The Newsletter Thingy
The Sybarite Newsletter: the Great Chocolate Debate and the Fruits of Florida
Welcome to the latest Sybarite newsletter! Ever since I stopped numbering them and started to give them little punchy headlines instead I’ve lost count, and have no idea which number this is. Eight? Nine? Does it matter?
This newsletter is going to be short and sweet because I have a date in a few hours. And by “date” I mean a guy is coming over, we are going to drink pisco and grapefruit juice cocktails in my backyard and then probably fall into bed. What? This is, after all, your Sybarite-in-Chief. To the commenters who have already told me not to sleep with men too often or too soon, I say this: Orgasms are good for you. And also lighten up. And also Sybarite might not be the place for you. Which is fine. Go read something about how to crush your morning routine or why carbs are bad.
Sybarite is the place for you if you followed the great chocolate debate that Geo Snelling kicked off when he, in a fit of delusion, commented on the last newsletter that chocolate chip cookies SHOULD HAVE DARK CHOCOLATE CHIPS. Geo’s heresy required me to write a manifesto, and people had strong opinions, which sort of reminded me of the great Aperol Spritz debate of 2019. A few folks commented that dark chocolate was better, and I’m pretty sure these are the same people who would tell me to stop being so slutty. Can’t prove it. Just a gut feeling.
Speaking of what’s right for Sybarite, please welcome its newest writer Xanadu Allen, who wrote a beautiful story about lychees. Is it just about lychees? you may be wondering. No. It’s about so much more, and that’s why I love it. I’ve said in the past that good essays answer a question and are also always about two things, and this piece delivers on all fronts. (Those are not original ideas; I stole them from a podcast on Tin House, which was sent to me by a friend. But I’m too tired to link to them today, and I need to get in a bubble bath).
The lychee story also got me wondering about Florida. I’ve been twice, if you count a layover at the Miami airport on the way to Costa Rica. The other time was an ill-fated trip with a crappy boyfriend in South Beach, which I’d like to forget. But the lychee story captured my imagination, and I started thinking about (in no particular order) alligators, swamps, Cuban sandwiches, white sand, mosquitos, hurricanes, spray tans, frosty pink lipstick. I was so taken with the weirdness of it all that I actually called Xanadu on the phone to see if she would start sending Sybarite some dispatches from Florida, and she’s game. Give her a follow if you too want to know what’s going on in that wild state.
Until next week, Sybarites. Remember: take naps, eat cake, dip your fries in ranch dressing, soak in mineral hot springs or a hot bath, let your dog lick your face.
— Adeline, Sybarite-in-Chief
If you want to spend your one wild and precious life reading unlimited Medium articles, you can sign up here.
Read about submitting to Sybarite here.
