Friday Flames: Spice up the Weak Sauce

There's a war going on out there, and we've picked a side. Plus other thoughts about fingernails, travel, the Voice, the Lotus, the cowbell, and what outer space smells like.

It’s back to normal at Doug’s house, after Robert was home for about seven weeks to sort out his truck crash and plan his next move. He’s back in the PNW now, traveling and camping and hopeful that the federal job he lined up for April will actually happen. But his presence lingers, in the form of mornings with Youtube yogis, the bidet he installed, and the piles of his belongings destined for donation.

It’s very weird to think about quotidian bullshit like errands and insurance while the country sinks more into grift and graft. What we need is passionate, outspoken opposition expressed every day, on every platform, trumpeting the harm that is being done. What we have is “zero-calorie rhetoric” from a feckless, leaderless opposition.

All that is left, then—for the moment, anyway—is ourselves, our phones, and our wallets. We use 5calls.org to flood our representatives’ offices with the voices they need to hear (evidence is mounting that these calls work). And since money runs everything, we can abandon the companies that cave to right-wing propaganda (nice lawsuit, btw) and embrace the ones who don’t. We can cancel Prime and use Bookshop and Libro. Instead of Chrome, use DuckDuckGo. Instead of Facebook, use nothing.

We can also take part in the economic blackout planned for Friday, February 28 (one week from today!) by buying only from small, local businesses. If you’re really feeling it, you can sign up for the general strike, which only needs about 3.5% of the population on board to be effective.

Will it actually be effective? Who knows? But taking part actively feels a lot better than watching whatever the Party of Weak Sauce is trying to do.

Embers in the News

Here are some of the links that peeked through the noisy news cycle:

• Houston, we have a barbecue The 12 astronauts who have walked on the moon agree that it smells like gunpowder. Space itself smells like “a seared steak.”

• Nails and what ails you Physicians can diagnose dermatological problems, kidney disease, and some autoimmune disorders from your fingernails.

• Get REAL by May 7 If you haven’t yet invested in a REAL ID driver’s license, now is the time. (And passport renewals now typically take 4-6 weeks.)

• “Retreat or engage?” Wired co-founder Kevin Kelly, who has spent 50 years traveling all over the world, condenses that knowledge into a list of travel tips.

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Recently on the podcast

Kimberly Shepherd helps neurodivergent, anxious, and indifferent young adults figure out the college experience, from application to major to career.

Kendrick Lamar's halftime show made us think a lot about artistic genius, cultural obsolesence, and when it's a good idea to fight the instinct to nope out.

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Currently reading

Magda is listening to Rick Astley's memoir Never, read by Rick himself. She's been an Astley fan since she first saw the Never Gonna Give You Up video in 1987 and is delighted that he's had such a good life after such a horrible childhood.

Doug really loved Anxious People, and he’s back into non-fiction with The Freaks Came Out To Write. Tricia Romano offers up the “definitive history” of The Village Voice, which is doubly appealing given its role in Doug’s life when he first moved to New York in the early 90s. (It has recently relaunched, but why?)

Currently watching

Doug has been a big fan of Mike White’s writing since Freaks and Geeks, and he’s looked forward to this third season of The White Lotus for months. He’s ready for another wicked satire that deflates big egos, because we’re all just monkeys with smart phones.

Magda and Mike watched the SNL 50th anniversary show, but they've enjoyed the accompanying documentaries more—particularly the ones about the cowbell sketch and the return of Lorne Michaels for Season 11.

Currently cooking

Magda made Hetty Lui McKinnon's Creamy Vegan Tofu Noodles, which were much better (and creamier) than she thought they'd be.

Doug has been combating the relentless cold with lots of Mediterranean travel shows, so the most obvious comfort food to make is pastitsio, which tastes like a lasagna went to a Christmas pageant. There are several recipes out there, but wouldn’t you like to be cooked for and served by these jovial, plaid fellas?

Thanks for reading, and holy shit Cher brought it.

Magda and Doug