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How to Piss Off Men: 109 Things to Say to Shatter the Male Ego by Kyle Prue (2024)
Praise Goddess and pass the ammunition! :D Some of these would make excellent prompts for fanfic. Just think of the most testosterone-poisoned characters in your fandom, and have at them.Current Mood:  amused
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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. :DCurrent Mood:  busy
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I enjoyed episode 1 of Alien: Earth. It seems a pretty good show, but for this post I'm just going to evaluate its performance on addressing climate breakdown. I've only seen this ep. once and wasn't taking notes, so feel free to chime in with what I missed.
Baseline: the show is set in 2120, about 100 years from now, i.e. in the middle of dealing with either a) voluntary radical change in how civilization lives on the Earth and/or b) involuntary climate breakdown, with much of the Earth being uninhabitable. How is the show doing with that reality?
* Handicap point: It's trying to maintain continuity with Alien's timeline, which is from the 1970s. (+1)
* Massive technological advancement with no sign of climate impacts on industrial infrastructure, etc.: -1
* Paradisal, verdant island forested with mature trees many of which are probably over 100 and no signs of climate damage or commentary (that I caught) on how this can be: -1
* Community that looks like it has adjusted to significant sea-level rise: +1
* Metropolis with flawless skyscrapers, greenery and no sign of climate damage or slowdown in materials extraction. (To match physical reality, it must have one or the other.): -1
* Massive department stores with many aisles of clothing and splashy ads suggesting that marketing-driven, fast-fashion culture has persisted unchanged for over 100 years without resulting in biophysical ruin for much of the Earth. -3 (This is projection grotesquely out of step with all realistic projections.)
TOTAL: -4
For research I'm drawing on, see the first two sections especially of this bibliography.
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And They Say This Is Normal
Trump's sending troops to Chicago*.
Listen, you sonuvabitch, this isn't Washington D.C., chained down by not being the American state it should be.
This is Illinois. This is fucking Chicago. And if you and your thugs are coming here, perhaps we'll ask for help from other people. This was sung a long time ago, but it resonates today.
*with any luck, not behind a paywall.
Current Location: Chicago, motherfuckers Current Mood:  enraged Current Music: "Chicago" Graham Nash
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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.Current Mood:  accomplished
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Event: Seasons of Drabbles is an exchange for the creation of drabbles and drabble variants. The minimum is 100 words.
Event link: Dreamwidth | AO3 Collection
Due date: Friday, August 29, noon Eastern time (Countdown), though we can be flexible if needed.
Pinch hit link: Please view the details and claim it at this post.
PH 4 - Fireworks (1947)/Succession (TV 2018), O Fantasma (2000), O Fantasma (2000)/Succession (TV 2018), The Sergeant (1968), Succession (TV 2018)
PH 13 - Storm Hawks (Cartoon), Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, Cookie Run (Video Game)
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Mostly a quiet weekend but for visitations.
Tomorrow the job search resumes.
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Food
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Aug. 24th, 2025 @ 05:26 pm
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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.
Current Mood: busy
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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.
Current Mood: busy
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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.
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Life Updates
Overall I feel really good! There’s the creeping sense of dread re: finances which pops up every month or so, but otherwise I’m excited for the next few months of travel/catsitting.
I think it’s helped that I’ve been regularly going outside and walking for ~45 minutes every day. I’m really bad about doing that normally, but this neighborhood is good for walking and has enough interesting things to look at that I don’t feel bored. My Health app even says my step count is about double what it was last month!
I’ve also been venturing into some of Ann Arbor’s nature preserves, which are much hillier than I expected. Very beautiful trees, though! And usually not too crowded, so it’s peaceful.
( Read the rest of this entry » )Crossposted from Pixietails Club Blog.
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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.
Current Mood: busy
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⌈ Secret Post #6806 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
01. 
( More! )
Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 30 secrets from Secret Submission Post #972.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
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Aug. 24th, 2025 @ 01:59 pm
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Once upon a time, I read Exiled from Camelot, the novel-length Sir Kay angstfic by Cherith Baldry that Phyllis Ann Kar politely called 'one of the half-best Arthurian novels that I have yet read,' and then launched it off to Be Experienced by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png) osprey_archer and troisoiseaux.
Now my sins have come back upon me sevenfold, or perhaps even fifteenfold: troisoiseaux has discovered that, not content with the amount of hurt and comfort that she inflicted upon Kay in exiled from Camelot, Cherith Baldry has written No Less than Fifteen Sad Kay Fanfics and collected them in a volume called The Last Knight of Camelot: The Chronicles of Sir Kay.
This book has now made its way from troisoiseaux via osprey_archer on to me, along with numerous annotations -- osprey_archer has suggested 'drink!' every time Baldry mentions Kay's 'hawk's face,' which I have not done, as I think this would kill me -- to which I have duly added in my turn. I am proud to tell you that I was taking notes and Kay only experiences agonized manly tears nine times in the volume. That means that there are at least six whole stories where Kay manages not to burst into tears at all! And we're very proud of him for that!
The thesis of The Last Knight of Camelot seems to be that Kay is in unrequited love with Arthur; Gawain and Gareth are both in unrequited love with Kay; and everyone else is mean to Kay, all the time, for no reason. troisoiseaux and osprey_archer in their posts have both pulled out this quote which I also feel I am duty-bound to do:
"Lord of my heart, my mind, my life. All that I'll ever be. All I'll ever want.”
He had never revealed so much before.
Arthur leant towards him; there was love in his face, and wonder and compassion too, and Kay knew, his knowledge piercing like an arrow into his inmost spirit, that his love, this single-minded devotion that could fill his life and be poured out and yet never exhausted, was not returned. Arthur loved him, but not like that.
He could not help shrinking back a little.
However, I also must provide the additional context that this tender moment is immediately interrupted by the ARRIVAL OF MORGAUSE, TO SEDUCE ARTHUR, TO MAKE MORDRED, leading me to believe that Baldry is suggesting that if Kay had instead seized the chance to confidently make out with Arthur at this time, the entire doom of Camelot might have been averted. Alas! instead, Arthur dismisses Kay to go hang out with Morgause, it all goes south, Arthur blames Kay for Some Reason, and Kay spends a week on his knees in the courtyard going on hunger strike for Arthur's forgiveness until he collapses on the cobblestones and wakes up to a repentant Arthur tenderly feeding him warm milk.
If the stories in this volume are any judge, this is a pretty normal week for Kay. I also want to shout out
- the one where Lancelot and Gaheris set up a Fake Adventure for Kay to prove his courage, which destroys Kay emotionally, and kitchen-boy-squire Gareth runs after him and tries to swear loyalty to him and ask Kay to knight him, but Kay is like "you cannot AFFORD to have Kay as a friend >:(( for your knightly reputation >:(((" and Gareth shouts "you can't make me your enemy!!" and then Lancelot finds them arguing and is like 'wow, Kay is abusing this poor kitchen boy' and sweeps the lovelorn Gareth away, leaving Kay's reputation worse than before
- the one where Arthur gets kidnapped by an evil sorcerer who demands Excalibur as Arthur's ransom, and then Kay decides to try and trick the evil sorcerer with a Fake Excalibur even though Lancelot is like 'FAKE Excalibur? that's a LIE and DISHONORABLE,' and then Kay rescues Arthur from being magic-brainwashed by pure power of [brotherly?] love, and as soon as their tender embrace is over Arthur is like 'wait! you brought a FAKE Excalibur? that's a LIE and DISHONORABLE'
- the one where Kay is accused of rape as a Ploy to Discredit Arthur and has to go through a trial by ordeal where he walks over hot coals while on the verge of death from other injuries and Gawain flings himself into the fire to rescue him but it turns out it's fine because Kay is So Extremely Innocent of the Crime that they both end up clinging together bathed in golden light that heals their injuries
Again: FIFTEEN of these. Baldry is truly living her bliss and I honestly cannot but respect it. The book is going to make its way back from here whence it came, but if anyone else is really feeling a shortage of Kay Agonies in their life, let me know; I'm sure an additional stop would be welcomed as long as whoever gets it pays the annotation tax.
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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, 😂.)Current Mood:  giggly Current Music: marshmallow fluff // and lots of peanut butter!
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