<(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)>
Happy July.
Five Questions for July 2023
1. What's your favourite way to stay active?
2. What's the best way to stay focused and productive?
3. If you could have any sport or game instantly mastered, unrelated to your current interests or abilities, which one would you choose and why?
4. Share with me an interesting trivia tidbit about your favourite historical event.
5. Share a summer recipe. I share a Lavender Tea Cookie recipe
350F/ 175C Makes 30
Line baking sheet with parchment paper
Ingredients:
1 cup / 236.6 ml unsalted butter
2/3 cup / 158 ml minus 1 Tbsp (15 ml) superfine/berry/dissolving sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 c / 300 ml minus 1 Tbsp (15 ml) self-rising flour
1 Tbsp fresh lavender flowers
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter and sugar, add egg and beat well. Stir in flour
and flowers. Drop teaspoonsful on parchment, spacing widely to allow for spread.
Bake until pale golden and edges tinge brown. They will be soft until cooled on
waxed paper. Store in airtight tin.
1) Gardening/Walking. I tend to spend hours in "the yard" when given the opportunity, and always embark on major projects of cleaning up and/or shaping/installing landscaping. Then, equally, I love walking to places. Just to walk to places (something I cannot do here, sadly, and I am suffering)
2) Simplifying your life. Knowing what exactly you desire to focus on.
3) Thinking long and hard about this one... I keep going back to tennis. Something about it being "solo", calisthenic and also the "feel" of the tightly strung racket making contact with the ball.
4) If Russia's long struggle to depose the monarchy and establisd socialism can be regarded as a single event, then the fact that Lenin had to disguise himself, and very well at that, in order to move around. I cannot think of any other "VIP" doing that (my mind is not bringing up the proper term for someone of his stature, so "VIP" it is)
5) Crepes? Those are the only things that I can make that "feel" "Summery" to me. They're so delicate. Everything else I make, besides drinks, is rather rich and/or dense, and savory. 2:2:1 - EGGS:MILK(OR LIQUID):FLOUR (4 eggs ~ same weight as 1C milk) Mix the wet ingredients together first, then add the flour. Allow to stand for ~ half hour. Heat a skillet to a medium heat (not as hot as you would use for raw eggs, but enough to set the mixture quickly) Butter the hell out of the pan, then pour in enough of the mixture to cover the entire botton in a thin film. Swirl it fast, allow to set, then shake it to make sure it isn't stuck. Allow to cook until the edges start to "crisp". Slide it off onto the edge of a big plate, then move on to the next one. As you are waiting for the other crepes to cook, stack or roll and "bend" the cooled ones on the plate. This all takes some practice. Like, spend a couple weeks perfecting the technique. And a lot of eggs. lol
o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o
June 2023 Questions:
1. Describe the most expensive object you'd like to buy.
2. What is something the generation preceding you loves that you don't understand?
3. What is something the generation succeeding you loves that you don't understand?
4. what holiday in your calendar needs to be replaced, and with what other observation or commemoration?
5. what do you think it means to be redeemed? Have you felt redeemed at one time? Can one be redeemed an iota without the drama of a constructed fiction narrative?
1) ooof "object"... My mind immediately went to "land", but, uh... I don't believe land can be owned, AND, it's not an object, per se. So, that said, it would have to be a built into a wall, high efficiency, modern... no, wtf... bread oven? What about your dream to make mead/wine/ale? Yeah, so... a building that has a bunch of fermentation tanks, aging kegs, and a bottling system.
2) LOL that one's very easy... their passive income from rent. Soon, very soon, you ghouls.
3) IDK... there's avocado toast with the Millenials (is that even a real thing?), and... ??? with GenZ... maybe being online 24/7? (I'm GenX, so technically GenZ is succeding us)
4) Christmas, hands down. As someone I "know" on teh Fedi suggested, the time from winter solstice, to the week after New Years, should be one long party.
5) To me, "redeemed" means something one has been accused of, or suffered under, has been reversed/resolved. So, yes, when I just last year finally got assessed for autism, I was redeemed, as no one I know believed me that I truly knew I was. Yes, someone can be redeemed very easy, given that there are "powerful" others who can change their mind over an issue concerning another... no drama, just... "I'm/We're sorry. Please take this reconcilation I'm/we're offering." lol
o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o
Happy Beltane! (May 2023)
Five Questions:
1. How would you describe sleep to an alien?
2. What in your opinion is a fascinating cultural tradition or practice?
3. What's a beverage you loved, but was discontinued? I loved the herbal fizzy beverage Aqua Libra.
4. Have you ever experienced a "healing crisis" or withdrawal symptoms while recovering your health? For example, now that I am doing 'correct' qigong under the supervision of certificated class instructors with over a decade experience, I find the blood rushes to and from my head so fast, that, when I have low blood sugar, I feel woozy and wonder if I'm going to pass out. (I have an early morning class, and we aren't to eat within two hours of a qigong workout)
5. Have you recently had a rediscovery? For example, I am deep into early Mills Brothers, the proto-doowop harmonizing quartet. My mother and her brothers talked about Harry Mills, whose singing style inspired Dean Martin, but now that I see their videos on YouTube, I see that Donald Mills has the velvet voice I swoon to, although I have always liked Harry's voice -- it's just more prominent in the postwar recordings.
1) Assuming I (we) could communicate with any extraterrstrials we may come in contact with... "a state of inactivity our Human bodies take that help our bodies to repair any damage/wear they endured during any awake state they went through, as well as allows our minds to run through (re-live) events and places they interacted with and/or experienced along with the body during the aforementioned awake state. This process is known as "dreaming", and does not usually map 1 to 1 with lived experiences, making for some very interesting "alternate realities" to be "re-experienced". What is "awake"? What I am right now. Why do I keep throwing up my 2 hands and wiggle 2 fingers on them? It means I cannot come up with a more precise term to convey what I mean...
2) I've honestly never thought about this, nor have found any that I became fully interested in. That said, now that I think of it, I do have a slight fascination with the "pagentry" and "liveliness" of Celebrations Of The Dead, like Dia De Los Muertes in Middle and South America, or the massive funeral processions and pyres Indians/Hindus partake in. That and the non-commercial welcomings of Spring many cultures go through each year. IOW, People gathering together en mass with no other pretext but to celebrate Life.
3) This isn't a product, but something I made myself, and that was forced on me to toss out by my authoritarian and squeamish lame sister... kombucha AND a ginger bug... AND the ginger plants I was successfully growing. grrr (then she BOUGHT a bottle once after. grrr)
4) I went through the "shakes" from alcohol, and have since most likely thrown off my blood sugar regulation by replacing that alcohol with sugar. I'm not proud of it, as you may imagine.
5) Not recently, and it was more of a "new" discovery, but when I had to drive my sister to/from her work (so I could use the car to pick-up/drop off her husband's kids... WTAF, D? You had your own, separate car, too! And didn't work!) Anyway, lol, there was a local radio station that played old standards/crooner/lite band? as opposed to Big Band - music, that was nice to listen to as I drove the terrifying roads in and around and through San Antonio, TX. ALSO, the "punk" "movement"/leftism... I grew up on punk music, and was exposed to much "counter-culture" in my teens and early 20s, then spent the following ~30 years as a very confused "Centrist"/Democrat, only to rediscover "anarchy" and "punk" and what they really mean/stand for, a few years ago now, along with the very new to me communism/socialism/leftist side of things.
send me an XMPP, my Pidgin app is so lonely
o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o
Test test is this thing on?
1. How do people find time to read?
2. I miss you. Unless we've never interacted in which case I am waving at you figuratively. But if you're reading this from some bongusta or gemini corollary of a phlog roll then I do miss you.
3. Does it bother you when people take an undetermined time-out from some online path or another without telling you?
4. Do you do spring cleaning? Do you do it in bursts of up-to-an-hour daily?
1) I tend to skip "tl/drs" IDK really know why, maybe bc I feel I've heard it/read it all before, and/or I don't want to be further reminded how crappy everything is under capitalism... also bc I am almost always listening to something on YT.
2) See 3
3) I do often wonder what happened to cause "radio silence" in many of my online interactions, but then again... (see the "crappy" part of the last part of 1)
4) Not any more, as I live under my authoritarian sister's supposed "care" and I'm sick of being treated as the "indentured servant" and also she is pocketing my entire $600 SSI check I now get, and there's no way I'm doing more than the dishes sometimes, or mowing... oh, wait... sorry, my bad. When I lived "up North" (Reno, NV) I def. did do a burst of Big Clean in Spring, and a good cleaning once a month through Summer and Fall. All other places (south of the 38th) it's always been a year long struggle.
o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o
1. What is your most memorable recent dream?
2. What instantly improves a sub-par day?
3. Is there an uncommon, little-known, wellness or beauty hack you use? For example, I feel about under my rib cage for 'hot spots', and tap or massage them until either the sore feeling is gone, or I forcibly exhale through the mouth.
4. What is something that feels embarrassing but shouldn't?
5. If you live in a small space, how do you responsibly discard or recycle excess items?
1) I forget my dreams almost instantly upon waking. Like, I'm trying to remember the one I just had about "my sister" and it just evades me.
2) Hearing my sister leave the house.
3) I don't use any skin products, but soap. Of course, I live in SE TX, where it can be humid AF, and so my skin never gets dry, but when I lived out West, I also never used lotion on anything but my hands (which I loath to do). I also don't use "smelly" stuff, and just stay away from people as much as is possible.
4) The RED sweatpants my sister got me bc all my clothes had "died". If I realize I'm mowing the lawn in them (f HOAs, btw) I suddenly get self-conscious about it... but who really on our "circle" should gaf what I look like in them?
5) I wish. My sister doesn't believe in improving the state of things for her son, nor her brother's sanity. (I am a Zero Waste adherent, so it kills me every time I hear the "trash" being taken out) (and it's A LOT... it fucking disgusts me to no end) Also, I never leave the house, so don't ever have any chance to bring anything into the house to begin with.
o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o
1. If you were a potato chip (potato crisp, croustille), what flavour would you be?
2. What's the most unusual way you've made a new friend?
3. Tell me of a film, miniseries, play, or book wherein your sympathies for the protagonist shifted to the antagonist. What caused the sympathy shift?
4. I wish to improve my Gopher phlog. I could justify the text, or add RSS functionality, or add external links of interest. What are your recommended resources for getting me beyond the basics? [If you use Gemini, share ideas for prettifying my capsule.]
5. What's an entree you prepare so well at home that you don't order it at a restaurant? [My examples: beef stew, chicken paprikash, spaghetti bolognese]
1) Plain (slightly oily, slightly salty)
2) I kinda feel I have a friend in a certain streamer on Twitch, but that's really tough to gauge because obviously I'm just a chat name, and they are the one on camera... but they have done the most for me online in Discord and on Twitter, and also recognizes and interacts with me a lot in their chat/stream.
3) This one is tough... I cannot recall any stories, really, and I keep thinking of these two characters... I keep hitting on both Batman and Superman, as I have been highly radicalized against authority/police/"America"/the wealthy relatively recently.
4) I obviously cannot speak to your tastes, and this is just what "I" do, so take it with a grain of salt... use nifty separators and goofy/sloppy ascii art.
5) I haven't been to any restaurant since I've started cooking a bunch, so I forgotten what "outside" food is like, really. It would probably be a red sauce based pasta dish, and I'd opt for a milk based one instead.
o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o~+~o
1. Do you offer advice to close friends who seem to struggle (e.g. obsession with unrequited love object, executive dysfunction, unhealthful eating or drinking patterns) or do you wait for them to solicit advice from you?
2. What is the best view where you live?
3. What useful skill would you want a nontech-inclined friend to learn? Could be a technical or a life skill.
4. Is there a habit, initiative, or project you'd undertake if you had a supportive buddy or partner to join you? Or at least volunteer care of your dependents during your undertaking? If yes, what is it?
5. What is your favourite slow cooker recipe, or slow cooker recipe repository? ("I don't have one" is a perfectly valid response if true, in which case I would ask you to name and describe your favourite clock tower)
1) I would say "Wait" because I don't ever remember doing that for anyone. Me being loath to confront anybody on anything.
2) Over the back fence (now, through it, as the wooden one still lays upon the ground where the microburst put it, and now only the chain-link seperates the properties) It's a VERY large open field/mown "yard" that has an attached ranch house way off in the distance, and is lined with, as well as spotted with, many many trees. It is rather pastoral.
3) I want EVERYBODY to learn how to grow things, as well as clean up after themselves.
4) Start and maintain a food forest.
5) I stumbled on an oatmeal "cake"/"pudding" about 5 y/a that I thought was an incredible use of a 1 gallon crock. I have it on a piece of paper somewhere in my "hoarde" (also, the clock tower at UC Berkeley... it's the only one I've ever been in)
edit: addition to #3) No, it was #4! I just thot of it now it's gone !!! gdi! lol... hahaha yes, if I had someone supporting my desire to "write it all down". I am almost always thinking I'd have it done by now if that were the case. I have been thinking about it for a good 15 years or so.
<(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)><(@)>
rawtext.club gemini cluster home + users
^^|*@VV
oofda
EOF