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Painting badly (sort of) on purpose

Many years ago, I was visiting my family in San Francisco, and my nephew, then small enough to...

Fever Dreams, Painting Badly

Laying in bed in a feverish haze, thank you science, my overreactive immune system (and a 3rd...

6+ months post breakthrough COVID, and an idling motor

And on Day 111, she could smell. No, really smell. Smell that the honey-scented soap that she...

Quantifying the unquantifiable, Getting Better after Breakthrough Covid Infection

Of all the household tasks, perhaps the most vexing is the putting on of the duvet cover. For...

Breakthrough Covid Infection/Infección Irruptiva por Covid, post double vaccination with Sinovac

One of the many tasty things I ate that I could not taste. I could feel the lime though. Read on...

December Newly-Returned-to-Santiago Feria Kvell/Report

There is this piece of Smith family lore, by which I usually mean to introduce something false, which I will later disprove or reframe, except in this case it's true. It tells of a time when I, fresh from a brutally cold winter in Santiago, landed in my mother's...

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I might officially be Chilean

Something really big has happened. After fourteen years in Chile, something enormous has taken place. I have not purchased a home, gotten married, had or adopted children. I have not applied for my Chilean passport, adopted (or had) a cat, nor have I decided to leave,...

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Late March Feria Haul, so much green!

I've had a weird couple of weeks, way more out than in, in the sense of being out of Santiago. First I cycled around Lago Llanquihue, which was spectacular in every way, except for the part where I took a spill that bruised a bone which left me very limpy, but still...

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Stomach snafu vs. peppers. Anyone want to place a bet?

Food is our great connector. No matter where you go, you can start a conversation about food and nearly everyone will have something to say about it. I think it's a fair assumption, judging by Facebook and Instagram (should I be following you? please leave me your...

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The woman who saved my artichoke

A different kind of feria report. As some of you may know, as I've mentioned it here, and in real life, I'm dealing with what I have referred to as a "stomach snafu." It seems to be histamine intolerance and I won't bore you with the details, but a lot of my formerly...

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