Reports from a Mundane Geek Life

[psa] Housekeeping

2017-04-24T19:50:06Z

With my move to Dreamwidth, I got a burr under my saddle this morning to go through and do a deep clean-up of my LiveJournal friends list--mostly, I removed all the RSS feeds and all the communities I no longer read or participate in, but I also unfollowed a bunch of accounts for people I know haven't been around for, in most cases, years.

If anyone feels I dropped them off in error, feel free to comment here and I'll re-evaluate my decision.

Otherwise, I encourage everyone to follow me over on Dreamwidth at https://alix.dreamwidth.org/

ANNOUNCEMENT: Making the migration

2017-04-06T14:34:13Z

With the recent change to LiveJournal's hosting, the new TOS and it's strictures, I've decided to finally leave the LJ nest and move my posting host over to Dreamwidth.org. It's really weird, because I've been here since August 2001 (nearly 16 years).

If you want to find me, I'm alix there (I managed to get in early enough to get my preferred net-name :> ).

I've migrated all my old posts, friends lists, etc. already, so if you continue to use LJ, I think you'll be able to access things there. Also, I'll be allowing Dreamwidth to cross-post here and supporting comments made here, although I might, sometime in the future, turn comments off here so I don't have to keep up with two different inboxes. (If/when that happens, LJ users can comment on Dreamwidth posts using OpenID).

OR, if you also have a Dreamwidth account (or decide to make the move as well), shoot me an invite. If we're mutuals here, I'll add you back there. :D I found the migration utility Dreamwidth has set up is dead simple and will schlorp over everything* (* - as long as your DW account can accomodate frex the number of icons you have).

'There, but for the grace of God, go I'

2017-01-31T23:40:56Z

This is a phrase that tends to go through my head a lot. Mostly whenever I encounter homeless people. It's an attempt to remind myself that I shouldn't be complacent, that all it would take is a managerial decision for me to be laid off, fired, or whatever clever euphemism my company is using to refer to it this time to not say those words and potentially wind up in their position.

It's a fear--a real fear--but it's also a reminder of my privilege. That I'm not on the street. I have a job, a house, a car, I can pay my bills and still have money leftover. I'm comfortable. At the moment, I'm safe. Ish.

Not everyone in the world is.

That basic empathy is, I think, on full demonstration right now, with the protests over the Muslim travel ban, but so, too, is its antagonist, callousness. Indifference.

"...it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir."
"Are there no prisons?"
"Plenty of prisons..."
"And the Union workhouses." demanded Scrooge. "Are they still in operation?"
"Both very busy, sir..."
"Those who are badly off must go there."
"Many can't go there; and many would rather die."
"If they would rather die," said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

One hundred and fifty years later, and things haven't changed much.

The last two weeks have been seismic. Weekly protests. Congress people joining the protests. The Secretary of Homeland Security finding out about an executive order pertaining to his department as the order is being signed on television. The Acting Attorney General being fired for having the guts to say a presidential executive order is, in her studied opinion, undefendable. A five year old child being separated from their families and left to go hungry because they might be a terrorist. Executive branch organizations ignoring court orders. The enforcement branch of the judicial branch refusing to comply, saying they answer to an executive branch department. Most of the State Department leadership being gutted before the Secretary of State is even confirmed. The government issuing bald-faced, easily reputed lies and doubling down when confronted with this fact. The German Chancellor having to explain the Geneva Convention to our sitting president as if he's a teenager in his first Civics class. The governments of our allies openly questioning that relationship.

The problem is, there are so many people in this country who are going: "Good."

I have never been so political in my life as I've been these two weeks.

This isn't unique, but I'm finding it difficult to have self-discipline to pace myself. This is a problem I've been wrestling with for the last couple of years, the current political climate is not helping at all. Some articles have mentioned the concern of "resistance fatigue", that this may become a marathon, not a sprint, and that suggests endurance. The protests burn bright and hot now, but will the collective we have the fuel to keep it up over months? Or years? That may be what it takes.

I thought about writing more about this...but, for now, I'll leave it here. I'm not done thinking. I'm not done writing. But what I am doing is trying to force downtime. To find those quiet moments where I step away, to let the energy tank be restored, so I can continue on tomorrow.

I feel very strongly that we're at a watershed moment of history. I wonder how many people realize, when they're in one, that they are?

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

In dark times, turn to snark

2017-01-20T18:36:33Z

#WeThePeople pic.twitter.com/xTEN36qsHs
— Nicole Chase (@SpaceAgNicole) January 20, 2017

Today was a momentous day today; I honestly can't remember a presidential inaugration so burned into my memory this way. I find it deeply ironic that is pouring buckets here in California, a state that has pledged to resist "any effort that would shred our social fabric or our Constitution.".

On one hand, I feel like I should've taken today off of work, because it's been hard to focus; on the other hand, it's been cathartic participating in the upswell of black humor and defiance washing through my Twitter timeline today, and at home, I'd probably be dwelling on it too much.

On a sidenote, it's been really nice, this time around, to find myself on the same side of the political fence as an internet acquaintance/one of my first PAX East roomies. I still vividly remember getting into it with her on Twitter during the 2012 election because she was blaming Obama for a bunch of shit he had no control over (sounding like a typical Republican while doing so). I spent four years on metaphorical eggshells that something I might say or retweet might spark another confrontation.

This past year, she's been a vocal opponent of Trump, his policies, and his shenanigans, and every time she posts something that I see or retweets something I shared, it's like a burst of happy warmth.

But happy birthday to Ted and former Doctor and current Star Wars: Rebel guest voice star, Tom Baker, and this image someone shared on Twitter:

Happy 83rd birthday, Tom Baker! Thank you for the hat, the scarf, and a thousand moments like this one. #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/z6c7IXj1wv
— Penny Goodman (@pjgoodman) January 20, 2017

DIY: Stained glass 'windows'

2017-01-18T17:01:03Z

Last year, I had this brainwave for a deco for my room: faux stained glass windows made from shadow box frames with stained glass decals backed by led lights. I'd seen some on Etsy that I really loved and I thought it would be pretty for a wall I don't have much art on.

Fast forward to this week, where I've been poking at it more seriously, and I've run into a bit of a snag. I'll save y'all the journey to get to this point, but here are the options I'm looking at:

1. Buy made-to-size decals from DecorativeFilm.com
PROS: They'll exactly fit the shadow box/frame I want to use (9"x9" Ribba frames)
CONS: They're a lot more expensive than I was expecting ($31-34 per decal, not including the $10 price of the frames) and I'm not totally in love with the available patterns.

2. Buy 'rose window' decals from OShardsofColorO on Etsy.
PROS: They're inexpensive (only $10 per) and I love the look of them
CONS: They only measure 8"x8" (meaning I'll have to make up an inch somewhere) and I don't know if I love two enough to put in my room (and my mind is set on two)

(Alternatively, I might be able to get away with using a 7 3/4"x9 3/4" frame and one of the half-size ones for $20, but there's still the problem of not wanting to do two of them, especially at that size)

3. Find Creative Commons-okay images of stained glass I like and print them out on transparency film
PROS: Likely cheaper, a lot of printing businesses (like Kinko's) will do transparency printing, and I could make sure I love the images
CONS: I might not be able to find images I love appropriate for it

4. Paint my own
PROS: Satisfies my DIY crafty itch
CONS: Start-up cost would be prohibitive, as the paint I found that isn't cheap shit is pricey (pricey enough to make #1 feasible if we're comparison shopping) and I'd be limited to some extent on my subject matter since I'm not a great line artist

To be honest, I'm waffling between #2 and #4. Painting my own is appealing because I'd love to learn how to do it, but then I'd be left with all these supplies leftover and what do I do with them? (Unless I was to try to continue making stuff and selling it on Etsy, but I'm not a good enough original artist to do that). I reaaaaaaaally want to do #2 (the Star Wars one, OMG), but I'd have edging to compensate for...which I could do with the paint, and I wouldn't necessarily need as many colors so it wouldn't be as expensive.

So, tell me, what would you do?

...

2016-05-26T14:16:45Z

Oh my god, we're going to the Stanley Cup Finals.

I'm trying not to be superstitious this year

2016-05-24T14:45:57Z

...but the Sharks beat the Blues last night in Game 5 of the NHL Western Conference Finals, and are one win away from winning the series and moving on to the Stanley Cup.

In their 25 year history, they have never led a WCF series--and I should know, because I was at all the home games for the previous three times they've been there.

This has been an amazing playoff year and I'm sad it's finally happening long after I had to give up on season tickets because they were too expensive.

Leaving this here for the Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes people

2016-04-20T17:22:32Z

https://forums.galaxy-of-heroes.starwars.ea.com/discussion/29985/raids-preview

I'm going to be forming a Guild Sunday night, soon as the update drops, comprised of my RL and Internet friends who are playing; many of us are level 70+ and active players. There's a max-member cap of 50, but I think we should be well under that.

If you'd like in, leave me a comment and DM me your Ally code just in case that's what's needed to invite. Since I don't know what is necessary to invite, I may have to come back to you for more information.

(aelfsciene, ebonlock, elo_sf, esmerel: I've already accounted for you :P )

Or, if I'm not currently Ally's with you, you can still DM me with your Ally code and I'll friend you. :)

Someone has the case of the Mondays

2016-01-14T15:42:53Z

Nothing like coming into work having not been the California resident who will share in the $1.5 billion Power Ball lottery (although I did match 1 number--perhaps a new record for me), facing doing a performance review at work (late), managing to spill coffee all down my front (as well as my desk and the floor), and then discovering Alan Rickman died today.

Seriously. Fuck the world. I wish I could just stay in bed all week.

Signal Boost: Netflix socks

2015-12-17T16:03:52Z

http://makeit.netflix.com/#step1

Sometimes a show is so good, you just can’t stop. And the next thing you know, zzzzz. Netflix socks detect when you’ve dozed off and send a signal to your TV, automatically pausing your show. Never again will you binge-watch yourself to sleep, only to wake up two seasons later wondering what happened.

The patterns themselves are, at first blush, interesting, until you discover that it's all duplicate stitch. Ha. Hahahaha. (No). But the electronic part of it is an interesting concept and worth sharing.

[humor/memes] xkcd: Colds

2015-12-07T16:01:32Z

This was so appropriate for last week. XD

http://xkcd.com/1612/

Inspired to cook: chile and corn soup, frozen hot chocolate

2015-08-20T16:32:14Z

Inspired to cook: something I haven't really been, recently. I'm pretty sure I know why, but the why isn't important.

I haven't stumbled on many recipes this month, or not as many as I sometimes do, but the percentages that have lit a fire under me to try out have been greater. First it was Smitten Kitchen's takeout-style sesame noodles with cucumber--you had me at 'sesame noodle' (but I found to be a bit too peanut buttery. I'd tweak that next time), then Homesick Texan's corn and green chile soup which stuck with me for well over a week. Then Smitten Kitchen struck again, with this wonderfully easy frozen hot chocolate recipe in a week that while not as bad as other parts of the country, were still AC-worthy.

Last night, with the prospect of Movie Nite to share food with, I gave into the allure and made the other two.

One of the aspects of the soup that appealed to me was the fact that I had a bunch of corn in the freezer I'd cut off the cob myself last year needing to be used up (and to free up some freezer space). The most difficult part of it was the chiles--the broiler direction she gave wasn't doing it for me, so I went the brute force method and roasted them directly over my gas stove. Probably took just as long, thanks to doing it in batches. Then peeling and de-seeding them was an arduous, messy process (and, next time, I'm going to remember to wear my damn latex gloves because, ow, my eyes later when I went to remove my contacts). One nice thing is that I could use the milk needed for the frozen hot chocolate to cover the half-n-half and buttermilk of this recipe, and, if I had been capable of doing math, the two together could've utilized 1 pint of whole milk with nothing leftover, ideal in my house since I normally don't drink milk. As it was, I accidentally bought a quart so now I'm trying to use the rest up. :P

The frozen hot chocolate, on the other hand, was a snap. Melt chocolate (I did it over a double boiler using a metal bowl that I could then mix everything else in later), add cocoa powder and sugar, whisk in milk (I also added a bit of salt and vanilla extract because Reasons). Cool, then blend with a cup of ice I bought at 7-11 on the way and only cost $0.75. Top with spray whipped cream because I felt lazy. I loved it. I want more.

I need to devote some time to being more aggressive about cleaning out the freezer. zdashamber offered me more Costco frozen sour cherries that I'd like to take her up on, but that means finding space. Plus, some of the stuff in there is just plain old.

Maybe this weekend.

Movie Nite: Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013)

2015-06-12T17:24:23Z

Taking a flier that anyone is still interested in doing the Saturday Movie Nite, but I have a movie burning a hole in my backlog and I'm going to try to host again.

This Saturday's Movie Nite offering will be Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom starring Idris Elba and Naomie Harris.

"A chronicle of Nelson Mandela's (Elba) life journey from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa."

Time: Saturday, June 13th at 7pm (doors open at 6:30pm for socializing)
Where: My place

If you can, please RSVP so I can know whether or not to expect you. If you want to do dinner in some sort of potluck or other fashion, please also let me know.

Just a blurby bullet point post about the summer TV show slate

2015-06-12T15:12:54Z

It's summer! This shouldn't be happening! And yet it is. A brief rundown on all the TV shows staring at me in the face at the moment, in the order they occur to me.

Game of Thrones, Season 5
I have such an ambivalent relationship with this show. On the one hand, their unrepentant over-dependence on sexual violence towards women is pushing me towards overt action to vocalize this directly to HBO and/or the showrunners. On the other, we have episodes like "Hardhome" (Episode 8) which are far and away the best storytelling on television by a country mile. It's very much a case of "I just can't quit you", but it is tinged with some self-disgust that I can't.

The final episode airs on Sunday, and I CANNOT WAIT.

True Detectives, Season 2
Although there is no temporary respite on Sunday. We went straight from the season finale of "The Walking Dead" to "Game of Thrones", and now we'll segue directly into this show at the same time slot.

I'm not sure about this season, though. I watched last season because Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, and by the end, I did wind up enjoying it, but mostly because of the character interaction and their acting. This season stars Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn, and neither of those actors appeals to me the same way, so I'm...dubious.

Still, I expect we'll give it at least one episode and go from there.

Daredevil, Season 1
So it's Netflix, but it's in a show format and they've been blurring the line for a few years now, so I'm just going to go with it.

E-- and I have been working our way through this season, but it's been slow--we're on Episode 8 of 13 and have had many weeks where we've stopped mid-episode for one reason or another. Knowing absolutely nothing about the Daredevil canon other than the bits of info E--'s been dropping as we watched, I'm enjoying the show quite a bit.

Orange is the New Black, Season 3
It's available as of today! *twirl!* I watched a teaser for it, and it served its purpose. But between trying to finish up "Daredevil" and a replay of Telltale's "Game of Thrones" (*incoherent noises of happiness*), finding time to watch this on Friday nght's is going to be tough. Or take a while. :)

Sense8, Season 1
And then there's this one, another Netflix series that merlinofchaos twigged me to, the big draws being that it's helmed by JMS of "Babylon 5" fame and the Wachoski siblings of "The Matrix" and Jupiter Ascending. It also has Naveen Andrews from "Lost" and The English Patient in what appears to be a mentor role and an interesting sci-fi'ish premise, so I want to at least give it a shot.

Sleepy Hollow, Season 1
O' course, all three of those are competing with getting back to this, the show we discussed waaaaaaay back last summer as what we'd watch once I'd caught up on "Agents of SHIELD". I've gotten exactly one show into it--the pilot--but with everything else going on...ugh. :)

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Seasons 2 & 3
Finally, something not competing for Friday night's attention. :)

I love this show so very, very much. So much so that immediately after finishing watching Season 2 as part of the Wednesday night movie nite, I attached myself to E--'s watching of the show with her friend in order to re-watch it.

E-- and her friend are just about to hit the end of Season 2, while E--'s been downloading Season 3 as it airs in Australia that we've been watching on Wednesdays. The first two episodes of the season left me a little nonplussed, but the third episode that we just watched on Wednesday was a little better. Fingers crossed they're over the b.s. that put me off the first two eps.

And they're looking into making a feature-length film! \o/

Orphan Black, Season 3
Not having cable or satellite hasn't been much of a burden until this show started back up again and the only way to get it anytime close to airtime was ether to download it or Amazon Prime. Because of that, we put off re-starting it Wednesday nights until after we got through S2 "Miss Fisher" and "Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency". It's still not free, but we went ahead and bit the bullet and bought the season. :P Started watching it last week, so we're up to Episode 2 of 10.

Tatiana Maslany continues to be amazeballs, and if you had told me I would be ardently in lurve with Helena back in Season 1, I would've called you nutso. Felix is being underused so far this season, though, as anything more than a facilitator and "gay best friend", which is criminal given how good a character he is. I hope this improves as the season goes on.

Key & Peele, Season 4
They changed up the format this season from the previous three and...I'm not entirely sure I like it. I miss the energy of the studio audience bridges between the skits, while at the same time at least understanding that the new bridges and opening credits are a flagrant spoof of Season 1 "True Detectives" (which, given my entry above, I find ironic :).

But there have been a few really good skits. "Old Ladies and Satan" in Episode 4.3 had me howling. And then there was the fangirly flailing moment at the end of Ep 4.5 (which we just watched on Wednesday) where they used a 10 second clip from "Leaving Earth" from Mass Effect 3 which I identified after maybe five notes and spent the rest of the episode lol'ing over. (And that's pretty much the reason I wanted to mention this show with all the rest).

Season 5 of this apparently begins in a few weeks (!!!), so hopefully Season 4 will go to free-to-watch on Amazon streaming here soon.

Game of Thrones: "Hardhome", Cat update

2015-06-01T14:50:58Z

Without spoilers:

(*@()#*@(#*@()#*(@#*()@*#~keysmash~ THAT EPISODE.

*smokes a cigarette*

(There may be spoilers in the comments. Caveat lector.

If you do spoil, please try to cut with an LJ-SPOILER TAG. )

(ETA): Oh, right, so I don't have to make a second post: I got to take both Toast (after his congestion worsened through Saturday morning) and Tali into the vets on Saturday. Toast was unhappy about his second trip in less than a week, Tali protested simply going to the vets and then tipped over into her now typical vapor lock soon as we got there.

Verdict: the herpes-like viral infection cats can get flared up and, especially in Tali's case but also possibly with Toast, segued into a bacterial sinus infection. "No pneumonia yet", so, that's good. :P

In addition to the 'poor them' for sounding like wheezing sneezey things and sleeping in odd places as a sign of how puny they're feeling (Tali in the closet, Toast under the bed), poor me for having to give them twice daily doses of antibiotics for 10 days. Ugh. Plus, it's an antibiotic that the vet strongly urges they eat afterwards, in order to prevent esophageal ulcers (joy), and Tali is food indifferent and has lost her appetite for snacks entirely the last couple of months. It's caused me to have to change up how I feed them and finagle denying them all food at certain times in order to try to get Tali hungry enough to eat when I have to give them their meds. Which I'm sure makes none of us happy.

Tali seems to be improving some after two days into the run. Toast...not so much, so IDK. I'm still not convinced it wasn't allergies, given that it hit all three of them almost simultaneously and only Toast had the extra stress of having gone to the vets to have triggered the virus from coming out of remission. Also, I woke up this morning congested myself. So... :P

Recipe: Botswanan Chicken Groundnut Stew

2015-05-14T19:30:11Z

For the last few weeks, tavella, zdashamber and I have been watching the extremely limited (seven episode) run of BBC/HBO's "Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency" for our Wednesday night Movie Nite. Knowing absolutely nothing about it before watching the first episode, other than Tavella enthusing about it because it's a female-lead driven show, it came as a pleasant shock to discover the show is set in...Botswana. A country I'm not sure I'd even heard of before a month ago, or, if I did, I never, in a million years, would've expected to be watching a TV show aired in any capacity in the U.S. set there.

Anyway. The show is adorable in its own quirky way (although I'm more partial to the main character's supporting cast than the main character herself), but when it came my turn to cook dinner for it (did I mention I'm no longer hosting? I'm no longer hosting, for Reasons), I got it in my head of wanting to try to cook something in theme.

A quick googling for recipes earlier this week turned up...not much. The most prevalent recipe turned out to be seswaa, what Wikipedia describes as "heavily salted mashed-up meat" (and it looks like, traditionally, beef in that regard), which although authentic, looked rather...uninspiring. (Although better than something else I just read about on Wikipedia while stumbling on their Botswana cuisine entry that I recall being referenced in the show. I won't repeat it, because...yeah lol)

But then I found this--Botswanan Chicken Groundnut Stew--and although I would never have dreamed of combining tomatoes with peanuts (or in the case of this recipe, peanut butter), the idea, once presented, intrigued me. The rest of the ingredients seemed rather straightforward and preparation easy, so I decided to give it a try.

The short version is: A+, would make again.

(The original recipe, with the ingredient list re-ordered and the instructions lightly edited and re-organized for what I hope is more clarity)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 chicken thighs
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1⁄2 cup peanut butter
1⁄2 cup tomato paste
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon chili flakes
1 cup water
1 (15 ounce) can tomatoes, diced
Salt, to taste

Directions:

Add the oil to a large pan and fry the chopped onion until translucent. Add the chicken and continue frying until the chicken has begun to brown before adding the bell pepper. (Can add a chopped and seeded hot pepper if you like a little more heat!). Continue cooking until the chicken is nicely browned all over.
While the onions, chicken, and peppers are cooking, prepare the sauce by combining the peanut butter, tomato paste, sugar, chilli flakes, and ginger in a bowl. Slowly stir-in the water a little at a time until the sauce is smooth.
Pour the peanut sauce and diced tomatoes into the same pan with the chicken and aromatics and stir well.
Cover and reduce the heat to low simmer. Cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Taste and add salt if needed.

Serve over rice or rice balls.

However...me being me, I read through that recipe and came to a few conclusions:

So...that's what I did. XD

The biggest changes I made:

I increased the recipe up to 6-8 servings. Given that this is cooking and not baking, precision was not required. The thighs only came in four packs, so those got doubled, as did the tomatoes. Everything else, I increased by +50% of what the recipe called for.
I used boneless, skinless organic free-range chicken thighs, mostly because I wanted to buy organic and that was my only option, but also because the recipe doesn't specify. However, in reading the Wikipedia on Botswanan cuisine, apparently serving organic, free-range chicken to guests is considered a great honor, so...yeah. I'll go with that. :)
I pureed the raw onion before cooking it. This is a trick I learned from my Indian cooking class a while back, a technique the teacher used or recommended as the basis for most northern India style "gravies" (as I discovered they're called colloquially in India), the type of dishes I think most Americans familiar with Indian food default to identifying as Indian. Mostly that was because I was cooking for someone who tends to pick chopped onions out of their food, but who doesn't seem to mind the flavor of onion--so I deduced it was likely a texture thing. By pureeing it, that issue would be negated.

Plus, given its similarities to Indian gravies, I thought it a not-illogical step to take.
Since it said 'cook in vegetable oil', I used coconut oil, because I thought it would be in keeping with the food of that generalized (waves hand vaguely over a map of the Indian Ocean) area.
Since I couldn't remember for sure if who I was cooking for were anti-bell pepper (but thought it pretty likely), I swapped out the bell pepper for a roughly equivalent amount of diced Anaheims. They have some capsaicin in them, but they're milder than any of the other alternatives I had access to at the local megamart, with the additional benefit of I think missing the chemical in bell peppers that some people can taste that gives it a nasty flavor.
I cut back on the chili flakes by 33%. In my limited experience with them, they can pack a lot of heat, and I didn't want to make it so spicy myself or the people I was sharing with wouldn't be able to eat it.
Cooked in the crockpot. :) Well, I followed the directions as written up for #1 and #2, but when before step #3, I transferred everything in the chicken pan into a 4-quart crockpot before adding in the sauce and tomatoes. Since most of it had been cooked pretty well prior to that step, I only cooked it only low for the afternoon, about six hours.
My eyes glazed over the 'add salt if needed' instruction at the end, not helped by the fact that it wasn't listed in the ingredient list as written (I added it in to the list above). It really needed it.

Like I said above the cut--this turned out really well. From start to finish, steps 1-2 took about half an hour, and then the stewing occurred left unattended while I was at work to be ready when I got home.

Z-- was gracious enough to make some brown rice so I didn't have to worry about that part, and I additionally brought greens (baby kale sauteed in a garlic spread leftover from last week's dnner) and garlic naan, because, again, it felt vaguely Indian and I thought it appropriate.

The only changes I'd likely make next time would be to salt it this time (lol) and to go ahead and try it out with skin-on, bone-in thighs. Not that what I used wasn't tasty, but I think the low, slow stewing would do wonders to bone-in meat.

Pithy food observations

2015-04-01T18:09:02Z

Fresh lime juice is an acceptable citrus dressing for blanched asparagus when one finds the lemon to be moldy.

Movie Nite: The Theory of Everything (2014)

2015-04-01T18:07:49Z

This Saturday's Movie Nite offering will be The Theory of Everything starring Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne, of Jupiter Ascending fame (I will never not put it cheekily that way :), and Felicity Jones.

"A look at the relationship between the famous physicist Stephen Hawking (Redmayne) and his wife (Jones)."

Time: Saturday, April 4th at 7pm (doors open at 6:30pm for socializing)
Where: My place

If you can, please RSVP so I can know whether or not to expect you. If you want to do dinner in some sort of potluck or other fashion, please also let me know.

Movie Nite: Birdman (2014)

2015-03-21T02:23:50Z

Almost forgot, hope this isn't too late, but tomorrow's movie will either be Birdman starring Michael Keaton if it comes in the mail in time, or a movie from my library, one someone else brings, or off Netflix.

Usual place and time.

Movie Nite: Under the Skin (2013)

2015-03-12T17:06:52Z

This Saturday's Movie Nite offering will be Under the Skin an "atmospheric, visually arresting [sci-fi] abstraction" starring Scarlett Johansson.

If this looks familiar, it's because it totally is: the movie didn't arrive in time to watch it two weeks ago, so this is attempt #2.

"A mysterious woman (Scarlett Johansson) seduces lonely men in the evening hours in Scotland. Events lead her to begin a process of self-discovery."

Time: Saturday, March 14th at 7pm (doors open at 6:30pm for socializing)
Where: My place

If you can, please RSVP so I can know whether or not to expect you.

Also, as it is Pi Day, there will be some sort of pie ~~bribery~~ for those who attend.

Home from PAX

2015-03-11T16:37:36Z

But I forgot to post yesterday. Home safe and sound and back in the office.

Yesterday was a recovery day, and in addition to faffing around online catching up on the pertinent LJ posts, my accomplishments were going to the grocery store (kind of critical because I had produce I needed to buy required for breakfast and lunch) and catching up a little on the TV I missed while I was gone.

"Star Wars Rebels" has gotten REALLY GOOD and I'm making distressed noises that last week was the season finale and they left us on a pseudo-cliffhanger. D: (But at least they rescued Kanin before that happened. If they'd left him in Imperial detention during the break, I think it might've killed me. But hoooooo that lightsaber fight. That was good. :))

And then "The Walking Dead"--man, the last two episodes again, have been SO GOOD, pretty easily top five over the entire run. And this week's episode--HOMG Carol went to such a DARK PLACE. The stuff with Daryl--my heart hurt, it was so nice. And I'm watching Rick like a train wreck--I suspected I knew where it was going, and his kiss on her cheek did NOTHING but reinforce that suspicion. No, Rick. Bad.

Ever since...end of two weeks ago? When Rick started making noises about taking the place over, I began getting a quote from The Untouchables movie stuck in my head: "I have become what I beheld, and I'm content I've done right." It's a really strange and uncomfortable sensation seeing 'our' group take on the aggressive, predatory role thanks to their experiences with past large groups similar to Alexandria, and parallels to the Governor (without the hardcore mental issues) keep popping up. I'm not sure I entirely like it.

Friday, I have to start catching up on "Agents of SHIELD" again and hopefully finish Episode 2 of Telltale's "Game of Thrones" game--we got up to probably halfway through the last segment when we had to pause it for TWD, and then ebonlock determined she hadn't liked a decision in the segment before that, so we're going to be rolling back a bit to replay it.

But for tonight: despite traveling from a place where one night it was 10°F to 'home' where it's been in the 70's during the day, I have a simple beef & bean chili going in the crockpot and cheesey crescent rolls planned for on the side. Today's unexpected rain makes it more welcome than it otherwise might've been.

Movie Nite: Under the Skin (2013)

2015-02-27T22:31:48Z

Sorry for the lateness of this post, but this Saturday's Movie Nite offering will be Under the Skin an "atmospheric, visually arresting [sci-fi] abstraction" starring Scarlett Johansson.

"A mysterious woman (Scarlett Johansson) seduces lonely men in the evening hours in Scotland. Events lead her to begin a process of self-discovery."

Time: Saturday, February 28th at 7pm (doors open at 6:30pm for socializing)
Where: My place

If you can, please RSVP so I can know whether or not to expect you. If you want to do dinner in some sort of potluck or other fashion, please also let me know.

Mexican lasagna

2015-02-19T06:13:02Z

Dinner tonight was another "make shit up" night of 'Mexican lasagna'. Or if you feel like a purist, a Tex-Mex inspired pasta casserole, layering fresh egg noodle sheets with:

- Vegetarian chorizo squeeze out of the case, like sausage, spread in a thin layer
- Drained canned sweet corn sprinkled over that
- Drained canned black beans sprinkled over that
- Sliced black olives sprinkled over that
- A mix of shredded sharp cheddar and monterey jack cheese
- Medium salsa for the 'sauce

I had enough space for two layers of that in an 8x8 pan, finishing with another layer of pasta, baked for 40 minutes covered at 400°, then sprinkled with more cheese and broiled uncovered for 10 minutes until the cheese started to brown.

Dammit, in typing that up I just realized I forgot the diced avocado and greek yogurt (faux sour cream) I was going to serve on top of it.

Ah, well. It was pretty good even without. :)

And I probably have enough leftovers, other than the olives, to make a second batch.

"Valentine's Day" movie nite dinner

2015-02-12T17:56:47Z

I decided since Valentine's Day is this Saturday and I obv would have no special plans, that I'd go ahead and do the special dinner for movie nite last night.

The menu:
- Protein: London Broil, which I nerdily pre-cut into heart shapes using a stencil made from waxed paper. Sadly, only zdashamber really saw the effort as she helped me by putting them into the pan, as the meat deformed during the cooking process but the thought was there. :)

After the meat was done and resting, I sauteed up a large, minced shallot in the same pan with a little added canola oil, added a container of sliced crimini mushrooms, deglazed with a few glugs of marsala wine after the mushrooms had cooked a few minutes, added maybe 1/2 c. of cream, and reduced to a thin sauce consistency for serving over the steak.

- Veg: Blanched asparagus dressed with fresh lemon juice and salt (my favorite way to serve it)

- Carb: Homemade whole wheat fettucine that I made riffing on this caccio e peppe recipe, except I did it from memory and used a three-cheese blend of asiago, romano, and parmesan. It turned out pretty fricking awesome, if you ask me, almost like alfredo or, as the recipe mentiones, macaroni and cheese, except with no fat other than from the cheese itself.

- Dessert: Ghiradelli dark chocolate brownie muffins, using a mix (because it is awesome), for which I took a flyer and subbed out melted coconut oil for the direction indicated "vegetable oil" and into which I mixed a couple handfuls of fresh raspberries. I figured it would work, and it did. They are pretty fricking good.

Movie Nite: Belle (2013)

2015-02-12T16:55:22Z

This Saturday's Movie Nite offering will be Belle starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw and a bunch of British actors you will recognize.

The mixed race daughter of a Royal Navy Admiral (Mbatha-Raw) is raised by her aristocratic great-uncle (Tom Wilkinson) in 18th century England."

Time: Saturday, February 14th at 7pm (doors open at 6:30pm for socializing)
Where: My place

If you can, please RSVP so I can know whether or not to expect you. If you want to do dinner in some sort of potluck or other fashion, please also let me know.