One of the more offensive things declared to me this month on a Tinder date was, “you look like you eat a lot of sandwiches” -- an odd comment -- and to this I continued to perplex said Tinder date with my homemade bagel baking skills. As someone who has a loyal three meal rotation, this deeply contrasts with her 7 course cabbage meals and fermented vegetables. Clearly we are on different culinary journeys. Sometimes all it takes is a seven hour date to realize you may be better off as friends.
Jenny Schecter from the L Word
Homemade bagels, pictured below.
February felt like simultaneously a lifetime and a week long.
Highlights of the month: queer singles speed dating, starting a queer walking group, more dyke soccer and best friends visiting for a week from Ithaca!
We cat sat for my friend and enjoyed all our favorite things: waking up together and making homemade breakfast, cheap wine nights and swapping dating stories, getting free shots! and showing them my new neck of the woods. We also celebrated Eli Rallo’s book tour (check out her writing here!
) and paraded around the city in our newly minted cowboy hats. A core memory was enjoying acai bowls at Mission Dolores Park in unseasonably warm, sunny 60 degree weather and exploring the hills and beach by the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset. Making new friends in a new city is thrilling and being reunited with friends you’ve known for ten (!) years brings a comforting, easy pleasure and reminder of who your true self is.On another note half the time I wonder why the fuck I am wasting away 40 hours a week, sitting at a desk IN AN OFFICE !!! and the other half I have felt peace knowing I quite literally do not care about this job past 5pm on the dot and how wonderful that is to make space for creating queer community, art and new relationships in this new city. Yet, another part of me misses feeling inspiration and excitement for a job. Still searching for something more people-y and queer.
During my more boring desk job days (I am very grateful for it despite my complaints), I now have more room in my brain to work on my ~passion projects~ which have manifested into a dream writing retreat farm. Picture a cabin in the redwoods, not too far from the beach, with a full espresso bar, goats and corgis, ponies and vegetable garden. There's a yoga barn, for friends who want to teach some downward dog and walking trails to stimulate thinking !!! I imagine friends from the East Coast and folks from around the Bay, to come visit for a week or a month or a season to work on their manuscripts, plays, dissertations, novels, etc. and soak up the California sun. Local community organizations can host trainings and meetings and antiracist, mutual aid events and book launch events. I think we'd have internet. Probably. Maybe it would be a more rustic vibe. And it would be queer. Obviously.
People can stay in exchange for cooking everyone (me) meals because I don't particularly like to cook, especially for groups of people. Too many moving parts. I think it would be a mostly sober space and a way to cultivate queer community in the absence of substances. Anyweasels, feel free to send more ideas. More on this later!
View of SF from Marin
March will be another busy month. Claire is visiting and I am making my first trip since moving to Austin, Texas for a long over due friends trip. It’s almost spring here (I think) and cherry and Japanese cherry blossoms are bloomin’! Looking forward to more outdoor time: picnics, hiking and longer daylight. This will be month I get back into the swing of working on my novel and regular writing schedule.
Wishing everyone a restful and rejuvenating March! Pisces season, babeeeey!
<3 catie
Bagels!!!!!!!