Thursday Links To Love: June 4, 2020

So here we are, already in June, with each month either accelerated beyond comprehension or dragging along. I can’t decide which one May was. Fast, maybe?

At any rate, it is increasingly harder to post links that aren’t a rallying cry for a full-bore revolution. Should I post links that continue to illuminate, or should I trust that the three people who regularly read this blog already know and endeavor to provide some sort of psychic relief?

It seems irresponsible to just post about food, but my god. It is unrelenting out there in the interwebs and on the social media. Several times in the past couple weeks my face has gone tingly and my arms have been numb. This is my nervous system reacting to what I am not able to process. I don’t know how much I can legitimately read to pass on.

So we’ll start here: by taking one small action. If you are unsure of where to start in the fight for justice and equality for black folks, do one small thing. I, personally, started with educating myself. I read White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo and Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon To White America by Michael Eric Dyson (no more Amazon links on this blog; please go support your local bookseller), then KWeeks and I had many conversations about what we learned. Tears We Cannot Stop offers actual suggestions of things to do to make a difference as a white person, and I started to put those into action in my own life. The steps might be small, but they are in the right direction.

And for just a wee bit of entertainment to elaborate on another complicated issue that seems irrevocably tangled with everything else, here is Candy Shop – an animated short that interchangeably swaps almost 3,000 prescription drugs and syringes for similarly-shaped candies, all laid down on top of a groovy percussion track.

Finally, I offer a conversation with Ibram X. Kendi, author of the now-impossible to find book How To Be An Anti-racist. This conversation happened back in June 2019 and offers some insight into what (white) people can do to be more than just “not racist.”

Thursday Links To Love: May 28, 2020

Mapping Police Violence.

Goddamnit. I can’t post this week’s links without talking about George Floyd and Breanna Taylor. The death of George Floyd is now under investigation by the FBI, but we all know how that will most likely play out, even with a horrific video being widely circulated by the media. And as for the latter? Many Kentucky papers are shifting the focus to Taylor’s boyfriend, most likely to ease themselves out of the spotlight for killing Breanna Taylor.

In 2015, 104 unarmed black people were killed by police in the U.S., and only four of those cases resulted in convictions of the officers involved (at the time of the picture above, the officer who killed Walter Scott was still on trial. Michael Slager, the officer who shot Walter Scott, was convicted and given 20 years in prison – two years later.).

In 2019? There were only 27 days in which the police did not kill someone, and 33% of victims were black, despite making up only 13% of the population of the U.S.

The United States must stop killing black people. White people must take action and join in the fight. If you are silent, you are complacent. NONE OF US IS FREE UNTIL ALL OF US ARE FREE.

Regular links below. If it feels wrong to keep reading, I am totally fine with that. Do what you need to do – if the links below help, take what you need.

So since we’ve rolled through baking sourdough bread and moved on to cookies, I propose we venture forth into biscotti territory. Last week, I made this biscotti recipe of mine using white chocolate chips, but the original deconstructed Nutella biscotti is, if I may say, fucking delicious. It is impossible to screw up and can be made in a variety of flavors. It only gets better as the days go by, but it never lasts long enough for me to see how long it lasts. Go make some. Pro tip: if you don’t have almond flour, make your own in a high-speed blender or food processor. This recipe does not require a fine almond flour.

Since it’s your business, check out this New York Times article on Tabitha Brown, the vegan TikTok star with a soothing voice and delicious food. You won’t really understand the hype without hearing the voice, so check her out on Instagram and TikTok – vegan or no, she is v comforting in these times.

Next, I have been trying to figure out ways to completely break up with Amazon. They are no good for anyone, and we all know it, BUT THEY’RE SO DAMN CONVENIENT. And then I read this: “The Max Borges Agency polled 1,108 people from the ages of 18 to 34 who’d bought tech products on Amazon in the last year. An astounding 44 percent said they’d rather give up sex than quit Amazon for a year, and 77 percent would choose Amazon over alcohol for a year.” Yikes. It’s really, really time to limit or eliminate purchasing on Amazon. See the full article here.

And finally, by the time you read this, a vaccination for COVID-19 may be heading to human trials, potentially ready by the fall. If this is true, it is the fastest a vaccination has ever been prepared in the history of such things. The next challenge becomes preparing billions of doses for all of humanity, and the inevitable cash grab by various pharmaceutical companies looking to profit. Isn’t saving millions of lives payment enough?

That’s it for this week. Perhaps as we turn the calendar to June (!!) we are turning a corner with coronavirus, quarantine, and humanity. I suppose we’ll see.

Be kind to each other. Wash your hands. Wear a mask.

Thursday Links To Love: May 21, 2020

The beginning of customizable noodle bowls. Hot damn.

We’re gonna go ahead and start this party with a little bit of shirtless Prince at his live birthday show in Detroit in 1986. If I am honest, as I always try to be, I will say that I was not the rabid Prince fan that many of my friends were. HOWEVER. You cannot argue that this man was incredibly talented and his loss left a gaping hole. Plus, his shows are fun to watch. So enjoy.

I know – I am supposed to write some intriguing words about each of the links, but this one doesn’t need it. It’s a simple little story about a Korean author ordering noodles from a local shop in New York. Touching and beautiful and hopeful all at once. Also, it may have influenced me in making the customizable noodle bowls pictured above. The recipe is from Nadiya Hussein’s somewhat saccharine but nevertheless charming Netflix show.

Sigh. Following up on that is arguably the dumbest argument happening on the internet, and that’s saying a lot. There is some backlash about the trend of long stories prior to recipes online. If you have read any of the recipes on this blog, you can pretty much guess where I land on this non-controversy. But what do you think? Do you like a long, personal story before the recipe, or do you prefer a simple headnote and then the recipe?

And ending on a low note, which I don’t like to do but sometimes it BEES that way, here’s a depressing AF article about how many small farms are going under by the end of 2020. Our food system is sick, and small farmers are taking a huge hit. Dan Barber, chef at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York discusses why this is and what we might do to muddle through.

All that to say, for now,  STAY THE FUCK HOME. Cases are slowing because IT’S WORKING. If we can not be toddlers about this, maybe we can actually prevent some illness and death. Is that shirt you’re fingering on the rack worth your grandma’s life? How about that cocktail on a rooftop deck?

Stay home. Be kind. Wash your hands.

Thursday Links To Love: May 14, 2020

I have a line on instant yeast, instant success, and gallon jugs of Tapatio if you’re running low.

This past week has proven quite fraught, emotionally speaking. I blame the full flower moon in Scorpio for my big, deep feelings.

How has it been for you? Are you still locked down, or are you making bad choices? Let me know.

Here are this week’s links.  I’ll be honest – this week was a bit of a stretch to find something to share that seemed relevant and valid and not likely to prompt a slide into a deep depression. So I just have three, and one’s not even really a link. Take whatever you like and discard the rest.

SEA MONKEYS. I wanted them to work so badly. I was the child who saved her pennies and mailed away from the back of a comic book to receive a clear Zooquarium and a small packet of Sea Monkeys. After filling the cylinder with water and shaking the packet gently over the top…nothing. A lump of deceased Sea Monkeys drifted to the bottom of their tank and lay there, unceremoniously. I believe it was at that point my parents said something about wasting my money, but this writer is proving that Sea Monkeys do exist, they do spring to life. WANT.

An article in HuffPo lays out two men living a mile away from each other, one white, one black, and how their lives came together and split back apart. It’s not what you might think, and it’s an excellent read about race and our assumptions about it. It makes the connection between two seemingly disparate worlds inhabited by D. Watkins and Daniel T. Hersl, one a published author and university professor, the other a convicted felon who robbed drug dealers to turn around and sell the drugs and confiscated guns. Take some time to read this one if you have it in you this week.

Wednesday Khristian and I went for a little meander through Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park. This is less of a link, I suppose, as it is an urge to go out and explore whatever is in your own backyard, especially if you are starting to get antsy and lean towards doing dumb stuff like going out to eat or not practicing social distancing. Pick up some carryout from your favorite spot and go have a picnic. Bonus of the Leakin Park meander? It was the site of my first date with Khristian almost 4 1/2 years ago, and it was a lovely way to connect to that time again. Plus, we had been making plans to drive waaay out of town to go hiking, but there are tons of trails through the park that we can explore. Tomorrow we will bring a picnic and relax in the sunshine, safely away from anyone else enjoying the park.

That’s it for me. I hope you are all steeling your resolve and keeping safe at home. The virus continues to get more complicated as time passes, and we are not even close to knowing when this will end.

What’s your best tool for coping? How are you doing?

Thursday Links to Love: May 7, 2020

This was remarkably meditative, and I love it so much. #paperprawn

Well, so here we are in May. How are you?

Depending on where you live, you have been practicing social distancing for almost two months now. It’s unnerving to think of how we will interact with each other when this is sorted. I have a hard time imagining what that first dinner out will be like when the server comes over with gloves and a mask to take the order.

Ah, well. Baby steps.

Below are this week’s links. Take what you need, share this post if you are so inclined, and leave everything else.

Speaking of nothing, check out this trippy five-minute film that imagines what earth would look like as it’s swallowed into a black hole. This quote from the narration by Alan Watts seems particularly important: “Someday this will pass and there will be nothing left… That’s not something to fear because we come from nothing…and from nothing comes something new.”

Looking for something to fill the black hole of your days, those endless stretches of afternoon when you have done allofthethings but still have many hours until you can legit sit in bed with your laptop propped open, watching movies? Make your own paper prawn, then share it online (#paperprawn). I dare you.

The New Yorker (watch out for the stupid paywall) just published an excellent interview with Esther Perel, a Belgian therapist who specializes in intimacy and relationships. If you are new to her work, I also suggest this excellent TEDTalk on the secret to desire in long-term relationships and the book it relates to, Mating in Captivity: Reconciling the Erotic and the Domestic (shop local – no more Amazon links here).

Seems like everyone has moved from bread to cookies these days, so here’s a recipe from just last year for Daim cookies. They use pantry ingredients  – toffee deliciousness, with or without chocolate. Or you could try these peanut butter sandwich cookies that taste just like Nutter Butters. I made them gluten-free, of course, and I swear to god they are one of the best things I have eaten all year.

Finally, six minutes that remind me of a time when we could, in fact, have nice things. This never fails to make me a little misty-eyed, in the good way that acknowledges the beauty that humans are capable of.

That’s it. What’s up with you this week? Have you made plans to honor thy mother this weekend?