Hello, friends and readers!
This missive comes to you from my couch, where I sit with my little family on the rainiest of Memorial Day weekends. Gabriel has been snoozing on my red-checked robe for about eight hours. Moses has been here and there between the closet and L’s blanketed lap. We’ve only gotten up to answer work calls, make breakfast and lunch, and go to the bathroom. We’re taking a rest day, and I’m okay with that. I’m on call, which, when I get called in, wrecks my entire day. Otherwise, it mostly means I need to stay nearby in case of an emergency. It still puts me on edge the whole time, though. I’ve gotten better at it, but you never get used to having disaster hanging over your head, only a phone call away. I don’t know how the Powerpuff Girls did it. In any case, when it’s nice out, we want to explore, but when it’s gross out, we don’t want to do anything, either, so it’s hard to get anything done at all— pending home projects, extracurricular work duties, catching up on phone calls and emails. Perhaps you’ve felt this way.
We saw Cruella (devilishly good) on Disney+ and started watching The Boys, one of those shows that people who know me have been telling me to watch for years. We’re on Episode 5. Five gratuitous-violence-and-nudity-filled hours later, I’m disturbed and yet sucked into this anti-anti-hero story. Last week, I was in the operating room and asked my new intern, who was wearing a red The Flash scrub cap, if The Flash was his favorite superhero.
He said, Yes, The Flash or Batman.
I said, Why does everyone love Batman? I know the arguments— he’s just a man, no superpowers, he’s a little dark and a little dirty. I’ve read all the Batman books— they are great— and there was a phase when those stories appealed to me. But my favorite superhero (in the DC Universe, at least, let’s discuss Marvel a different time) has always been Superman.
So my intern asked, Why Superman?
I guess because he’s an alien here on Earth, and yet he wants to love and protect humans. Something in his moral compass always leads him to do the right thing.
In my line of work, more than I ever thought, I’ve come to see the best and the worst of humanity. Humans are complex creatures with our own needs and motivations, and I don’t fault them for that. We are powerful individuals with a right to self-determination. What I do find fault in is using one’s power to cause harm, which manifests in so many ways- the state of our law enforcement, systemic racism, healthcare injustice, things that are happening on foreign soil— to name a few, and not to list all of them. If we don’t use our power to do good, and only good, why are we here at all?
On another note, here are my recent favorite hot sauces.
Sweet Reaper
Cholula
Tabasco
Louisiana The Perfect Hot Sauce
Sriracha Revolver (from my sister in Vancouver)
Crystal
Frank’s Red Hot
Since I was a kid, I’ve been downing regular sriracha in a noodle shop in HK or on top of banh mi with my grandmother in Chinatown, long before it was a trending hipster condiment. I consider sriracha in a class of its own because it’s thick and garlicky—kind of like chili oil, which is also a class of its own. I want to try more of the ‘craft’ hot sauces (like craft beers), but I haven’t looked much into it. I’m not about burn-your-face-off heat, but more about adding a touch of spice and acidity to every dish. Though you know my motto, I’ll put anything in my mouth at least once.
Anyway. While I don’t condone war, I hope you remembered the soldiers who fought for us, even if they were just young kids stuck in a field trying to kill other young kids for no discernible reason. Our veterans are treasures because of what they did, yes, but also because they keep reminding us of what humans do to each other, and they give us a reason to do better.
Until next month, always go black tie!