Happy 1st Anniversary to the Newsletter
A look back at the year we've all had.
Tomorrow is my grandma’s birthday. She would have been 83-years-old. I tell you…the shit doesn’t get any easier. I think of her every single day.
In May 2020, with much instruction from Alicia Kennedy, I started this newsletter. It seemed so odd that I should go backwards and re-create which is essentially…a blog. I remember newsletters from a decade ago. And the idea of anyone paying to read my commentary on food, everyday life and ailments seemed bizarre. And yet, here we are. Joke’s on me, I guess.
The catastrophe with Bon Appetit hadn’t happened yet and I was still without an agent and without interested in my cookbook. The United States was on fire. It’s crazy to think that June 2020 would seriously alter the course of my life…the world’s life. And it would take a year to finally convict George Floyd’s murderer. Fuck.
But, I continued to talk about cherry orchards owned by BIPOCs. Writing about restaurants in my childhood neighborhood thriving during the pandemic and then Lena Howland from ABC 10 literally mining for data and stealing my idea and sources (one month after being fired from my full-time job of six years) for her own personal and monetary) gain and their sorry ass non-apology apology that came afterwards.
Above Image: Mine
Above Image: Theirs
The admission and “apology” that came after 200 words of white fragility and tears.
I was still doing Instagram LIVES every Sunday. Got my ServSafe re-certified. Started taking Mami on those weekly drives. Lost my column. Complained about my abdominal pains for the first time.
Did my first ever Podcast. Did a shit ton of cooking. Ate some legit burgers. Went through some of the most hectic wildfires of my life. Did an IACP panel. Announced my book deal in August.
And then things slowed down. Because I stopped taking calls.
2020 was a wild ride. And sometimes I think my stomach pains have a lot to do with general anxiety. For me, 2020 seemed to be about collapse and getting weaker and burning shit down and suffering. For me, 2021 seems to be about healing and getting stronger.
If anyone of Mami’s Maniacs would like to send trinkets, Starbucks gift cards or nail polish:
Mami Maisonet
5960 S Land Park #222
Sacramento, CA 95822
If you want to contribute to this artist in residence, mami’s f’ing expensive ass burgers or Dollar Tree visits:
Happy Anniversary of your newsletter. What a year it has been.