March 25, 2021

Sun’s out! When I’m not locked indoors on a major closet cleanse and house reorganize these next few days, I plan on getting out and soaking up as much as I can, perhaps with a margarita in hand (and some chips and guac not too far behind).

And oh! By the time you get next week’s edition, I may have a new tattoo.

And by next year, it may be gone. (READ ON.)

1.

I consider myself a pretty tidy, organized person with a fairly streamlined list of possessions, but every few years or so, the clutter catches up with me. Usually it’s most obvious that I’m due for a purge when I come back to my one-bedroom apartment from a lengthy trip to find belongings that I’d forgotten I own—and likely wouldn’t miss. Alternately, the objects worth holding onto are the ones I’m always grateful to rediscover.

Covid has been an interesting time for all this. I’ve spent an exceptional amount of time at home, staring at things that no longer serve me, nor bring me joy, yet it’s been harder to separate them from their surroundings (“white noise” clutter, if you will). I’ve also been helping my parents clean out my childhood home, where my toss-keep tactics have been quite mercenary by comparison. While Ann Patchett and I don’t exactly adopt the same methodology, her recent essay on getting rid of possessions, struck a timely chord for this KonMari aspirant.

2.

Is it me, or did Baggu’s offerings suddenly get really, really good? The brand has always offered a terrific assortment of prints and patterns for its reusable nylon notes, but now there’s so much more, including these padded eyeglass sleeves, tech accessories, backpacks, and fanny packs (ie, the “it” bag of these times). Another colorful brand that’s got me excited for gearing up and traveling again: Baboon to the Moon. Post-Covid, I can’t say where my first flight will be headed, but I know that I won’t be going quietly.

3.

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder last year, I made a lot of mistakes. Like so many other people I knew, I rushed to activism, posting instructions on social media for how to be an ally, recommending books I’d only just acquired myself, etc. My heart was in the right place, but in retrospect, I think I would have benefitted more from taking an extra beat to sit back, shut up, and listen—a lot of us probably should have (and by “us,” I mean white people).

As the Asian community has suffered from a devastating amount of racist behavior and violence, most especially these last few weeks, I’m trying to be more mindful about hearing, listening, and reading about the experiences of others before considering myself any kind of honest ally to someone whose pain is very different from my own. My friend Jodie (aka Joey) wrote this after last week’s shooting in Atlanta. In it, she recounts so much of her early life—things I’d never known about her. Each revelation doubles as a reminder that even when it comes to our closest friendships, there’s only so much we can claim to know about the lives of others.

4.

Last weekend I made a Greek-inspired roast chicken for my parents for dinner, which was a BIG deal because I don’t eat chicken, let alone touch naked, clammy-cold uncooked chicken meat. But I capably pulled it off, and everyone survived, and possibly even enjoyed it. Now that I’ve got one carnivore meal in the bag, I may try this Nigella Lawson recipe next. Last weekend I asked for favorite hacks, recipes, lessons, etcetera from the past year of lockdown living, and my friend Duncan passed this one my way. As he describes the dish, it’s: “part pot roast, part soup, part pasta…so easy and so beautiful!” SOLD!

5.

This is a question for the tattoo-averse: If you could get one that faded in a year’s time, would you? And what would you get? The idea of committing to a permanent tattoo has never really appealed to me, but now that there’s a newly-opened studio with its own proprietary ink that safely fades in 9-15 months (no removal process required), I’m suddenly considering the possibility. Especially with a big birthday coming up, and this incredible past year we’ve all endured; Something to signify these remarkable times, but also fade out as the new year approaches could be quite poignant.

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