Now that we are approaching the one-year anniversary of lockdown/quarantine/variable pandemic conditions, and multiple vaccines have miraculously been developed, and news reports now include vaccination rates alongside infection rates, hospitalizations, and deaths, it seems like a great time for a message of uplift. If anyone has one, please send it in. And in the spirit … More One Year In, Everything’s Looking Good
Oh, hi. Hi! How’s it going? How are you these days? I am making some choices. I didn’t call back my sister, with whom I actively wanted to speak. I decided that the best way to handle texts from people was to just read them and nod but not indicate any response that they could … More
How are you doing? How is it going today? Are you getting enough sleep? What’s happening? Here are some things that I know are going on with some people: all across the country, people are fostering animals that were in shelters. Some shelters are getting 10 times as many requests to give a home to … More The Nearness of You
How are you doing? Here is something to see, not experience, right now: intensely touchy human-to-human kindness, brought to you by a creative professional who is so, so, so Californian. I am such a Masshole, and my hair is a travesty, and I love this so much. I should point out that this hairstylist closed … More Quarantine kitchen
We live in glorious times. For example, two burritos can sleep quietly together in harmony. It’s hard to tell from this photo, but one of these burritos is an American Democrat, and one is an American Republican. How peaceful they are! The fork is late capitalism. I have another miracle to share, which is the … More Everything is maybe okay, or will be
One night while sitting at a bar where I thought they served no food, we discovered they did indeed serve food, albeit only Spanish tinned seafood. Specifically: cockles in brine. Cockles in brine! We did not opt for it. By the time I got home, the first word had stretched to “cockerels;” “cockerels in brine,” … More Providence AF
This summer, we had a backyard vegetable garden that started out as… not tidy areas, but semi-specific small plots of tomato, lettuce, cucumber, carrot, kale, and pepper plants. I say “we” but my role ended at the point that I cleaned out an old Ikea toy bin and turned it on its side so we … More Zucchini pancakes
I didn’t consider myself a person who had a lot of opinions about domestic stuff until this summer, when I had the good fortune to spend a week at two homes where the people in charge have dust ruffles on every bed. As I was about to leave each house, I was making a whole … More Blog of Fire and Ice
Traditionally, at a funeral, you will want to serve pasta dishes, casseroles, and other items that reheat well. You will also need kid-friendly food, like chicken nuggets or mac and cheese. Potatoes are “always a hit,” according to funeral home administrators, who also advise that including some of the deceased’s favorite dishes can be a … More Food for Summer Gatherings
