Last week I had to come out of my shell to interact with the public again in the form of a published piece of journalism. I think it's really hard to describe to people how exciting and nerve-wracking it is to put something that you've written with your own name out into the world. You get used to it after awhile and the anticipation picks a lower frequency to buzz at, but every now and then something raises it again. Like if you come back from a break, or write a longer piece than normal, or write for a bigger outlet.
My partner Samir has had bronchitis and was mostly home to watch it unfold—the crunch of deadline, the raking over minuscule details to fact-check, the anxious moments of first publication. I think it did him in.
It's going to be a thousand times more intense when the book is finally done.
What I've Been Writing:
This piece for The New York Times about a local library fight and what it means for national politics. It seems to have struck a nerve with the community of people who left rural communities and feel that they can't return.
What I've Been Reading:
Besides impeachment news, nothing, but I can tell you what's on my reading list. The 1619 issue of The New York Times Magazine. The New York magazine package on the toll of #metoo. I'm also skimming through My Year of Rest and Relaxation, for a book club, which I read earlier in the year and is for some reason my favorite book right now. I'm not sure I want to delve into the psychology of that. And I'm still very troubled by everything that happened in the Botham Jean trial, and the murder of Joshua Brown. I'm trying to read as much about those things as I can.
What I'm Recommending:
Coconut and black rice pudding. I can't stop eating it. Chop up a little mango and toss the mango in lime and throw it on top of the pudding and it's good for any meal, although I guess technically it's a dessert. You can find tons of recipes online but the mix of rice and coconut milk and water you use is really all very flexible and to your tastes. I use one can of coconut milk, 2 cups of water, and 3/4 cup of black rice mixed with a 1/3 c. of short-grain white rice to make it more pudding-like, which also gives it a purple-ish color so if you don't like that, stick to all black. Sweeten with a little coconut sugar and always use salt and vanilla. I will never get sick of rice.
Cute Animal Pic:
I'd really like to save every animal I ever meet, but I've slowly realized I can't take in every dog, cat, goat, and cow that needs a home. (You can keep weird rodent- and snake-like creatures for your own pets. I wish them no ill-will but don't want to see them on a daily basis.) So I help out where I can. I've walked dogs for a year for an older gentleman who lives on a mountain, a retired Navy veteran who doesn't drive and describes himself as a socialist, for nearly a year. He has a yard full of kennels and he lives in a trailer that he is rehabbing so that he can better care for his dogs—he wants to bring more of them inside and house train them so they are more tempting to out-of-state rescues. He has a house but he doesn't walk down to it any more so he can be closer to his dogs. He told me once he spends half of his disability paycheck on taking care of his animals, and that's just the basics. He takes in any dog that is rejected from the shelter, or found abandoned on the side of the street, and almost never says no. He can't stand euthanizing dogs and has to enlist his son-in-law's help when there's no other choice. He takes good care of them but it's easy to see how he could get overwhelmed. He will also never stop. He will do this until he dies. When I say I walk his dogs, I mean I usually walk Sissy, who I can hear baying as soon as she hears my car pull up. She is an overweight beagle with a thyroid issue who is heartworm positive. She is well taken care of but her issues are multifold and expensive. She's probably un-adoptable unless a wealthy person takes a fancy to getting a dog with vet bills that will probably total $100 a month. I love her.
