PicoBlog

It’s the New Year, so expect to be inundated with ads and posts from meno-diet charlatans claiming they have “broken the menopause diet code.” That’s medical gibberish, but the closest translation is they’ve figured out how to convert patriarchal messages about the body into cash, but with a menopause twist. Many of them will claim they have the answer to remove the fat that tends to accumulate around the middle in menopause, but they don’t.

Pastina is having a moment. Tiny dots, stars, tubes, rings, bows, even letters of the alphabet are suddenly everywhere, a reminder that all old things become new again. Pastina is not one pasta but many, a genre of infinite shapes made to tumble in broth, crowd a spoon, and zoom airplane-style into children’s mouths. No one region can claim pastina; though some variations are more cherished in particular places (like anellini in Sicily), they are found everywhere, loved by everyone.

Soon after visitors to Kauai drive away from the airport and head to their lodgings, they’ll see chickens—roosters, hens, and adorable baby chicks--on roadsides, crossing city streets, in parking lots, and in open fields. In short, everywhere. I love these wild chickens. The multi-colored flamboyant roosters strutting around like masters of their domain; the usually brownish-blackish hens rooting around for grubs; and the cutest cheeping chicks who keep close tabs on their mothers and obey her every cluck.

I truly can’t believe that 2️⃣ 0️⃣ 2️⃣ 4️⃣ is already here and we’re officially in Year 2️⃣ of Ask a Chief of Staff! After nearly a year of just building through word of mouth, we figured it was time to build up our online presence. Our website houses our Upcoming Events as well as this newsletter. If you’re a member of the Ask a Chief of Staff Community, you’ll also be able to access our Community Directory and Resources here too!

Great British Bake Off Finalist Chigs Parmar tells us how he started baking just 1 year before, why he doesn’t go to fancy Indian restaurants and the steps behind his favourite Indian street food recipe: For more than a decade, Chigs Parmar has written every family recipe in his diary. If his mum made something new, he’d get back to asking questions and writing down her answers. Chigs’ culinary exploration began as a teenager, interrogating his mum “how much of that powder did you mix in this?

**Please note: This song has explicit language** I have a tendency of living in my head and overthinking everything. I do a lot of analytical thinking at work and this carries over to how I live my life. I like to have all of the information before I make a decision. I like to understand the nuances of a theological concept. I love documentaries and podcasts about all sorts of weird subjects.

The other day, my dental hygienist made small talk as she cleaned my teeth: “so, do you have any kids?” “Nope,” I sputtered through a mouthful of dental instruments, and quickly changed the subject to something where I could contribute to the conversation. In the past, this question would have brought about a twinge of grief or shame, but I found myself unfazed this time: over the past few years since I wrote a piece on my indecision around children, I’ve come to (relative) peace with the fact that I won’t have my own kids.

The other morning I happened to be walking through the Bastille market on a Thursday morning. The market also takes place on Sunday morning and is a great market either day, but there are about 80% fewer people there on Thursday, so it’s a lot easier, and less hectic, to shop there. I’ve been hard at work changing my address with my bank since I moved. I began the process on their website, and it took me a while to track down where to do it under Mon profile > Informations personelles, where you’d think it would be (since that’s where you go to change your phone number, e-mail address, and security code), but alas, it was nowhere to be found.

ChiliPAD vs OOLER vs Eight Sleep vs Doc Pro: which is the best mattress cooling system? One of the most game-changing purchases I ever made for my sleep was the purchase of a ChiliPAD in 2019. I described that in the post below, originally written in July of 2019 and updated almost a year later in June of 2020: One of the most critical things our body has to do to fall asleep easily and get restful sleep is cool our core body temperature.