Brief Reviews of Things I Am Watching of Late

 Good Boys: Korean cop drama. The plot could not be more senseless. The cast could not be better looking.

 First Night with the Duke: Time travel Korean period rom com. Rollicking good time. 

 The Studio: Great use of Apple TV resources. Chock full of A-list cameos. I'm having fun.

Below Deck Med: Stupid summer fun. But not that fun.  

 

Extra Credit

 

 

On Saturday, I joined the Food Forest group at Old West to do some light sweating and gardening. Not only so, I also dragged Rae with me, who thought she had signed up for a leisure Saturday morning of late wake up and brunch before our afternoon main event. At the Food Forest, the morning kicked off with a round of introductions. There were two newbies there- a young man and a young woman. College students from Northeastern volunteering for course credit. One made up a reason about being interested in nature whereas the other one very clearly had 0 interest. When asked what made him take the course, he thought for a long hard minute and then said, "personal reason." Rae was charitable and thought he had deep reasons that were too complicated to explain. I followed Occam's razor and think it had to do with wanting to hang out with the other student. 

Making Whoopie

As a part of my new commute, I pass through a transit hub where buses, commuter rails, and subway lines all pass through. On Monday, I saw a woman hurrying by, eating a blondie whoopie pie, at 8am. She was wearing a long skirt and a short collared shirt-- office attire. She's been on my mind all week. And every morning since, I've wondered what other type of balanced breakfast I'll get to witness.

 A lot of people have been asking me how the new job is going. It only makes sense to ask. But I've been struggling to come up with concise answers. Mostly, I think I'm still shell shocked that I'm in a new position. It is both incredibly familiar: academic medicine, Boston, reading, writing, building relationships. I've been at this since my twenties. And yet, the new position, a shift from the traditional faculty route, is just different enough from my job of the last 9 years, from the only career that I've known, that I feel unmoored. I'm fine. "Nothing is bad," as I like to say. But along with all the changes 2025 has wrought, it's all a bit dizzying. 

Trolley Solution

Every Saturday morning, I see them at every bus stop. The trolley ladies. The Chinese (but not always) ladies (but not always) of a certain age (always) with wheeled grocery totes en route to somewhere. I've seen them on multiple routes, and I'm never quite sure where they're headed. Most of the time, I get by with carrying my groceries in a backpack and a bag and try to convince myself that I'm young and strong. But every once in awhile, when there are too many canned goods on the shopping list, I join the caravan and bust out a trolley of my own. Just one of more old Chinese lady in these streets. 

Today, my destination was Trader Joe's. And the cashier did such a nice job of putting all the heavy items in the bottom of the trolley and working up from there that I felt compelled to take a picture. (Look at how neatly the flat items stacked on top!) Thank you, Thoughtful Trader Joe's Cashier, you made an old lady's day. 

Cigarette Smoking Man

On the bus this morning, I sat next to a man with a cigarette between his fingers. Just a stump, really. It wasn't lit. He was holding onto the nub until he could get off the bus and resume his journey. The bus had its emergency latch partly opened, and that brought in a refreshing morning breeze. A little gift of air. 

It's a new season for me. I've started a new job at my old job, with the same work email I was given at 22. And I'm back living in the same apartment. It seems only right to dust off this blog and get back in the practice of figuring things out.   

2019 Top Five

As the decade wrapped up, I chose my top 5 most memorable meals of the last five years (2015-2019). Mostly because I can no longer think far enough back to remember the first half of the decade. 

1. (tied) Home cooked meal by my aunt, Taiwan, February, 2015

(I wish I had a picture of this, but I was young and using Snapchat liberally in 2015) I’ve never lived close to my extended family, so having a meal cooked by my aunt was a rare treat. My aunt was an amazing cook. Moreover, the meal came with stories of my parents, aunt, and uncle from their childhoods. Of running around barefoot, of the different types of art my uncle has experimented with, and of stories I wish I remembered better. 

Du Hsiao Yueh noodles

Later on the same trip, my dad noticed that I was increasingly bored and miserable at my grandfather's, and insisted the two of us step out for a small bowl of noodles. It was a rainy day. We were about to have dinner. And everyone was protesting that Du Hsiao Yueh was a nostalgia trap (but a trap I'd never been to!). But the two of us got to have a moment alone and eat a few of my favorite things, before stepping back into the din. (And don't you worry, it absolutely didn't ruin our appetites for dinner)  

2. Willie Mae’s in NOLA. Fried chicken and lima beans, July, 2015

In a city of limitless food options, Willie Mae’s was so good that we ate two consecutive meals there. On the first visit, I was skeptical how a piece of chicken could ever be “the best fried chicken I’ve ever had.” But it truly was. On the second, I worried that we’d hyped it too much for our friends who weren’t with us the night before. But they assured us that the chicken not only met, but far exceeded, the hype.  

3. Pablo cheesecake tart/Ichiran ramen/sashimi set at restaurant name forgotten in Japan, March 2018

I was simultaneously angry and happy with much of what I ate in Japan. And these three things captured those conflicting feelings more so than any other. They were all mid priced, relatively common items that I’d had countless times before. And each was casually available, without lines or much fuss. And yet, so much better than almost every other version I’d had before. It was that consistency and availability that killed me the most. I basically spent my days in Japan shouting, “this is how it can taste? This?!” 

4. Cochinita pibil panucho in Mexico City, August, 2018

Maybe it was because this was our first meal in Mexico. I was hungry, tired, and learning the limits of just ten lessons on Duo Lingo. Or maybe it was just that the pork was tender, the tortilla fresh, the entirety of the small storefront smelled of meat, and the impossible delight of tasting something I’d never had before made of ingredients I thought I knew. 

5. Kamayan feast in Montreal, July, 2019

A Kamayan feast is a communal, Filipino meal eaten by hand. It was a comically abundant undertaking for four people. Especially four people who were still snacking on kielbasa and cookies just an hour before. As the meal started, we ate ribs, fish, chicken, noodles (extra order, because hubris), with gusto and much laughter. As the meal progressed, as the mugginess of the restaurant became increasingly stifling, and as our stomachs (already strained after days of poutine) reached capacity, our laughter turned into wincing. We left the restaurant chastened and spent the rest of the evening lying down on a beach. Still, it was marvelous, memorable, and I’m not sure we’d learned our lesson. 

Honorable mentions (pictured): raspados in Tuscon, poutine in Montreal, (not pictured) most meals in Baltimore.

Every Other Adult

Last night, I was invited to dinner at the home of my MentorBoss*. I brought a dessert (Gelato Fiasco) that everyone liked. And generally conducted myself in a manner befitting of a professional, discussing HBO series and local politics like a mature being. The day before, I had tater tots and chicken nuggets for dinner. This morning, I had some time to kill before church, so to reward myself for working out, I played some video games (poorly- I am really bad at them) and then ate a donut.

Adulthood is a wild and thrilling ride. And I love all its extremes and contrasts.

Turkey Run

I've been in Indiana now for over two years. It's still an adjustment and I am ever learning more about the Midwest. Last night at a chip and dip party (best idea ever), Kyle and I tried to form a bridge of understanding over turkey hunting.

Moi: When's your next hunting trip?

Kyle: I'm going turkey hunting in two weeks.

Moi: So... how is turkey hunting different from shooting deer? Is it hard?

Everyone (mostly Sean, laughing): You are struggling so hard right now to know what to ask.

Kyle: Well, it's really easy in the spring because it's mating season, so the males will come out once you call and they think it's a female.

Moi: So you're laying out thirst traps for the males. And they'll come running out because they're thirsty? This is language that I can understand now.

When Two Becomes One

There was free food at work yesterday, and it was the rare kind of free food that didn't come with a lecture. We actually got a chance to sit around and shoot the breeze. Somehow, we got to the topic of people being mistaken for one another, and everyone commented on how much Sean looked like summer intern Austin. Everyone at the table, it seemed, had a story of doing a double take or thinking one of them was the other and other hilarity. Everyone, that is, except for me.

It wasn't until that conversation that I realized that Austin and Sean were two separate people.

Sometimes, one can be so face blind not as even to realize when people look like other people. Sometimes, one can block out an entire person's existence due to a lack of awareness. It wasn't until Rachel mentioned where Austin's desk was that I realized that that person wasn't Sean (I guess I assumed he moved his desk after the summer ended).