PicoBlog

Lots more to discuss today (and unpack from last week). I hope you’re all feeling rested and peaceful—and maybe still in elastic pants—after Thanksgiving. My husband flew home from Israel a few hours before the holiday, so it was a pretty exciting/happy holiday for the kids and me. Something to truly be thankful for, eh? Anywho, enough sappy stuff. Jumpi… ncG1vNJzZmiaoq6wprPRrpmeql6owqO%2F05qapGaTpLpwvI6lnK2rXaCypryMrZ%2BarF2ZtrSv1KyqoqeeYrSwtc2gZGw%3D

***I’m planning a podcast next week about reactions, respectful disagreements, and not-so-respectful disagreements to this week’s columns. So, if you’re dying to tell me off — and research shows that most of my readers are — please send an e-mail to hereswhyyousuck@gmail.com. All thoughts, questions, and soul-destroying insults are welcome!*** Tesla is suddenly hurting. Quarterly sales are down 8.5 percent — their first drop since the pandemic — and Tesla stock has plunged more than 30 percent this year.

THE WORST THING WE READ™ON FRIDAY, THE Huffington Post reported that the conservative commentator Richard Hanania had a history of writing virulently racist, sexist, and eugenicist posts online under the pseudonym "Richard Hoste," including contributing to the website where the white nationalist Richard Spencer launched the "alt right" movement. Under his own name, calling himself a "classical liberal," Hanania has eagerly sought, and gotten, engagement with the mainstream; he's been cited regularly by liberal pundits, published in the New York Times, and prominently featured—billed as a voice of "

I quite liked this exploration of a W.H. Auden poem and the painting it’s based on. It’s been a long time since I’ve written down a close reading, so let’s do one. I’m picking “The Convergence of the Twain” by Thomas Hardy, as it’s perhaps the single poem best known to me; I memorized it in college, during class time, when I was meant to be doing something else. I loved it that much.

Iron & Wine’s song “The Trapeze Swinger” is a favorite of mine. I actually probably prefer the Gregory Alan Isakov cover, but this live version is very moving as well. By all accounts, Samuel Beam did not think too much of the song when he wrote it for inclusion in the not-bad-but-quickly-forgotten movie In Good Company. But it became a fan favorite, an… ncG1vNJzZmieopqxpbXEnZybp5Wne7TBwayrmpubY7CwuY6pZqWdpKh6s7HAnWSsp52aeq3F0aKarGWZp7yvecCnm2avmaOytA%3D%3D

The year 2023 has been eventful regarding Tracy Chapman's news, although there hasn't really been any news as such. No new album. No tour nor any concert. No TV appearance. And yet this year we celebrated the 35th anniversary of the release of her Debut Album in one of the most beautiful ways possible: with Tracy Chapman returning to the media spotlight, being reminded her long-time fans of her talent and discovered by an entirely new generation of listeners.

If you’re a fan of perfume and reading this Substack I am going to guess you have heard of D.S. & Durga, a fragrance house based out of Brooklyn, NY that was founded by husband-and-wife team David (D.S.) and Kavi (Durga) in 2007. I started noticing their fragrances in high-end indie curated shops in San Francisco like Reliquary about 10 years ago. They felt fancy and cool if not a little overpriced.

A few weeks ago, I asked all of you what produce you were excited about cooking with, and a surprising number of you mentioned radishes. I use them a lot in my cooking. In fact, they graced the cover of my last book, Open Kitchen. It takes a little imagination to figure out what to do with them besides just tossing them in a salad, though that’s definitely a great thing to do with them.

Over the last few weeks I’ve noticed a narrative emerging among some Washington Commanders fans that defensive end Chase Young is actually hurting the defense. While he’s been generating consistent pressure, the narrative suggests that he’s freelancing to do it and that in turn is hurting the integrity of the defense by getting in the way of other rushers or losing contain of the quarterback within the pocket. While this may have been true back in Young’s second season in the NFL in 2021, and I must point out Young was definitely not the only defensive lineman guilty of that fault during that season, it’s not the case for Young this year.