Letter from the Editor.

It's the holiday season. Whoop de doo.

I just learned that the lyrics to the Happy Holidays song go: "It's the holiday / So hoop-de-do."

I am going to keep singing it "whoop de doo" because it's funnier.

How am I celebrating this holiday season? I took myself down to The Grove, a large outdoor mall with lots of Christmas lights and festivities. I had a pretty decent time until I started coughing so violently that I had to excuse myself from the premises. Great reminder that getting over a cold could take 2 days to 2 weeks, so don't just go out in public assuming you are not going to cough yourself silly.

That wasn't even my only trip to The Grove this week! I returned Tuesday (aware that at any moment I could have another one of my infamous Grove Coughing Fits) to the AMC Theater for a 6pm viewing of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The movie was over two and a half hours, so I was concerned about having to go to the bathroom, but I made it! Great movie! And because I went to an AMC Theater, I finally saw that Nicole Kidman pre-movie hype reel that everyone was talking about (and SNL spoofed).

When that sketch came out, I had no idea what they were spoofing. Come to find out there are no AMC Theaters in Portland. I probably didn't know that because I have no idea who runs what theaters, I just go to the movies when I need to and don't ask any questions.

I saw three big rats Saturday night in the fashion district of downtown Los Angeles. I thought I was going to a cool night fair, but it was more like a few food tents and just families with young kids in attendance. Boy did I feel silly! 

There are so many things I am learning. I learned that there are actual delivery robots making actual deliveries. I saw a video of test robots on the internet and heard nothing ever again...until I got here. I have seen two on the sidewalks making deliveries. They really just beep boop around on their own. I heard Austin, Texas has them??? Why have we not heard of them in Portland? Is it because it rains too much? Are these for pleasant-weather places?

I'll investigate for you.

Meanwhile, I've been receiving mail for the previous tenant of my apartment. I have been putting "Return to Sender" and attempting to put them back in the mail but the outgoing mail slot is the tiniest sliver of an opening and it's been a real test of my strength, endurance, and ingenuity.

My sister gave me some art to hang and said I had to hang it up within the first week of living here. I didn't. It took me ten days because I needed a bigger nail and don't live near a hardware store and all the hardware stores close at 5pm. Thank goodness I promised my sister or else I honestly wouldn't have hung it for like 8 months.

I also oiled my cutting board with cutting board oil that I picked up at Ace Hardware. My cutting board looks so good and is so usable. I also picked up some steel wool. I wonder what I'll do with that.

Can you use steel wool to help carry up a heavy dresser that you bought off of Facebook marketplace and have stored in your trunk? Does steel wool help in that scenario?

Not that that scenario would ever happen to someone. But if it did, I hope they would figure it out with both beauty and grace.


May all your wool be steel.

Rachel