To be clear, I am an extrovert.
Dear Readers,
Even me, the loudest person you know, is tired after the LA Times Festival of Books. It’s a lot! But also it’s the greatest book festival around AND I STAND BY THIS NO SHADE TO OTHER WONDERFUL FESTIVALS and I feel genuinely so lucky each year to participate.
LA gets a bad rap about a lot of things but to be honest besides how dumb the traffic is and that it feels like Erewhon is our fault, LA is a fantastic city that I love very much. When people talk about how not literary it is I am happy to point out the thriving bookstores as well as the BIGGEST ANNUAL BOOK FESTIVAL IN THE COUNTRY. Being there is such a sense of community.
Also, of course, I get to see friends. I get to see peers. Every year I get to geek out over someone I’m a fan of in the green room. (NO SADLY I WAS NOT THERE THE SAME DAY AS KRISTEN KISH AND I’M SAD ABOUT IT TOO) Every year I meet the absolute coolest readers.
This year was no exception to any of this, but I was very bad about taking photos. Here are a few!
xoxoAmy
Consumption
Some recent and recent-ish stuff!
Cooking
I am OBSESSED with this tamale pie and want to eat it all the time!
Reading
Finally reading Tom Lake after avoiding it for Reasons To Be Disclosed At Some Point Soon-ish. I only expected theatre; I did NOT expect the pandemic. Mixed feelings! I keep thinking about when I asked a beautifully kind and generous friend if she’d read Tom Lake and she shouted “FUCK TOM LAKE” though she then disclosed she had not.
Cooling
It’s starting to get warm so I’m here to remind you that I — a person who sleeps warm af — have had my entire life changed by the existence of the Chilipad Cube Bed Cooling System. It’s a mattress pad that stays cool (OR WARM OR WHATEVER YOU SET IT TO) so I run the AC way less and sleep so much better! I will promote this thing every single year because it was life-changing for me!
Eating
For LA locals, I just went to Filipino restaurant Kuya Lord and oh my god it may have been the best pork belly of my life? NOT BEING HYPERBOLIC.
Links Roundup
Things I’ve read lately!
A Never-Before-Seen Colour Has Now Been Found, Claim Scientists - You can’t see it on screens though so I don’t know why I clicked on this so fast and you might too just saying. HOW DO WE HAVE A NEW COLOR??
How Gen Z Became the Most Gullible Generation - I found this piece genuinely troubling but I also think people do get older and wiser so I am doing my best to remain OPTIMISTIC OK
How the Radical Right Captured the Culture - Also deeply troubling but a fascinating view of the current media landscape.
Events & Books!
Sometimes at festivals I am worried about running into ONE OF MY ENEMIES but this year, huzzah, no enemies!