Here we go now — and again

On mango trees, motivations and the '90s rapper Ma$e

Every night when we manage to gather for dinner, our family asks the same question: What’s the craziest thing that happened to you today?

I can’t recall how this tradition started. I’m sure one of us read about it or saw it somewhere (TikTok, Instagram, pick your poison). But joyfully, it has persisted. And each night, it offers interesting glimpses into our respective lives.

The kids usually win: some great save my 12-year-old made at soccer practice; some hilarious exchange my daughter had with a third-grade friend about farts or axolotls. One of my first victories came in May, when I sold the book I’d been working on for three years, “The Mango Tree: A Memoir of Fruit, Florida and Felony,” to the editor of my dreams, Vivian Lee at Little, Brown (look for it in spring 2024!).

That is, I now realize, the last time I sent this newsletter. Since then, so many more crazy/wonderful things have happened, including a monstrous and heartbreaking hurricane, but I won’t dwell on that here.

In October, I accepted a voluntary severance offer (aka a buyout) from The News-Press; the beginning of the end of my 18-year career with my hometown newspaper.

In November, I went back to the Philippines for the first time since 2009. My mom and kids came, too, and we spent two weeks reconnecting with family and re-immersing ourselves in this side of my heritage. And eating. Eating everything.

Dec. 31 was my last official day with The News-Press, marking the end of a job I never planned on having, but one that’s taken me to places that once felt impossible. My farewell column ran yesterday. It explains my motivations for parting ways with such a “cushy” restaurant-critic gig. And it talks about sandwiches. Mmm, sandwiches.

It also explains why I have so many newcomers reading this week.

Welcome!

Now that I’m quasi-retired, I’m hoping to make this newsletter more regular and give it more direction. This will always be a place where you can keep up with my book(s) and any new opportunities that may arise for me, but I also want it to be more. And I’d like your help.

What do YOU want this newsletter to be?

There is no wrong answer. I hope to touch on all of these topics over the weeks and months to come. But what matters to you matters to me.

In a few hours I’ll gather with my family around the dinner table (kitchen counter), and when the question is inevitably asked, What’s the craziest thing that happened to you today?, I’ll have my answer: I relaunched my newsletter to a record number of subscribers. I asked them where we should take this thing, and they told me.

Here we go.