Originally Published: January 31, 2024
“You have small feet”
Ohio
Since I wrote about breakfast last week, I might as well write about lunch. One of my favorite places to get lunch in Columbus is Brown Bag Deli in German Village. Brown Bag is a smaller deli than say Katz’s, but has a ton of “deli salads” (potato salad, cole slaw, etc) as well as an interesting selection of original and expected sandwiches. I think that if I weren’t a vegetarian, I would have eaten through Brown Bag’s entire menu a couple times through by now and would be very, very content with that choice. My vegetarian sandwich of choice is the “Weezie Cheesie,” mostly because I like the sprouts and the honeycup mustard.
I also indulged in some of cake slices during my last few visits. I recently had their banana cake, which was banana bread covered in a brown buttercream frosting (pretty good), but I was OBSESSED with the pistachio cake I had back in October. I feel like as a society we need to celebrate the pistachio a bit more.
I particularly like going to Brown Bag in the summer because it’s right next to a small and seasonal Jeni’s Ice Cream stall (brambleberry crisp + brown butter almond brittle foreverrrrrr). We’ll eat our sandwiches first on the patio and then grab our ice cream and take it to Schiller Park for a walk. It’s pretty ideal.
Other Things I Like
Last night (Tuesday, January 30), the final episode of Percy Jackson & the Olympians dropped on Disney +. I am sure I will not have watched it yet (I probably won’t get to it until this weekend), but I am definitely looking forward to it.
I didn’t read the Percy Jackson novel series when it first came out in the mid-2000s, and I really wish I had! I think it was more upbeat and fun than the other YA adventure series that came out about the same time (e.g. Harry Potter, Hunger Games), plus, Greek mythology will always be a draw.
I only ended up reading the first Percy Jackson novel after an organization donated a class set to me a few years ago. When they arrived, my students were extremely enthusiastic about the idea of reading it after their state test was over. I agreed since I love to see kids passionate about books, and I immediately fell in love. I wrote about why in an older post, and even after a reread of the first novel about 9 months ago, I feel exactly the same as I did back then. I have even bought a pair of Percy Jackson-themed sweatpants and gotten thisclose to buying this pink “Delphi Farms” sweatshirt in honor of the series be centered around a camp on Long Island (if you think I wasn’t going to find a way to work in that I’m from Long Island/New York into EVERY OOO, you were sorely mistaken. It’s basically a drinking game at this point).’
Also, I JUST learned—due to writing this post—there are two new books in the series, one released in September 2023 and the other to be released in September 2024.
But back to the TV series. I think it’s great. I have a few complaints: I think the first episode or so felt a bit rushed, but it found it’s pace in episode three. I also think the lighting director is probably the same person who lit season 8 of Game of Thrones (just make it a little lighter guys… you don’t have to justify a light. We do not care. We want to see the show). Other than that, I think it’s been fantastic. The casting has been great (Annabeth is particularly true to the book’s character—people who are disappointed that she is not blonde need to get over themselves), and even the deviations from the book series haven’t been bad. For the most part (and there are a couple exceptions), these changes in the adaptations made sense or added even to the story in a meaningful way. I loved the way they handled Medusa’s character (I won’t go into too much detail so as to spoil the series), and overall the morally-grey nature of many of our traditional villains has given the series a lot of depth.
Overall, I have really loved this adaptation (which is a feat!) and would recommend it if you enjoyed the book series… or if you are looking for something fun and adventurous but not too heavy to watch.
Old News
- Conde Nast has a nice run down of various Greek islands, highlighting each’s strengths and histories. My dream trip includes Naxos, where Theseus abandoned Ariadne after she betrayed her father to help Theseus defeat her brother, the Minotaur. Dionysus discovers her there, and later marries her. See—Greek mythology is always a big draw for me.
- J. Lo remains one of my top style icons.
- This week, I made pasta alla norma by taking elements from these three recipes to best serve my tastes. I do what I want!
- This made me so happy
“Long Island Man Illegally Has Exotic Animals in His Home” feels like an ongoing theme in Long Island history. Also, shoutout to PIX 11, my hometown news channel.