2025 Highlights: Fermentation, Great Lakes Sauna, Predawn Rituals
- Pixian fermented bean sauce. Fermentation is underappreciated in America. This bean paste made a very memorable Szechuan dish — punchy, savory, satisfying.
- Floating sauna at the marina. A transformative Chicago experience. Connects the city, the lake, and the human body like no other. We need many more of these.
- Watching kid’s movies with Cal and Eli. We’re in a golden era of children’s movies. Look at how many people work on the average animated movie. Best and brightest talent is gravitating to this storytelling format. Most Pixar frames are packed with visual ideas.
- Anchovies, arugula, and chemex coffee. Brew the coffee, save some for lunch, taste the bitter greens and watch the coffee flavor bloom iridescently.
- Conversations with Tyler podcast. As Dan Wang put it, the podcast should be called Interrogrations by Tyler. This podcast is a blessing and feels like having dinner with the smartest people in the room.
- Waking up earlier than anyone else. I brew coffee before sunrise in a quiet house that won’t stay quiet or dark for long.
- Watching trailers and then never watching the movie. All trailers are good, but not all movies need to be seen.
- The song that plays over the credits at the end of the show. Always the best, right?
- Beatles piano covers by Brad Mehldau. Especially Baby in Black. Melody, stripped of affect. I like Blackbird as well.
- Asking chatGPT optimizing questions. I am now very skilled at cooking pasta carbonara and it makes me happy. Inquiry opens a sense of possibility.
