for the month of january

i bid adieu to the gram

for my idea of fun

I know there are lots of takes on the value of new years resolutions (Do it. Don’t do it. Do it the other way. Why wait until the New Year?), or whether we should succumb to the pressure of *self-improvement* (It’s okay to not have goals! But don’t stay too stagnant!).

But for me, I’ve always enjoyed the structure that a calendar year brings. Time is a construct, and a helpful one at that.

Every year, I have an annual agenda to varying degrees of specificity, sometimes I just have overarching themes or a mantra, other times bullet points of specific items.

Then at the end of the year, along with a larger Review of the year, I rate myself on how well I did. Most of the time I do horribly on at least half of them. Which is not to say that I usually have horrible years, but rather the successes, failures, and learnings of the year are usually not at all what I expect them to be. Every year, I gain slightly more clarity on my life and yet life remains as unpredictable as ever. And honestly, it’s probably better that way.

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for the sake of experimentation

This year, I’d like to create more and consume less.

Another thing I’d also like to do is experiment more and test more things out.

Combining these in a year-long exercise, I aim to investigate the enigma that is my attention. The span of it. The ease at which it gets distracted. The intensity of focus when I can get in flow. And, I think one thing that gets in my way of creating — in this case, “creating” could mean writing, in public or private, but also encompasses other things — is mindlessly consuming social media.

Loosely inspired by a food elimination test I’ve never taken but have vaguely heard about, I’m eliminating one thing a month that might affect my attention and sharing my predictions and findings here.

And for the month of January, I’m going cold turkey on Instagram.

In theory, I have an Instagram to keep up with friends and acquaintances, and while it’s generally helpful for that, a side effect of the platform that I experience is the endless scroll of the Explore feed.

It’s fueling an impending existential wardrobe crisis (i.e. the feeling of having nothing fashionable to wear), a living room re-redecoration, and a shopping spree of ski gear that is beyond my actual abilities on the slopes, and not to mention 500 ways to make a high-effort salad. All of this is dandy, but I’ll probably exist just fine without any of it.

Predictions for a month without Instagram:

1. I will shop less.

2. I will still know what my closest friends are up to.

3. I will miss out on memes and funny cat videos from friends and this will be sad.

4. I will check Twitter more.

5. Twitter will be annoying and then I will respond to texts faster.

6. I’ll have more time to do all the things I don’t get to. (This prediction is aspirational)

I’ll report back on how this goes, but until then, let me know what you think I should eliminate from my routine or lifestyle next!

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for feeding the masses

(Or at least a few friends.) The holidays can be stressful and complicated and hectic, but for me, one of the redeeming things about this time of year is the ritual of gathering with friends and family over a meal. And in the past couple years, my love of eating food has spilled over to a love of cooking food.

Here are few favorite recipes from this season:

1. white cheddar shepherds pie
   Perfect for winter potlucks because it’s hearty and feeds a lot of people, and especially perfect if you’re the host. I imagine it’s probably great for snowy days in, too. Recipe says it takes about 1.5 hours, but really it’s 15 minutes of prep, 30-45 on the stove and then 30 min in the oven. I find the oven time to be a fairly ideal time frame between your earliest guests and latest guests, or if you just want to build up some hype before dinner. Best part is that it’s the type of “pie” that doesn’t care if you’re inexact. I used three celery stalks instead of two, and 67% of a bag of baby carrots instead of 2 adult carrots. A generous, forgiving, season-appropriate pie that’s topped with mashed potatoes? *chef’s kiss*

2. labneh dip with sizzled scallions and chile (or in my version, very very little chile)
   A high ROI dip. Impossibly easy to prepare and yet way more impressive than buying something from the store. An instant crowd pleaser that pairs with anything (crackers, celery, the tortilla chips other people brought to the party).

3. ottolenghi simple (the whole book)
   This is a recipe recommendation, cookbook recommendation, and gift recommendation in one. One standout recipe I’ll mention is this couscous recipe, which I’ve made at least five times this year for all sorts of occasions — and sometimes even with missing ingredients or substitute ones — so it would feel against the law not to share this here. There’s more in the book, but everything I’ve made has been simple but not basic, and easy but not boring. Get it for yourself, lend it to a neighbor, gift it to friend who’s trying to “get into cooking”, and then maybe buy another backup copy.

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for the little things in life

Lastly, a few things that have brought me joy and I hope might bring you some as well.

1. egg ornament from waves ceramics (yes I know this post is going out after the holiday)

2. a sunny and aimless neighborhood walk after days of torrential (for Northern California) weather

3. chopstick rests in the shape of cats living their best life — I got mine from a local shop, but lucky for you, I found the exact ones on Etsy.

highly recommend adopting these ceramic kittens/chopstick rests

That’s all, folks! Happy new year and thanks for reading! Whatever is filling your cup, I hope overfills gracefully into this new year 🍵

Angela