Weekly Journal 4.26.26

Reading

I was having dinner at a bar with a copy of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle propping up my phone. A woman two seats down complimented my choice, saying that she had read it a while ago and was a fan. I had to confess that I wasn't very far, having just opened it that night when the bartender handed me a negroni. I had made it through ten pages or so, with some difficulty because of the poor reading light at the bar.

This book has been sitting on my shelf at home for years. I love everything else I've read by Barbara Kingsolver, but I never seemed to be in the mood for this one until I started reading a different book (Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala) that was so terribly sad I had to put it down. This one is not particularly cheerful—it levels a lot of critique at our country's wasteful and polluting food system—but it's also blended with memoir and meditations on nature. I'm going to enjoy it, I think.

Watching

My only regular watch is Hacks at the moment. The latest episode had me laughing aloud at the sex worker/magician that Ava dates briefly. Other than that, I'm rewatching some feel-good shows here and there, like Somebody Somewhere on HBO (which is even better the second time). I have tried a couple true crime shows, like Homicide New York and the Netflix version of Buried Bones, but am finding them too unpleasant to stomach much anymore. I was washing dishes a few days ago while Buried Bones played on my phone, and when they started describing the violated state of a murdered woman's body, I decided I was suddenly done. Not only were the details horrendous, but there was something creepily incongruous about me carrying on doing chores with descriptions of violence in the background.

Cooking

This week I made one of my easy, go-to chicken recipes: balsamic chicken thighs with red onion. I quartered the onion and tossed it in a hot pan with olive oil, then added skin-on chicken thighs to brown. Salt and pepper all over. When both sides of the chicken were browned, I poured in a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar (don't put your face over the pan while the vinegar evaporates) and shook in some dried oregano, then lowered the temperature a bit and let everything cook, under a lid, for 20 or 30 minutes. (Basically, I stopped it when the accompanying rice was done cooking.) The onion fell apart into sweet slices and the vinegar flavor became mellow and rich.

Doing

I traveled to Seattle for the weekend to enjoy a quick solo vacation by the bay. The weather was outstanding, perfect for walking a good 13,000 steps through the downtown and waterfront areas. I took note of all the stuff my kid will enjoy when my husband and I finally take him there for a visit: the Ferris wheel, a giant sasquatch, the ferries, the aquarium viewing window, a play structure that resembles an octopus, the fish mongers yelling and throwing salmon.

My hotel was right next to Pike Place Market, where I made the rounds and bought maybe too many things. I'd already been to a flea market at Occidental Square, where I also bought some things I didn't need. But it's not all for me; I'm coming home with goodies for my boys too.

I had the great luck of being in town the same night as the improv comedian Ben Schwartz. I snagged a ticket a couple weeks before my trip, before the show sold out. It was a long-form improv performance by Ben and other notables from the L.A. improv scene. Because it was so unique and in-the-moment, I can't do much to describe it here, but I was doubled over with laughter.

Listening

I'm looking forward to hearing the new Japanese Breakfast album on my drive home from Seattle. Meanwhile I've been enjoying Waxahatchee, who has a rambling, folk-rock-americana vibe.