Posts Tagged ‘Writing’
Is Paris Any Good or Not?
I’ve got thoughts about Paris and our notion of “home” in a new essay over on Medium. I have been meaning to write this essay for quite some time, and happy that it found a place in The Archipelago collection.
In the beginning, you feel high just from being in Paris. At dusk, the light hits the buildings just so. You find a bakery that makes the best almond croissants in the world. Nothing can get you down. But then eventually the downs do come, and they hit you hard, like a bucket of cold water in the face. Your bank meeting that was supposed to take ten minutes takes two hours. A taxi almost hits you while you’re riding your bike in the bike lane and you’re the one who gets yelled at. It rains. It gets gray. You try to go for a run and get hit on — “courage mademoiselle.” You spend far too much time arguing in French to get something accomplished that you didn’t even want in the first place. A certain dreariness sets in that you can’t seem to shake.
Like Bogart in Casablanca, I try to tell myself “I’ll always have Paris” — not the real city, with its homicidal cars and persistent men, but the memory, the good stuff. Eventually the daily frustrations will fade, and in ten years it will be easy to gloss over the frustration and be one of those people that casually throws “that time I lived in Paris” into conversation. It wasn’t just a ten-day trip, or a month abroad, I’ll tell people. No, I actually went and lived there. Wrote there. Ran there. Drove there. Called it home for a while. Even in the darkest moments, there’s something comforting about that thought. I’ll always have Paris.
In the meantime, because of my adopted city’s magical reputation, I don’t get to complain. “The apartment is tiny, I’m starting to feel claustrophobic.” “Yeah, but Anna, you’re in PARIS.” As if, once enough poems are written about a city, it becomes impossible to be sad there.
It felt good to write this piece. The editor challenged me to call it “Is Paris Any Good or Not?” but if anything it’s less about Paris and more about thinking what “home” means, and maybe even, where “home” is.
You can read the full essay here.
Are We Addicted to Fashion?
Normally I write about food, bikes, or coffee. Or some combination of the three. But if there’s one thing that ties my writing together, it’s that I believe that we have to think differently about how we live. I want to get people to think about their daily behaviors, and hopefully, start challenging cultural norms and expectations.
One thing that clearly falls into that category is fashion, and while I am not a fashion writer, I am intrigued by the clear link between consumption and what we wear. There’s no denying that as a culture, we’re obsessed with shopping. But why? I got to explore that question in a piece titled “Breaking the Addictive Culture of Fashion Consumption” which was published this week.
Consider this: in 1930, the average American woman owned an average of nine outfits. That wasn’t a minimalist wardrobe; it was simply a wardrobe. Nowadays however, we’re far from that. The average American woman owns 19 pairs of shoes alone, and as Americans, we spend about $1,700 on apparel every year. We’re taking up space with things we never wear, and we’re paying to do it.
So why do we consume? That’s the ongoing question of psychologists and marketing professionals. It comes down to one thing: emotion.
“Necessities to sustain life and have basic comforts are physiologically driven. With very few exceptions, our society exists above this level. For most of us, it is the interaction of emotion with psychological motivation that is responsible for our behavior as consumers. These emotions range from simple pursuit of pleasure to more complex emotions like security, contentment, and (life) satisfaction,” says Peter Noel Murray, Ph.D, principal of a consumer psychology practice in New York City.
Are we addicted to fashion? I’d say yes. But there’s something we can do about it. Focus on experiences instead. Analyze why we’re consuming. Think about what really makes us happy. Because ultimately, the most valuable possessions that we have, aren’t possessions at all.
You can read the full article here.
In Honor of Fathers (and Daughters)
I wrote this piece a couple of years ago for EcoSalon, right after my father and I had gone on a road trip together. Just a few weeks ago I was traveling across a well known route between Washington and Utah, headed to Moab for a few days of exploring red rock. Road trips have always been a tradition, and we try to keep it as such. I realize how special trips like these are, and how conscious we are about both making time for them. And that’s what a healthy relationship is: making time for each other.
I reread the essay today in honor of Father’s Day, and figured it was worth reposting. Because the special father daughter bond always deserves appreciation.
A New Column! And It’s All About Coffee…
I am a bit behind on this announcement, but last week my new column for The Kitchn launched. And what is it about? Take a wild guess…
Coffee!
Titled “Smart Coffee for Regular Joes” the column is going to take on the coffee world, looking at the ins and outs of how to make coffee, exploring coffee culture in other countries, and celebrating the drink that so many of us love.
“Coffee isn’t just a drink, it’s a cornerstone of our everyday. A building block of our routines and our social interactions. Coffee fuels us.”
Read the first installment of the column and follow along in the discussion. What do you want to learn about in the coffee world?
Sexism in the Food Industry… in French
Alors que les femmes cuisinent beaucoup, elles ne le font pas, culturellement parlant, dans un contexte professionnel.
When Julia Tissier got in touch with me I had a bit of a freak out.
She’s the editor of a new online magazine called Cheek, a French publication that focuses on modern feminist issues (think: portrayal of women in the media, etc.) It’s smart and savvy.
“We’d love to have you contribute to Cheek since you write about food topics,” she wrote in an email. Note that this was all in French.
“Um, sure. You ready to edit?”
Fortunately she was.
We went back and forth a bit, and decided that I should address the issue of women in the restaurant industry. “Oh god, I’m going to write a feminism piece in French?” I thought to myself.
I did and the result is the first thing substantial thing I have written in French (emails do not count) since college. It’s a look at gender roles and sexism in the food industry, particularly in response to the recent Time “Gods of Food” article. If you’re French is up to par, you can read it here.
Moral: challenge yourself, it’s good for you.
How to Be an Explorer
Loved writing this piece for GOOD: Make Room for Discovery: Five Simple Steps For Explorers
Magellan, Columbus, Da Gama, Amundsen, Cook, Eriksson, Lewis & Clark, Shackleton—all names synonymous with adventure and exploration. They circumnavigated the world, discovered continents and became the subjects of history books. There was an unknown, and it was meant to be explored.
In the modern age of the Internet, cell phones, and around-the-world air travel, that sense of the unknown has changed, but it certainly hasn’t disappeared. While there may not be entire continents up for grabs, modern day exploring is just as important as it was during the Age of Exploration, if not more so.
Read the rest of this entry »
Buy a Copy of My New Book: The Culinary Cyclist
The idea for the book The Culinary Cyclist came about December of last year, so for the last six months I have had bikes and food on the brain. Well, I always have bikes and food on the brain, but this time as I wrote chapters about coffee, picnics and planning a dinner party, it was book related.
And now, after six months, the book is completely written, the illustrations are drawn (thanks to the lovely Johanna Kindvall) and now somehow in a miraculous showing of support, we managed to raise all of our printing funds on Kickstarter in the first 5 days. That’s a lot of love for food and bikes.
What that means is that the book will without a doubt be printed, and for only $12 you can get yourself a copy! So hop on over to Kickstarter and snag one.
A Cookbook Project in the Works
I never call myself a food blogger. No, really.
I have never felt that I can keep up with all of the prolific food writers and recipe developers out there. How some people manage to publish new complicated recipes ever single week is beyond me. It’s impressive, inspiring and quite honestly, a little scary. Plus we all know what taking too many photos of your food can do to you… But this year I’ve gotten a good taste of what it means to make food your profession.
Along with Johanna Kindvall, I am working on an illustrated cookbook, with stories and recipes inspired by our Swedish roots, to be published by Ten Speed Press in fall of 2014. The entire thing is certainly an ongoing process, from proposal to contract to the many moments of “I have how many recipes to finish this week??” but it’s entertaining to be working on a book project.
Thoughts from Afghanistan: Afterword in Lewis & Clark Chronicle
After traveling to Afghanistan last fall, I was asked to write a piece for my college’s alumni magazine. I was honored to contribute to the Lewis & Clark Chronicle, and it was a good chance to dig deeper into a subject that continues to be at the forefront of my mind: women’s rights.
An excerpt:
“Remember that being a woman is different in Afghanistan.”
I was getting yet another opinion on my decision to travel to Afghanistan. The statement was said out of love, in an effort to remind me that I should be aware of my surroundings and behavior. Just because I was a strong, independent woman, I should be sure to remember to respect local culture. But it was also coming from someone who had never traveled to Afghanistan.
New Project for 2013: ‘The Culinary Cyclist’ Book
A new year inevitably means new projects, and I have a few already lined up for this year. Planning for 2013 has been a lesson in putting energy into the right places and simply letting things happen… So it’s with great excitement that I let you in on the first one: the forthcoming book, The Culinary Cyclist. Yes, a real book. Remember those?
As these things often do, the idea for The Culinary Cyclist started over a round of kale smoothies (I am not kidding). Portland-based writer, cycling advocate and all around woman-that-makes-shit-happen Elly Blue and I were talking about the latest projects with her independent publishing company, Taking the Lane Media. This of course resulted in a bit of a brainstorm, including a discussion of local food and bicycles.
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