PicoBlog

When I first started watching the One Piece anime over a decade ago, I remember being very interested in what everybody’s race would be. Obviously, I had to look it up and saw that the creator and writer, “God” Eiichiro Oda had this to say about it: Luffy is Brazilian. Zoro is Japanese. Nami is an orange-haired Swedish woman. Sanji is French. Usopp is from “Africa.” It’s obviously funny that our great liar character is “from Africa” and not a particular country, but to be fair to Oda-san, Africa has managed to produce some great liar characters over the last 5,000 years.

Hi, welcome back to Mixed Messages! This week I’m speaking to author Nicola Dinan, who is of mixed Malaysian-Chinese and white British heritage. Nicola’s debut novel, Bellies, is out on Thursday and follows the relationship between Ming and Tom. At first your typical boy meets boy love story, Ming announces her intention to transition and suddenly their mapped-out futures take different turns. You won’t want to put this book down, but I urge you to for the next few minutes to read Nicola’s own story.

Call it tradition or call it indulgence, a weekend doesn’t come together for me without a bakery, cafe, or brunch. It’s about doing something for myself. Away from all the obligations and chaos of daily life. I get to read something interesting or share stories with friends. I’ve visited Radio Bakery a few times for that slow-down moment. They have a seasonal menu. They post new things on their Instagram and it often inspires me to go visit.

Radix Verum Alleged Thought Criminal. Lover of Coffee and Cats. Collector of books. Antique typewriters in mint green. Directing & Producing "Kidnap and Kill: An FBI Terror Plot," a Documentary exposing the FBI's entrapment scheme and criminality. 3K+ subscribers ncG1vNJzZmirpZfAta3CpGWcp51kjbOtw6Kvr52iqro%3D

For years after No. 1 Kitchen closed at Amherst and Grant streets in Black Rock, passersby wondered if 370 Amherst St. would ever return to life.  After months of suspense, the paper came off the windows last week to reveal Raha Coffee House, a Yemeni operation specializing in diverse coffee and tea blends, and Yemeni pastries. Owners Bassam Harhara and Abdul Qayi Mohamed have developed a light, bright community spot suitable for cards and chitchat.

Every Ramadan, we all try to take our Muslim life up a notch. In this series, I share how we do Ramadan. In addition to fasting, we focus on praying, du‘a, listening to something with a deeper spiritual value, taraweeh (at the mosque when possible), and specific exercises that elevate our worship—together. For the previous post in this series, click here. If you’re new to Sunday Schooled, here’s a short description of the different posts I’ll be sharing.

When it comes to cult followings and sheer gnarliness of food, there is one ramen chain that conquers them all: Ramen Jiro.  Jiro's unique, over-the-top bowls have made it one of Japan's most divisive food phenomenons. In short, Jiro's ramen is everything that Japanese cuisine is famously NOT. It's ridiculously heavy and fatty. It uses cheap, easily-sourced ingredients. The bowls are thrown together hastily, rather than assembled with care. Portion sizes are enormous, and the ramen shops themselves tend to be grimy and dirty.

Randall's Island is located in the East River between northern Manhattan and Queens. What I’m referring to as Randall’s Island in this newsletter also includes Ward’s Island. Once two distinct land masses, Ward’s and Randall’s were gradually joined together when the strait seperating them, Little Hell’s Gate, was infilled. A third island, Sunken Meadow, was also incorporated into present day Randall’s Island. With a population of less than 1,700 people, you may ask, is Randall’s Island even a neighborhood?

Welcome to Girl Culture, the newsletter where Caroline Siede examines pop culture, feminism, and more. Learn more about Girl Culture’s mission here If there’s one good thing about being sick for two weeks, it’s that you get a lot of time to catch up on ridiculous movies and TV. (Hello six seasons of Survivor.) And since things have been a little quieter on Girl Culture than I intended recently (something I very much intend to change in the coming months), I thought this was the perfect time to delve into one of my biggest 2023 rom-com blindspots: Anyone But You.