I'm experimenting with Bluesky
Feb. 22nd, 2025 12:52 pmI haven't figured out what kinds of things I want to do with it, so I couldn't figure out what name to use... Fandom name? Wallet name? Instagram handle? So I panicked and created a whole new one. Ancient Murrelet is me. I expect I will mostly be lurking.
(I was surprised to find that within 48 hours of Severance s2e5 airing, Calamitous ORTBO was already taken as a username, because that was my first thought...)
(I was surprised to find that within 48 hours of Severance s2e5 airing, Calamitous ORTBO was already taken as a username, because that was my first thought...)
Vitamin B12 All Along
Dec. 31st, 2024 08:40 pmNope, it doesn't have the nifty alliteration of Agatha All Along, but when I found out at the beginning of September that I was severely deficient in B12, it suddenly rewrote my understanding of everything that has happened with my health in the last 6 years, at least, and possibly the last 12 years.
So Happy New Year, everyone! I am no longer slowly dying of a nutrient deficiency!
Some things have already gotten noticeably better in the past 4 months of intensive supplementation. Other people with long-standing deficiencies say that recovery often takes at least a year, and improvements can continue for 2-3 years.
I have never been simultaneously so happy and so angry about the same thing. So very glad to have hope for the future, but so pissed off at the wasted years. I hope to have the time and energy soon to come back and fill in all the details and share the things I have learned about this powerful, mysterious and complicated vitamin.
So Happy New Year, everyone! I am no longer slowly dying of a nutrient deficiency!
Some things have already gotten noticeably better in the past 4 months of intensive supplementation. Other people with long-standing deficiencies say that recovery often takes at least a year, and improvements can continue for 2-3 years.
I have never been simultaneously so happy and so angry about the same thing. So very glad to have hope for the future, but so pissed off at the wasted years. I hope to have the time and energy soon to come back and fill in all the details and share the things I have learned about this powerful, mysterious and complicated vitamin.
Welcome to 2024
Jan. 9th, 2024 04:40 pmHello, I am writing to you from the top of the stairs, where I am staring into the bathroom, waiting for a fully grown squirrel to exit the room through the open exterior door.
My biggest fear is that one of the cardinals hopping on the doorstep will decide to come IN.
How has it come to this??
Update: the rest of the family came home, we made a phalanx armed with brooms, and chased it out.
We duct-taped the hell out of the vent pipe that admitted the squirrel, but it's just a temporary fix. Whee!
My biggest fear is that one of the cardinals hopping on the doorstep will decide to come IN.
How has it come to this??
Update: the rest of the family came home, we made a phalanx armed with brooms, and chased it out.
We duct-taped the hell out of the vent pipe that admitted the squirrel, but it's just a temporary fix. Whee!
Christmas cat?
Dec. 26th, 2022 05:49 pmShort version: despite our determination to remain cat-less, a stray black cat may have joined our family this week.
Medium version:( Read more... )
Medium version:( Read more... )
a funny bizarre experience, for once
May. 29th, 2022 10:44 amAfter 2+ years of surreal awfulness, I am glad to bring you an entertaining report.
At dinner a couple nights ago, Andy was playing one of his favorite dinner conversation games: he presents me with two items (bands, in this case) and asks me to choose between them, then he keeps presenting them like a tournament bracket until we get a winner. Part of this game is me nitpicking the rules: so, for the losing band, does that mean I just never listen to their music again? Or they never existed as a band? Or the band members never even existed as people?
This led to a conversation about what might have happened to pop music if the Beatles never existed. Then Chuckles said, "Or what if they existed, but they just weren't as good?" We spent at least five minutes riffing on the mediocre Beatles (or "Beetles") universe. The members were John Lemon, Phil McCarthy, Roger Starr, and George Harrison (we left him the same on purpose, it just seemed funnier that way). They had a few singles that just skirted the Top 40, like "Eleanor Johnson" and "Let It Begin".
A couple minutes later, Andy turns on the radio to our local community station for the weekly 60's pop rarities/obscurities show. It starts with what sounds like a Beatles live track. "Ha ha!" we say, "We were just talking about the Beatles!" Then we listen closer... the lyrics have been changed.
"I watched the tube today, oh boy... Captain Super didn't make the grade..."
"Get your phone out!" I tell Andy. "Shazam this!" I call Chuckles back into the dining room.
Shazam tells us: NO RESULT.
We stare at each other with our eyes getting wider. I mean, there's no way that we're *actually* jumping through the multiverse, right? RIGHT?
"This DJ always tells us what he plays," Andy says. "We just have to hang on for a couple more songs!"
So we sit there in befuddled quiet through another song, wondering about our strange new home... Who's the U.S. president? Are there shrimp here? And then finally, we get the answer: Commodore Condello's Salt River Navy Band, a parody band from a kid's show back in 1967. Still in our original timeline, such as it is!
I'm going to be honest, we were kind of relieved.
At dinner a couple nights ago, Andy was playing one of his favorite dinner conversation games: he presents me with two items (bands, in this case) and asks me to choose between them, then he keeps presenting them like a tournament bracket until we get a winner. Part of this game is me nitpicking the rules: so, for the losing band, does that mean I just never listen to their music again? Or they never existed as a band? Or the band members never even existed as people?
This led to a conversation about what might have happened to pop music if the Beatles never existed. Then Chuckles said, "Or what if they existed, but they just weren't as good?" We spent at least five minutes riffing on the mediocre Beatles (or "Beetles") universe. The members were John Lemon, Phil McCarthy, Roger Starr, and George Harrison (we left him the same on purpose, it just seemed funnier that way). They had a few singles that just skirted the Top 40, like "Eleanor Johnson" and "Let It Begin".
A couple minutes later, Andy turns on the radio to our local community station for the weekly 60's pop rarities/obscurities show. It starts with what sounds like a Beatles live track. "Ha ha!" we say, "We were just talking about the Beatles!" Then we listen closer... the lyrics have been changed.
"I watched the tube today, oh boy... Captain Super didn't make the grade..."
"Get your phone out!" I tell Andy. "Shazam this!" I call Chuckles back into the dining room.
Shazam tells us: NO RESULT.
We stare at each other with our eyes getting wider. I mean, there's no way that we're *actually* jumping through the multiverse, right? RIGHT?
"This DJ always tells us what he plays," Andy says. "We just have to hang on for a couple more songs!"
So we sit there in befuddled quiet through another song, wondering about our strange new home... Who's the U.S. president? Are there shrimp here? And then finally, we get the answer: Commodore Condello's Salt River Navy Band, a parody band from a kid's show back in 1967. Still in our original timeline, such as it is!
I'm going to be honest, we were kind of relieved.
From tonight's family campfire...
Mar. 28th, 2021 10:08 pm"Before there was TV, there was radio. Before there was radio, there were books. And before books, it was the Age of Fire and Clowns."
Poetry Month is almost over
Apr. 30th, 2020 05:06 pmI have played around with translating Latvian dainas before, and I translated a few more this winter. Here are five on a single theme: Laima, the goddess of fate. (One of these I posted here years ago.)
1.
I was born unto my mother
Empty-headed, without clothes.
Dearest Laima gave me wisdom
Dearest mother sewed my shirt.
2.
All along the path I take
Laima planted little trees
From the birch a lamb was born
From the aspen tree, a goat.
3.
Whose the mountains, whose the valleys
Whose the green and growing oaks?
God’s the mountains, Laima’s valleys,
For the bees the growing oaks.
4.
Laima wanders sowing silver
All along the ocean shore
Laima, don’t forget to sow
A piece of silver just for me!
5.
Dark outside, dark outside,
Where have my companions gone?
God will travel here beside me;
Laima chooses where I’ll go.
I can provide links to the originals, if anyone is interested.
1.
I was born unto my mother
Empty-headed, without clothes.
Dearest Laima gave me wisdom
Dearest mother sewed my shirt.
2.
All along the path I take
Laima planted little trees
From the birch a lamb was born
From the aspen tree, a goat.
3.
Whose the mountains, whose the valleys
Whose the green and growing oaks?
God’s the mountains, Laima’s valleys,
For the bees the growing oaks.
4.
Laima wanders sowing silver
All along the ocean shore
Laima, don’t forget to sow
A piece of silver just for me!
5.
Dark outside, dark outside,
Where have my companions gone?
God will travel here beside me;
Laima chooses where I’ll go.
I can provide links to the originals, if anyone is interested.
falafel from scratch
Apr. 19th, 2020 01:33 pmWere it not for the current crisis, I would never have tried making this. We have a perfectly decent Middle Eastern restaurant in the neighborhood, or I can fry up frozen falafel and have it on the table in under 10 minutes. But I didn't get the chance to stock up on frozen falafel from the international grocery, and it's something that we usually eat once a week, so we were all missing it.
I tried this recipe from Serious Eats. It looked simple enough but I was skeptical about two things:
1) Would the falafel really hold together, given that there's no binder in the dough? Especially given that I would be shallow-frying them and thus rolling them around in the pan.
2) They're made from soaked but uncooked chickpeas... would the relatively brief fry really cook them and get rid of that nasty raw bean taste completely?
The answer to both questions is yes! I was so pleased! Some crumbs fell off them during frying, but not one of the balls fell apart. And they tasted just like restaurant falafel. (I forgot the step about salting them after frying, and I did think they were a bit underseasoned. I'd use more cumin and garlic, in addition to the extra salt.)
For herbs I used the last of the grocery store parsley, some farmer's market dill, and mint from my yard. I just planted chives and I have tons of mint, so it is cheering to know that as long as I have dried chickpeas, cooking oil, and a spice cupboard, I can make falafel any time I want.
I tried this recipe from Serious Eats. It looked simple enough but I was skeptical about two things:
1) Would the falafel really hold together, given that there's no binder in the dough? Especially given that I would be shallow-frying them and thus rolling them around in the pan.
2) They're made from soaked but uncooked chickpeas... would the relatively brief fry really cook them and get rid of that nasty raw bean taste completely?
The answer to both questions is yes! I was so pleased! Some crumbs fell off them during frying, but not one of the balls fell apart. And they tasted just like restaurant falafel. (I forgot the step about salting them after frying, and I did think they were a bit underseasoned. I'd use more cumin and garlic, in addition to the extra salt.)
For herbs I used the last of the grocery store parsley, some farmer's market dill, and mint from my yard. I just planted chives and I have tons of mint, so it is cheering to know that as long as I have dried chickpeas, cooking oil, and a spice cupboard, I can make falafel any time I want.
I haven't been commenting on people's meme answers that much, but I'm weirdly glad that so many people are participating. I like the sense of community. So I'm doing my part!
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
For Easter dinner, I cooked a fanfic.
Apr. 12th, 2020 10:06 pmMany thanks to ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
conuly for linking to this story this morning:
Kould Ts'ens Fish and Braised Mushrooms | A Shisa Girl's Spoon (963 words) by UrsulaKohl
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Female Character(s)
Additional Tags: Cooking, Blogging, Recipes, Shis'urna, Space Stations, Casual references to imperialism, Even the Radch has sourdough, Broiling is scary, ro2sid 2020
Summary:
It's a clever story that follows the classic food blogger format while presenting two actual new recipes based on food products mentioned in the series, while doing some nice worldbuilding along the way. As it happens, I had a pound of silver carp that I wanted to cook for dinner tonight and hadn't settled on a recipe yet. But this fic was perfect timing for me for other reasons, too.
( Let's have some introspection before we get to the recipe review, in classic food blogger format! Includes some mention of our current global disaster. )
conuly for linking to this story this morning:Kould Ts'ens Fish and Braised Mushrooms | A Shisa Girl's Spoon (963 words) by UrsulaKohl
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Female Character(s)
Additional Tags: Cooking, Blogging, Recipes, Shis'urna, Space Stations, Casual references to imperialism, Even the Radch has sourdough, Broiling is scary, ro2sid 2020
Summary:
A Radchaai food blogger tries an exotic new technique: broiling.
It's a clever story that follows the classic food blogger format while presenting two actual new recipes based on food products mentioned in the series, while doing some nice worldbuilding along the way. As it happens, I had a pound of silver carp that I wanted to cook for dinner tonight and hadn't settled on a recipe yet. But this fic was perfect timing for me for other reasons, too.
( Let's have some introspection before we get to the recipe review, in classic food blogger format! Includes some mention of our current global disaster. )
Things I have bled on today
Aug. 25th, 2019 08:03 pmA list:
Wonder what will be next?
For those of you who've had heavy bleeding during perimenopause, how long did it take for things to finally shut down? I keep thinking it's not worth going through the hassle and expense of finding the right size & style of menstrual cup if I'm going to be done with all this nonsense in a year or so... but if things continue on like this for another two or three, then it starts to sound very much worth it.
- my bed
- my sofa
- my dining chair
- my nightgown
- my favorite capris
- my tick-proof gardening pants
- miscellaneous underwear
Wonder what will be next?
For those of you who've had heavy bleeding during perimenopause, how long did it take for things to finally shut down? I keep thinking it's not worth going through the hassle and expense of finding the right size & style of menstrual cup if I'm going to be done with all this nonsense in a year or so... but if things continue on like this for another two or three, then it starts to sound very much worth it.
Rob Thomas is dead to me
Aug. 13th, 2019 05:47 amSince I got woken up early by a thunderstorm, you get my complaints about why the ending of Veronica Mars season 4 is not only unpleasing to me, it's also artistically bad.
( spoilers for everything )
( spoilers for everything )
Fourteen.
(I've been sick, and the weather's been nasty, and for so many reasons out there in the world, I want stories with guaranteed happy endings.)
I'm still typing on my #$@& phone, so I will confine my comments to the observation that if Think of England is any indication, Charles ships Ivan/Byerly just as hard as I do.
Anyone want to share some thoughts on their favorite Charles books?
(I've been sick, and the weather's been nasty, and for so many reasons out there in the world, I want stories with guaranteed happy endings.)
I'm still typing on my #$@& phone, so I will confine my comments to the observation that if Think of England is any indication, Charles ships Ivan/Byerly just as hard as I do.
Anyone want to share some thoughts on their favorite Charles books?
Seeing Endgame has reminded my family...
May. 1st, 2019 10:01 pm...that we have another nickname option for our one-eyed cat. We can call her Director Fury! Or should I say... Director Furry.
My phone is not up to the task.
Apr. 30th, 2019 06:02 pmI saw Endgame last night. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings, and no keyboard to type them on. (My laptop has been in the repair shop for the past 10 days.) My thumbs cannot possibly process my reactions. For instance...
( Endgame spoilers )
( Endgame spoilers )
Help! Where did the subtitles go!
Apr. 25th, 2019 07:42 pmSo I'm watching the English subs of Guardian on YouTube (and casting them to my TV), and even though the title/description of episode 17 says Eng Sub, there are none. (And I do have it turned on in my YouTube settings).
Any advice for me??
ETA: Weird! The subtitles are there if I watch it on my phone, but the titles won't cast! But if I try ep 16 again, it's still working fine. So no settings on my end have changed.
Any advice for me??
ETA: Weird! The subtitles are there if I watch it on my phone, but the titles won't cast! But if I try ep 16 again, it's still working fine. So no settings on my end have changed.
Thank you!
Mar. 8th, 2019 06:46 amMassive thanks to the mysterious person who gifted me with paid DW time! Here, to celebrate I'll use one of the icons I haven't seen in a while!
Russian Doll
Mar. 4th, 2019 08:59 pmSomebody needs to write a flash fic where Eleanor Shellstrop (back in her soulless telemarketer days) calls Nadia (back in her soulless hipster days) to try to sell her something, and Nadia decides to mess with her, and Eleanor's having a boring day so she rolls with it for a while.
(The two shows are outwardly so different, but inside they are they are surprising soulmates -- just like Eleanor and Chidi, and/or Tahani, take your pick. *g*)
(The two shows are outwardly so different, but inside they are they are surprising soulmates -- just like Eleanor and Chidi, and/or Tahani, take your pick. *g*)
I grew up in the United Methodist Church
Feb. 26th, 2019 07:07 pmWay, waaay back in the 1980's, our congregation's music director was openly gay and he was loved and respected by our church. How is it possible that in 2019 the denomination *still* can't ditch their official anti-LGTB restrictions?
It sounds like there may be a do-over of sorts next year? But it's a sad day for the denomination, no matter what. My sympathies to any Methodists on the flist.
It sounds like there may be a do-over of sorts next year? But it's a sad day for the denomination, no matter what. My sympathies to any Methodists on the flist.
