Something strange happens between 11:59 PM and 12:00 AM on the night of Thanksgiving. Immediately, every brand and store in America becomes laser-focused on Christmas. Black Friday deals, Christmas trees in every window, holiday music blaring on loudspeakers. Any store you go in is packed. Invites to holiday parties, familial and work-related, jostle for our…
Some loves are born out of necessity. As one of four children in a one-car household, I walked everywhere I could: elementary, middle, and high school; my first job; friend’s houses; dates. It didn’t matter if it was a block away or across town, I’d meander through the streets of my city, dressed for work…
Everyone has a story they want to tell. For most, it’ll percolate in the back of their minds for most of their lives, drip-drip-dripping on long flights, empty commutes, and while doing the dishes. It rarely moves past the idle daydream stage, its existence reserved for downtime conversations of, “When I retire, maybe I’ll write…
It’s 1973. You’re on a red-eye flight to Boston from LA, and the flight’s been delayed for half an hour. Something on the tarmac. Something with an engine check. You try to rest your eyes, but the in-cabin lighting stays on until liftoff. The buzz of the lights tickles your ears, the backs of your…
This Halloween, I gave out candy to more trick-or-treaters than ever. Princesses in pink tutus, mummies in toilet paper, anime characters with lopsided wigs, and movie villains with bright orange buckets lined up at my doorstep. I commented on my favorites, admiring the thought and effort, but something bugged me. It wasn’t until the end…
“I am a spy, a sleeper, a spook, a man of two faces. Perhaps not surprisingly, I am also a man of two minds. I am not some misunderstood mutant from a comic book or a horror movie, although some have treated me as such. I am simply able to see any issue from both…
Humans love to engage in challenges. When we’re small, we race down the block or count to ten to see who’s the fastest. As we get older we join sports, form clubs, and enter contests to compete, learn, and grow. Social media has expanded these opportunities, connecting people from all over the world to join…
If you were born and raised in a country proliferated by tea bags, your introduction to gongfu brewing might have looked similar to mine. There I was, scrolling Instagram tea blogs and looking at pretty tea cups when, suddenly, I’d see a disembodied hand pouring tea out of strange vessels with unsecured lids. After seeing…
TeaReads has been up for nine months. I’ve written for this blog in snowstorms, in torrential rain, on sunny spring days, and on warm summer nights. The leaves are changing now, and the nights are getting longer. My morning walks require a coat to keep the chill out. Fall isn’t my favorite time of year,…
Gothic literature has been following the same tropes for centuries: old, dilapidated mansions filled with secrets; wealthy families fallen from grace; oil paintings illuminated by candelabra in a thunderstorm; young heroines, fleeing into the night in terror. Since the late eighteenth century, these tropes have been used time and time again to critique power, gender,…
Tea Reads 