One thing they don’t tell you when you start an office job: if you want to get anything done, you have to learn fake time.
It’s not complicated. If you work in a place that shares calendar access, your time is quickly claimed by others in ways that are, more often than not, directly counter-productive. You can only reclaim your own time by creating the illusion that it is not available to others. Hence, fake time.
How else are you supposed to actually work? I mean use it as actual time for work, be honest about it, but you probably have a few good reasons to keep that “available” time from others.
Anyway, I read this piece on “fools and their time metaphors” this week and it got me all fired up about the bad design of today’s office culture (see also: open-floor plans; people who don’t mute themselves on calls).
LINKS I’D CONSIDER SENDING YOU IF WE WERE ON A SLACK CHANNEL OR MICROSOFT TEAM
A much cooler version of the Vessel at Hudson Yards: the Forest Tower in Denmark.
File under: messy Japanese penguins who live for the drama.
The end of the breakfast buffet (shoutout to the OG, Shoney’s, truly snubbed here. And pour one out for 2012-2013, a full year I spent observing & tagging literally every Internet mention of that brand).
Roadliners: typographers.
And speaking of design language, a thoughtful take on Art Deco as the visual language of 2021. As a companion piece, an interview with the architecture team behind the Glossier flagship, which is just objectively beautiful.
The absolutely likely comeback of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” which is a flawless piece of art, I will not be taking questions.
THE BEST NEW THING I MADE: A WORD ABOUT RATATOUILLE SWORDFISH
I’m not into fishy fish. I like fish that takes on other flavors easily, is hearty but not too dense, doesn’t involve fussy technique or hardware.
Swordfish always seemed a little too high-concept for me. In reality, it’s a few minutes under the broiler and served atop things that take more time to cook than it does. It feels like cooking for a special occasion, but is simple enough for a Wednesday.
INGREDIENTS:
2 swordfish steaks (~6 oz. each), I get the kind that come in the Publix brand bag at the fish counter freezer, $8!!!
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. Kerrygold butter
2 big beefsteak tomatoes, chopped
1 zucchini, diced
1 yellow squash, diced
½ red onion, diced
½ fennel bulb, chopped in quarter-moons
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground fennel
Pinch of herbes de Provence (or fresh thyme & basil)
S&P
½ cup fresh basil, julienned into ribbons (optional; for garnish)
What to do:
Prep your vegetables, heat olive oil + 1 tbsp. butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
Saute onion and fennel first, about 6-7 minutes. Add garlic and cook until just starting to brown, then zucchini & squash, s&p to taste, and tomato paste. Combine and let cook for a minute. Add chopped tomatoes, herbs/seasoning and stir around at medium heat for about 4-5 minutes, then bring to a simmer. Let it continue to cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes.
Set your oven’s broiler to high. Hopefully you thawed that swordfish; assuming you did, dry it as best you can by squeezing it with towels. Brush both steaks with olive oil on both sides, and dress it with salt & pepper. Stick it in a small, oven-proof casserole dish.
Make sure your oven rack is high enough to be just under the broiler. Broil for about 12 minutes, flipping halfway. Garnish with fresh basil if you have it, eat immediately and think about Mercury in retrograde, not in fish.