Welcome back to Wednesday Links!
The Boston spring has devolved back into a Boston winter this week. Typical! I don’t really mind the cold so much; it’s the wind. The wind is so brutal sometimes.
My partner recently made a Trader Joe’s run and TJs is so good for fun and interesting snacks. But I have a gripe. They’re so popular and I get very overwhelmed and overstimulated in crowded areas. I want to browse, but I feel like I cannot do that before I need to run screaming out the building. My partner’s brother works at a TJs and he’s been very helpful in giving me some ideal “down times” to try and shop.
Any Trader Joe’s disciples in the house? I’d love to hear about some of your favorite TJs go-to foods!
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The greater Boston area is getting a romance bookstore! No news yet on its opening, but I’m excited. Lovestruck Books, if you ever want a moderator for events, I’m in the neighborhood!
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A colleague at work told me about this article on A.I. art pushing the limits of happy puppies and silly geese. I think I was able to grab a gift link for it. They also reference this Twitter thread.
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I haven’t been shy about my fanfic preferences, which have included Dramione. I saw this post on reddit about a person organizing their favorite fics, which led to some great discussion in the comments about how people do this for themselves.
So how do you keep track or organize your fanfic TBR pile?
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As I’ve been preparing for my trip to Korea, I’ve been doing some language learning. A friend recommended Mango Languages to me and told me she gets her lessons through our public library system! Does your library have language learning resources? Have you tried Mango Languages?
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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!
My “mark for later” list is out of control . . . That’s all I have to say about that.
I really like Mango languages! I get it through my library (thank you library) and it was the first language app that really helped me get confident with daily encounters — ordering coffee, buying things at the grocery store, that sort of thing. I used it for about a week before I felt comfortable actually using these phrases in real life — which is huge for me!
I am a huge TJs fan. Opening hour is a great time to be there, absolutely never on the weekend (including Friday) or any day after 10:30 am. If you must go outside those safer times/days because the family is rioting for another almond Kringle, adopt a Zen-like attitude and pretend the aisles are wide open and uncrowded as you glide down them. It helps, but a beer later at home is called for.
Our neighborhood will have a new TJs when it takes over an empty Orvis store. The store is quite large, although I’ll wager TJs will keep to their regulation-small space. Also, the original parking lot is already a nightmare because it’s chopped up with short aisles and many turns, perhaps another reason management chose the location. BUT I WILL BE ABLE TO WALK THERE, PEOPLE, as long as I don’t buy large quantities of Hold the Cones.
In case anyone thinks the TJ parking situation isn’t evil:
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-am-a-trader-joes-parking-lot-and-i-am-here-to-destroy-you
I used to be a Trader Joe’s fan until I read about their union-busting activity. They, along with Amazon and SpaceX, are suing the National Labor Relations Board.
After that came out, I said fuck Trader Joe’s. They can go broke.
Boston and Cambridge are both some of my favorite places to visit, so it’s exciting to see a romance bookstore coming (hopefully it will be established by my next trip there in Spring 2026)! I can’t imagine what Harvard Square rent is like though (as I know how Cambridge itself is exorbitant), so I hope lots of people visit it. 🙂
Getting to TJs is a bit of a hike for me, but I pop over occasionally to stock up on their vegan Tikka Masala frozen meals for work lunches and see what other goodies they have. I will try to go when they first open, because crowds and parking stress are the reason I avoid the grocery store as much as possible and will eat weird food combos from my pantry before caving and going grocery shopping.
Apparently I posted too soon because I’m all about fanfic as well and definitely need to read that Reddit post. 🙂 So if I’m on AO3 then I just “Mark for Later” things I’m interested in reading and then will bookmark them too if I ended up loving it. For fic reads off of AO3, I usually do “Show reader” on my iPad and then email the whole fic as a PDF (which I convert to epub–just type Convert in the subject line) over to my Kindle app for reading; I have specific folders in my Kindle app just for fanfics so organize them there too.
I really like TJ’s cheese section, for example Delice de Bourgogne, unexpected cheddar, they do a totally decent well priced plain chevre, etc. And they also have some good crackers -there’s one with figs I can’t keep in the house. Dried montmorency cherry or mango. Peanut butter filled pretzels. Sadly unimpressive olive offerings though.
I drive to TJ’s just for the bucket of dark chocolate peanut butter cups. So much better than Reese’s (yes, I said it). My husband likes their gluten free muffins. So excited for a romance bookstore in Harvard Square! Thanks for the news on that.
I used to work at TJ’s—I echo the comment on weekday opening hours. Also, the very last 45 minutes before closing is good too but not all the stock will be out.
The truck arrives around midnight to restock. Crew arrives around 3:00 am to start stocking shelves. It was a cool shift for college—went straight to class after working early morning.
BTW TJ’s was paying 2.5x minimum wage to me without a college degree and offered benefits at 30 hours. Their philosophy was to take such good care of workers they wouldn’t want to unionize (shrug). I hope they’re still thinking that way…..
The link to the Reddit post about organizing fanfic is leading to the Twitter thread about A.I. art.
Loved this interview with the shockingly cool Mindy Cohn (Natalie on Facts of Life, voice of Velma on newer versions of Scooby Foo, now in Palm Royale):
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/mind-cohn-facts-of-life-palm-royale
I’m super jealous of places that have TJ. My state doesn’t have them, but I know they would be super popular here!
Not helpful, but my favorite Trader Joe’s item — the Mideast Feast — was discontinued 3 years ago and I still haven’t recovered from the loss. Since then, I only drop by for seasonal items. (No, not “in season produce.” That would be healthy. Seasonal sweets.) When I do, I make sure to pick up some cheddar cheese with carmelized onions.
I’ll turn to google-fu for the reddit piece on organizing fanfic. Not that I have fanfic to organize, but I have thousands of ebooks and I was just bemoaning how — with the loss of spatial awareness that comes with shelving a physical book — I have no idea of what books I own anymore. Well, what books I license on the gamble that Amazon will outlive me.
Sigh, Scooby Doo, stupid mobile keypad! Sheesh. I do enjoy Mango Languages—there’s a great assortment of languages, and iirc you can even learn pirate dialect…
My Trader Joe’s bills have gone way down since I got my Costco membership (which more than makes up for it), but I still hit Trader Joe’s for face lotion, recycled TP, crumpets, dark chocolate peanut butter cups (little ones in a tub), and a few other odds and ends. Their Mediterranean hummus is amazing.
@Melanie: All fixed, thanks!
In Cincinnati we have Jungle Jim’s International Market, which started as a roadside fruit stand and is now an immense complex that is often referred to as a foodie amusement park. It has an American grocery section which transitions to an immense deli, and then a cheese section to die for. There’s a staggering selection of beer and wine both domestic and international. And once you get past all the ‘usual’ departments there’s the international grocery section which includes multi aisle sections for different world regions which are then split up into different countries.
I feel like I’m barely scratching the surface of what’s there in an effort to keep this description somewhat short. It can be an overwhelming experience on the weekends tho as it is usually jam packed with people.
I haven’t been to TJs, but the descriptions I’m seeing definitely give me jungle Jim’s vibes
I just recently started following this account on Instagram. This person posts recipes using five ingredients or less from Trader Joe’s: https://www.instagram.com/traderjoes5itemsorless/
Yeah, I was also severely disappointed to learn that TJ’s was joining SpaceX and Amazon to argue in court that the National Labor Relations Board is unconstitutional, especially with the Supremes being who they are. Because of course without the NLRB, all workers lose protection, the ones who work for crappy companies along with the ones who work for cool companies that let them wear Hawaiian shirts to work.
Our TJs go-tos are the frozen Indian entrees (palak paneer, channa masala, and naan or vegetable samosas make a great vegetarian dinner) and for me, their elderflower-lemon and strawberry-rhubarb sodas. They helped me break my Coca-Cola habit.
Amanda, I had never heard of Dramione before but I happen to be reading the book PENELOPE IN RETROGRADE (very funny) and one of the characters mentions it several times.
Another vote for Trader Joe’s peanut butter cups (dark, milk, and mini) also their pound plus bars. We buy their low sodium tuna, shredded Swiss-Gruyere cheese, English muffins, cheese crunchies, and more.
I agree that public libraries are awesome, but did I miss something above?
@Kareni – the last item: Mango Languages appears to be delivered via those awesome public libraries
I don’t have a TJ’s nearby, but I found this an interesting story last month. A hotel seemed to be using TJ’s frozen food on their room service:
https://people.com/trader-joes-frozen-cacio-pepe-pasta-room-service-tiktok-8598012#:~:text=Hotel%20Guest%20Discovers%20Fancy%20Room,featuring%20%E2%80%9Coriginal%20artisan%20food.%E2%80%9D&text=Natalia%20Senanayake%20is%20an%20Editorial%20Assistant%2C%20Lifestyle%20at%20PEOPLE.
I haven’t shopped at TJ’s since the news about their anti-labor legal stance came out, but it’s been an odd struggle since I’n not always able to find comparable products (hot & sweet jalapeños, palak paneer, and those frozen garlic and ginger cubes were staples in our house that I can’t find elsewhere) and other stores cost more (I spent $170 at our local store on what probably would have cost me $120 at TJ’s – I’m trying to shop more at Aldi’s, but it’s a longer drive). TJ’s and Starbucks used to be among the best places to work, but apparently not anymore. (I’m still working on freeing myself from the clutches of Amazon – Kindle and Audible are tough to give up.)
I came across this cosy book vlogger recently: Miranda Mills. On the episodes I’ve listened to, she’s talked about vintage children’s books, Kate Morton, Georgette Heyer, nature writing, Patricia Wentworth, Austen, so I thought others here might be interested.
I also love TJs and have also stopped shopping there since I heard about them joining the suit. I think regardless of what they may currently pay their employees, working to overturn laws so you can prevent them from organizing is suspicious. If everything is so great, why are you worried, you know? And to align with Amazon… yikes.
I really REALLY hope they withdraw their suit due to the bad press because I adore their products and have been shopping there for over a decade.
I love TJs and like their frozen Asian food selection. My older daughter likes the frozen tteokbokki (Korean spicy rice cakes), and I like their scallion pancakes (cong you bing). I’ve heard good noises about their frozen kimbap. And as someone from Hawaii, I love that they carry butter mochi mix (it’s labelled as mochi cake mix).
I also love my local libraries. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and have 6 library cards, 4 of which I use regularly. I love using it not just for books, but also reading Consumer Reports and the NY Times cooking recipes section. Oh, and they also offer free museum passes, park passes, and Rosetta Stone access.
Thank you, @Deborah!
Some libraries that don’t have Mango have Pronunciator instead…I haven’t tried them side by side in a while, but iirc Pronunciator has a simpler interface and doesn’t require an app. There may be fewer languages available, though I recall a lot of choices.
TJ’s isn’t super-convenient for me (nor is Costco), though I like the $3 bags of 72% bittersweet chocolate chips (I remember a cadmium warning long ago from a watchdog group and hope that’s no longer a worry), and the whipping cream (it’s pasteurized the old-fashioned way instead of UHT and thus whips better). I used to love their dried slab Blenheim apricots, but haven’t seen them in years.
Mango sounds great but it’s frustrating that you have to create an account just to see if your library participates. Being forced to create an account for a site or app is a huge pet peeve of mine, especially in a situation like this where I’ll only want an account if my library participates! Grrrr.
@Squee me: I don’t think you have to. I found Mango through my public library’s website; it was listed in their resources page. I think if you google Your Library + Mango Languages, you could easily find out if it’s supported.
And thank you to everyone who mentioned TJ’s union busting issue. I had no idea! My partner’s brother worked there for about a decade and loved the experience, but we recently talked about its labor issues since making this post. I feel this with a lot of workplaces – your day to day colleagues and direct supervisors can make the environment such a joy, but the policy makers for the business can truly be terrible, endanger their employees’ livelihoods, and underline the notion of profits over people.
Late to the party but this article on the aftermath to a threat to a Drag Queen Story Hour is pretty good:
https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/you-are-visible-lancaster-rallies-in-support-of-transgender-community-calls-for-acceptance/article_94e8dce4-eedc-11ee-8f43-b7bdcce35cf2.html