The Panics in Balboa Park
Exit, pursued by a cat.
Martini is meowing while I write this.
She is perched on the ledge of our kitchen window, screaming for a chance to escape and explore the world. She tasted freedom a few weeks ago and has not shut up about it since.
She slipped through the kitchen window while we had family over and it took us roughly 45 minutes to realize she had escaped. Luckily she wasn’t far and ran into Collin’s wailing arms.
Her meowing has intensified since her search and rescue. She was always a chatty cat but she’s increased both the volume and frequency of her cries.
I wonder what she’s saying when she screams like this. What did she get up to in those 45 minutes? The piece at the end of this newsletter explores some of my theories.
A note from the editorial board
I have loved writing this newsletter and I am so glad I’ve kept up with it. Although it’s been a fun writing exercise every 2 weeks, my life is getting increasingly busy and something has to give. This will be my last mid-month issue, for now. I may bring back the every-2-weeks version eventually, but that’s still TBD.
Thank you for reading this newsletter. I appreciate you so much. You are all My Favorite People.
I also welcome feedback from you! Is there something in particular you’d like me to write about? Have you purchased a Favorite People’s favorite thing and it is now one of your favorite things? If you’re subscribed to this, you can reply to the emails to let me know!
July Book Reviews I
In Tongues: 4 stars
What I liked about this book: I liked that it reminded me how terrible every single gay man is in his early 20s. I also enjoyed the pacing and the style of storytelling.
After I finished this book, I took a shower and digested the whole story. It hit me then that this was a book about an friend I no longer talk to. That realization knocked me out and I have not stopped thinking about it since.
Who I’d recommend this book to: any gay man who ever went through a Daddy phase; any queer person who’s made it past their 20s; anyone who’s ever been a dog walker and wondered what the dogs’ owners were like based off what they have in their homes.
Medium of the book: An e-book borrowed from Sacramento Public Library.
Judging a book by its cover: I like it very much.
My Favorite People’s favorite things.
I love the Celebrity Shopping lists on The Strategist and the “10 Essentials” videos on GQ’s YouTube channel. I think you can learn a lot about people based off of their favorite things. This recurring segment highlights some of My Favorite People’s favorite things.
Another newsletter, another Favorite Person. I’m so happy you all get to meet Steph today.
I met her in 2018 when I started a new job. I started when most people were working from home already so I didn’t meet my new colleagues until we had an all-staff meeting during my second week. It was a rainy day so after the meeting ended we all walked to the local Japanese curry spot for lunch.
We were a large group so we were spread across two tables. Steph was sitting behind me and I could hear her joking and laughing the whole time. I made a mental note to become friends with her as soon as possible.
When I think about the words to describe Steph, the main one is simple, but apt: she’s good. She’s a good person. She’s a good friend. She’s a good coworker. The core of her is filled with goodness.
She cares the perfect amount about everything. She takes her work seriously, but knows at the end of the day it’s not that deep. She is the perfect person to eat with because she has wonderful taste and will do a happy dance with me when we get so excited for our food to arrive.
My favorite memory of her is a long work road trip we took together from Fresno to San Diego. We had music and podcasts downloaded for the drive, but we didn’t need any of it because we talked the entire time.
Our only stop was at the Irvine Cheesecake Factory, where we feasted on bread served to us by a woman with a severe haircut.
Steph lives on the other side of the country now but our friendship persists despite the changes in time zone. Voice notes from her are my favorite podcasts.
I’ve said this before about Favorite People and it applies to Steph: I’m a firm believer in the sentiment that the people you surround yourself say a lot about you and I am so proud to call Steph one of my closest friends. She has taught me so much about professional integrity, baseball, and red bean buns. Plus she introduced me to my all-time favorite non-chocolate candy, and for that I will be eternally grateful.
Steph is the absolute best and I’m so glad she agreed to be on here. Please enjoy her favorite things, as told by her:
Baseball: Despite consuming many different sports, baseball will always be my first love. My grandparents were the first to teach me about the joys and pains of being in love with this game. I remember the thrill of my parents taking me to a day game at the Stick ON A SCHOOL DAY… and recreating that feeling during my senioritis days… and then again as a working professional. I still re-read Moneyball every year before the start of spring training. Baseball to me is a mixture of nostalgia, camaraderie, and apparently taking mental health days. Oh, and chicken tenders and garlic fries.
Global Mamas Shea Butter Lotion: Lavender: At the risk of sounding like an American undergrad who studied abroad for a month and came back pretending they forgot how to speak English, I had the opportunity to go on a truly life-changing three week work trip to the African continent last fall. My last stop was in Accra where I was introduced to the Global Mamas community and store. Their shea butter is the only thing I have found that has worked on my dry hands. Ever. My worldview (and hands) remain forever changed by my time there. (Ask me about racing the king to the airport in Swazi.)
Kao Biore MegRhythm Eye Masks: I am still flabbergasted that this is what these are called after Googling it for this list. It’s one of those things that I have never referred to by name and only by description… in Japanese. These are eye masks that instantly warm up to take you on a journey to a far away land of relaxation. Once I have put on my shea butter lotion and this mask, you do not exist to me. The world does not exist. It’s just me and my thoughts or whatever podcast or music I decide exists in that moment.
Kumalma Revitalize Candle: At this point I’m hesitant to list yet another relax/self-care item as you might now be thinking, “Yeesh, how stressed out are you?” And the honest answer is, not that stressed out probably because I work hard to be kind to myself and surround myself with people and things that help me do that. I was introduced to this candle at a pop-up shop in Oakland and have loved its citrusy scent ever since. Although I did not end up buying it for myself (see next item explanation), I received it as a gift and loved it so much that I now gift it to others.
Le Creuset Dutch Oven: My immediate thought in coming up with this list was that this might be difficult as I’m not really a things-bring-me-joy type of person. I inevitably start asking myself the question, “Is this something I need or something I want,” and if the answer is the latter, it often does not end up in my possession. My dutch oven was a purely WANT-driven purchase that had been my dream for years. It felt good to give myself permission to buy something simply because I wanted it. I am an Indigo girl. Not to be confused with an Indigo Girl.
Marukin Soy Sauce: Having a mother who is a wonderful cook and makes absolutely everything from scratch, I’ve grown up spoiled when it comes to food. I insisted on making dashi from scratch for years before giving in and using the instant powdered kind. I’ve come around to taking certain shortcuts and being more flexible but there are certain things I remain inflexible on. Soy sauce brands and types are one such category. Gotta have dark and light. Marukin and Yamasa are my go-tos. To me, they are the dankiest (dankest?) of the major brands.
Platinum Preppy Fountain Pens: It’s my belief that these pens are the gateway to the terrifying world of fountain pens. Terrifying because of the sheer size of collections and the truly wild prices they can get to. I was gifted these pens and I immediately fell in love! Writing with these makes me feel like I am writing the Declaration of Independence even when it’s only a grocery list on a post-it.
Strongly Held Random (Often Profession-Specific) Opinions: One of my favorite topics of conversation is people’s really strong opinions on the most random things. I find that a lot of these tend to be related to people’s jobs and it’s a fascinating world. I don’t understand what most people do for their jobs even after they’ve explained it to me so I love it when I can understand a random strongly held opinion they have about their jobs. I don’t expect anyone to understand what I do, but I do want people to know that I dislike high school transcripts from the states of Florida and Texas very much.
Timberland Waterproof Boots: Being a Californian for most of my life, a large portion of my shoe collection was made up of cloth shoes. One of the first purchases I made when I moved to the East Coast were my Timberland Waterproof Boots. A part of me still feels like I’m cos-playing an East Coaster, but I don’t care because with these boots I am invincible. I’ve come to realize I can handle most conditions as long as my feet are warm and dry. Come rain, snow, or a weird combination of both, I am ready to take on the streets!
Unsubscribing From Junk Emails: For those moments where I feel unmotivated to do anything but want a teeny-tiny hit of dopamine that comes from achieving a goal, I like to go my Yahoo email inbox (yes, that’s right everyone, AT YAHOO DOT COM… super fun giving this email when asked at cash registers) and unsubscribe from junk emails. It gives me a small sense of fighting the system and a sense of accomplishment. One of my strongly held random opinions is that the ones who make you type your email address instead of just clicking are jerks.
What did Martini do for 45 minutes, as told by the film adaptions
Romance
Martini finally meets her neighbor, Professor Emeritus (she/her). Professor Emeritus is a seal point cat with eyes as blue as a Truvada tablet. Professor Emeritus and Martini meet under the shade of a Canary Island date palm and fall in love while discussing their favorite kibble flavors.
They stroll the neighborhood and judge lawn decorations. By the time they reach the end of the block they are already making plans for what their future shared front yard will look like. Their date ends abruptly when Martini hears her roommates calling for her. She turns to run, but hesitates.
“I have to go, but I will never forget this. I will see you again, someday,” she says with hope.
Professor Emeritus slowly blinks and takes a breath. “Yes, someday. Whenever it is, I’m sure the ‘in this house…’ will still be tacky.”
“I know that for certain,” she says as she bounds towards her roommate.
True Crime
The magnitude of the situation finally hit us when we were contacted by the podcast producers for an interview. During her 45 minutes outside, Martini created a multi-level marketing pet athleisure empire and quickly burned bridges with all her investors. She disappeared right when the lawsuits started to roll in.
One of the many victims of Martini’s scheme was a local community college student. His room was filled to the brim with unopened boxes of merchandise. He tried selling the clothing to the other students in his podcasting club but no one needed cat sweatpants. One of them said this sounded like a story, though.
They knocked on our front door and asked us if we are still in contact with the CEO.
“Please state your names and your relationship with Martini Diana, Princess of Wales McLavalos.”
Sci-Fi
Martini accidentally opens a portal between San Diego and the dimension where she is a Old Hollywood actress. She spends 45 minutes jumping to and from that universe while trying to solve the mystery of who had stolen her Academy Award. The portal abruptly closed just as she was about to open the casket to find out who had really been buried in her grandmother’s plot.
Nature Documentary
A dumb ass house cat gets herself stuck outside her cozy apartment home. The cat sniffs some rocks for 2 minutes before dozing for 43 minutes under a car.
