Earthly Kitchen Roundup
From the week of October 22
Greetings, subscribers. We’ve been though a year’s worth of news and world events this week. Unrelated, but why does my head hurt every day?
Last Sunday night, I wore cozy cashmere socks that my cousin gave me for Christmas and proceeded to slide down the bottom three stairs in my house. Somehow, my only injury was a sprained pinky finger????
I still have a packet due on November 6, and I’ve written approximately 5 pages since last week.
This week, inspired by the mass shooting in Maine, I wrote about how America values its right to bear arms more than children’s lives. My dad pointed out I spelled “deer” (dear) wrong, which I’ve decided not to change because it brings a little tenderness to the story. There have been 577 mass shootings in the US since the shooting in Maine on October 25, only 4 days ago, culminating in another 14 deaths and 65 injured.
I put together food-allergy resources for candy-givers this Halloween. Depending on when your town trick or treats, this may or may not still be relevant.
Next week, I’ll be writing about the liberal progressives’ identity crisis, and a voter's guide for my town elections, which I’ll only be sharing locally.
If you have thoughts about the liberal progressives’ identity crisis, particularly relating to the pro-Hamas extremists, drop a comment and let me know what you think.
Gender & Parenting
Last Sunday the New York Times published an essay by Olympic runner, Caster Semenya, “Running In A Body That’s My Own,” adapted from her new book The Race To Be Myself: A Memoir. She describes how she has always looked like a man and officials in the sport of running challenged her ability to fairly participate against women. It was later discovered that she has the XY chromosome, with both ovaries and undescended testicles, a condition called “intersex.” She was forced to take hormone regulating medications that supposedly leveled the playing field against other female runners. Have you ever heard of male athletes using hormone therapy to not out-perform other male athletes? Semenya finds her way out of this oppressive system to compete in a body of her own.
Women in Iceland, including the Prime Minister, Katrin Jakobsdóttir, and the women in her cabinet, went on a one day strike to push for an end to unequal pay and gender based violence.
If you happen to be in Waitsfield, VT this week, visit the Firefolk Art Gallery and check out the “The Invisible Labor A Multicultural Group Exhibition Featuring 19 Mothers, Caregivers, and Nurturers” exhibit through November 1.
Politics
Just like a gnarly fart, the silent ones are always the deadliest. I am talking, of course, of Mike Johnson, the newly voted House Speaker no one has ever heard of, but looks like he’s about to blow shit up. Mary L. Trump, the outspoken niece of Donald Trump, wrote on her Substack newsletter this week:
I am so tired of the Republican Party shoving religion down our throats. Zealots like Johnson push policies that ruin the lives of their fellow human beings because they’re convinced that their “beliefs” trump the humanity of the people whose existence they disdain. Johnson, who is in favor of a total, nationwide abortion ban, is a viciously homophobic, misogynistic bigot.
Mike Pence dropped out of the presidential race. I’m disappointed because, although he served as VP in the Trump administration, he is not a MAGA Republican. I hate his stand on most issues, but unlike the other runners, I felt he was a true, dignified, and educated politician. He understands domestic and world issues better and could’ve made a decent Republican president, working alongside Democrats. He surely wouldn’t bring all his policy ideas to fruition, and most importantly he wouldn’t repeal the entire Constitution. If only he had taken the gloves off and fought against Trump, he could’ve created a strong Republican persona with conservative values and an even tougher guy than Trump. Clearly he is not tough, doesn’t fight, and is not strong, so I’m coming full circle that he’d make a “decent president” because he didn’t even try.
The evicted statue of Robert E. Lee was secretly melted down “somewhere in the south” this week and the materials will be repurposed by a group called Swords Into Plowshares. "Now we embark upon an opportunity to create something beautiful and positive," Jalane Schmidt, one of the project's lead organizers, said in a statement. Bye, bye, Bobby.
Cars
If you’ve ever been in an accident on the highway or any kind of pileup, you know it ruins your day. In New Orleans this week, a super fog led to a ONE HUNDRED-FIFTY-EIGHT car pileup. Seven were killed in the wreck.
Back to the future! “A 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 has been rediscovered after spending at least 20 years hidden away in a barn outside of Milwaukee, according to CBS 58. If that wasn’t intriguing enough, the stainless-steel sports car, which is famous for its role in the Back to the Future trilogy, only has 977 miles on the odometer.” Its good condition is hard to visualize as it’s covered in decades of dirt and grime, and generations of mice have made it their home, but if the buyer restores it, it could go for six-figures.
Books
To get in the Halloween spirit, I’m reading Ann Dávila Cardinal’s 2022 ghost story novel The Storyteller’s Death, and will share an essay review on Halloween. Ann was in charge of recruitment at VCFA when I applied and was instrumental in assisting me through the application process. It’s her first book for adults. Her previous novels are YA.
Britney Spears wrote a memoir called The Woman In Me, which I won’t read because ghost-written celeb memoirs are not my jam, but I wanted to let you all know it ruined Justin Timberlake’s 11th wedding anniversary with Jessica Biel. Prestigious Page Six reports from an unnamed source, “Britney’s book coming out with all the revelations coming from it has not been the best for his anniversary celebrations.” Poor, poor Justin.
RIP Matthew Perry aka Chandler Bing