September Thoughts, Scattered but Meaningful

In a recent interview, Linda Evangelista commented on the amount of content that, through social media, people create and post every day, “lots and lots of content,” she said, “it gets all blurry, and none of it is memorable. Maybe, all that post-production is not a good thing, because you lose magic. The soul is all gone, there is too much content. It’s noisy, and mind boggling. What we had then was memorable”.

She was mostly referring to fashion and photography (her book with Steven Meisel came out earlier this month) but her reflection made me think a lot about my content, on socials, in this newsletter, in my daily life.

“What do I want to put out in the world?” I asked myself. 

On Saturday night, I watched Farm Aid‘s concert. Benmont performed with Bob Dylan, Mike, Steve, and The Dirty Knobs (I know, pretty magical…). Before them, Neil Young played, and before closing his set with Heart of Gold, he addressed the young audience, in the tone of a plea:

“And now,” he said, “when you walk into a store, you buy into a deal made with factory farms. It’s under their control, so you have to read the label and check things out and support family farms, support family farmers. You are Farm Aid. It’s you. Everything you do, from now on, whether it’s about farms or just the planet we love, it’s you and your friends who want to do it too; like we are all part of a big thing.”

I cried because I care so much.

In his words I did not hear defeat, but I heard the tiredness of a man, now old, whose last request is for the younger generations to carry the torch. 

I worried because I care so much.

“Who do we have left, when these giants die?” I wondered. I fear losing them. 

“Am I up to the task?” 

Because this is what I want to do in this next stage of my life, making sure I am carrying the torch. I want to be the example, the fighter, the uncomfortable voice. That’s all I have, the passion and the fire to make a difference.

The other day, when Ben was out of town, Catherine and I went to the Americana (a shopping mall in Glendale) for some shopping. I don’t know whether I hadn’t been out in the world for a while, or whether I have been blind, but all I saw was shallow: junk food and smell of rancid oil, Kardashians lookalike eating pretzels fried in chemicals, people bumping into each other because they walked while staring at their phones. 

I saw a 1-year-old girl being quieted on her stroller by holding an i-phone that played a loud, psychedelic YouTube video; she screamed when her brother, by accident, pressed the wrong button and paused it. 

I held Catherine tight – my eyes filled with tears because I care so much.

***

Last week, I was invited to an event with Franciacorta, an exquisite Italian wine producer.

12:30pm at Drago Centro, Downtown L.A., with some important Italians living in Los Angeles, among which, the Consul General. 

“What am I going to say?” I had asked a friend a few days earlier, “I don’t belong there, I don’t even drink, what I am going to talk about?”

“Ask questions,” she said, “listen, ask them about themselves.”

I listened to her, and I listened to the Italians over a divine mushroom risotto, and a perfectly cooked chicken breast with truffles and green beans. As I sipped sparkling water, never once even thinking about the wine, I silently curated my content. Only the following day, would I see Linda Evangelista’s interview.

Lunch was a huge success. Not only did I make new friends and connections, without much talking about myself, but I genuinely listened to a very interesting conversation about wine, food, small businesses, ideas, projects. I learned a lot that day.

Whether in my profession or with my friends, co-workers, or the community at large, I find myself increasingly wanting to be part of something positive, constructive, something good, something kind. 

We don’t need to be giants to carry Neil Young’s torch, to carry out a message, to change the world. We can do it in our own field, in our community, even in our neighborhood. We can do it starting with our own children, who will share it with other children, and perhaps their parents. 

This understanding, to which I have come after years of “needing” to be a ‘giant’ to even consider myself worthy of having a voice, is revolutionary for me, and incredibly freeing, incredibly empowering. 

Now, these scattered paragraphs are not my best content, I know, but they have meaning, they hold intention and sincerity.

And that, to me, is memorable.

Updates:

I will be at the Hollywood Farmers Market (right in the center, at the corner of Selma and Ivar) with The Italian Cookie on: 

October 1^st, October 29^th, and November 5^th.

I will be at the Echo Park Farmers Market on:

October 20^th, November 3^rd, and November 17^th.

More dates to come…

Starting now, you can also purchase The Italian Cookie mixes at the beautiful Wine + Eggs, in Atwater. 

More stores to come…

And to all those who purchased the very last Culinary Box, supporting not only my small business, but all those I partnered with, a heartfelt THANK YOU. You are an amazing community that I am proud to have now chaperoned for 4 years. 

Ps. You can purchase the box until the end of Sunday, before a place my orders on Monday.

See you next month,

Love, always

Alice