Just a Tart

Morning walk . . . with coyotes.

Many others have mentioned my 1st one: I lived in a gayborhood when HIV showed up & have worked in orgs w Ryan White funding, and ARVs are a damn miracle. The HPV vax is another damn miracle. Reliable contraception. No-fault divorce.

I've had a CTA map as my shower curtain for a million years. I did some bathroom reno this year & because I have subway tile, I ordered one that shows all of the rolling stock over the years. It's been delayed, tho, because I AM THE FIRST PERSON TO ORDER IT & the scaled layout was missing. Excited!

Whenever I see that Penzey's is having a sale on vanilla (until midnight tonight!) I lurch toward buying more. And then I look at the unopened bottles of vanilla sitting with my spices and herbs and realize that I can skip the sale this time. Probably.

Coyote in the morning. One of six (!!) I saw while cutting through the cemetery.

and suggest that she take a different tone, and perhaps smile.

This AI talk makes me want to use my fountain pens. I still take notes by hand, on paper, because I find that I retain and process the information much better. (Not everyone can/does! There are many paths!) Also: writing notes by hand enables doodling, which, oddly, also helps me process info.

I'm having plumbing work done. Plumber noted one emerging issue is showing up to do work & the customer is trying to instruct the plumber, because customer asked some chatbot how to do it. As I said to him, let me know when a chatbot can actually come out & do the work.

Margarita, sausage, Sicilian, white (gonna add spinach and garlic to mine), slice (the kind you can fold), Hawaiian (blasphemous, I know). Purposely NOT including the abomination known as “stuffed.” If you want it stuffed, have a calzone instead.

Lilacs are in bloom! I love the smell, both when there are so many lilacs that there's a cloud of scent and when there's only one bush but it is working HARD to perfume the air. Because lilacs begin to wilt immediately when cut, to enjoy them you really have to let them be. Probably a lesson there?

I just purchased a ticket to an event, and holy fk, I didn't think it was possible for Ticketbastard to make me hate them even more, but here we are.

So everyone seemed to think the "make it colorful" episode of #TopChefCarolinas wasn't a good one. Personally, I'm shocked no one used butterfly pea flower: it turns food (e.g., white rice) blue, and then if you put lemon juice on it, it turns purple! That would have been so fun!

Today's Festival of Using Shit Up will feature muffins that contain sourdough discard, dates, cranberries, and butternut squash, and I think I'll try a sour cream frosting. The squash will replace some of the butter, and oats will replace some of the flour. Fingers crossed.

Watched "Casablanca" last night for the millionth time. Everyone is trying to get to America. They all have accents and stories to tell, are escaping terrible conditions, are desperate. And they all see America as a shining beacon of a place where they'll be welcomed. Let's be that country again.

Local Wine Shop had a fancy wine tasting in December; I indulged in some $$ bottles. Opened one Sat.: corked. Took it back Tues., they replaced it. I said, hmm, maybe use it for education. Turns out they had a wine class last night & did JUST THAT! (I wasn't there but friend who'd tasted it was.)

Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college. Symbolic Logic Intro to Political Theory (Hobbes to Marx) Work & the Meaning of Life (winter term) Calculus (HS calculus did NOT prepare me for this) Intro to Drawing

Eleanor Shelstrop (The Good Place), because she just keeps trying, and Chidi Rebecca (Ted Lasso) either of Andre Braugher’s cops (Pembleton or Holt) Belcher (Hill Street)

A Study in Beige (R to L: wild turkey breast; soubise; celery root (grated, roasted, then put in turkey pan to sop up the fond); risotto.) I wanted to try making soubise; it was tasty, but next time I'll cook the onions a bit longer. I wanted similar colors but different flavors, for the hell of it.

While I was in prison, I was the food procurement clerk. It was my job to work with the first cook to design the daily food menu and then make sure the men were fed on a budget of $2.60 per person per day. How I helped make the best Christmas prison meal, a thread.

I GOT EARS! Finally! (KAF BigBook Campagne) Reduced hydration by 18%, 24 hour bulk AND 24 hour second ferment (mixed dough Sunday, baked tonight), & baked at 425 the whole time. Not all the way there (still underproofed I think maybe), still don’t know the problems, though. Frustrating (but EARS!).

Introduce yourself with five concerts: -Springsteen (30x? in at least 7 venues/3 states) -Grateful Dead (once w Jerry) & various incarnations, inc. Fare Thee Well all 3 nights -Widespread Panic/Allman Bros (double bill, 2 nights btb) -Bonnie Raitt -Elvis Costello/Bob Dylan (same bill)

“God Bless You Mr Rosewater“ at 12, & all the rest of Vonnegut. Waited for new ones to be published. I later came to find the misogyny in Vonnegut, but that book bent my 12-year-old mind. Then, thanks to Jeff Innes, “Lord of the Rings” (Jeff sat behind me in Algebra 3/trigonometry class).

#Aurora over Lake Michigan. Mostly not naked eye.

Saw #DeliverMeFromNowhere today and immediately called my brother to tell him to see it. And for the walk home, I of course listened to “Nebraska.” My criterion for books/movies is “a good story, told well,” and damn this delivers. Sooo good.

It took 5.5 years, but today I tested positive for Covid for the first time. I was gonna get the updated vax in 2 weeks or so. Mostly tired, a little feverish; guess the Sunday beer run is out of the question. Feh. Lots of resting in my future.

#MorningRun Love the blue and pink "flag" in the upper part of the sky.

#BreadSky #BreadFail In the back, sesame wheat; in the front, birdseed, all from King Arthur BigBook Of Bread. Overproofed (because I went to bed after 13 hrs of proofing & it hadn’t budged, then blew up while I slept) and overhydrated even though I reduced the water. 6+ fails w these formulae. Feh.

I’m battling as best I can, but I often feel like I’m in a sword fight and don’t know how to sword fight and all I have is a replica of the shards of Narsil. But. Today I listened to a podcast about Wittgenstein that made me happy. Homemade pies (pizza and blueberry) (not together)for dinner.

Fail Safe Dr. Strangelove And in that order

#MorningRun New day.

Happy Obergefell Day! Or Love Is Love Day, whatever you prefer.

Five year vertical of Priest Prophet King barley wine from Karben 4. Campfire to the left (out of range).

Today’s beer run question: Who is your hero? My answer:

#GlobalRunningDay reward (Honkers English Bitter)

This . . . is everything.

Here's a thought: ASK them what they like about that thing! and listen to their answer! It may never be your jam, but it's THEIR jam, and knowing what they like and why gives you insight into that person.

#MorningRun A new day . . .

#CakeSky It’s King Arthur’s Almond Berry Cake. Rescaled for 9” pan; subbed in pistachio flour for some of almond (to use up pistachios); used cherries; added mini chocolate chips.

#Breadsky This is what happens when u think you can fit a little more discard in the jar on Saturday, because you're going to use it Sunday. Didn't use it after all but split into 2 jars because otherwise it will take over the fridge. Good news tho: starter has been revived from very slow to speedy.

In case folks don't remember, THIS is my inspiration, and will be the foundation for food at the upcoming Beer from the Basement gathering at my house.

#Breadsky #Pretzelsky Test batch; trying to make the small enough so we can have more than one, but big enough to fit charcuterie into the holes. The taste is fabulous (will sub in some whole wheat next time), but the holes aren't quite big enough.

#Breadsky This is (yet another attempt at!) Birdseed Bread from KAF's Big Book of Bread. I did something you're not supposed to do--change two things in one iteration. I lowered oven temp by 25 degrees F & reduced hydration by about 75 grams. Supposed to be batard, but will be sliced, so bread pan.

#Breadsky Working on my sourdough; 2 loaves of Bird Seed, 2 sesame wheat, from KAF bread book. All use only starter as leavening. My oven might be hot, as they were too dark very early. And the dough is still a little slack, so the shapes are wonky. But! The flavor is nice (yes I cut them early).

I’m really tired of the crowd of destroyers who would rather gleefully fill in swimming pools than share the pools with black people.

Senate Dems: VOTE NO on a Republican CR! They have the majority; make them do it. And if you can slow it down before that happens, do THAT, too!

On international women’s day, I’m thinking of the celebration of a lovely, amazing trans woman who died recently (of colon cancer—get screened!). I couldn’t be there (I’m w my mom for the anniversary of dad’s death), but was able to take a long train ride w her yrs ago. Love you & miss you Phoebe!

#MorningRun

#MorningWalk This is -4 degrees F. I had on so! many! layers!

To every government worker who is doing everything they can to protect data and systems, to minimize damage, to enable recovery, THANK YOU. You're my heroes and heroines.