A Delicate Balance — This may turn into a love letter to booze, so let’s just start here: I’ve never been a heavy drinker. Addiction and recovery is not, thankfully, part of my story. I’ve always been a lightweight, a cheap date (maybe it’s time to retire that phrase), and have practiced moderation. I…

Where’s the fucking zest? — “There is no greater power in the world than the zest of a postmenopausal woman.” Margaret Mead I just went to the post office, my first outing in weeks after a long, miserable (supposedly non-Covid) illness. Driving there, I felt like a naked baby bird, possibly not yet ready for…

Same as it ever was — I have a little mustache. I didn’t care, or even really know, about it until the 7th grade boys pointed it out. Middle school is, notoriously, a deep ring of hell from which none of us return unscathed. It was there that I learned about shaving, bleaching, and waxing to…

The year that was three — As I attempt a review of 2022, it becomes clear that it’s not the exercise it once was. I used to enjoy the packing up of twelve months, the analysis of a neat chapter in a life. The years don’t stand on their own legs anymore, though. 2022 is ’21…

A sad goodbye to a weird and wonderful place — Twitter is dying and everyone knows it. There wasn’t much #Caturday yesterday, and today’s #FlowerReport is buried. The poets and the funny people, the food and the art are quickly being replaced by bros cheering an idiot billionaire with compensation issues. …

And why do we care? — When I heard about Hilary Mantel’s death at 70, my first reaction (after the obvious sadness at the loss of genius) was, Oh god she’s still young! She’s not old! I thought of her as a near peer. It’s funny how the meaning of “old” keeps changing as we get…

On food and food writing — I’ve always wanted to write about food but have wondered if I’m allowed. If I’m qualified. As a home cook who needs a recipe and has little culinary imagination, what could I contribute? I love to cook, sometimes. I love to bake, always. The alchemy of butter, sugar, and desire…

A response to India Knight’s bad take — On Mother’s Day Sunday, the Times UK published India Knight’s column entitled, “Can we just cool it with this menopause mania?” Oh my god where to start. Here’s a quote: “ … mostly I know women who just accepted the menopause as a minor and temporary inconvenience, joked about it…

Life is pain — My back hurts. It’s because I’m an aging biped, according to almost everything, but it’s also because of the long car ride. Given that I continue to age and will hopefully be walking on two feet for the foreseeable future, there’s not much relief in sight. It seems like a…