like driving late at night after a trip and seeing a peek of the monuments or tennis practice in high school or Rosh Hashanah services with my father. That in the city of my heart that I could watch a best friend of 15 years, @bkownacki , marry the love of his life in a gallery where we ran around in our 20s for silly events. Or that he and his wife could orchestrate a 15-minute performance by friends of the greatest love speeches in films, in the round, where I could be reminded of the brilliance and poise of everyone in this city. Or that I could sun salute with @mimiriegeryoga rieger or laugh with @hoybot at the ever new and chic restaurant scene like @lashukrandc , or get more political intel in 90 minutes with a DC crowd than I could ever imagine. Or be in the beautiful chaos and home and love of @danamarlowe1 and her sons. Washington is the city I grew up in, a world so rarefied and privileged that my patients laid out for me, for which I feel endless gratitude. Til we meet again, DC. Should everyone be so lucky to know what this city is truly like. 🍁 🍂 💒

I have long wanted to do a portrait with my Bean princess baby girl, especially as she got to be a sweet old lady. Add rascal Happy and the brilliant @catpartyletsgo , and oh my god, I've never been so thrilled. Modeling is hard, but someone had to do it. Bean sourced via @humanerescue and Happy sourced from @lhasahappyhomes !

Join me for a Book 101 webinar and a fundraiser for @laspacefood on 11.12. LINK IN BIO. Happy picture for algorithm. SNAP benefits being removed starting November 1 means millions of people in need will be going hungry, making food banks and pantries essential. In Los Angeles, I work with the LA Space Community Food Bank, volunteering, raising money, and helping with overall visibility. It is a small, educator-operated essential food pantry in Virgil Village on the east side of LA. ONE HUNDRED percent of the price of this webinar will be donated to LA Space Community so that those affected by SNAP cuts will have access to affordable food.