Luxury is not a dirty word
Dispatches from Los Angeles: I’m on leg #2 of a week-long west coast trip to see some best friends and family. I’m still calibrating the swells of emotions from three days in Portland with longtime best girlfriends, and all the deeply reassuring reminders of how well we know one another, despite the distance of time and place. That shared intimacy, and the ways we take care of each other as we’ve gotten older...it’s rare, and special, and especially grounding. And it makes the future and all its unpredictability feel so much less daunting.
1.
Eddie Vedder, where have you been??? Making a new album, for one thing. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. I loved all the curious gems and bits of “huh” dropped by the Pearl Jam frontman in this recent New York Times interview, from his uncompromising advocacy for women’s rights (especially in light of current political setbacks), to his recollections of Nirvana’s ascent and his regard for fame vis-a-vis Kurt Cobain’s. There’s a tender, shared moment between him and the interviewer as well, as the two relate over separate friends’ suicides.
2.
I always feel like a dumb-dumb who’s been cluelessly languishing under a rock when I visit a website for some awesome new thing I’ve recently come across, only to see how much press attention and exposure it’s already gotten. That was the case with these ridiculously fun and colorful cutting boards by Fredericks and Mae that my friend Katy had in her Portland kitchen. New or not, I’m smitten with them.
3.
I’ve been re-examining my relationship with the word luxury lately, and how its definition feels so much less snobbish to me than it once did. This transition didn’t happen overnight, nor do I think I’m alone in this reshaped regard. There’s the recently launched website La Patiala, offering expert guidance across various subjects that might land under the umbrella of luxury: watches and fine jewelry; travel; food and wine, for example. The idea being that the more you know about any of these rarefied things, the more you understand their value (and also, the less inaccessible-feeling they become). A number of my friends are drinking champagne these days—delicious, quality bubbles that they’re willing to pay the extra bucks for—and in turn, appreciate. This holiday season heralded a skyrocketing demand for caviar. Travelers seem content to take fewer, more worthwhile, experience-rich trips. Of course luxury items can be expensive, but let’s not underestimate the power and value of perception. To me, luxury means something special, something not everyday, but rather reserved for specific occasions. And those ideas are, of course, subject to interpretation, too. One person’s precious bump of caviar might just be another’s extravagant chip dip.
4.
To all the crock-heads: It recently occurred to me that the majority of this winter’s newsletter editions have included a recipe for a stew, soup, or other cozy-feeling sort of big-pot concoction. It hasn’t been by design, just what I’m craving and consequently cooking up these days. Here’s a Moroccan chickpea version to stew over (via Melissa Clark), thanks to my friend Caroline, who got many air-blown chef’s kisses from yours truly when she rustled this up for our lunch together.
5.
You tell me: I’m joining in a new book club next week, and would love any suggestions for recent novels that are practically exploding with narratives to get lost in, preferably with a wickedly eccentric character or two. Or at least that’s what I want to bring to the discussion table.