Do you know the feeling when you take a day off because that week was hard, and then it’s the next week and you realize that last week wasn’t hard? That’s where you find me today. On Tuesday my family lost a dear family member, and yesterday I lost a close friend. I am so sad. I’m also well taken care of, able to take care of others, and embracing sweet distractions, but, over and under and through it all, I am so sad. Be extra kind with yourselves <3

I finally finished Much Depends On Dinner by Margaret Visser, and I’m glad to report it was a complete and satisfying book. The closing chapter was about ice cream and also the menace of technology for progress at all costs. For Alicia Kennedy’s bookclub, I’m almost finished with Food in Cuba: The Pursuit of a Decent Meal by Hanna Garth and about to start Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex and Nigerian Taste Buds by Yemisi Aribisala. New fiction that I’m excited to read is Henry Henry by Allen Bratton which just came out from Unnamed Press.

Next week’s essay is almost done! Taking last week off was a good decision because writing with more lead time is helping me feel more sane.

Who even knows. Eggs. Baked potatoes. A delicious grilled cheese made with Barrio Bread’s seasonal walnut and date sourdough and pepper jack. After cooking, I lifted the top slice and tucked in a few bread and butter pickles. A bright light of a meal.

“Feeling like our lives are too busy to write about how hunger is connected to injustice is connected to the genocide in Gaza (and other global atrocities) is the point. It’s a real feeling, and the US systems of oppression thrive when people decide they don’t have time to write their justice-focused newsletter or organize in their community.”

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