It's not always easy coming up with these entries; often it's a topic that has come up during the day that I want to analyze more thoroughly, or a Jeopardy clue that just came up that I want to remind myself of, or it used to be a Chinese, Japanese, or Korean term that I found interesting. A lot of topics get proposed in my mind and rejected after I realize I have nothing interesting to write about that topic, I'm just forcing strema of consciousness thoughts. "Watermelon Sugar" came up, for example, because for the last week MJ has been obsessively eating the Costco-bought watermelon I purchased on a whim because summer is upon us (not officially, but unofficially the Memorial Day Weekend is always a good indicator), and the Yans had a strong tradition of enjoying watermelon during the summer, as do a lot of Chinese families. Watermelon became even more a staple of summer when Harry Styles came out with the "Watermelon Sugar...... High" song that's now become an earworm but is a pretty appropriate anthem... "tastes like strawberries on a summer evenin...." not really. I've never had an association of strawberries with summer, but definitely watermelon, and especially the natural sweet taste of it, better than any artifically-induced candy or ice cream, the watermelon sugar actually refreshes with none of the side effects. If watermelon didn't have a huge rind/outer crust and sometimes seeds (they've now been engineered to be seedless, another thing that's been made more convenient for us, the softest of generations) it'd been the perfect fruit. Unable to fill one up, but perfect complement to meals.
MJ eats watermelons pretty religiously, earning her the nickname "watermelon killer" in her family. I definitely sympathize. Summer is like the weekend for the seasons of the year, where most places (outside of Southern California) suffer throught the drudgery of the other seasons (cold, raining, take your pick) to finally be able to fill in all the fun and adventure one can handle in that weekend, saving all your energy for that one time. That analogy would actually make sense if we had a 4-day work week like Bernie Sanders suggets. The concept of summer is so hugely overrated in that way and what causes transportation costs to skyrocket, and at least for me, it doesn't really work that way: life sometimes gets in the way, you can get Covid or something, or you just don't feel like doing anything in the summer. Summer days are an exercise in escaping the heat and the sun beating down on you, and I don't like the catharsis of doing everything on the weekend like a (watermelon) sugar high and then crashing during the daytime. Life should be a constant drip of stimulus and memorable moments, not just 3 months out of the year.
Summer evenings are pretty awesome because going outside is a thrill, many times the only time it feels good to go outside after the sun has blazed through and finally went away, leaving it room temperature and a feeling of possibility, endless nights. Except it could be endless nights of motorcycles running through the streets in urban cities..... I think anyone living in relatively large cities knows it's the rowdiest season, as there are people who thrive during the summer nights and prohibit light sleepers from getting a good night's sleep.
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