When Italian journalist Alice Carbone moved to Los Angeles in 2010, struggling to become a writer, she wasn’t sober. She boldly hit the Hollywood streets and began a blog called Making Sense of Reality, where through her perseverance, ingenuity and thought-provoking personal interview style she met and wrote pieces on Leonard Cohen, Jackson Brown, Janet Fitch, and Moby, among others.
Over a decade later, Carbone’s blog has evolved into a mélange of essays, musings and recipes on everything from being an immigrant, to depression, to food inspired by her Italian roots. Her darkly vulnerable and enticing debut novel The Sex Girl (Rare Bird Books) was published in 2015.
Carbone is now married to Benmont Tench, a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and they have a young daughter. Though Carbone is seven years sober, she uses topical CBD oils as a means to ease chronic migraines and pain.
We spoke with Carbone about the circuitous path her writing has taken, some of her scary early interviews, why CBD doesn’t conflict with her or her husband’s sobriety and how it changed their lives, and how food and the kitchen—once things she hated—became sources of comfort and love.
Q
How did your blog come about?
A
I don’t even think I was writing in English when it started. I had just moved from Italy to Los Angeles in 2010. I started writing sort of little postcards to my Italian friends. Then it became something else. I started writing in English and as I was being exposed to new music, new culture, new writers, I started writing about everything I was learning that wasn’t where I was from. Then I started interviewing people.
Q
Do you remember your first interview?
A
I was working as a journalist for an Italian press agency that would send me to press junkets. My first interview for my blog was Clint Mansell, a great Golden Globe nominated composer, who did a lot of the scores for Darren Aronofsky’s movies. I just reached out to him on Facebook and we met on a little café on Cahuenga Boulevard. I loved it, he liked it and it evolved from there. I was also getting to know myself as I was writing all this. Then I did an interview by myself with George Christie, the number two of the Hells Angels. He was under indictment for arson at the time. It was scary and fascinating, and I put a lot of work into it.
Q
I know you became a mom and got married. As your life became more stable, is that when felt you were in a more comfortable place to write personally?
A
I got sober seven years ago. I was terrified it would change my writing, that I would lose my edge. Our mutual friend Jerry Stahl told me, “That’s actually when the real writing starts.” That’s what happened. I write very personal now, and it is very therapeutic for me to write. Not necessarily because my life has become stable. I really enjoy sharing, whether it is positive or a troubling situation that I’m experiencing with an audience. I really want to connect.
Q
What is it about that human connection you think is so important?
A
Because it’s getting lost. And it is part of what we are made of. We can be as “loner” as we think we are, but at the core, we want to connect. Every other Monday, I do a cooking show on Instagram Live — people love getting together in the kitchen and talking. It’s very old-fashioned, there’s nothing new about it, but sharing and connecting is amazing.
Q
Since you have been seven years sober, can we talk about how CBD doesn’t break that sobriety? When did you start using CBD, and how has it helped you?
A
First of all, CBD has been life-changing for me. I have been in chronic pain for a long time. I was getting daily migraines and taking so many medications. It turned out I had gotten addicted to ibuprofen. I had no idea how much ibuprofen I was taking. Since you can get it over the counter you just think it’s cool and commercial. I was in a bad cycle where I took more so I needed more. That’s when I stopped and started taking CBD. So, no I don’t think CBD breaks sobriety. It helped both me and actually my husband too. We haven’t taken an ibuprofen in months. We are both sober. We don’t need medication anymore.
Q
Who recommended you use CBD, and what kind are you using?
A
Our massage therapist recommended it — he uses a CBD infused oil in his massage work. We noticed a physical change immediately. Because CBD is new, there’s a lot of misinformation. But on the other hand, I find it really disturbing that they can do ads on television about Advil as this cool, little blue pill that is going to solve everything. There’s a lot of ignorance of ways to take care of yourself.
Q
There’s so much stigma and disbelief around a lot of herbal medicinal remedies like cannabis or CBD. But we take pills, which can be much more destructive, for granted as part of our culture.
A
Absolutely. I haven’t tried [cannabis] yet. I want to check with how it will affect my sobriety, but there are CBD drops, which, from what I hear, are really great for headaches and anxiety without getting high.
Q
Can you tell me about your cooking, food and being connected in the kitchen?
A
Growing up in Italy, I would always see my mother and grandmother cooking. That was just part of the culture. But I had an eating disorder almost all my life. My grandmother was a great cook, but the kitchen has always been the one place where I didn’t want to be. When I moved to Los Angeles, after doing therapy, my therapist suggested I try to cook something. And I discovered this passion in something that had always been my enemy. It became a therapeutic thing for me to do. Then I had a daughter and I love cooking for her. Like with writing, it became a way of communicating with people. Food doesn’t have to be elaborate or expensive, just the simple act of making a dish for people is so powerful. I wanted to share that with my readers and do it live, so we could talk, and it would be like a real dinner party.
Q
Do you have a favorite comfort dish?
A
Last night, I made a fantastic eggplant parmesan. That’s my favorite comfort dish. In life, I had become so miserable chasing what I thought I wanted. I learned to follow the things that give me joy, which is cooking, writing and connecting with other people.
All images courtesy of Alice Carbon and her blog, Making Sense of Reality.
