I wish writing were like GPS where if you do something weird or make a wrong turn, the story just continues (without judgment) and somehow still makes sense. But nope.

Wait. What discourse on Toni Morrison did I just miss??? Are ppl besmirching her genius?

Most movies from the 80s and 90s don’t age well. Cutting Edge got a lot right, including the concept of consent.

Please please please double space your essays when submitting. When you are >50 and on your 20th essay read of the day, you will understand what an immense courtesy it is to double space.

Just saw a man running across the street in SF holding a toilet plunger in one hand and an empty glass coffee carafe in another. This is a story.

wow, SF is so insistent on Fleet Week, that bc the Blue Angels aren't available (due to govt shutdown), we are getting "Canadian Forces Snowbirds." Are we in a mockumentary, clue #257. www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/f...

I just don’t even want to have boobs anymore.

Apple rankings dot com is the Kirkus Reviews of apples (the fruit, not the brand). So vicious, so on point. A good read. Especially if you care at all about apples. applerankings.com

The most unrealistic part of The movie WITNESS is the part in the beginning where the good cop fills a PUBLIC BATHROOM SINK with water and then washes his face with PUBLIC SINK WATER. He got murdered but maybe he was a goner anyway.

What if the reason that the Jetsons looks like our current future is bc the source material is from someone who traveled to the future?

Fascism spreading.

Stop! Chewing so loud. Stop smacking your lips every time before you swallow. I’m just sitting here seething. Because I can’t say anything bc it hurts your feelings but it’s hurting my brain and now I’m tuning out and on bluesky so I will stop hearing it.

Sh*tler keeps saying it’s a left winger who is the assassin. But every liberal I know doesn’t own a gun, and definitely doesn’t have that kind of aim. Unless it’s a bow and arrow. The liberals I know are very talented at making protest posters.

Punch nazis. If you’re offended by this, then think about why. Because <jeff foxworthy voice>you might be a Nazi if…</jeff foxworthy voice>

I am still thinking about my desk in the office to which I never ever returned after March 2020.

I would love to pitch a food writing/travel essay. Where do people suggest I pitch?

open.substack.com/pub/christin... In which I talk about a room and the process of assembling it, which is a kind of writing process in and of itself.

What…is the point of living?

Welp. I wrote about being a mom to a budding teenager, and how her independence is both rejection and permission. open.substack.com/pub/christin...

I am an extremely practical person who moreover admires pragmatism. But. When I go into Fiction Writing Land, I become utterly absent minded. Yo, I just did TWO loads of laundry (and dried them) and FORGOT the detergent. (Only realized on the 3rd load). Haha I get to redo all the laundry now. Ha. Um

These days I’m writing about multiple journeys: my trip to Seoul and Tokyo and the ensuing psychological journeys. This time, I write specifically about Seorak Mountain. christinehlee.substack.com/p/mountains-...

Parenting a teenager is crying alone in your office stifling sobs. Because you always have to stay calm and empathetic when they say hurtful things to you. And inside your heart is breaking. And when you asked what you did wrong, they told you “you just being you” in the calmest voice.

Also of course napping moms. I remember visiting a friend and her mom was always napping on the couch, even on weekdays. In nth level nap skills, she even had a hole in her wall next to the couch. she would pet the dog when it sticks its head through the hole. From the couch. Horror and awe.

Rando question: when you were all growing up, and if you visited your friends on weekends, and if said friend had a dad living at home, was there inevitably a dad napping on the couch? GenX asking Where have all the napping dads gone? My kid’s friends’ dads don’t ever seem to nap.

I’m just a girl standing in front of the washing machine watching it say 3 minutes remaining for (checks watch) 10 minutes now. It’s a metaphor. A metaphor for the world. And gaslighting. And misinformation.

I did a lot of #beekeeping aka bee meditation tho. Sharing my corner of peace with you.

Yo, I got a new phone (finally replaced my 2020 iPhone SE bc the mothership was bricking it) and then I couldn’t remember my bsky password. A lifetime has passed since. And like all of 6 substack posts bc I’m a molasses writer these days.

On a trip to Seoul. Feeling relief and regenerating for the fight when return home to the US. watching the No Kings protests from Seoul feels like watching the Seoul protests last year from the US. Inspiring to see everyone out. Here is Seoul Pride 2025. Small in comparison to SF or NYC but mighty!

Skateboarding dude. Hero of the day. It has to be this kid! He stood all alone while LAPD took shots at him. Kid stood his ground and danced a bit, which pissed off the Nazis more! They tear gassed him. Finally the kid walked slowly away, turning just once to give them the finger! Respect. ✊

Browsing David Lynch’s estate auction is kind of like watching one of his movies. www.juliensauctions.com/en/auctions/...

Today while in LA, I watched a woman walk into Erewhon with a baby in a baby stroller. Then about ten minutes later, I watched her casually walk out without the stroller or baby, free as a bird… Hours later I wonder. Was it a custody exchange? Is there a baby next to the sea moss gel?

I am never pickier about my junk food than at the airport.

I can’t back it up, but if Tom Cruise had won an Oscar for Magnolia, Bernie is president right now.

I have very bad misophonia. Can’t bear hearing humans eat. But somehow I love hearing animals eat? Cronch cronch slurp slurp doggies and bears!

If one more cishet white guy says to me, “assume good intentions” when they feel uncomfortable after I’ve called someone out on unkind/asshole behavior… And then when they continue to gaslight me after I respond by saying that that position is one of privilege /someone who has never been targeted…

Oh yeah nice one kid hook that hope for humanity right into my veins

Part 3 of 3 in my Substack series on how to write an essay/memoir. Part 3 discusses the Eastern 4-act structure aka gi seung jeon gyeol aka kishōtenketsu. open.substack.com/pub/christin...

I — Uh — I saw egg salad priced at $25 per pound today. Just regular egg salad.

How to write an essay or memoir, in which I continue with my process and examine western storytelling structure and its impact on meaning and tone. Part 2 of 3 open.substack.com/pub/christin...

There is more than one right way to do a thing. But here are a few ways to write an essay as I lay bare my process. open.substack.com/pub/christin...

My love language landscape is bleak and full of toil.

My dog won’t eat a bowl of dog food unless I pick it up and shake it and then put it back down. He’ll eat some. Then an hour later when he wants to resume, he taps me on my foot. So that I can shake his bowl. Every dog I’ve had is so delightfully weird.

TlL Hello Kitty is supposed to be an 8 year old British Girl? Whose name is Kitty White. Tell me. That is a CAT without a mouth. Why does a little girl have whiskers and cat ears? HALP. everything is upside down.

Allergies so bad that despite taking Benadryl at night and Zyrtec during the day, even the inside of my ear canal itches.

Woke up this morning and cried. My grief is bubbling up these days. I’ve lost my entire family within 2 years. And then I watched DYING FOR SEX and bawled again.

Everyone is talking about the price of eggs but I just saw a single bell pepper priced at $5. And a bunch of asparagus priced at $10, yo.

I guess on this year’s Trans Day of Visibility, saying “I see you,” can also be a threat. But. Trans folks exist. Will always exist. And deserve safe harbor.

…has the frequency of egging homes gone down lately? Eggs and toilet paper. Who knew they’d become such precious commodities.

Because everything in the world is so unreliable, I am seeking out tiny things that make a difference. For starters. I am asking for recommendations for luxury matches. The kind that light. The kind w a box that doesnt scuff up and ditch efficacy halfway thru the match supply. Nice wood. Ya dig?

I keep thinking about that clarinet solo in the Law and Order theme song and the glory that clarinet player must have felt: a clarinet solo in modern music at last! A deeply underestimated instrument (listen to Mozart’s clarinet concerto in A major and you’ll see).