I need people to understand that up until a certain time it was mostly "huh, they didn't get approval from X office" or "they might have exceeded their authorities here but to be fair that statute is open to interpretation."

Imagine being a public servant tasked with reviewing the legality, propriety, and effectiveness of U.S. foreign policy decisions.

Magnolias have such an amazing flavor and their season is so short. You gotta go nuts while you can!

Things to do with magnolias: candied petals and cake, syrup, cookies with syrup and petal jam, plus pickles for your homemade sushi #foraging #homecooking

A black cat is on a wooden table next to a bag of magnolia blossoms and a glass jar. The jar has a few petals in it. The cat sniffs curiously at the jar.

Examining magnolia petals for pickling

This looks gorgeous!

DC's reaction to punk anthems about occupation and tyranny is uhhh very different from what it's been in the past, I'll put it that way!

My husband had never heard of Gogol Bordello until last night, which meant he was unprepared to spend 4.5 hours jumping up and down and screaming and moshing with people old enough to bring their own screaming teens to the show. Pretty sure I sweated my cold away but also threw out my back.

A loaf of sourdough bread. It has a nice rise and a pretty even crumb!

I've recently switched to the Rubaud method for sourdough and I can't argue with the results. Also experimented with starting at 500F and gradually going down to 300. #breadsky

The idea that we would have nothing in common with or nothing to learn from the past is fundamentally anti-human! There are few things more affirming than realizing what kinds of emotions and experiences are shared across language, cultures, time. Reading Sappho in your twenties is a gut punch.

"Haha! Great idea, I'll get right on it. You know me! Haha," he says, but for an instant his eyes flash and you get a glimpse of arcane curses lost to the ancient Mesopotamians.

A coworker dynamic I really enjoy observing is the super-genial, friendly, casual jokey guy and the boss he longs to throw off a bridge.

This kind of small talk is very deeply human (and I'm really shy and terrible at it). I have to always fight the urge to be antisocial and retreat into my own space; as long as somebody's not ignoring obvious signs to not engage, I welcome a nice person making polite chitchat. It feels wholesome.

Cannot imagine having the audacity (or the privilege) to brag about not doing my job, at my job, for the entire world to see

DC's mutual aid and neighborhood support networks have been firing on all cylinders since the summer, and I'm so proud to be a part of them. The only way out is through---and with the support of each other. And knowing when to call it a night and just make some pasta.

Butternut squash pasta with sage and Chiles. The bottle of wine in the background is Les Bottes Rouges' Boomerang.

The celery root "chowder", with a white blend from Lightwell Survey.

Pork ragu and charred cabbage in a bowl with fusilli.

To cope with *gestures wordlessly to everything* we've been working through Joshua McFadden's Six Seasons of Pasta. It's easier to believe the world is ending than to admit it isn't and you have to live through it somehow. Pasta, wine, the satisfaction of cooking helps. #cookingsky #winesky

It takes some amount of spiritual humility to acknowledge the woo. Hard enough to admit much less explain to people who haven't felt it (and chased it, and...)

The entire world is the dril 4th of July tweet now. It's intolerable.

Got a Creux d’Enfer Rosé from Roses de Jeanne, it's honestly about three times as expensive as it should be but it's one of my favorite champagnes ever. I love them and Ulysse Collin (also wildly overpriced now)

Yes, I'm quite excited! We will mostly be hanging out in saunas and hot springs but also checking out art galleries, so it should be OK. And Iceland is currently warmer than my in-laws' place in New Hampshire!

The real measure of my husband's love is his willingness to go to Iceland and Finland in winter despite having pretty serious seasonal affective disorder. Sunset is 11:20 AM and sunset is 3:41. We're so boned.

In American English the word "shall" is so legally fraught that there are Supreme Court decisions about it. The idea of letting AI handle it is irresponsible, to put it kindly.

Never thought I had impostor syndrome before, but being asked to co-teach with someone whose *books I have on my shelf* is evoking a particular psychic horror I've never felt before.

A bowl of butternut squash pasta from the Six Seasons of Pasta cookbook, plus a bottle of Munjebel red wine from Frank Cornelissen.

A parlor with built-in cabinets. A cat is resting on a lap; the fireplace is lit; a man sits on the couch. There are Christmas stocking and garlands on the mantle.

All you need is a nice dinner and a fire with your spouse (and a cat). Six Seasons of Pasta continues to be an amazing cookbook; this one, with butternut squash and a nut ragu, was genuinely phenomenal. There's a lot to be said for a day well-spent in the kitchen. #cookingsky #winesky

...and that's the first time someone's boss has called me to apologize for their employee's behavior. This one's gonna be a struggle.

Maybe this is obvious, but the writers who are most hostile to the editorial process are almost always the ones who need the most assistance. I wish these writers would understand I'm a party member, not a boss fight. We're on this quest together and I'm here to get you through it.

One of the many reasons AI can't produce good writing is it can't hate its own writing. It can't think to itself "Maybe I'm illiterate" during the writing process. And that's essential

A table with a plate of roast chicken and squash, plus a glass of wine and a bottle of Domaine Finot's When I Grow Up I Would Like To Be A Jaune (2020).

Dinner was just roast chicken and squash, but the wine was a white tannat. Yes, really. And it's *incredible*. Who knew tannat could taste like vin jaune? One of Virginia's neatest new vineyards. #winesky

(Domaine Finot's Turk Mountain Vineyards - When I Grow Up I Would Like To Be A Jaune)

im the high priestess of the 202 mutherfucker if you don’t like my city i WILL get you on board with it somehow!!!