Today's Smoothie

Aug. 24th, 2025 11:42 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today we made a smoothie with:

1 cup Ziyad Guava Nectar
1 cup Brown Cow vanilla yogurt
1 banana
1/2 cup Great Value Mixed Fruit (pineapple, strawberry, peach, mango)
1/2 cup ice

The result is thick and pale pink colored with a sweet tropical flavor, and the guava adds a floral-musky quality. It's quite good. :D

Beinoni by Mari Lowe (2025)

Aug. 24th, 2025 09:45 pm
lannamichaels: "גם זה יעבור" (this too shall pass) (hebrew - gam ze)
[personal profile] lannamichaels


Summary: Ezra Safran, age 12, is supposed to fight the manifestation of evil in the world when he turns 13. Unfortunately, evil is manifesting in the world and it's not even his bar mitzvah yet. And is fighting the manifestation of evil and vanquishing it really the right thing to do? A mid-grade book.

Read more... )

Stir-Fry

Aug. 24th, 2025 08:59 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Tonight we made stir-fry inspired by the leftover peppers and onions from yesterday's mint chicken.  For the initial aromatics I used freeze-dried ginger, freeze-dried garlic, and a ball carrot cut into matchsticks.  I also added a can of baby corn since the volume of vegetables wasn't all that large.  For meat I added shrimp.  The sauce was made from the juice of two lemon slices, some full-flavor olive oil, a dribble of Worcestershire sauce, and a little tapioca starch.  It didn't need more seasoning because it had some of the mint spice coating mixed in with the vegetables.  It turned out rather well.
haunted_cherries: leona kingscholar's official art from twisted wonderland (leona 2)
[personal profile] haunted_cherries
MY ABILITY TO COME UP WITH WEIRD ASS TITLES KNOWS NO BOUNDS xD

Jokes aside, this was just one of those days where I didn't feel like doing ANYTHING. I've mostly just been floating from room to room in my house just resting and existing, not happy or sad but right in the middle of "this is ok" (positive). xD Mind you I had every intention on writing stuff (b/c all I was able to dream about last night was ReNagi shenanigans), but after doing laundry this morning I kinda just sat there with my Arizona Tea and was like "YUP" and never really moved. xD Maybe it's just one of those days where I kinda just had to sit with myself and just BE, so there's that.

Also get ready for the fucking YAP OF THE CENTURY (whenever I post it this week xD) b/c my Final Destination movie marathon was FUCKING AWESOME and WOW I have THOUGHTS b/c I realized I hadn't seen any of the ones past FD1 in their entirety, but I knew bits and pieces enough to get me through, thankfully! Even crazier that despite coming out with FD Bloodlines this year, they've already been greenlit for a SEVENTH Final Destination movie like GURLLLLLLLLL I AM TIRED WHAT MORE ARE Y'ALL DOING DHKJSHDJKSHJK I won't lie and say a part of me ain't at least a LITTLE bit interested to see what they'd do with a 7th one, but the fact that we're even at this point is WILD. xD

Welp, the last week of August is upon us! Let's hope it's a decent one. ❤️

Food

Aug. 24th, 2025 05:26 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
5 Ways to Use Freshly Roasted Hatch Chiles While They’re in Season

Once late August or early September rolls around, in-season Hatch chiles can be found at specialty grocery stores across the country. They are easiest to come by in the Southwest, but now savvy customers are asking for them far and wide. Whole Foods is frequently a reliable resource. You might find them raw or roasted for your convenience.

Early Humans

Aug. 24th, 2025 05:19 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Extinct human relatives left a genetic gift that helped people thrive in the Americas

A new study found that a gene passed down from extinct archaic humans provided an adaptive advantage for Indigenous people of the Americas and is still common today in people of Indigenous descent.
Scientists have discovered that a gene called MUC19, inherited from Denisovans through ancient interbreeding, may have played a vital role in helping Indigenous ancestors adapt as they migrated into the Americas. Found at unusually high frequencies in both modern and ancient populations, the gene likely provided immune advantages against new pathogens. This research highlights how archaic DNA, passed through both Denisovans and Neanderthals, enriched human genetic diversity in ways that still shape us today
.

vital functions

Aug. 24th, 2025 11:02 pm
kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)
[personal profile] kaberett

Reading. Raymond Blanc, Ceri Olofson, David S. Butler + G. Lorimer Moseley, David J. Linden )

Watching. An episode of Farscape: S02E04 Crackers Don't Matter, which I note with mild alarm (given how "..." we were at it) is considered to merit its very own Wikipedia page?!

The Old Guard 2. I... might yet get around to writing up thoughts.

Cooking. An Salad. An improvised but definitely acceptable for its purposes (i.e. providing nutrition for someone who currently has some decidedly inconvenient dietary restrictions) chickpea curry.

Eating. BLACKBERRIES. Still. Also plums. Really enjoying the plums. So many tomatoes.

Also a box of Many Salads from Mel Tropical Kitchen, some mildly disappointing cookies and a Good raspberry pastel de nata, and another cardamom bun from buns from home. Hurrah for spending a day at the BL?

Exploring. Poking around the grounds of a new-to-me hospital, where I came across an Exciting Apple Tree that I totally failed to actually inspect more closely, and about which I am excited primarily because of just having read a book a solid, like, half of which was Reviews Of Heritage Apple Varieties. (I was a little sad that James Grieve got only a very passing mention.)

The BL! And Beckenham, a bit, while picking up a watering can.

Growing. LEMONGRASS HAS A ROOTLET. Having another go at rooting a bunch of supermarket tarragon.

Observing. We found BABY COOTS. At least five of them, possibly six, plus one egg. They are juuust at the stage where they are practising GOING INTO THE WATER and then rapidly deciding Don't Like That and retreating to the Warm.

good news / bad news

Aug. 24th, 2025 04:49 pm
mellowtigger: (possum)
[personal profile] mellowtigger

It's not Moody Monday yet, but I don't care.

Click to read the good/bad news, such as it is...
  • Bad news: I haven't been paying bills recently, and they've backed up.
  • Good news: After work today, I looked through a stack of medical letters and paid the only 1 that was actually a bill. Yay!
  • Good news: It's the middle of the busiest work time of the year. I survived the weekend daytime shifts.
  • Bad news: I bought a bottle of whisky last week, intending it to be available for Monday, the busiest day of the year at work. Instead, I cracked it open after work on Saturday, going to bed around 8:30pm while it was still light outside.
  • Good news: Sunday was slightly better, thanks simply to having more people available on the schedule to share the workload. No need for whisky tonight.
  • Good/bad news: I heard informally that someone else was hired for that lead tech support position that I interviewed for. I didn't have time to search for any official announcement, because it was too busy at work because we're understaffed with empty positions on the weekend.
  • Bad news: During my lunch hour today, somebody was stabbed about a block away from me. Maybe in the eye, judging from the Citizen app summary of it. The app said it was exactly 1010 feet away, which is about 308 meters, an oddly specific number.
  • Good news: I confirmed while the many sirens were scrambling to the scene that fire trucks will indeed still go down my block, despite the new roundabout and 2 speed bumps on my block.
  • Bad news: Somebody was shot last night after 3am (I was asleep thanks to whisky) about 8 blocks northwest of me, as the crow flies.
  • Bad news: Somebody was shot yesterday at the gas station across the intersection from the Cub grocery where I shopped on Friday.
  • Good news: The warzone really has been much quieter than usual this year, overall. Maybe it's just my nice new windows that insulate me from the noisy trauma outside now, but it has seemed quieter to me.

So... I just have to survive tomorrow, the busiest work day of the year, then I'm good for another year.

Birdfeeding

Aug. 24th, 2025 02:20 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is cloudy and mild, a beautiful day.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a flock of sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 8/24/25 -- I put out water for the birds.  Bees are mobbing the metal birdbath.

EDIT 8/24/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/24/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/24/25 -- I watered the new picnic table and septic gardens.

I picked 4 groundcherries, 4 red cherry tomatoes, and 1 yellow pear tomato.  :D

EDIT 8/24/25 -- I watered the old picnic table, house yard plants, and patio plants.

I pulled up a ball carrot to use in tonight's stir-fry.

EDIT 8/24/25 -- I watered the telephone pole garden and some seedlings in the savanna.

EDIT 8/24/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

Crickets and cicadas are singing.
 
As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Culinary

Aug. 24th, 2025 07:21 pm
oursin: Frontispiece from C17th household manual (Accomplisht Lady)
[personal profile] oursin

Last week's bread held out pretty well.

Friday night supper: sorta-nasi goreng, with milano salami.

Saturday breakfast rolls: basic buttermilk, 3:1 light spelt/buckwheat flour, turned out well.

Today's lunch: savoury clafoutis with Woodland Mushrooms, garlic and thyme, served with steamed asparagus with melted butter and lime juice, padron peppers, and baby pak choi stirfried with star anise.

With which we had our traditional unwedding anniversary Bollinger (41 years).

ursamajor: the Swedish Chef, juggling (bork bork bork!)
[personal profile] ursamajor
The algorithm sent me this ATK recipe (paywalled, but linked for posterity, and pretty easy to extrapolate the basic idea) for a peanut butter chocolate quesadilla yesterday, and my instant reaction as a Massachusetts expat: "But where's the Marshmallow Fluff?! How can it be a Fluffernutter quesadilla without the Fluff? This is all Jarrett Barrios' fault, isn't it!"

Though of course, out here on the West Coast, getting ahold of actual Fluff is more difficult; when supermarkets have jarred marshmallow product, it's usually Kraft's Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme, which is more liquidy. ... hold on, I can get a two-pack of Marshmallow Fluff from my local Cost Plus?! As in the same Cost Plus where my mom used to buy us Botan candy to keep us occupied while she looked at household decor? ROFL.

Of course I ended up down the merch wormhole with my search results; I'd rather have it as a long-sleeve tee, but I love the logo on this What the Fluff sweatshirt from the Fluff Festival. 20th annual this year! Pairs well with this Ice Cream Weather hoodie from Gracie's just across the square that I've been meaning to pick up for years now. As well as my What a Cluster! tee. And now I want Goo Goo Clusters and Marshmallow Fluff. At least Moon Pies have made their way to the Bay? I can get those at my local CVS sometimes now.

Cherry on top of all this internet wormholing: while trying to figure out if Fluff was sold in any grocery stores local to me (besides Walmart, ugh), I stumbled across their recipe section, and amusingly enough, one of their most popular recipes is Lynne's Cheesecake. I swear I didn't submit it - the recipe looks like a New York cheesecake recipe, and I strongly prefer my cheesecakes burnt Basque or Japanese cotton style. But now I'm thinking, maybe I should tackle a burnt Basque Fluff cheesecake. Though admittedly, on my cheesecake back burner, I also want to make a cheesecake with Poppy Bagels' truffle schmear, Wikipedia has just informed me of the existence of a smoked salmon cheesecake, and Kat Lieu just posted a SPAM Basque cheesecake. Time to reup our Lactaid stock!

And now, of course, I'm earwormed with the old-timey Fluffernutter jingle.



(Yeah, I know, an original Fluffernutter has no chocolate, but sprinkling some chocolate chips on top of one side and melting before assembly is pretty standard. Though IME hagelslag or vlokken work better, and of course you can also get hagelslag at Cost Plus, 😂.)

Finished Smut Wars :)

Aug. 24th, 2025 08:01 am
artemisdart: (horny bird)
[personal profile] artemisdart
Just now I was able to finish and post my contribution to the Smut Wars 2025 Exchange. I'm pleased with the story, and I hope my recipient likes it! :)

Works won't be revealed until September 7, and authors until September 14, so I won't be able to talk about it here until then.

Now, back to my other WIPs...

Life in the Fast Lane

Aug. 24th, 2025 01:39 pm
iosonochesono: (MLP: Dash Helpful)
[personal profile] iosonochesono
I put £800 into the house account this month, but I'm not sure I'll be able to stick with it. Maybe. I'm supposed to be pet-sitting later this month and I have two weeks off work, so my bills should be a lot lower. If I got a job at the place four minutes away, not only would I have to worry a lot less about retirement savings (their employer contribution to the pension is almost 30%) but I could just start hiring the dog walker ad-hoc, and stop buying bus passes - a savings of about £310/month, give or take. Well, insofar as it can considering inflation has been so high compared to wage increases that I've barely had any cushion left.




Patrick's dad came out and measured the fencing and figures we can get the supplies for about £1,000. So, figure to be safe, around £2,000 should mean we have adequate cushion for the supplies. If I could only get one thing done this year, I'd want it to be the fencing! And the inside decoration, which I imagine would help a lot with any adoption applications for a dog foster or rescue.

They brought family over and they helped destroy and remove the hydrangea. Now Jake has a lot more space.




I only have to get through two more sections and I'll be on Pivot Tables on my current Excel course. I have a separate course just on Excel Pivot Tables as well, so, I'm going to try to watch the basic course sections and then break from the course to focus and specialize on the pivot tables because Project Management and Data-based careers all put a lot of emphasis on it. (I also plan on getting a course they do that specifies a lot on formulas). I'll probably do the same thing with VBA, eventually. When I get around to it. I'm coming out this year an expert on Excel compared to most of the people I work with, that is for sure.

It's a bit silly because I learned Excel in Uni, and it's actually more user-friendly than it ever was when I learned it. That said, I am learning a lot, the brilliant part is, most of it I can just learn from the lecture without practising the exercises (which is good, because I can't afford to pay MS 365 for access to the MS Word applications - I'm just trying to practise what I learn with relevant data for work on my call logs.)




I'm trying to do a lot of basic cleaning this weekend - Dad knows this place is still 'under construction' but I want to clean what I can. I went by ReStore to see if I could find some bookcases or a bed, but I just can't bring myself to buy one that I'll just be getting rid of when we get the money together to replace the flooring.




ETA: It's gotten sunny and hot outside, and I was letting Jake and Marty play earlier so I'm letting it cool down before I take Jake for another walk so I'm watching the Pivot Table introduction now, and hopefully I'll be able to move to the separate course specific to Pivot Tables tomorrow, however... The instructor is right, the complexity and difficulty of Pivot Tables is over-exaggerated. If I'm reviewing Excel over my holiday break, I should actually be pretty good at this stuff after I get back from holiday, and I can use reports from our software to use this data to practise all sorts of things.

Pumpkin Autumn Challenge 2025

Aug. 24th, 2025 09:48 am
flo_nelja: (Default)
[personal profile] flo_nelja
Encore une fois, je le fais seulement avec de la BD !
Si vous avez des BD (comics, manga, etc) qu'il faut que je lise, et qui collent aux thèmes, allez-y ! Si c'est du webcomic que je peux lire gratuitement, c'est encore mieux !


AUTOME FRISSONNANT

Monster Mash (Halloween - Créature - Classique - Comédie - Danse)

Seriez-vous capable de l'arrêter ? (Thriller - Enquête - Suspense - Identité - Philosophie - Paradoxe - Manga)

Ceux qui ignorent qu'ils n'existent pas (Fatalité - Deuil - Esprit - Fragment - Secret - Combat - Peintresse - Art - Oeuvre française)

Les songes maudits de Carmilla (Vampire - Manoir - Nuit - Surnaturel - Gothique - Horreur - Nouvelle)


AUTOMNE EXTRAORDINAIRE

La Bonne Auberge de la Pierre Levée (Fantasy - Quête - Médiéval - JDR - Livre dont vous êtes le héros - Voyageur - Musique)

Chaudron, Foudre, et Clair de Lune (Fantastique - Magie - Sorcière - Potion - Infusion - Herboristerie - Amour - Famille)

Le Cercle de la Com'thé (Fête - Gourmandise - Récomfort - Joie - Diversité - Singularité - Empathie - Vivre ensemble)

Latte : Une variations sophistiquée et crémeuse (Une couverture aux couleurs d'un latte à la cannelle et à la cardamome, marron, beige)


AUTOMNE RAYONNANT

Je ne couperai pas mes cheveux, je ne parlerai pas moins fort (Mythologie - Chasseresse - Liberté - Emancipation - Féminisme)

Ma meilleure ennemie (Dualité - Hiérarchie - Inégalité - Résistance - Rebelle - Sacrifice - Enemies to lovers - Steampunk)

Pour nous qui avons besoin de souffler (Nature - Ecologie - Conscience - Espoir - Paix - Poésie - Solarpunk)

Rester tout le temps avec Brindille (Amitié - Animaux - Soin - Aventurière - Changement - Jeunesse - Bande dessinée)
malurette: (cute)
[personal profile] malurette
Titre : Chien pourri ! (t1)
Auteurs : Colas Gutman & Marc Boutavant
Langue : français
Type : roman jeunesse
Genre : humour

1ère parution : 2013
Édition : L'école des loisirs
Format : en intégrale reliée, 55 pages

Read more... )

...comment ça fait pour être aussi rigolo ?
(Ça se finit bien, évidemment... oui mais... pour qu'il y ait toute une série ensuite, quel sera le Reset Button utilisé ?)
pour le renvoyer à sa poubelle ??

Enemies to Lovers plot

Aug. 23rd, 2025 09:49 pm
artemisdart: (Garden)
[personal profile] artemisdart
I think I've dialed in the main plot for my Enemies to Lovers contribution, which is good, since it's due next in just a few weeks! I also picked up a pinch hits for Enemies to Lovers, but I have no concerns about being able to write that.

Due just a bit after that will be my Rare Pair assignment.

I'm pondering whether to sign up for Five Figure Fanwork Exchange again this year. I really enjoyed the novel I wrote for it last year, Tournament of Dragons. But I don't have to write something that long again; I could write something that's only 10k and call it good.

I think my struggle with FFFX is how incredibly long the exchange takes to run! Between nominations and reveals there's something like 6 to 8 months. That's just a really long time for me to maintain enthusiasm about the same fic. Usually I write about 50k words a month, so I'm constantly cranking out stories of 10k or more; I don't need a FFFX to motivate me to do that.

So overall, I think I'm going to leave FFFX in my past and not do it again. Although, maybe just looking through the tags in the tagset wouldn't hurt....

Today's Adventures

Aug. 23rd, 2025 09:14 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today we went down to Effingham for the Oddities Market at the Thelma Keller Convention Center, hosted by Hazel-Jayne Crystals & Gifts. We still have not made it back to the actual Hazel-Jayne and want to do so.

Read more... )

Timeshares and Time Travel

Aug. 24th, 2025 02:30 am
cahwyguy: (Default)
[personal profile] cahwyguy

The WhalerBack when I was in high school, my parents bought a timeshare in Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii. I visited a lot when I was in high school and my first years in college. After that, it was mostly my parents place (and, for the longest time, they rented out the two weeks to friends of theirs). For the longest time, the last time we were there was right after our wedding, in 1985. After my folks passed on, the unit and interval passed to me. We would go occasionally, but usually we just deposited the interval with Interval International, and just went somewhere in driving distance of Los Angeles. In other words: Las Vegas (in the summer), Scottsdale (in the summer), Tucson (in the summer), Palm Desert (in the summer), and occasionally, Escondido (in the summer). We were last in Maui for our 30th wedding anniversary in 2015. This year, being our 40th, we had the occasion to visit again.

I bring this up because this timeshare is different than most of the timeshares we visit. Other timeshare—the Grand Chateau Marriott in Las Vegas, the numerous Marriott complexes in Palm Desert in Scottsdale or Palm Desert, the Welk Resort in Escondido—they all feel like glorified hotel rooms (because they are). There is no sense of other owners; no sense of the folks with whom you share the space. The closest we came was many years ago when we exchanged for the Palm Springs Golf and Tennis Club.

Here, it is different. There is a closet shared with the owners of the other intervals. Each interval leaves a box of (non-perishable) stuff for their next visit. The box is a timecard of your last visit. Mine still has 3 sets of playing cards that my parents used, together with stationary and envelopes. We’ll add more for our next visit: dry measure cups and kitchen supplies and such.

People leave appliances for other owners. We’ve found, at the top of shelves, rice cookers and french presses, and thermal mugs and all such. You pass it forward instead of being possessive and shipping it back. People do the same with beach supplies. Interval owners are a family—I remember that there used to mixers each intervals for the owners to meet each other. I didn’t see one scheduled when we were there; perhaps they have passed by the wayside.

The people here are a family. We get a weekly newsletter about what is happening with the TIO (Time Interval Owners) and the AOAO (Apartment Owners Association). We know the staff. We see the constant upkeep of the grounds. We learn what is happening in the community. This doesn’t happen with those timeshares where you just buy points to use somewhere else; where the point is just to get some timeshare to get into the system. This isn’t the type of timeshare where people want to sell. This is family.

Way in the back of a cabinet where people leave games and puzzles, I found a notebook: The people of XXX (where XXX is our unit). This was clearly something my dad had put together for each interval to put pictures of their family, perhaps their address. People put in menus and comments on them (and my dad’s distinctive handwriting was all over the place—he really was the outgoing people person). I was probably buried back there, and none of the owners have updated it perhaps since the 1990s. But there was a picture of my parents in there, as well as a picture of my dad and his next wife (my stepmother who just passed away). It was this remarkable time capsule of my parents; a bit of time travel that brought back memories of summer on Maui as a teen. Remember—this was 50 years ago!

Finding that notebook reminded me how special this place it. Perhaps, now that I’m retired, we’ll brave the 5+ hour flight to come out here more years.

===> Click Here To Comment <==This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Timeshares and Time Travel by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link to the left. You can sign in with your LJ, DW, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. Note: Subsequent changes made to the post on the blog are not propagated by the SNAP Crossposter; please visit the original post to see the latest version. P.S.: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

Profile

getting_started: question mark in the style of the site logo (Default)
Questions and answers for new or confused DW users

August 2025

S M T W T F S
     12
34567 89
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Aug. 25th, 2025 09:12 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios