Friday Flames | 12.22.23
A weekly synopsis of what we figured out about the Missouri Dragon, jealous Martians, and a Peruvian McRib.
Have yourself a Feliz little Navidad
Nothing makes the end of the calendar year feel more crunched than having a horrible, two-week head cold morph into a sinus infection. Anything Magda thought she was going to do before January 1 just didn’t get done, because her face hurt and her brain stopped working. In any event, it’s better to be 50 and able to accept all this while taking antibiotics and hydrating, than to be 30 and feeling you need to put everyone else’s needs ahead of your own.
Before she left for Massachusetts this morning, the four of us had a festive holiday meal of Peruvian food that featured ají de gallina, inhalabale fried rice, and a pork sandwich our son described as “gas.” During this stage, our first Christmas season as four adults, we’ve learned to grab onto these opportunities whenever we can. It was nice to savor this one, and wash it down with a cold “purple beverage.”
Embers in the News
Here are some of the links that peeked through the noisy news cycle this week:
Profiteering in assisted living: Read all you can about assisted-living facilities, so you can prepare not to be gouged by outfits like these…
Regulators can’t regulate: … because regulators are too overworked to effectively enforce anything.
Midlife divorce rates up 300%: In the U.S., the percentage of divorces among couples 50 and older grew from 8.7% in 1990 to 36% in 2019.
Céline still struggling: The incurable neurological disorder Stiff Person Syndrome causes debilitating spasms and has kept Céline Dion from performing for years.
Not robbing the cradle (or the crypt): Many couples with age gaps of up to 40 years say their age difference is either beneficial or irrelevant.
This week on the podcast
Cuffing Season may start in October, but Uncuffing Season starts Christmas Day. Divorce coach Kate Anthony‘s new book helps people decide whether to leave a marriage, and prepare what to do if the answer is Yes.
Episode 28: "When we get married, we often don't have an agreement on what love is."
There’s a reason why family advisors—therapists, coaches, lawyers, and such—refer to January as Divorce Month. The holidays can be joyful, but they also represent the end of another cycle, a gauntlet just to get through and then consider if you want to go through another cycle with your spouse.
Currently reading
Magda has been too congested to read anything more complicated than the dosing info on the bottle of Mucinex Nightshift.
Doug is reading The Martian Chronicles, because it’s a classic he’s not read before, and Ray Bradbury’s ability to anticipate where humans are headed is legend. There’s also a certain magic to how these standalone stories weave together a narrative that calls out humanity’s arrogant disregard for its myriad frailties.
Currently watching
Doug is trying out Ozark, and OK, whatever. It desperately wants to be Breaking Bad like every Hydrox wants to be an Oreo, but Jason Bateman lacks the antihero charisma of Bryan Cranston. It’s hard to pull for anyone, really, in this contrived, sordid mess—except maybe the kids. And Julia Garner richly deserves all three of her Emmys.
Magda has been watching dozens of dog rescue videos from The Asher House in Oregon. That Lee Asher is easy on the eyes, no?
Currently cooking
Magda is creating a cooking plan for her Norwegian-themed Christmas Eve dinner. She's also in charge of dessert for Christmas Day and is looking for a Showstopper (minus the nuts and corn syrup) for ten people. If anyone has good suggestions, please post them in the Facebook group.
No more calls, please. We have a winner in the Best Roast Potatoes contest. Doug tried this recipe because of the food science—mainly, that parboiling with a little alkaline baking soda roughs up the exterior for a crispy outside and fluffy inside. Ladle on the butter and rosemary, and you’ll never roast differently again.
Next on the podcast
On January 3, our Episode 29 guest Jeff Bogle will talk about reimagining the end-of-year holidays after the deaths of his father and brother, his literary zine Stanchion, and how a random tweet about street cats led to a literary agent and a new book deal.
Thanks for reading, and Merry Christmas to all who celebrate (or wish they could).
Magda and Doug