April ERBs

A monthly roundup of everything I think you should know about.

Hi from Ireland’s West coast!

I’m writing this from a little house overlooking a bay outside of Bantry. I’m in Ireland as part of Writing Workshops Dublin, which starts the evening of May 4th, but I brought my kids along and we flew in a few days early so they could see more of the country than just the workshop hotel. We drove from Dublin to Kinsale, then on to Bantry, and today we’ll be driving part of the ring of Kerry and spending the night in Ballinskelligs!

I’m planning to share a photo essay of our entire trip on the 7th. Stay tuned!

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The core of my writing life is community. My hope is that by being vocal about the work that influences me, I will do a small part to foster connection in the community that does so much to sustain me.

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Eats

• Cancer support group cupcakes. A volunteer made themed cupcakes each week- think pot of gold and rainbows for St. Patrick’s Day, Peeps and bunnies for Easter. They’re charming and delicious.

• Herb-y pasta salad with olives, dill, and lots of vinegar

• Strawberry shortcakes

• Full Irish breakfast

• Really good scallops at Avoca in NY

• Strawberry shrub that brought me right back to New Mexico

• A perfect raclette sandwich with extra cornichons

• fruit jelly candy from the coolest candy store in Doylestown

• everything we had left in our house. We’re away for almost two weeks and I hate food waste, so we spent the 10 days leading up to this trip getting creative with meals. I’m thrilled to report that when we left there were no perishables in our fridge and nothing was thrown away.
  

Reads

• Stephanie Land on an under-discussed benefit of protests

• Courtney Maum’s terrifying account of being misdiagnosed for decades

• Good news about Philly book clubs!

• The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad

• Love Letter To A Garden by Debbie Millman

• Notes on Surviving a Fire by Christine Murphy

• Jessica Dean on Medicaid as a lifeline

• A review of Mother Octopus by Sarah Giragosian

• A home tour to die for

• Stacy Mitchell on how a federal policy change in the 80’s created modern food deserts

• In Maine (and everywhere else), fentanyl deaths are slowing while meth use increases

• Cheryl Strayed in The Sun (from 2023, but also— timeless)

• A LitHub piece I missed in 2020 that I read last week and loved

• Mother-Daughter relationships, yikes

• Rebecca Emiru’s Letter to a Stranger, so gorgeous

• On watching Intervention and seeing yourself

• The evolution of chronic illness narratives

• A new scientific field: sociogenomics!

• A standout interview with a Philly drag legend
  

Buys

• Souvenirs from Ireland. So far: two magnets, one pair of earrings.

• A whole new phone plan, which was a saga

• Perfect cozy-cute joggers from my favorite size-inclusive company

• A backup of this shirt for Carolyn because she’s worn her original to tatters

• Carolyn’s first big stompy boots, complete with chains and bat accountrements
  

Bonus: Watched & Went To

Watched:

• Love on the Spectrum Season 3

• The Friend

• The Last of Us, with Jack

• Cyberpunk Runners, with Jack

• Sweet Tooth, with Carolyn (again!)
  

Went to:

• Design Matters @ Symphony Space

• Debbie Millman @ The Frenchtown Bookshop

• SpeakEasy at ArtWrkd

• Hands Off! Rally in Doylestown

• Cancer support group, which is now over and we’re lost without it. Such an incredible group of people.

• Suleika Jaouad’s Book of Alchemy virtual event

• A workshop on publishing with NYT

• Ireland