Wait, what? Rising Tide, is it really you?
Indeed, it is! Welcome back to Rising Tide, a (formerly, weekly) digest of things worth sharing!
While it has not surfaced on this website since late 2019, this August has been a month too chuck full of rabbit holes to pass up an opportunity to share some recent discoveries. So welcome back to Rising Tide! Enjoy this month’s gems!
To read
1. First thing is first: thank you, Lewis Carroll, for being the origin of the idiom, “down the rabbit hole.” And here’s a rabbit hole for rabbit hole.
2. Have you ever heard of untranslatable words? I cannot get enough of these!
And then the rest of The Language Nerds is a wonderful world to get lost in…like these Arabic words illustrated as their literal meanings.
3. Here are some books I have enjoyed over the last month:
- The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson ★★★★
- By far, my favorite book of the month! This is a historical non-fiction that dives into Chicago’s World Fair in the 1890s and the life of the serial killer, H. H. Holmes. Very interesting!
- In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan ★★★
- This book is pretty far out there, even by Brautigan standards. Despite its low star count, it is still recommended for pushing style boundaries and inspiring one to write. Besides, who doesn’t want to hope that Harry Styles has been singing about something else all summer?
- As a reminder of how I first discovered Richard Brautigan, let’s take it back to Rising Tide 2019 Week 1!
There are plenty more where these came from. For the rest of my books from this month, catch me on Goodreads!
4. Ohio now has the most U.S. Bicycle Route miles in America! (AND there are maps!)
To write
5. And thanks to all of the reading, I have had the motivation to write more as well!
“I believe that the first step towards becoming a writer is becoming a reader, but the next step is becoming a reader with a pencil.”
– Austin Kleon
Here are a few recent pieces I am proud to share:
To watch
6. And if you still think I talk about bikes too much…
Bikes are amazing for so many reasons. One of those reasons is that they prove how incredible the mind is:
7. Spending some time hiking this month, I am reminded of the incredible ways in which the forest communicates. First, I rewatched this TED talk favorite of mine:
8. And then I had to learn more about mycelium, so I discovered the new documentary, Fantastic Fungi!
9. If you have made it this far into the post, it might mean you are committed. Committed to what, exactly? To learning. To working. To being a better version of yourself. If that is the case, then you bay be ready for this next one:
Lately, I have been educated and inspired by ALOK. Alok Vaid-Menon is a gender non-conforming writer and performance artist. This podcast episode has been sitting with me since I watched it.
If you decide to commit to the full hour, I challenge you to buckle up, open your mind, and pick your heart. Choose compassion first. Empathy may come next. Understanding may hopefully follow.
To eat
10. I have a ton of tomatoes I’m trying to use up! Some are incorporated in nearly every meal, nearly every day. One of my new go-to ways to enjoy them: ricotta toast! You can look up a bunch of ricotta toast ideas on Google or on Pinterest. But this one is my favorite:
Ricotta & Tomato Breakfast Toast
1
servings5
minutes8
minutes220
kcalEnjoy this savory and rustic open-faced breakfast sandwich. This highlights each and every fresh ingredient: a nice piece of grainy bread, soft ricotta cheese, an heirloom tomato, and a farm fresh egg!
Ingredients
1 slice of bread (I have been using Silver Hill’s Max’s Flax)
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
1 tomato (courtesy of the Ohio City Farm CSA)
Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel Sesame seasoning
1 egg (courtesy of the chickens on my mom and dad’s hobby farm)
Directions
- Take a small pot with a lid. Fill with approximately 1″ water. Bring to boil. Set egg inside pot. Place lid on. Boil on medium high for 8 minutes.
- Toast bread.
- Spread ricotta cheese on toasted bread.
- Slice tomato. Place slices on top of ricotta cheese.
- Sprinkle seasoning on top.
- When egg is done cooking, rinse under cold water until cool enough to handle.
- Peel jammy egg. Put egg on top of open faced sandwich.
- Eat, and enjoy!
To listen
11. And, as always, here is a killer playlist from tunes I have been diggin’ lately:
To remember
12. Two years ago this week, Rising Tide 2019 Week 38 went live! You can go back and see what was worth sharing during the last week of August 2019.
That’s all I have for now! Until next time…