You won't be fat, broke, and single forever.

"The faster we learn to drop our emotional dead weight, the more room we create for something better. I'm talking about everything from stewing about the guy who cut you off in traffic this morning to still refusing to forgive an old friend for an event 20 years ago.

We only have so much bandwidth. We only have so much time. We only have so much energy."

From the August 22, 2016, New York Times article: The Cost of Holding On. By Carl Richards.

"But breaking into the New York literary world was tougher than he had expected. His short story collection was turned down by 38 literary agents. 'I was writing to impress people, and it turns out that when you do that, you write very unimpressive prose,' he said."

From the August 26, 2016, New York Times story: Nathan Hill Is Compared to John Irving. Irving Compares Him to Dickens. Written by Alexandra Alter.

Running for a cab.

Daily To Do List
-Pizza
-Pasta
-Donuts
-Tomatoes with salt & pepper

-Tres Leches

"In this time of relentlessness and ubiquity, there is no art more potent, or shocking, than the art of disappearance."

From the August 21, 2016, New York Times article: Frank Ocean Ends His Long Silence With a Variety of Works. By Jon Caramanica.

"We'll never be those kids again."

From the song Ivy by Frank Ocean.

재미없어.

"Getting lifted,
never come down."

From the song Lifted by CL.

Good morning and happy Friday!

I woke up really early today for some reason. Since moving to my new place a few months ago, I haven't yet gotten shades or blinds for the window in my room. I sort of like being able to fall asleep to the moon at night and waking up to the brightness of the morning sun. And my body seems to have adapted to the natural rhythm as well.

Anyway, it's a gorgeous sunny day here in New York City. I hope everyone has a good one.

Dear friends,

Please check out my latest write up for VICE's MUNCHIES: This Sandwich Saves Me from Hangover Hell.

Thanks.

Stay busy. That's the solution to so many problems.

But the question is, stay busy how, exactly?

Go team USA!

형.

Sticky.
Sweat.
Soak.
Smirk.

It's mid-August and very hot here in New York City. The exposure of any part of flesh provides some relief to the body's rising temperature, or of course there's nothing better than good old-fashioned air conditioning. But perspiring until droplets of sweat are dripping down your chin can bring respite to the summer. It provokes, arouses. Leaves you ready to drop it all for the slightest opportunity of passion. Sometimes, you want to be drenched. To feel open and nimble. Because when winter comes, you'll be too busy shivering.

I want a love that will change my life.

Half the dialog in Korean dramas are characters talking to themselves out loud.

Romanticize.

This word. This word that does so much to mess with our heads. This word that conjures grand stories of epic levels that exist nowhere but in our self-hatred to feel less than. This word that is rooted in good intentions, but can never live up to expectations. This word that makes things seem serendipitous like a romantic comedy, but in reality is on the same level of fiction as The Muppet Babies. This word that is so often used to fill the gaps of something it has no business being a part of.

This word is dangerous. Be wary of it. It destroys. It disrupts. It can steal your joy.

Talking about it doesn't work for me. I've got to write about it instead.

"Patagonia exists somewhere on the spectrum between real and make-believe. It's a place where you can start the day with a glass of fresh-squeezed raspberry juice, just like the cartoon Moomins do in Mooninland, then head out to observe penguins waddling around extraterrestrially in their rookeries, and wind up experiencing a blistering mountaintop sunset that dazes you with the limitlessness of what this world is capable of."

From the story, Patagonia, Land of Giants, in the summer 2016 issue of Saveur. Written by Adam Leith Gollner.

When you're crammed into a packed subway, shoulder-to-shoulder with lungs contributing to the recycling of stale air enveloping all, there's nothing better than a great travel story to transport you far, far away.

Fried.

Thinking about you today, Anne.

Say thank you, and move on.

I'm really lucky to work just around the corner from the Flatiron location of Eataly. I go there pretty often to grab focaccia for lunch, and had an amusing interaction with the cashier ringing me up today.

"Nice cashier in the focaccia section: Do you work here? You look really familiar?

Me: Funny you say that, but no, I don't. My office is actually a block away, and I can't get enough of your focaccia so I'm here pretty often."

It's the little things that make my day.

Hey, world!

Want to order some pizza?

Dear friends,

Please check out my latest story for VICE's food channel, MUNCHIES: Why This Recovering Alcoholic Wants Restaurant Workers to Stop Meeting in Bars.

Thanks.