PicoBlog

Welcome to It’s A Shanda, one Northeastern Jew’s quest to find a decent bagel in Seattle (and beyond). If you’re interested in taking this journey with me, make sure you subscribe so you never miss a review. If you want to ensure I review any specific bagels (or want to let me know why I’m wrong), you can email me at seanmatthewkeeley@gmail.com. So much about the Seattle bagel scene has changed in recent years.

I watched the new two-part documentary film “Can I Tell You a Secret?” on Netflix. The story centers around young women, mainly three (Lia, Abby and Zoe) in the United Kingdom who are randomly (I think?) picked and cyberstalked on social media by an apparent real life social outcast who got away with it for several years. Part one pretty much hones on the stories and angst of the victims while the back half is mostly focused on the perpetrator, why he did it, the committed police officer who stayed on his trail and the trial/verdict.

It seems no matter what role a woman takes on, she is likely to endure times of feeling isolated, unsupported, and lonely. While I can only speak from the lived experience of being childfree by choice, I think it is important to draw attention to the complexities and difficulties of the different paths. How can parents be more supportive of their friends who aren’t parents? How can people without children show up for their parent friends?

Back in 2009, in the wake of the global financial crisis, Steve Scully asked President Obama when America would finally run out of money. The president replied, “We’re out of money now. We’re operating in deep deficits.” (click image to play) Last night, Scott Pelley asked President Biden his own version of that question. (click image to play) PELLEY: Are the wars in Israel and Ukraine more than the United States can take on at the same time?

At the beginning of summer, Ipledged to start sending timelier, faster essays about some corner of the internet that I can’t stop thinking about. I then proceeded to overthink about today’s topic for weeks and weeks, trying to find the right way in, wondering if I should write it at all. The topic, of course, is Ballerina Farm, the Instagram influencer who possesses a life so bucolic and idealized that many writers in my particular identity group — white, left-of-center women who write on Substack, and are usually moms — apparently can’t stop thinking about her either.

Caution: this essay contains clinical images that may be disturbing to some. Inflammatory breast cancer is an uncommon type of breast cancer characterized by the rapid onset (within 6 months) of an enlarged breast that is erythematous (red / pink), edematous (swollen) and has a peau d’orange appearance (resembling an orange peel) due to plugging of lymphatic vessels by tumor. Typically the erythema and edema must occupy at least 33% of the breast to make the diagnosis.

Local news is dying. Citizen journalists like myself must fill in the gap. So, here is a candidate explainer for my local school board election, Montgomery County School District. This week I will be covering Bethany Mandel, Fox News contributor and culture warrior. Lets do it! Montgomery County is strongly Democratic region. So those identified as Republican would face an uphill battle. Luckily for Mandel, she is a Democrat! Uh, ok.

Holy cannoli HELLO! HI! This one has been two months in the making and I’ve been teasing y’all with it on the gram for a while now. So I hope this lives up to the hype! I am a huge fan of cannoli, and truly there is no improving on this perfect dessert. Anytime I’m in Eagle Rock I’ll stop by Eagle Rock Italian Deli + Bakery and pick-up a box of these delightful little pastries.

Seeing dishes in the midst of being adapted is equal parts interesting and bizarre. Online, it’s something that I’ve notice quite a bit with congee. Because from a cursory google, you can find two broad categories congee recipes. You can, of course, find the true-blue-straight-from-Asia varieties, courtesy of the likes of Lucas Sin and Made with Lau (and a little farther down the page, us). After all, congee is one of the world’s comfort foods – an every day breakfast, nourishment for the sick – a staple dish for cuisines as disparate as Filipino and Korean; Cantonese and Burmese.