Alone in the Kitchen with an Onion
One of my onions grew a plump white sprout.
So plump that I couldn’t bring myself to throw it out. I left it alone for a week.
Then two weeks.
Then three weeks.
It kept getting taller and plumper. At some point the unthinkable thought of throwing it out became the unthinkable thought of letting it die. For a thing trying so hard to live on nothing, what kind of creature am I to thwart its life? So I placed it in a clean container that used to contain prunes, put in some soil leftover from another plant that I’ve long transfered the custody to my mom for its better chance of survival, and poured in water. I told my mom about it, but she said don’t have high hope. I wasn’t hoping for anything, I just wanted to give it what it wants: soil and water. I placed the pot outside during the day and took it in at night so that it doesn’t get cold. The sprout grew, turned green, and another leaf came out. Then I took a trip home for two weeks, thinking that the onion, having a watery body, should be okay without watering for two weeks.
When I came back, I saw the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen of an onion: several skinny green long stalks sprouting out, tall and cheerful. Thank you for surviving, Onion. You make the apartment alive.
I’m not complaining that I’m living alone. I chose this studio apartment instead of sharing because I was looking forward to living alone all my college years. My college roommates were nice people, I don’t dislike them. One girl was there for maybe 2 weeks total the entire year we shared the dorm room, I liked her. There are just songs I want to turn the volume up to for hours on end, meals I wanted to eat while watching a movie on the computer, times to laugh or cry without explaining to two quizzical and not necessarily empathetic eyes. Times to do crazy dance. Times to burn stuff in the microwave and send the alarm screaming. I was tired of asking for and giving explanations. The best thing about living alone is that you can do whatever you want.
The worst thing about living alone is that you can do whatever you want. The only thing I’ve cooked for myself since February is garlic scrambled egg and rice. I skip lunch everyday. I thought I was bad. But Ann Patchett stuck to her Saltine diet for months: “I ate slices of white cheese on Saltines with a dollop of salsa, then smoothly transitioned to Saltines spread with butter and jam for dessert. I would eat as many as were required to no longer be hungry and then I would stop. […] Day after day, month after month, I stuck to my routines like a chorus girl in the back row.” Actually, maybe her diet has more variations than mine. But you get the point. Dining alone means dining with the person who you want to hide and to expose to the world at the same time, the person that only you know.
That person takes many forms, and that person goes through many phases, some pleasant, some weird, most are captured in the collection Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant. The beans and cornbread phase (Jeremy Jackson), the asparagus phase (Phoebe Nobles), the chili phase (Dan Chaon), the instant noodle phase (Rattawut Lapcharoensap) (I’ve gone through this phase my self – Sapporo Ichiban, original flavor – until Berkeley Bowl rearranged their aisles and I couldn’t find the packages for weeks, I contemplated boycotting Berkeley Bowl). There’s eating alone with glory, enthusiasm (Mary Cantwell, Dining Alone), a sense of self-declaration, independence, defiance (Jami Attenberg, Protective Measures), most often for a lady at a restaurant, and usually in the first days of eating alone. There’s eating alone to observe (Colin Harrison, Out to Lunch), to indulge (Anneli Rufus, White-on-White Lunch for When No One is Looking), to be relentlessly particular about your food and give no room for compromise (Erin Ergenbright, Table for One). These things happen when one has been eating alone for a long time, and accept it.
There’s happy eating alone because of a desperate need to escape the everyday hustle (Holly Hughes, Luxury), the joy is temporary like fireworks. There’s sad eating alone with a boiling thirst for companions (Laura Calder, The Lonely Palate). Then there’s the mellow eating alone because of permanent solitude, and although feeling lonely to the bones, in some way the lone diner religiously ties himself to that loneliness as if he couldn’t live without it, his repetitive meal is his only and last company. “What does an introvert do when he’s left alone? He stays alone.” (Jeremy Jackson, Beans and Me)
The person with whom I dine the most, me, has taken all of these forms. I found that amusing and sad, but to make things worse, I saw my friend in Haruki Murakami’s The Year of Spaghetti, “[tossing one handful of spaghetti after another into the pot] like a lonely, jilted girl throwing old love letters into the fireplace”. Eating alone is like dressing yourself when you’re invisible, you know you should make it good, but you wonder if it’s worth the hassle. Is that why the masked superheroes never change their outfit?
I noticed my onion doesn’t like direct sunlight, and it needed more soil, so today I went to a garden store begging for a plastic bag of soil. (I thought about digging up a cup from the neighborhood at night, but that wouldn’t sit right.) On the bus, I sat across from a boy, 12 years old he said, just far enough that he didn’t notice me watching him eat and close enough to see that it was gomiti in a loose broth with bits of carrots and green bellpeppers. Then I realized the book forgot one kind of eating alone: eating alone among a lot of people who aren’t eating. What do you feel then?
Garlic Scrambled Eggs over Rice (serves one for 3 meals)
– 4 cups rice
– 8 eggs
– 1/2 clove garlic, thinly sliced
– 1 tsp salt
– 2 tbs sugar
– 1 tsp oil
Cook rice. Oil the pan. Brown the garlic(*). Break and scramble the eggs. Add sugar and salt. Serve on or mix with rice.
(*) I used to add onion too, until Onion sprouted into a friend.
I would like to thnkx for the efforts you have put in writing this blog. I am hoping the same high-grade blog post from you in the upcoming as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings quickly. Your write up is a good example of it.
1Sexual technique 2009 jelsoft enterprises ltdAllergy latex skinNaked
2black buttsCelebrities eroticMilky breast picBible say
about oral sexKim kardashian sex tape quicktime xnxx Vintage blue denimNaked brazilian bikini wax girlsBrockenhurst college adultFetish stretchingNudist park yumaLiza super sexyAsian brutally https://xxxxvideos.cc/ Rushen lesbiansParis hilton hot and
sexyCar control remote vintageFree couples sex tapesHousewife milf sexNude lesbian modelsCunts
60Naked suntanGrandma sucks grandpa cockFree yong girl
porn vids xnxx My wife wants sexStep moms fucking sonsWife
yells big cock deepSmall pennis tranniesChristina shows pussyVintage santaclaus recordHelene
fischer nakedReal amateur lesbian compilationsAsian beauty imagesFemale pants
peeing videoJesse mccartney nude only pictureSapphire
boobs videosChristina aguilera’s porn tapeSon fucks mom sisterAdult literature and storiesFree hottest porn stars
I couldn’t resist commenting
3My developer is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on various websites for about a year and am nervous about switching to another platform. I have heard great things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress content into it? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
4It is really a great and useful piece of information. I am glad that you shared this useful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.
5Hey, you used to write great, but the last few posts have been kinda boringK I miss your tremendous writings. Past several posts are just a bit out of track! come on!
6Usually I do not read article on blogs, but I wish to say that this write-up very forced me to try and do it! Your writing style has been surprised me. Thanks, quite nice article.
7I like this site very much, Its a very nice spot to read and receive information. “No one wants advice — only corroboration.” by John Steinbeck.
8I absolutely love your blog and find the majority of your post’s to be exactly I’m looking for. Does one offer guest writers to write content for yourself? I wouldn’t mind producing a post or elaborating on some of the subjects you write concerning here. Again, awesome weblog!
9Không nên dùng nước quá sôi (100°C) để pha trà xanh vì nhiệt độ quá cao dễ làm trà bị chát gắt và mất đi hương thơm tự nhiên.
10Trà Thái Nguyên và dịp Festival Trà Quốc tế 2026Nếu quan tâm đến trà xanh Thái Nguyên, đây là thời điểm đáng chú ý: từ ngày 30/10 đến 07/11/2026, tỉnh Thái Nguyên tổ chức Festival Trà Quốc tế với chủ đề “Thái Nguyên – Đệ nhất danh trà”, quy tụ các hoạt động trải nghiệm tại chính các vùng chè Tân Cương, Đồng Hỷ, La Bằng, Vô Tranh, Đồng Phúc. Đây là dịp các hợp tác xã, làng nghề chè trực tiếp giới thiệu sản phẩm, giúp người tiêu dùng dễ dàng so sánh và xác minh nguồn gốc hơn — cũng là thời điểm thị trường trà Thái Nguyên sôi động và được quan tâm nhiều nhất trong năm.
11Spot on with this write-up, I truly assume this web site needs much more consideration. I’ll in all probability be once more to learn far more, thanks for that info.
12I think this web site holds some rattling wonderful info for everyone :D.
13I’d should examine with you here. Which isn’t one thing I often do! I get pleasure from studying a put up that may make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!
14Thankyou for all your efforts that you have put in this. very interesting info .
15Excellent blog! Do you have any recommendations for aspiring writers? I’m planning to start my own website soon but I’m a little lost on everything. Would you propose starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many options out there that I’m totally overwhelmed .. Any suggestions? Many thanks!
16I will immediately snatch your rss feed as I can not in finding your email subscription link or newsletter service. Do you have any? Please permit me realize so that I could subscribe. Thanks.
17Excellent read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on that. And he just bought me lunch since I found it for him smile Thus let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch!
18When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now every time a remark is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any manner you possibly can take away me from that service? Thanks!
19We’re a group of volunteers and opening a brand new scheme in our community. Your website offered us with valuable information to paintings on. You’ve performed a formidable task and our entire group shall be grateful to you.
20I’ll right away take hold of your rss feed as I can not find your e-mail subscription hyperlink or newsletter service. Do you have any? Please allow me recognise in order that I may subscribe. Thanks.
21I was suggested this blog by my cousin. I am not sure whether this post is written by him as nobody else know such detailed about my trouble. You’re amazing! Thanks!
22Hello! I simply wish to give a huge thumbs up for the good info you’ve gotten right here on this post. I will probably be coming again to your weblog for extra soon.
23I’ve been exploring for a little for any high quality articles or blog posts on this sort of space . Exploring in Yahoo I eventually stumbled upon this website. Reading this info So i’m satisfied to exhibit that I’ve a very excellent uncanny feeling I came upon exactly what I needed. I so much without a doubt will make sure to do not disregard this website and provides it a look regularly.
24Enjoyed looking at this, very good stuff, regards. “Whenever you want to marry someone, go have lunch with his ex-wife.” by Francis William Bourdillon.
25Great write-up, I’m normal visitor of one’s blog, maintain up the nice operate, and It is going to be a regular visitor for a lengthy time.
26Thank you, I have just been searching for information approximately this topic for a while and yours is the best I’ve found out so far. However, what about the conclusion? Are you certain concerning the supply?
27I’ve been exploring for a little for any high quality articles or weblog posts in this kind of area . Exploring in Yahoo I at last stumbled upon this web site. Studying this info So i am happy to show that I’ve a very excellent uncanny feeling I came upon just what I needed. I so much without a doubt will make certain to do not disregard this website and provides it a look on a constant basis.
28Hey very nice blog!! Man .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I’ll bookmark your web site and take the feeds also…I’m happy to find so many useful information here in the post, we need work out more techniques in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .
29Thanks a bunch for sharing this with all folks you really know what you’re talking approximately! Bookmarked. Kindly also seek advice from my web site =). We will have a link trade agreement between us!
30This actually answered my drawback, thank you!
31Incredible! This blog looks exactly like my old one! It’s on a completely different topic but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Great choice of colors!
32Fantastic web site. Plenty of helpful info here. I am sending it to some pals ans also sharing in delicious. And certainly, thanks for your sweat!
33Its such as you read my thoughts! You appear to know a lot about this, like you wrote the e book in it or something. I believe that you could do with a few p.c. to power the message house a bit, however other than that, this is fantastic blog. A fantastic read. I will definitely be back.
34I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself? Plz reply back as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to know wheere u got this from. thanks
35I believe this web site holds some really fantastic information for everyone. “There is nothing so disagreeable, that a patient mind cannot find some solace for it.” by Lucius Annaeus Seneca.
36Wonderful paintings! This is the type of info that are supposed to be shared across the net. Disgrace on the search engines for no longer positioning this put up higher! Come on over and talk over with my website . Thanks =)
37Very interesting details you have noted, appreciate it for posting.
38Glad to be one of many visitors on this awing internet site : D.
39