weekend five.
thoughts on Charlie Kirk, The Bachelorette, the new Liz Gilbert, a corn soup recipe, & more.
Hey y’all. For years I’ve done a Friday (or Saturday, or Sunday) “love note” which included a mini-essay followed by link roundups of what I was Reading/Watching/Listening to that week, plus a list of things that brought me joy. I love link roundups! I love lists! I put a lot of time into these posts! But because the lists/links were below the paywall, they simply didn’t get as many eyes, and they weren’t tempting many people enough to upgrade. So. I’m going to experiment a bit more with things people may be more inclined to (pay to) read. Sorry to be so business-y about it, but as you have read recently I have both increased my living expenses and taken a pay cut! Part of the reason for the pay cut was so I would have more time to devote to writing, but the gamble here is that more time toward writing will also help out financially. TBD!
I’m using this fall to: finish edits on my book; start my next book; and revamp the newsletter. (Plus teaching college, teaching my memoir workshop, and teaching a writing class for the library.) I’m excited about this! But I’m sharing the behind the scenes to what might feel a little all over the place for a bit. I trust it’ll even out to a more solid routine sooner than later (I’m Capricorn rising after all), but thanks for coming along for the ride in the meantime!
Today I’m trying a list that is less link roundup and more “longer reflections from me about a variety of things from the week that will likely also include links.” Enjoy!
1. To get it out of the way: as everyone surely knows, Charlie Kirk was shot this week by a 22-year-old with TBD political ideology. The video of the shooting was circulated, a lot, so many people witnessed someone die on screen. This is, of course, what many of us have been witnessing on our screens everyday for nearly two full years of a live-streamed genocide. I was mostly silent on social media about it all — no one was okay and I felt the unhinged, triggered, frenetic energy in every post. Many people have said all the things that are worth saying, though I know some of us will agree or disagree on certain things more than others. Here’s what I think matters: Kirk was a dangerous, hateful person who incited violence against the most marginalized communities across the globe. And also: public shootings are scary, unnerving, and traumatizing, and if witnessing a human life die doesn’t affect you at all, I think that is a problem. This doesn’t mean I think anyone needs to mourn this man, but I am spiritually concerned by the collective numbness to watching live death. And also: it is absolutely CRAZY-MAKING to see people mourn one life of a very harmful man, then ignore and/or justify the genocide of an entire population. The term “political violence” getting deployed for cases like these and not for the murder of Palestinians by US bombs, the kidnapping of Latino people by ICE, the countless deaths at the hands of the impossible US medical system, the ecocide that kills people literally everyday…..it’s a maddening joke that makes me absolutely sick to my stomach. I’m holding all of this, all together, and feeling so depleted by this timeline.
Here are a few things I’ve read that felt grounding and helpful: Carrot Quinn says: “There is so much to be afraid of right now….The right, because they’ve been knowing that when people are afraid they crave authoritarian power, pile more made-up boogeymen on top of that- immigrants, trans people, “DEI hires”, leftists, literally whatever scapegoat they think of in the moment.” Joshua P. Hill writes: “The lie is always that the latest violent act emerged from a vacuum…. The truth is that Kirk deliberately and consistently helped create a widespread atmosphere of violence.” Maki Ashe Pendergast reflects: “The asymmetry [of grief] fucking breaks me.”
I genuinely think the best next step for most us would be to do things that soothe our nervous systems. Obviously that’s not possible for everyone (though even in Palestine there are healers and therapists working on tools to navigate Continuous Traumatic Stress (not “Post”)), but I think it’s probably possible for most folks reading this. Change, transformation, and surviving extreme distress is rarely possible in moments of activation. This is true for us as individuals and our collective, I believe that from lots of personal experience.
2. So with that said, would you like some wholesome, soothing food content? I made corn soup this week, from the cobs of fresh (very fresh) local Ohio corn. The little guy in the first picture was a kind of gnarly surprise, but at least it assured me that the farmers we buy our corn from definitely aren’t using pesticides! Obviously I did not use the worm cob in the soup. :) This recipe was loosely inspired by the spicy corn soup from the New York Times, but I like to avoid giving them traffic when I can, so I’ll give the loose recipe below. (Even in my food blogging days, I didn’t love writing recipes, but maybe I’ll do these loosey-goosey guidelines from time to time; it feels very aligned with the anarcho-tradwife content Hazel, Margaret, and I dreamed about here.)
Start the way one should start any soup base: chop an onion, put it in a pan with some olive oil and salt over medium heat. Add cumin & red pepper. Add corn, red peppers, potatoes, and ginger if you have it. Add one can coconut milk, and extra veggie broth if you want it soupier. Bring to a light boil until everything is soft. Add some kale and then do some immersion blending. Serve with blue corn tortilla chips and a squirt of lime.
3. Pop culture on my radar this week was mainly news about the next season of The Bachelorette. Bach is really the only reality show I watch every season, so I feel a little protective of the formula, which includes casting leads who have been contestants on past seasons. They broke code this time to cast Taylor Frankie Paul, a star of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. I was not happy with this choice, mainly because I don’t watch SLMW, and I wanted to see a cast member from a previous Bach season. But my trusty Bachelor recap podcast, Love to See It, provided a deep-dive into Paul and offered insight into the decision that got me more interested. Claire and Emma, the hosts of the pod, are always thoughtful about how reality shows reflect the culture at large, and I’m interested in thinking through these reactionary turns in our media. Who else will be watching? Let’s discuss….
4. Want to see some pics from the sweet watershed walk P and I took?
