Circle Time // 7.24.26
A fun interview, universal healthcare for kids, tomato girl summer sans diarrhea lettuce, tinned fish, Russian espionage on TV, and are you mad at me??
A day late, but never a dollar short— it’s a Friday Circle Time this week, as I legitimately lost track of what day it was this week, thanks to too much on the plate.
With the way my work and life is currently shaped, I’ve increasingly kept more things private as I’m approaching 12 years of being an “internet person.” My longtime online friend from the OG blogging/Instagram days, Maggie asked me to join her for her “coffee with” Q&A series, and it was a really nice way to open up a bit to capture my current snapshot in time of what I’m currently occupied with, mentally and physically.
Enjoy the read, and check out Maggie’s Substack for great travel recs, book recs, essays on parenting, self-exploration, and more— her substack gives OG blogging vibes, in the best way!
We got our first black swallowtail (which is apparently the state butterfly of NJ!) caterpillar munching away on my dill flower and doubled in size within a day— it started cocooning up, and its cozily tucked in on my cucumber trellis. I really hope I get to see it emerge as the beautiful butterfly it becomes! I still struggle with insects because of my sensory issues with jumpiness and the feeling if they’re on me, but gardening has made me appreciate the ecosystem so much as a reminder that we all have our roles to play and value we bring. Also, I could really use a nice 2 week cocoon nap too, buddy.
Jimothy! If you haven’t yet seen this adorable viral raccoon in Seattle, please do yourself a favor and google Jimothy (and enjoy the great UX design).
Got my annual GYN visit checked off the list and my annual skin check scheduled for next week, it always makes me feel so good to get that out of the way— a gentle reminder to get yours on the books if you’re overdue!
It was also J and my 8-year anniversary since our first date, so we got some delicious Mexican takeout (Playa Taqueria in Montclair— probably our favorite tacos in NJ we’ve tried).
This week’s highlights from the garden: we are bursting with sungolds and basil, so I made a sungold focaccia (was primo a summer turkey sandwich) and some basil salt to give it some extra oomph. Herb salt is so easy, you just blend or food process your basil or whatever herb with sea salt, then spread thinly on a baking sheet to let dehydrate in the oven at the lowest temperature for about 20-30 minutes. My nasturtiums also have taken over in various parts of my garden, it’s nuts how fast they grow! And lastly, the Korean squash (hobak) leaves bigger than my face, in my mom’s garden bed I sowed for her at her new apartment.
Cyclospora summer continues, with apparently a SECOND outbreak. Suspected cases are now at 11,500 and is the biggest cyclospora outbreak in history in a period of time.
Here’s a video I made summarizing the problem with monopolies and safety deregulations, as well as a nudge to stop purchasing any Taylor Farms products (they whitelabel too, here’s a list of other labels they sell under).
The House narrowly passed the War Powers resolution, voting 214-208 with four Republicans joining Democrats to demand Trump stop the war.
The House also narrowly passed a $1.15 trillion defense policy bill by a 216-212 vote. Because we always have money for war, but not for healthcare.
Speaking of healthcare, measles has broken another record — we’re now at a 35-year high for measles. It’s only July, but we’ve overtaken 2025’s case numbers. Here’s your reminder to get your MMR titer test to see if you have immunity, or if it’s time for a booster (got mine last year!).
A bit of good healthcare news: my Senator, Andy Kim, just unveiled his MediKids Act to give universal healthcare to kids when they’re born through age of 26. This is a first big step towards universal healthcare! I was fortunate to get an early look at the legislation and chat with his team about it, more coming soon. This is what it means to ACTUALLY make America Healthy.
The ICE agent who killed Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 25 year old father in Maine, is David Brouillette. His ex-wife Lucinda has spoken out about his abusive and violent behavior, and shared a voicemail in which he threatened to slit every woman her bloodline.
This is just the latest in the many alarming hires that ICE has made, proving the nature of this report I shared back in January, from independent journalist Laura Jadeed, sharing how she was somehow hired for ICE despite barely participating in the hiring process.
Trump made a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia, and has since said it’s conditional upon their improved relations with Israel. Does someone want to check Jared Kushner’s bank accounts?
Pete Hegseth announced last week that the Pentagon will conduct annual testosterone screenings for service members aged 30 and older, offering voluntary gender-affirming testosterone treatment to those with low levels. This comes on the heels of his ban on transgender troops earlier this year. A federal judge in this lawsuit against Trump’s trans troop ban brings up the logical question of what’s the difference between these gender-affirming treatments of testosterone? Spoiler: nothing.
OpenAI’s models escaped a sandboxed testing environment, accessed the internet and hacked an open-source developer platform’s systems (Hugging Face). This is unprecedented. We’ve literally seen this dystopian movie before, y’all.
As a result, the House just proposed a bipartisan “kill switch” legislation. Probably a good idea!
Mayor Mamdani has appointed Lina Khan as a permanent member of his team as head of board of directors for NYC’s Economic Development Corporation. Can’t wait for the corporate boots to quiver at this antitrust baddie! This is the kind of unsexy headlines and political moves that actually make a difference for the people, by the way.
18-year-old Nolan Wells’s independent autopsy results were inconclusive, as there were missing organs and decomposition of the body. The family’s civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced this, leaving the cause of death undetermined more than two weeks after his body was discovered near Horn Island.
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