PicoBlog

The Grand Budapest Hotel, for all of its frothy pink decor and exteriors, is at its core just an exquisite film about loneliness. Everyone in the movie is lonely for most of it. Zero, who has lost his whole family, country, and even his name, is perhaps the loneliest of all, but he is hardly the only ones. The old women that stay at the hotel are surrounded by fluttering entourages but know in their heart of hearts that people only care about them for their money.

Last year I developed a strong attraction to Joe Pesci. I had never thought twice about him before, and that was part of why he suddenly appealed to me. Watching Pesci onscreen has always left me feeling pleasantly empty: no persona to pull apart, no unslakable longings to carry. And mid-lockdown this is exactly what I wanted — to absent myself and enjoy people the way I enjoy other animals, as living things, simply being whatever they are.

There are no monuments or historical plaques, and there aren’t likely to be any. Instead, all that remains is a famous photo or two, random chunks of concrete and rebar, and acres of naturalized forest currently being toppled by bulldozers.  Once, 15,000 people lived in Pruitt-Igoe, a housing project touted as the wave of the future by St. Louis City officials. Just like the DeSoto-Carr neighborhood that was razed to build this complex, and the Mill Creek Valley neighborhood just to the south, and another where America’s Center and the Dome now sprawl to the east, these former communities and centers of Black* culture and history have been tossed away, falling into the oubliette of time.

When I was in my early 20’s, Prince Naseem Hamed was that dude. Along with Roy Jones and a handful of others, he was among the first fighters of the hip hop generation, a rakish, reckless, unconventional southpaw puncher from Sheffield, England with a swagger and style all his own. Even before he made his American television debut, whispers were spreading from across the pond. A VHS tape was passed around on the trading circuit, grainy videos of this skinny Yemeni kid blasting fools, flipping into and around the ring while doing his best Jones’ impression inside it once the bell rang.

Last week, I was texting with a friend, a stay-at-home mom of three, who was struggling to choose between two preschools for her middle daughter. One preschool had a longer school day than the other, which meant that my friend would have more of a break each day. The longer preschool was part of the same school her eldest daughter attended, which also meant two of her kids would be going to the same school, streamlining pick-ups and drop-offs.

Another episode of Rom Coms Revisited: exploring the good/bad/ugly of early 2000s rom coms. It’s a million degrees here in Austin, so I needed a little holiday cheer! Loading... First: the emotional range of this movie. It’s about grief and love and family. And Christmas. Second: the all-star cast. Third: the level of nostalgia for things I’ve never experienced that it gives me!! Some of those non-experienced things: *Christmas in Connecticut* (cozying up in my giant yet homey white house while wearing comfy chic cold weather clothing and drinking copious amounts of hot coffee)

Another trendy recipe I actually couldn’t resist but to take part in. This salad has been on my feed for awhile now, I ignored it for some time thinking “it's just another grinder salad recipe” but the marinated chickpeas in this recipe is what really caught my attention. I turned this into a higher protein, meal prep-able version that I absolutely loved and hope you do too :) GLASS / BAMBOO LID SALAD JARS

1× 0:00 -36:32 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. Welcome to the Farm Stand! I wanted to share with this audience what this farm has to offer besides writing. So, to make it as a One Woman Farm here’s all the plates I spin to keep my dream and my home safe. I’ll explain them in more detail in a bit. Cold Antler Farm has been my full-time gig since I left my corporate job in 2012.

If you’re anything like me, you dress differently on a week-to-week and sometimes day-to-day basis. You get up, and while getting dressed, you go wherever the mood takes you, you know? One day you could be wearing head-to-toe black in an effort to remain unseen and inconspicuous, the next day your outfit might resemble what you’d find at the end of a rainbow - if that rainbow vomited out a concoction of clashing prints and contrasting colours.