Food, Humor, London

Taco Joint

“Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch.” 
― Orson Welles

Hey, you know what we haven’t had in a minute? A good old fashioned food joint post! Come with me to one of London’s most popular markets and we’ll rectify this…

It is rare to find good tacos in London, at least if one is a snobbish American who demands authentic Mexican food who turns up her nose at the pathetic offerings found in most British pubs? Do not smother stale chips in sour cream and canned “salsa” and call them nachos, we are going to fight.

Thankfully, Jeff and I discovered a remedy. Welcome to El Pastor, overlooking one of the more iconic entrances to Borough Market.

Oh look, several of my favorite things!

I am pleased to report that the guacamole is delicious and the tortillas authentic. Jeff nearly wept when the carnitas passed muster!

El Pastor is walk in only, which means that you need to be a bit mindful of your timing since Borough Market is inevitably crowded. But the food is worth the wait, if a bit pricey. If you are feeling particularly flush, there is a robust drinks menu and an entire menu dedicated only to Mezcal. This is precisely the kind of place you want to visit for a summer date night when you don’t want to break the bank, but still want to have an above-the-ordinary-takeaway kind of meal. Eat outside if you can and enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of the market.

Two words, of immense value to any American in London: salsa verde.

Borough Market is a great spot, even if the vast majority tourists show up to graze on free samples and then leave. There is an excellent brewpub called The Rake around the corner, a whole lane dedicated to street food, and every kind of food under the sun available to you, from boutique bakers to leading dairies. And of course, Southwark Cathedral hovers over the whole thing, boasting the area’s history which stretches back through Shakespeare and Chaucer.

All in all, if you’ve never been to the area, or simply haven’t been back in a while, come on by for a visit. Start with the tacos, but then just wander around a bit. I guarantee you won’t get bored.

Humor, Links, News, Pop Culture

Weekend Links

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” 
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

What another week of news, and once again I can’t keep up–but we’ll do our best to recap along the way. We are past the Fourth of July and therefore officially into summer. I have switched to my “summer” sunglasses (aviators), purchased a linen shirt (which I duly report back on in my next shopping update), and all my drinks are iced. Consider me ready for the season.

I’ve put together a list of (mostly) poppy and fun links for your reading pleasure and I’m going to try and get a few additional posts together because I am officially on holiday! Jeff and I are going off to explore a new city neither one of us have been too, and I am going to do my best to try and unplug from work. Historically, I am TERRIBLE at this. (It doesn’t help that there’s an awful lot going on, a new contract to move into, and annual budget season to contend with…and shut up, C., you’re not helping yourself!)

Filing this under things I didn’t realize weren’t already federal crimes.

Anyone got a few cool million to spare?

Crissle returns to Drunk History!

Our country is broken.

Broken.

I accept this to be true.

Oprah for queen. Oprah for everything.

Noted and worthy beauty blog Temptalia breaks down the recent launch of the latest “big” brand and one, for a change, I have no interest in at all.

Good riddance, it’s a miracle he lasted as long as he did with that much scandal and bad behavior just…out there.

Jog on, indeed!

No duh.

I love writing on writing.

Long live the battle queens of the internet.

This piece from Slate hit me so hard this week that it actually took a full day to process. This passage deserves a block quote:

I am sad, above all, because the damage being done now no longer feels like it can be stemmed—let alone reversed—with a single election. This will last decades. The downturns my generation has already weathered—the 2008 crisis that hinged on obscure derivatives traded by a privileged few, robbing wealth from millions—were only the beginning. Education is now a luxury. Pensions barely exist. Health care is under threat. Retirement is, to those my age, a cruel joke. We’ve been waiting. For recovery, for relief, for some semblance of an American dream we can access.

It is clear, now, that there was nothing to wait for. In the time we’ve been waiting, the rich have only gotten richer and angrier and whiter, but it will never be enough for them. The good-faith ideological battle some thought right and left were waging turned out to be no such thing: Modern conservativism was never about small government. Or personal liberty—for women and people of color, anyway. It wasn’t about fiscal responsibility: The GOP passed a tax plan that has blown up our national debt, which is projected to reach 78 percent of America’s GDP by the end of this year, the highest it’s been since 1950. And Republicans are still not happy. They will pretend that this crisis they created will require “sacrifices,” gutting services poor Americans desperately need, like health care. The poor and disadvantaged will die.

Meanwhile, those in power will celebrate how much they deserve their wealth and how little anyone else deserves.

Finally, there are still children separated from their parents. You can donate to RAICES, KIND, and the ACLU to help.

Favorites, Humor

Five Things I Loved in June

“Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.”
– Russel Baker

London is currently experiencing the first of a series of projected heatwaves and it’s blazing hot outside. In other words, it’s a perfect time to talk about the things that kept me feeling and looking good in the month of June! Roll on summer!

Clinique Take the Day Off Balm Cleanser
As the weather warms up and I layer more products on my face (multiple layers of SPF throughout the day, makeup, waterproof mascara, and goodness knows sweat), I need to take a lot more off when I get home in the evening. This is a fantastic cleanser that I used for a long time, and then just never got around to replacing it as I was trying to use up other items in my bathroom cabinet. I only got around to repurchasing it at the start of the month and have been using it practically every day to take my face off. It’s a lovely cleanser that melts makeup and other products

 

Queer Eye Season Two
Everything I loved about season one, double it. Supportive, lovely, encouraging friendships are often portrayed along gender lines–women experiencing the “sisterhood” of emotional support while men are portrayed bucking one another up with toughness and stiff upper lips. Of course the spectrum of lived experience is vast, but in media and culture I think that while it has become more acceptable and even attractive for women to take on certain “masculine” traits and roles, it still isn’t nearly common enough to see men take on more traditionally “feminine” aspects (such as being nurturing and gentle). I unabashedly love the portrayal of male emotional support and friendships on this show for this reason. If more men and boys got the hype squad treatment that I experience with my female friends, we’d have a lot fewer problems in the world.

 

Radiolab presents: Gonads
Radiolab is one of the great pioneers of radio and podcasting and each episode is worth a check in. However, I really love when they dive into topics for extended projects which they have done recently on the topic of human reproduction. What are gonads? How did they evolve? What is fertility, infertility, and how are people using science to have children? What are the ethics of all these questions? It’s good scientific fun!

Nars Velvet Lip Pencil in Red Square
This long standing favorite lip pencil has done service in the wars this month and is deserving of a shoutout. Look how much of this sucker I have used up! The goal is to finish it entirely and eventually replace it once I have also used up some similar but inferior items in my makeup stash.

 

That guy I’m married to
Jeff has been absolutely working his tail off recently and still managed to give me a gorgeous birthday dinner, help plan a much needed upcoming holiday, rant with me about the troubles we see in the world, watch comedy specials with me to make ourselves feel better, and generally be a good guy all around. Happy 9 year anniversary today, love. I’m still rather fond of you.

Humor, Links, News, Politics, Pop Culture, Weekend

Weekend Links

“What fresh hell is this?”
– Dorothy Parker

I keep saying it, but the current pace of news is scary. We have not had week in this administration that hasn’t contained some kind of significant decision or change that will have lasting impact. This was no different.

Another Supreme Court seat is now in the mix and I assume that Senator McConnell will not seek to fill it as it’s an election year, right? I assume that if an election weren’t enough to warrant a delay in hearings, that investigations into whether or not the President and his election team were aided to power by a foreign adversary would, right? No, it was only about President Obama? K. Mitch McConnell is incredibly good at political power, but the cost of it is so, so high…

Seriously, this seat matters. Justice Kennedy was a conservative/libertarian in his position and as such was considered a swing vote in many cases–which is itself interesting. The court has shifted to the right in the past generation and that Justice Kennnedy is considered the occasional “moderate” voice is noteworthy. His vote has mattered in issues on LGBT and reproductive rights. It has also mattered to immigration cases, union cases, voter rights and access issues, presidential elections…the seats are probably the longest lasting appointments and offices in our government.

Elections matter. Too many people who are now angry about the direction of the country sat out of the last one and this week is the culmination of that choice.

In summary…

Lest we forget there are children who have been removed from their parents. Remember that? Here are multiple organisations you can donate to to help fight this.

If you are a liberal snowflake like me, here’s an avalanche you can join. November is closer than we’d like to admit and none of you get to sit this one out.

Judge Sotomayor’s dissenting opinion mirrors my own concerns with this decision. I fear we have overturned a bad legal precedent and just slotted in a new one in its place. It’s also one hell of a position that, “It’s legal if you set aside almost everything the actual president of the United States has said about this policy.” I wonder if and when some future court will be apologizing for this the way they are doing for Korematsu.

I’m never not interested in J. Crew news. It’s a brand that really lost me as a customer but I still perversely hope to root for.

Deeply relevant to my interests!

Netflix fires its communications officer for racist language.

What an amazing tribute in the face of tragedy.

New Lizzo alert! (PS, I’m three weeks late on this but Big Freedia ft. Lizzo alert too while we’re at it!)

Interestingly enough, there’s a whole swath of American people who think that your personal values should allow you to determine who you do business with (she typed sarcastically). That’s the problem with these kinds of positions. Sooner or later, they might turn against you.

To say that Brexit is going poorly would be an understatement. Regardless of whether or not individuals support it, it has now been two years since the vote and nearly nothing has been agreed or finalized in the negotiations to leave the EU with a deadline now less than a year away.

Honestly, and I recognize the irony of typing this, but this approach to masculinity is so damn sexy and attractive.

Big news from Saudia Arabia this week. Now let’s dump guardianship laws, k?

In Mormon news, the denomination’s hymnal is getting a long overdue update to better reflect the global membership. I’m also pretty pleased that national anthems are getting dropped, though I expect some Americans are going to be in their feelings about this.

Watching Glenn Beck help midwife much of our conspiracy theorist based media hellscape, try to rebrand himself as a Never Trumper, only to subsequently roll over legs waving in the air and be rewarded by a slow moving collapse of his media empire has been…weirdly enough, a little sad. But I’d be sadder if I didn’t feel he was one of the emotional architects of said media hellscape and a probably metaphor for what so many people are going to get out of this administration.

We all need more laughs. NPR is here to help.

“Please don’t make me sound horrible.” Ma’am, you didn’t need anyone’s help for that.

Another well intentioned art vandal.

Some good news: shut up to me about how identity politics don’t matter. Also I am pleased to report that I totally own this lipstick. May it imbue me with badassery!

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG.

In more Mormon new, I enjoyed revisiting this then-viral piece about Mormon Mommy Blogs in the early 2000s and what’s happened to one of the OGs.

Such shock. Much surprise.

X sent me this link as it was “relevant to [my] interests.” As usual, she was RIGHT.

Immigration in the States is down. Immigration in Europe is down. And the President wants to make this the foundational plank of this election year because the facts don’t matter and he needs a fake enemy to bash, so people of color, the dispossessed, and the desperate will do. Shut up to me about the dangers of identity politics, the right plays it just as much as the left, they just couch it in different terms.

This doesn’t surprise me to read.

And nor does this, I’m heartsick to type…as I add this, it’s unclear what the motivations behind this shooting are (and fundamentally, it doesn’t matter because people are dead). But that the first place my brain went was to wonder if this was political speaks volumes. Just because it’s idiots calling for it doesn’t mean people aren’t listening.

ETA: More information is emerging about the shooter and his motivations.

On that note, also shut up to me about calls for civility from the right. You had a guy who was civil, who followed the rules and took the high road more times than I can count when confronted with racism and disrespect to his office. You declared obstructionist war against his administration. Don’t throw the mantra of the former First Lady in my face about going high when others go low, when the current First Lady is party to a government by internet trolling. The same people calling loudest for civility are supporting a leader who rose to prominence on a racist conspiracy theories and cyber bullying, warning against a militant left while arming themselves with more guns than there actual people to wield them in the country, detesting political correctness because they want to be able to use ugly language without consequences, and going to war over fiscal responsibility only to give up the fight when back in power. Fuck civility. You want it, you go first.

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News, Politics

Immigrant Thoughts

“However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.” 
― George Washington

People sometimes ask when Jeff and I will return to the States. It makes me howl with laughter. I may not be a citizen of the UK, but I work hard and pay taxes here. And in exchange…

I have free healthcare including birth control and OBGYN services.

Hell, I have an IUD already.

I have maternity and paternity leave protections and options should I need them.

I have access to abortion services should I require them.

I have robust public transportation.

I am an immigrant who feels protected by the laws of the nation I live in.

Yeah, we’ve got Brexit (a mess), sky rocketing rent (ugh), and nationalism on the rise here in Europe too (guys, what the hell?!). But living here does not frighten me. Are there acts of public violence? Horribly yes, but they are peanuts compared to those of my own country. I might think some individual politicians are through the looking glass, but I don’t feel as though one party or personality is holding this nation hostage. Yes we have hypocrisy here, but it doesn’t cause me whiplash or existential dread.

I am an American who, without hyperbole–I’m not invoking the tired meme of moving to Canada–has no desire to live in my own country during the present moment. I see too much going on that I can’t understand, reject, and of which I am genuinely fearful. Don’t misunderstand, I recognize that we are not experiencing collapse or ruin or war or famine like so many other nations are. I don’t pretend to believe that we’re in an apocalypse. But I still don’t want to live there.

I don’t expect perfection from my country, but I do expect better than what I have experienced in my 14 years as an active and involved voter. I am horrified to see bad faith rewarded in the way that I feel I have in my voting lifetime. I fear the long term repercussions, including radicalism on my own side. But I fear even more the darker underlying forces at work in my country which I knew existed, but of whose power and influence I significantly and ignorantly mis-estimated for way too long.

The good news is that while I may live in a different country that I love, my vote still counts in my own which I love just as much. I will sure as hell be using it. And I am putting money where my mouth is from now through November; I encourage like minded voters to do the same.

Midterms matter.

Get mad. Stay mad.

 

Humor, Links, News, Politics, Pop Culture

Weekend Links

“Look at this mess! And where’s the mop?” 
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

It’s only Friday but I’m posting the links early because good grief…What a roller coaster of a week.

After backing down (kind of) on a wildly unpopular policy of his administration’s own making, the president is (of course) trying to spin the narrative of him heroically beating back wrong. I HOPE the conversation continues and now return to the debate about how long families are able to be detained (because please remember that that the administration is already challenging a legal ruling over limiting family detention) and our immigration policies overall. I HOPE TO HELL the furore continues over the fact that there is no commitment to reunite currently separated families. There is also an increasing numbers of verified reports of some of the conditions immigrants and immigrant children are being kept in that are shocking.

Finally, I HOPE this week is a reset in the media and public discourse. That after this ridiculous week, news outlets, politicians, and commentators will do better about bluntly and swiftly countering lies and mistruths–instead of endlessly debating whether or not the president “means it” when he says flagrantly false statements. This administration and the president has gotten away with unaccountability for far too long and it’s corrosive. We need to take him seriously and literally. He is the President of the United States, and we need to stop grading him on a god damn scale.

Basically, props for not paying too much attention to that silly “Space Force” announcement. More of that, please.

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It’s a complicated history, but it’s important to explore and unpack. I have a vivid of a university classmate of mine vigorously denying even the possibility of this relationship because, and I quote, “God would not let His government be organized by a man who did that.” Fourteen years on and I’m still thinking about that conversation…woof.

BEYONCE ALERT. Oh, and her husband too. Sure.

Seriously, who else could shut down the Louvre?

This opinion piece is beautiful and hits right in the feels: “I like to watch Rob and our boys and be reminded that there are some very good men out there… I can expect a great deal from them — and not be disappointed.” Thank god for good men, and yes to celebrating them.

Design flaw.

“[Neko] Case may be an acquired taste, but she’s an addictive, enveloping one. To love her is to fucking love her.” Can confirm that this line, part of this overall great profile, is accurate.

I think every urban generation goes through something like falling out of love with its city, and New York is no different. However there was a lot about this longform piece that really resonated with me as a sojourner in another iconic city during our current socio political moment. I’m surrounded by property I can’t afford, lots of the “old neighborhoods” have undergone a major demographic shift in the last generation, and businesses as well as people are often priced out. The poor are hidden and the rich are in hiding. I’m still prepared to hustle and grind as much as the next hungry and ambitious woman out there, but for what can feel like diminishing returns. Meanwhile, I wonder about how long an ecosystem like a great city will last if less and less of the labor it depends on can find a way to live in it.

I have so many questions about this…

This article came out nearly two weeks ago, but I’m still thinking about it and the implications of bro culture as diplomacy. An op ed this week lays out what some of the consequences may be. “America has been dominant for so long that it takes for granted outcomes that support its policies and interests…”

Way to bury the lede…in the 19th paragraph… “According to four people close to Kelly, the former Marine general has largely yielded his role as the enforcer in the West Wing as his relationship with Trump has soured. While Kelly himself once believed he stood between Trump and chaos, he has told at least one person close to him that he may as well let the president do what he wants, even if it leads to impeachment — at least this chapter of American history would come to a close.”

God, my friends are amazing. My New York bestie and surrogate big sister did a killer podcast this week.

The role of women in the Trump White House is endlessly interesting to me. He relies on certain women in key ways and always has, while simultaneously projecting an intentional, old-school masculinity that is often disdainful of women or insists on traditional gender roles. The women in his orbit are adept at using the tropes of that system to both their and his advantage…which brings me to medieval history! (Everything comes back to medieval history on this blog.)

Finally, this quote sums up the screams-into-a-pillow rage I experience when pondering this whole presidency. “The elite! Why are they elite?” Trump wondered. “I have a much better apartment than they do. I’m smarter than they are. I’m richer than they are. I became president and they didn’t.” HIS IS THE ELITE. HE IS THE PRESIDENT AND HEAD OF THE EMPOWERED PARTY. HE IS RICH AND PRIVLEGED. IT IS A LIE TO SAY OTHERWISE.

Let’s review some of the political events of the last week:

Monday and Tuesday: Fuck your discomfort.

Tuesday: The clip that crashed ProPublica’s website.

Everything pure is going fast…RIP Koko.

As of Wednesday, there were stirrings that the White may back down. Which if course is good, if unexpected on my part, but ironically puts the president in similar situations to his predecessors. I actually accept that our immigration system is in desperate need of reform, in no small part to the messiness and responsibility limbo different aspects of government find themselves in. But until we acknowledge the underlying driving ethos in various drives for reform, this conversation will not move forward. And speaking off…

Lest we forget, we have allowed this administration and a series of untruths to hijack the conversation around immigration in the first place. While there are seasonal trends, the overall trend is that immigration numbers are falling. There has been no scientifically robust link between immigration and crime rate, or wage rates for that matter. We are not being invaded. The language around immigrants is age old, frequently ugly (see also: “infest”), and seldom rooted in fact. If you want to say that immigration is a national security issue: prove it. The problem is that certain people want to behave in ways that are underpinned by nativism, racism, and nationalism, but don’t want to have to admit to those motives. “‘Unable to say, “We want fewer foreign-born Americans, full stop,’ the Trump administration is instead constantly making arguments that don’t withstand much scrutiny.”

Thursday: we’re still unpicking the implications of the Executive Order as it is.

Also Thursday: we’re doing what now?!

Friday: the underlying truth is that our immigration system across the board is a mess, and I’m not just talking about enforcement. Our laws need review to meet the needs and realities of the 21st century. Our borders do need enforcement but they also need them in ways that match reality–a wall won’t work. Our legal systems need money and people to cope with the workload. Our people services need investment so that our national values are just as prioritized as our security. Our Congress is paralyzed by infighting. This whole ugly situation arose because our immigration system is fundamentally disordered (and the ruling powers are ethno-nativist in the extreme). Until that mess is fixed, personal animus will continue to hold more power than it should in the debate.

 

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Humor, News, Politics, Pop Culture

Another Update: This Guy…

…Stepped right in a perfectly crafted designed-to-outrage-without-uttering-a-word layup. Because of course it’s always all about him.

 

Insert comment about how they can’t coordinate their communications strategy, etc. etc. etc. Unless of course this is all intentional. Who knows, Melania isn’t talking.

Oh well. Back to the outrage about the chronic lying, discombobulated policy, and sacrificing women as spokespeople, thanks.

Fashion, News, Politics, Pop Culture, Style

A Jacket Interlude

“Miss Rhode Island, please describe your idea of a perfect date.”
“That’s a tough one. I would have to say April 25th. Because it’s not too hot, not too cold, all you need is a light jacket.”
– Miss Congeniality, 2000

Deploying the First Lady is something the Trump administration does rarely but damn effectively. She really is an under utilized resource, and like many others I don’t know if this is down to personal preference or genuine strategic thinking to keep her PR value high.

So, with that in mind,  let’s fight about this jacket. I’m pretty well convinced this is intentional and strategic. Melania Trump, a former model and genuinely well dressed and shod woman, knows how to use fashion. See also, her pussy bow blouse during “Grab ’em by the pussy” week, her choice of stilettos when visiting a flood zone which may or may not have been practical but certainly got people talking, her excellent (and I mean that sincerely) handling of the French president’s state dinner including her style choices, and so on.

There is a reason we watch First Lady fashion and while it’s far from the most important thing to talk about right now, it’s not insignificant or incorrect to talk about it.

The jacket in question.

Is this a signal of disdain to immigrants? Is it a signal of disdain for her own husband and his policies? Is she supporting the administration? Is she trying to embarrass it from inside the house? Is she triggering the media? Is she pandering to the media? It’s aggressively ambiguous and open to interpretation. I’m almost perversely tempted to tip my hat to this EXPERT trolling/attempt to seize control of/disrupt the narrative, and I have no idea what her intentions are.

I wish we could all let go of the silly idea that she’s a beautiful-but-dumb woman trapped in her marriage. She’s long been willing to play second fiddle to her diva partner but she has never, ever struck me as unintelligent. She’s also not lived in Trump world this long without learning how to use its tricks and The Art of the Headfake is a classic Trump move. It’s wild to think that if her husband were half a subtle as she, he might be twice as effective. Dreadful thought.

News, Politics

An Update

Color me surprised that he bowed to pressure. Pleasantly. Though the wording of this EO leaves an awful lot to the discretion of the DHS Secretary…

But.

Don’t forget that at it’s most fundamental, this was a manufactured crisis from a White House that specializes in manufacturing crises. They literally set the fire, they should not get any praise for putting it out. They should also get a lot of criticism for causing confusion in the first place.

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Don’t forget that the policies and underlying ethno-nationalistic sentiments this administration came to power on…are still in power.

Don’t forget that there are children right now who need to be immediately reunited with parents and guardians and the pressure needs to stay up until that happens and can be confirmed and documented publicly.

Don’t forget that the administration has other crackdowns planned between now and November, because a certain part of their base wants them (and because certain key members of the administration genuinely believe in them).

Don’t forget that the president has spent the last 72 hours lying about how this policy came to be and how he couldn’t do a thing to change it. This untruth of this needs to be hammered home.

Don’t forget who backed up those lies and tried to reinforce a demonstrably false narrative, up to and including the Secretary of Homeland Security on whose word are supposed to rely in the event of national emergency or threat.

Don’t forget this administration tried something as extreme as taking hostages. On some level, it all feels like a trial balloon to test what they can get away with and what their control over the media narrative really is.

And finally do not forget how quickly this timeline moved. Only three days ago, Secretary Neilsen said that this policy didn’t exist. 72 hours later, the president is issuing an executive order to dismantle aspects of it.

This is farcical.

Midterms are coming sooner than you think.