Things That Made Me Less Cranky: January 2025 Edition
After five long centuries, the month is finally over
Welcome to my monthly list of recommendations. It is made up of completely random things/events/moments that made me less of a raging, bitter, hag despite the dumpster fire that is our world. It also includes food-centric suggestions. Enjoy!
Idiosyncratic List of What Made Me Less Cranky
Living on a city that is right on the coast. Not 30 minutes away, not an hour away, but on the actual beach and with a culture that revolves around the beach.
Yoga sans vertigo
A social life that relies exclusively on friends visiting you from abroad
Taking singing lessons and realizing you can hit that Do pretty easily
The relaxing feeling of lighting up a grill on a balcony as you hear the waves crashing
Dads and their birthdays
A slate of only interesting client projects. I think this is the first in my freelance writing career but I genuinely enjoyed everything I worked on this month, even when they required a ton of elbow grease and revisions
How wrong Tom Sandoval is on Traitors. He has no survival instincts to speak of. It’s amazing he’s gotten this far IN LIFE without any ounce of self-preservation
Watching movies the old-fashioned way: in a movie theater with a bucket of greasy popcorn I can never finish
The social media abandonment movement. Yes, this platform is still social media and very few people I know can fully divest from all social media. But the mass desire to reduce our time on it or go back to only the must-haves is a welcome change. I’m worried about how it’s rewired my brain so I’m looking forward to spending only 18 hours of my day on it instead of the standard 27.
A brief visit from an ancient god:
Pelicans are so much regal than we’ve been led to believe
What I’m Watching:
Industry. Any other humanities major binge this, without understanding a SINGLE financial event and still think, “I would have crushed that internship out of undergrad”??????????? My hubris would definitely be an asset in this world.
The Only Girl in the Orchestra. I’m always on the search for stories about women who embarked on an artist’s life and refused the trappings of domesticity because, welp, I need to know what’s coming. This short documentary fulfills that and also makes a point about how it’s a worthwhile endeavor.
Arde Lima. I’m doing my best to support the small, embattled, struggling Peruvian film industry and this documentary about the drag scene in Lima has been one of the best I’ve seen so far. Also, how can I access this Lima????? I’m always on the outskirts of the cool happenings in this city lol.
A Real Pain. I love quiet movies where people only talk. I love quiet movies about travel. I love quiet movies about the exhaustion of being the quiet half of a duo where the other person is charismatics AF to others and a whole situation behind closed doors. I’m also perpetually in love with every toxic character Kieran Culkain plays so.
What I’m Reading:
I’m juggling about six different books right now, but I did finish Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto and There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib. Both books are meditations on grief through an immersive obsession with another topic—I wouldn’t call it a sideways entry into mourning, but more of a container to hold all the overwhelming emotions that come with death.
I picked up Kitchen as part of Alicia Kennedy’s book club and was sad to miss the Zoom discussion about it! I was also supposed to go to Abdurraqib’s book launch back in March of last year but it was during the week where I was slowly dying from an esophageal perforation. I’m not even kidding.
What I’m Listening:
Like everyone else in the world, I’m listening to Bad Bunny’s new album. So I’ll turn your attention today to another Latin American icon, Juan Gabriel. Not that any Latino needs an introduction to him, but for any non-Latino reader out there. I cannot wait for Netflix to drop the documentary.
What I’m Downloading:
Fiasco: The AIDS Crisis takes a look at the myriad of ways that the US government failed early AIDS patients and how the public was more than eager to turn a blind eye and shame the victims. NOT THAT THIS HAS ANY IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY, OBVIOUSLY.
Restaurant of the Month: Dhaasu
Now that I’m fully settled in Lima, I’ve started missing the US. I know, I’m incorrigible. One of the things I miss the most is the access to spicy foods from around the world. Peruvians love our ají but that adds depth more than heat to our meals. Thankfully, I live close to one of the few Indian restaurants in Lima that has taken great care to keep the Indian fire alive and not succumb to the pressure to Peruvianize its offerings through some nonsense fusion. Vegetarians and vegans take note—it’s pretty friendly to the non-meat eaters.
Bar of the Month: Sastrería Martinez
Me going to a Roaring 20s-themed speakeasy? I am missing the States lmao.
Best Thing I Ate: The salad I made for my family’s beach barbecue
It’s not that it was mind-blowing or anything, but there’s just no better side dish to grilled meats than something green and fresh. I tossed lettuce, corn, red onions and parmesan cheese with an avocado-lime vinaigrette.
Best Thing I Drank: Ramon Bilbao Rioja Crianza 2020
Light, fresh, full of black fruit like blueberries and sour cherries, lots of spice.wine equivalent of finding a new friend who can hang everywhere because they will liven the party, keep the conversation going, and charm the hosts. It’s the A wine that I can’t wait to enjoy it again.
Elevator Lewks:
I like seeing what normal people wear and I, a normal person, like sharing outfits that I think look good on me. For some reason, I only notice them when I’m in the elevator.
The Month in Newsletters
Missed an issue? I got you!
My 2025 Bingo Card
I used to be a big fan of setting New Year’s resolutions but my funk of the last two years was so powerful, I did not set a single goal in 2024. If I did, I didn’t write it down, which is a telltale …
Back on My Bulls**t: Tarapoto, Peru
Back on My Bullshit are intermittent, totally idiosyncratic travelogues. Don’t worry, I give standard recommendations below but this isn’t your mom’s Travel & Leisure city guide.
That One Time I Went on an Overnight Cruise to Estonia
I didn’t know much about Andreas other than he was German, he was married to my sister, and I would be meeting him for the first time over the holidays. The reason I had not met my sister’s husband y…
Sneak Peak at the Mini Salon “Screw Duality! Harnessing The Practical and The Intuitive In The Creative Process.”
Starting in February, I will be co-hosting a monthly, half-hour mini-salon with my friend and fellow writer, Sarah Kokernot, author of Your Wild and Radiant Mind. Sarah tends to focus her newsletter on the woo side of writing, but on the back-end she is very practical (she offers coaching to writers, which are filled with actionable tips, and gives excellent feedback). I tend to focus my newsletter on the practical side of writing, but on the back-end I am very woo, which you’ve probably gleaned from my frequent mentions on astrology and tarot. You can read more about Sarah and her work here. Topics for the mini-salon will change every month, and paid subscribers are invited to send us their questions beforehand.
Our first mini-salon topic is on the a false dichotomy between the practical side of writing and the intuitive side of writing. We can be two things at once! So screw duality!
You can sign up for the first mini-salon here.
The Mini-Salon will take place every second Thursday at 12pm CST//1pm EST. After you sign-up, we’ll send you a Zoom link for the first salon which will be held on Thursday, February 13th. There will be a recording available for paid subscribers.
The Mini-Salon is included in paid subscriber benefits. If you are a paid subscriber, you get into the salon for free as a subscription perk.
If you are a free subscriber, the mini-salon is offered as a pay-what-you-can event with $15 as the suggested fee. We’ll send you our Venmo info before and after the event. Thank you for supporting our work, our expertise, and making these salons sustainable throughout the year.
Paid subscribers are invited to send in their questions to us beforehand. We’ll tailor our conversation to your questions and show up prepared with advice and resources. Please DM your question to us by Monday of that week.
Can’t make it on the date? Paid subscribers can watch the video for up to a month after the live event.
Sign up to receive the Zoom link here.
lol @ how wrong Tom Sandoval is on traitors. It really is something else
Turkey biryani sounds interesting! I’ve had, veal, chicken, beef, fish, prawn, lamb, and mutton. Mutton is my favourite by far.
I grew up by the beachside and miss the warm weather of my hometown, Karachi. But I’m happy there isn’t sand everywhere, and I’m surrounded by greenery near Toronto now.