Pour Me A Story, Vol. 54
feat. a friend from Florida and more
hello again pals, and welcome back to Pour Me A Story, a newsletter that Webster’s Dictionary defines as “a small publication (such as a leaflet or newspaper) containing news of interest chiefly to a special group.”
if this is your first time joining me “live,” welcome aboard! since I resurrected (or at least hinted at resurrecting) this project back in January, I’ve somehow gained upwards of 60 new subscribers, which for a publication this size is a significant chunk. I don’t know where you all come from, but thanks for being here.
this edition may be a little more brief than previous weeks, as I’m getting it written early before spending time with some high school buddies and fellow new Americans tomorrow night during Regular Writing Hours.
and as an evergreen reminder, if you’d like to be a part of the newsletter by signing up to be a special guest, it’s super easy and probably only takes like 15 minutes and you can do that right here.
Anyway, We Have Company
this week we’re going to meet someone who I only met in real life fairly recently despite “knowing” her for years. Andrea Asuaje and I both worked on the digital desk at The Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, but her departure vacated a role that I ended up taking.
of course, journalism is a very small ecosystem even in this country, and Twitter makes it even smaller, so we eventually ended up being online friends. last September at the seafood festival, Andrea came by and visited for the day from Boston, where we got to hang out and meet IRL for the first time, which was great!
(ed. note: this is the unveiling of the “standard interview question” format, so the questions may become familiar to you in coming weeks.)
Adrian Crawford: tell us who you are, where you're from, and a fun fact about yourself.
Andrea Asuaje: I'm a podcast producer at an independent production company called Rococo Punch. I live in Boston, but I was born in Venezuela and spent most of my life in Florida. I have a rabbit named Falafel, who is very cute and round! I was also on Jeopardy and lost to super-champ Amy Schneider.
AC: what has life looked like for you over the past few months? hurdles or achievements big or small? light at the end of a tunnel?
AA: Oh boy, life has been W I L D. Last year we launched our super NSFW blind-dating game show podcast called "Queen of Hearts," which is hosted by drag superstar Jujubee, so I spent most of 2022 finding single over-sharers looking for a date and then asking those people about their sex lives. VERY fun, VERY exhausting, ABSOLUTELY NOT what I thought I'd be doing with my life! My partner and I also spent our first Christmas in Boston together, and it was so lovely that now I can never go back to Massive Florida Christmas. Someone please volunteer to tell my parents for me.
AC: how do you see the next few months shaping up? what's on the horizon for you and yours?
AA: January is looking super eventful: I was offered an adjunct professor position at Boston University this spring semester to teach podcasting, and that's starting in a couple of weeks, and I am truly floored/honored/terrified. I'm also going to my very first in-person Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, which is a literal dream come true, so I cannot wait for that! After that it's just seasons 3 and 4 of our dating show (Miami! Chicago!), and then I turn 35, which is blowing my mind. Personally, I'm also committing this year to developing a better relationship with my body, since that's the biggest hurdle in my eating disorder recovery, so that's gonna kick my ass all year long!
AC: what's something you've particularly enjoyed recently? could be anything from a funny tweet to a 27-course meal (if it's the latter, can I borrow some money).
AA: This may be basic as fuck, but one of the choices for our company holiday gift was this 6-month subscription to this fancy-ass, high-end tea service, and I have been *OBSESSED* with it since it kicked off last month. This Indonesian twisted leaf red tea has been making me feel so cozy and just the right amount of caffeinated, and I can't stop. On the super high-end, check back with me in early February after I go to Sundance. I predict spending far too much money on overpriced merch.
AC: are there words you try to live by or an experience that's informed how you tackle problems or challenges?
AA: I worked on a show about kindness for several years, and it's shaped my outlook on life and human interaction so much more than I thought. This may sound very Pollyana of me, but I really believe people are doing the best they can, and kindness costs you nothing, so defaulting to being kind, compassionate and empathic is how I try to live my life.
AC: what's the best sandwich you ever ate?
AA: Oh man, I think recency bias is going to win out here, but we went to the Azores in August, and I had this sandwich called a bifana, which was slow-cooked, saucy pork topped with peppers and onions on a bolo levedo, which looks like a really big English muffin, but it's soft, yeasty and sweet. So simple, and genuinely one of the best things I've ever eaten, period. (ed note: oh my god)
AC: each edition's guest gets to choose the song of the week (or whatever the publishing interval is). is there a tune that's been on repeat for you recently, or has particular significance to you?
AA: My favorite singer is Jenny Lewis, so her music (and her band, Rilo Kiley) is what my brain defaults to, so I'm gonna go with "You Are What You Love" from the album "Rabbit Fur Coat." It's almost 17 years old, and it absolutely holds up.
AC: the second special guest privilege is the Free Plug -- you can plug something meaningful or important to you or something infinitely less consequential. sky's the limit!
AA: YAY! Please listen to "Queen of Hearts." It's funny and breezy and ridiculous and is simply about having a good time, which is something I think we all need more of in our lives. It's also RAUNCHY AF, so listen with headphones.
Worthy Consumables
I’ve been wracking my brain of late to try and figure out what to talk about in this section, largely because life looks surprisingly different to the past couple of years, when I was “leaving the house” and “doing things” with more frequency.
tonight that led to me trying to think of things I’ve enjoyed on recent occasions where I left the house, and the first thing I thought of was “ice cream.” I’ve had a sweet tooth for as long as I’ve had tooth, and I’m a big Dessert Appreciator. thus it’s both fortunate and extremely bad for me that we have a terrific soft-serve spot two blocks away from us, an easy walk even when laden with frozen confections.
Dang Soft Serve, at 22nd and Oneida in Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood, is a spinoff by the folks who own Little Man Ice Cream elsewhere in the city, and frankly I think it’s even better than the hard-serve place because who doesn’t love soft serve?
they have a fun range of slightly unconventional flavors and always have a couple of vegan options on the board, which is great because sometimes I can go overboard and then I have a sore tum-tum in the morning.
anyway this week I was craving a swirl so I walked over to Dang while Alex put the baby to bed. I got her the vegan strawberry with freeze-dried strawberries (you get one topping for free) while I opted for peanut butter with dried bananas. mine was fine but I thought about the freeze-dried strawberries so much that I had to go back the following night and get it again for myself.
stupidly I don’t even think I took a picture of it, but here’s one from the fall. I think it was pumpkin pie flavor, but I can’t remember. look at how smooth it is!
Parting Note
you know the drill. here’s Andrea’s song as requested to round us out for the week.
thanks again for joining me folks, whether it’s your first time or your 54th. I think the new plug-and-play interview format worked pretty well, right? looking forward to doing it again next week.
— adrian ✌🏻
Gonna need a follow up interview that’s just about Falafel