There Is No Such Thing As A Latke Recipe For One, And Other Crushing Holiday Realities.
My darlings! It’s been nearly two weeks since I last spoke to you, and the pre-holiday work crunch on top of a whirlwind work trip (first in nearly two years…) that started with a Sunday redeye flight meant I didn’t know what time zone it is, let alone anything in the news that might give me fodder for this here Missive. But I’m back home in SF, I have a cup of coffee that isn’t from a hotel room Keurig, and I’m ready to bust skulls and read the news.
Also, it’s December and I’m trying to decide whether I give in to my impulse to purchase my dog a holiday sweater. Because of the recent travel, I haven’t lit a single Hanukkah candle yet, so maybe I can assuage my guilt about that by buying Orca a dreidel sweater or something. And yes. They exist.
So let’s hope we can get back on this horse and find some gems, so I can get to work to earn money for my dog’s sartorial adventures.
TO THE INTERNET!
So there I was in the Uber leaving the airport before sunrise on Monday morning, barely cognizant after the aforementioned redeye flight (luckily, my superpower that helps no one but me is my ability to sleep on any flight, of any length) when all of a sudden NPR is telling me about a new variant, and how COVID might once again derail us for the holidays. So I steeled my triple-vaccinated spine, double masked up, and hoped that the updates about omicron that come out over the next two days aren’t too dire. What we know about the omicron variant (NPR)
But at least… white nationalists were found responsible for the 2017 violence in Charlottesville? (The New York Times)
And speaking of… Not surprising, but also YIKES, great that the “leader of the free world” wasn’t getting the critical information all of his predecessors received, even on vacation: Trump Never Got Another Classified Intelligence Briefing After Jan. 6 (The Daily Beast)
Back to non-dread inducing news about the the Festival of Lights, The Atlantic is coming for your treasured holiday dish: Everything You Know About Latkes Is Wrong. (If anyone knows where I can get an amazing latke in San Francisco, please let me know, because there is no way I am frying anything with my canine captor underfoot).
And finally, this may be from 2019, but it’s still fabulous: I Am A Trader Joe’s Parking Lot And I Am Here To Destroy You (McSweeney’s)
You’ve go this, y’all. Drink that water, get outside, take a deep breath, be kind to yourself. And do me a favor: if you want to, tell that person how much you care about them. The holidays can be lonely, and we can all spread a little more cheer over the next month.
xoxo Amy