at least it's funny to me now
Okay, so I was ready to call it in and just present y’all with a list of thoughts that have been running through my head this past week. Yet, here come some paragraphs:
I feel exhausted by work. It’s not even the most challenging week, it’s just a lot of everything and feelings of overwhelm and frustration and competing things. There’s not a lot of space for much else. I tend to start off drafts of this newsletter with fragments and disjointed thoughts, written down until I can form full thoughts or some amount of comprehension comes through. And this reminded me that I’ve had this need to separate work from life, and create strict boundaries around the hours of my day. When things bleed outside of those lines, I feel myself starting to fray. The kitchen gets even disastrous, amidst takeout containers that stay on my counter. Since I work at my built-in dining table, that’s in the middle of my live-work-dine area, I can see the never-ending cycle that is keeping the kitchen clean. Behind me, the couch is empty of laundry for once but I’m not tempted to lounge there because I’ll still be able to see the kitchen in all its glorious mess.
So, what do I do? I order in pizza. No time to cook, no energy to clean. Pizza it is, and I’m instantly comforted by the slice and my mind isn’t spiralling anymore. For a moment, that is. Why is pizza such a comfort to me? To a lot of us?
One memory of pizza that makes me laugh, and would surely horrify my brother: Gabriel and I would be home alone after school a lot, sometimes late, as our parents and grandparents worked late or had things to do. So, we’d be left to make food, heat something up, or (a treat) be left with money to order in. One time, we were so excited because we were going to get Pizza Pizza. 967-11-11. Phone Pizza Pizza, hey hey hey. It was probably during the time when those special cheeseburger pizza toppings came out. We always ordered BBQ Chicken or some pepperoni number. We lived in a suburban subdivision that had a commercial area, with a Tim Horton’s and a Pizza Pizza within walking distance. So, we ordered by phone (or by INTERNET!?) and walked over together, excitedly anticipating the deliciousness. And, it truly was. After we sat down in front of the TV, Gabriel went up to get something to drink. I’m actually surprised that I was one of these people, but we both got a glass of milk. He poured, and brought it over … and I took a sip. And promptly spit it out because it was pure curdled awfulness. How in the world did my little brother not realize that he was pouring grossness into a cup!? And, this wasn’t even the horrifying part. We were eating and watching TV and then all of a sudden … he puked. everywhere. All over our couch, and he was crying, and I was shrieking and crying and trying to calm him down while trying to clean it up. He was sick (but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t food poisoning because he didn’t drink the milk, and the pizza was fine for me). I may be mixing up memories and melding them into one night … but at least it’s funny to me now.
Also, please get you a neighbour who will make food and offer you a portion or two. Living in a condo, you feel anonymous. If it weren’t for my neighbours (two floors above, and in the mirror image unit of mine), I have no idea how I would have survived this year to date. I got a message at lunch time, with an assessment of the NYT Sour Cream Coffee Cake she baked today (I sent her the recipe) and an offer for some to snack on. When I went upstairs, she had two pieces wrapped up in parchment paper waiting for me! In the crockpot, they had some soup going that would be ready in time for dinner: “Come up and have a bowl!”
What are you watching these days? There’s a bunch of not-so-light shows popping up on the streaming services, and yes, I’m wanting to watch them. But, also, I want to turn off my brain. Yet, not so much that I’ll be in a Netflix blackhole. I guess, this is why I’m watching Gilmore Girls again. It’s fall. It’s time for the Gilmore Girls. I was trying to recall the last time I did a full rewatch, and it must have been around the time the “Year in the Life” season launched. It’s really interesting watching a show that is so clearly set in the 00s displaced by two decades. It’s still the same show, and I still have some nostalgia and heartwarming feels about it, but damn. It is two decades old.
The OC premiered in 2003. Gossip Girl graced our TVs in 2007. They’re rebooting Gossip Girl, and I’m both excited and wary and I wonder how they’ll tackle it. They’re also rebooting Saved by the Bell. It was on reruns after school for me, so it wasn’t necessarily a show for my generation but I feel like it was formative.
I’m in a TV rut. In this limbo time, waiting for more holiday movies to come out. Waiting for the Hallmark cheese to be available. Not yet ready for mindlessness, but eagerly anticipating it.
I repeat: What are you watching these days?
Eagerly slowing down, I’m back to reading. Send me more light recommendations. Doesn’t have to be romance, but I welcome the contemporary variety. If it’s heavy, it better be worth my energy because I read to escape.
Reading
Frankly in Love by David Yoon
Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados
Watching
Gilmore Girls – Season 1 (still), Netflix
Dash & Lily – Netflix
Recipes
How to Pizza – Richard Eaglespoon (Joe Rosenthal)
Instant Pot Pesto Zuppa Toscana – Half Baked Harvest
Articles, and more.
Minecraft Music Festival Quarantine Extravaganza – EXTREMELY ONLINE (YouTube)
Learning Life’s Hardest Lessons—in the Form of a Question – Tablet Mag
In Dutch Still Lifes, Dark Secrets Hide behind Exotic Delicacies – Artsy
Every episode of Gilmore Girls, ranked – Vox