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Every few weeks, I find these gorgeous postcards mixed in with my mail. They come from my friend Ian K., an extraordinary calligrapher, designer, artists and juggler. And even though they’re from nowhere more exotic than Stamford, CT, from a man with whom my relationship is deeply affectionate and sturdily defined, their appearance does strike me with all sorts of romantic feeling because…well, how often does one receive the real gifts of friends?
I say romantic in the sense of big, generous feeling, in the sense of being deeply felt, in the sense of what’s rare and precious. When I picked up this card above, it connected me with the scenes of Florentino Ariza, setting up shop in “Love in the Time of Cholera,” typing out the love letters of thousands of illiterate strangers in love.
It’s an act of tremendous generosity, the actual giving of words. Physically writing something down for another person is as close as we can get to literally giving someone the immense, intangible value of our time. And I think it’s equally valuable if one has only the words or only the power to write, so long as you’re a part of getting them combined. Spoken words are largely fast and thoughtless. The intentionality of picking up a piece of paper and writing down an idea gives words a strength that air and sound do not. The written word is a thing that can be seen and touched, a sturdy token of the love that is inherent in wanting to be understood.
So, thanks Ian. Expect something in the mail soon.
In celebration of the Yes We Candidate’s swearing in today, I made an arugula focused dinner: whole wheat pasta with sausage and wilted arugula.
Simple, hearty, relatively inexpensive, and pretty lo-cal, which is becoming more relevant as 20 degree weather induces visions of Caribbean vacations and attendant bikinis. Despite all of the bold, basic flavors and textures in this dish, the wilted arugula and the time that you let it sit adds a layer of depth that makes it worth eating.
For 4-5 servings:
- 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
- 2 tbs oil
- 1 bag of whole wheat egg noodles, very al dente
- 1 tube of Gimme Lean! sausage
- 1 box of arugula
- 1 jar of Newman’s Own marinara
generous salt and pepper
Satuee the garlic, then brown the sausage (or snausage, which my girlfriend calls it to distinguish from the real stuff) until it’s a deep golden brown and is very firm. Season with salt. If you don’t cook it thoroughly enough, it wont’ make you sick but your leftovers will have the taste and texture of Play Doh.
Dump the sauce into the pan and turn the heat up a little until it’s bubbling. Keep the cover on it so it doesn’t explode all over your kitchen. Salt and pepper again. When it’s good and hot, also dump in your undercooked noodles. They’ll soften more in the sauce, so you don’t want to pre-cook them too much. Stir, turn the heat to low, then add in the arugula, and stir again. Put the cover on the pan and let it all hang out for about 8 minutes, with another stir or two to make sure it’s even.
Spoon the pasta into a big ol’ bowl and enjoy.
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I’m forever battling to find balance between surrounding myself with things I love and drowning in piles of crap. Just this weekend, four friends and I schlepped eleven bags of clothes, shoes, and interspersed housewares to the Astoria area Goodwill store. (And then spent a very long, very boozy brunch at Sunswick. More on that another time.) Today, I did laundry and spontaneously pitched some old sweatpants from college and socks with holes in them. I was looking on Etsy for some high quality, locally made replacement socks and…welll……I got overwhelmed by the cuteness:
There’s really no reason for why this even exists, except that Americans love tiny things, cozy things, and lots of packaging on their food. If I could eat apples (I’m allergic), I’d probably buy one of these and tell myself that it’ll help me remember to bring fruit to work for a snack. Maybe they come in sizes for clementines….
