Toasties: sometimes the bread with your cocktail is more gin. It’s that sort of week. Share everythng!
Tags: meta, open thread, tgif
Toasties: sometimes the bread with your cocktail is more gin. It’s that sort of week. Share everythng!
Tags: meta, open thread, tgif
hey hey hey hey…
I’ve been lurking for a while and just wanted to say hey. Pinners may remember me for having names that were dirty philosophy puns.
what is up
look I even registered on a thing
I am thinking you may be a friend of mine who also likes bees but I don’t think she reads the Hairpin OR the toast.
Probably not! Sorry! There is like zero actual logic behind this username I think.
THE TOWN WITH THE CAT MAYOR THOUGH
I wonder if he thinks about his decisions while drinking some wine. Wine for Cats. http://www.autostraddle.com/stop-whatever-youre-d…
OH MY GOD. My cat would be the biggest wino if she had the chance, and I’m even going on a trip to Japan soon…noooooo! They’re only making a thousand bottles!
There was/is a train station with a cat stationmaster. I thought this was relevant to your interests.
WHAT
One in Japan and I think there was a kitty stationmaster in Victorian England too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tama_%28cat%29
Also I bequeath to you the heartrending and adorable fact that there is the ‘Dickin Medal’ given to animals in wartime, including to ones who die in the execution of their duty. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickin_Medal
GLERMPF.
Is that an acronym? I don’t know that one. And: FIERCELY GLAD, obvs. Is that from Sredni Vashtar, my favorite unhappy child-pagan story?
Your internet adventures might already have acquainted you with Colonel-in-Chief Sir Nils Olav of the Norwegian Royal Guard, but just in case:
Penguins mean very little to me, but I enjoy this picture all the same. He carries himself with a certain gawkish dignity.
The world has yet to produce a more dignified and graceful sphenisciform.
And so ends my military penguin picture spam.
Oh my god that’s the best thing I’ve seen today.
There’s a Cat Librarian in Russia.
I would happily turn myself into a cat if I could be a librarian in Russia.
There must be more. Cats are often librarians. It’s their nature.
There is a town in Texas with a goat mayor named Clay Henry III. Does this count for nothing?
Sadly indicted for graft after accepting tuna fish and saucers of milk in exchange for favorable treatment.
did you know cats can’t even digest cow’s milk?? They just like the way it tastes. Typical cat decadence
Dear Toasties, what is the correct response when one’s coworker expresses the belief that “some things don’t add up scientifically” about 9/11?
SMILE POLITELY AND TALK ABOUT THE CAT MAYOR
you will literally never get anywhere with that person; smile politely and talk about the cat mayor
cat mayorrrrrrr good morning everyone
He does enjoy cats!
Good morning Mallory! Cat mayor indeed.
‘How very interesting. Have you see these tiny horses?’
definitely DO NOT ENGAGE.
Tell him Porsche makes lots of other cars too.
This is why we need to be able to use gifs in human conversation.
THEY KNOW TOO MUCH. ELIMINATE IMMEDIATELY
Haha, I know only one 9/11 Truther who is a reasonable person. Is your 9/11 Truther a middle-aged dude who used to be a legal aid attorney and will actually talk about other subjects? If not, it’s not the same guy so you should probably ignore.
Hello, open thread, I love how you are early in the morning and I can distract myself with you!
I’m feeling responsible right now because I have filled a hold in my wardrobe. I didn’t have a windbreaker/rain coat/light jacket, and I knocked it all out with one reasonably-priced Columbia product on Amazon today. Hiyo!
This weekend is the younger family dog’s birthday, which we are using as an excuse to get together for lasagna and carrot cake. Mmm, carrot cake.
Mr. Hoovian remains job-searchy. Interviews mean Mr. Hoovian in a suit, which is always nice.
…my life is boring.
Ooh! I just filled the same wardrobe hole. Mine is Helly Hansen though. It definitely bridges the gap between “waterproof, has giant hood” and “can wear a dress under it without creating fashion whiplash.” I’m so pleased with it.
Except my jeans are all black and my boots are all black and my backpack is black and all my purses are black and my hat is black. Soooooo now I’m knitting myself a big colorful scarf in order not to look like Architect Stereotype #A1…
I think “fashion whiplash” might describe my closet.
And HUZZAH FOR COLORS! I have a black/brown habit, so I’m also trying to incorporate color. Which I did by… buying a light greyish whitish windbreaker. Uhm.
hey now, I’m always happy when I am wearing a mix of black and grey instead of just black. In my book you are doing well at colors! Yay you!!!
I do buy a ton of colorful silk scarves at the flea market though.
Oh god I have so many wardrobe holes. I have like, two work-appropriate skirts, not nearly enough tights/sweaters/cardigans, and my only blazer is made out of sweatshirt material. I’m a failure at adulthood.
Same. I keep trying to fix it, but instinctively revert back to buying what’s familiar. It’s hard.
SKIRTS. Ugggghhhh. I have one Perfect Skirt purchased in Finland in 2006, it is falling apart, but it is so perfect that any other skirt doesn’t measure up to it. This skirt is making it impossible for me to buy other skirts. This winter I plan to tear it apart, make a pattern out of it, and sew a couple new ones. Pretty sure that’s the only way, even if I am a terrible seamstress.
I am currently looking for a dress I can wear to a wedding in November and every subsequent wedding I will have to attend in the next few years. (This means I click on the mod cloth links a lot.) I bought one but it did not fit. And now I have to return it. (I also live in a place that does not have real dress stores.) Clothes are obnoxious.
Yeah, I have literally nothing that would take me into full on business professional wear. I have ONE brown pencil skirt. That’s it. No blouses, no fancy slacks, no blazers… my current job is fine with jeans and t-shirts so I just haven’t had to think about it, but I kind of think I need to at least have one good set just in case.
There is no such thing as enough tights/sweaters/cardigans. I have a closetful of these things. I do not have enough of these things.
I upvoted this in sympathy, not affirmation of your failure, fyi. Anyway, those sweatblazers are the best.
Scandyhoovian says “failure,” I say “Tell me more about this delicious sweatshirt-fabric blazer. RIGHT NOW.”
Yes ma’am. They’re just blazers made and lined with cotton jersey, or from another perspective, they’re lined cardigan sweatshirts with buttons and suit lapels instead of hoods and zippers. I wouldn’t deliver a presidential campaign speech in one, but they’re totally appropriate for the average office environment. Here are some examples: http://www.depotpicture.com/2013/09/sweatshirt-bl…. Unfortunately there appear to be no images of the one I own on the entire internet, or I’d link that instead.
Oops, I meant “Jaya says failure” — and I say COZY.
Part of the reason I am feeling torn about transitioning from academia to a Real Person Job is that I’ll have to buy all new clothes. Today I am wearing like a kind of “postapocalyptic-babe-on-an-ice-planet” look because it’s Friday and I was feeling depressed about having to go to work this morning. WHAT DO U MEAN I CAN’T WEAR FAUX FUR GILETS TO WORK ANYMORE.
Gin at eleven in the morning, I approve.
I just want to say a deep and heartfelt thank you to everyone who shared their own stories, cheered me on and cheered me up in the last Open Thread – you are all immensely wonderful and I appreciated it so much.
hooray! you’re worth it, momma! hopefully things are looking up? xoxo
GUYYYYS that drive back from Utah was a million hours and I had to keep pulling over to update the Twitter account and now I miss Nicole and the little horses.
BUT TOMORROW I GET TO MEET RAINBOW ROWELL
Give her all the hugs the internet can send her way.
I got to enjoy margaritas & guacamole with her once. It was the best. (I mean, obv margaritas and guacamole make a day perfect regardless, but when you add some Rainbow Rowell to the mix? Double perfect!)
Dude, I hope that was as amazing as I imagine. I finished Eleanor & Park last week because I rationed it out. I only read it while I was doing boring machine-based cardio on off weight days or during warmups. I didn’t want it to end, and when it did, I felt as though I had a hole in my heart.
Then I read Fangirl in a week. It was delightful but not as heart wrenching, which was a disappointment.
I caught myself worrying about you on your drive yesterday. Apparently my anxieties about the risks of long car trips extend to internet people I have never met. Glad you made it safe.
Thunder’s still out there. “Neeeighallory” it whispers. “Neeeighallory”
I’m taking it pretty hard.
It looks like i may be breaking my 4.0 streak that I’ve been on since going back to school a few years ago. I fully blame my STUPID psych nursing professor who clearly can’t write test questions correctly, and whose teaching strategy is to tell ridiculous anecdotes instead of giving real information. Someone tell me I’m not a failure.
Cat Mayor (wearing a top hat for some reason): You’re doing great. No one is harder on yourself than you are.
You are NOT a failure. A 4.0 streak that’s lasted YEARS?
I think we all know who’s the real problem here (Professor Poo-Face).
SERIOUSLY she’s the worst! and she aggravates me in so many ways besides her teaching style – like… she asked the class if anybody spoke another language, and three people raised their hands. And she said “Oh! great! you all speak spanish? right?” and my friend who is Filipino was like “um… no…”. It’s like she just saw the brown faces and assumed and UGH. I think I block her out because she drives me bonkers.
omgwtf
I get really hard on myself about maintaining a 4.0 as well. Here are some thoughts:
1. Is anyone besides you ever going to look at your GPA? (No.)
2. Your GPA will still be fantastic even if it is not 4.0.
3. Once you break the streak, you’ll put less pressure on yourself for future classes. “Eh, I already don’t have a 4.0, what’s one more non-A?” (This can be dangerous thinking when put side-by-side with losing virginity and then sleeping with whoever, but I have no regrets.)
In the many years since I left Berkeley, no one has EVER asked for my GPA (except grad school). Not one employer.
And a 4.0 for years? Hear me cheering; you are amazing.
Two things:
1) Holy shit, how have you maintained a 4.0 for years? You are a badass.
2) I am going through that same shit right now with my social work prof, I feel your pain. I have actually skipped more than a few sessions because my anxiety + her total inability to stay on topic/teach what’s scheduled for that day = really bad scene.
You are not a failure. You are amazing.
You are an anti-failure. You are a success. Also not everyone who blames stupid professors is justified because: blame-shifting whatever, but someone with a 4.0? AMAZING WORK YOU, and total justification with blaming the professor.
ugh i haven’t read any poetry in ages. any of you want to lob some of yr favourites my way? bonus if they’re online as i have no money.
I highly recommend Ted Hughes “Howls and Whispers”. It’s such powerful stuff. You can read it along with “Birthday Letters”, its beauty and lyricism are extremely moving.
For something lighter, Elizabeth Bishop’s “Exchanging Hats”, its incredibly clever way to talk about gender and sexual identity.
Enjoy!
I posted a poem a day on my tumblr during National Poetry Month this year (not my own poems, god no) – not sure what kind of poetry you gravitate towards, but maybe you’ll find something you like?
any access you have to online libraries? i, too, have no money but this is because of graduate school and I use their e-books (which tbh ew no no no) and thus I can read lots of Anne Carson, and i highly recommend The Beauty of the Husband.
Free poetry, look to Gutenberg!
William Carlos Williams, Sour Grapes: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35667
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1322
Marie Howe! Dean Young! Frank O’Hara! FRAAAAANK O’HAAAAARRRRAAAAAA!
Or just go to poets.org and work your way through.
What do you like, what do you feel like? I have so many recs!
I really like Sean O’Brien, especially his “Elegy.” If you go to Granta, they have published some of his stuff there. Otherwise, Clive Owen’s got his stuff available online, on his website (some of it, at least) and the various prize websites (Griffin etc.) have poems by their shortlisted authors.
some favourites are: frank o’hara, emily critchley, vahni capildeo, kate kilalea… wasn’t a big fan of o’brien last time i tried, but that was a while ago now. i’ll look the elegy up!
Gotcha! I will poke around for more recs. I teach poetry, so I can usually dig something up.
<333333 poetry. I really like Dean Young and Robert Haas right now. I also think Nikki Giovanni is solid.
This LJ changed my life — this author has been curating and posting poems daily for a few years now, and you can use the tags for authors on the left: http://exceptindreams.livejournal.com/. I think she has a tumblr now, if that’s more your thing.
I’ve actually been inspired enough to take a Modern & Contemporary poetry class online through Coursera–it’s been nice to have some structure to reading poetry and some insightful analysis / history of poetry movements too.
Fuck yeah free poetry!
Carrying a Ladder, by Kay Ryan (she’s great, and this is the poem is my favorite of hers that I’ve read so far)
Design, by Robert Frost. The best sonnet about a spider you’ll read all year.
Kitchenette Building, by Gwendolyn Brooks, because it’s amazing and she’s amazing.
Lucifer’s ‘whoops I just lost the insurrection, now what do I do’ speech, from Paradise Lost, in honor of this week’s post about the Devil.
Another Reason Why I Don’t Keep a Gun in the House, by Billy Collins, because it’s hilarious.
(I love being asked for poetry recommendations, can you tell?)
I’m ill. I *feel* healthy, but I’m shivering, sleeping into 10 or 11, and getting dizzy when I stand up. Plus headaches.
I think I have zombie flu.
OOOH!
Jos has been off work a week and a half and has already had interest from 3 employers.
Also, knowing about kitty mayors and kitty stationmasters and kitty warheros just makes mine look like underachievers
You don’t know what your cats do while you’re asleep or out of the house. For all you know, they’re hosting a popular and critically acclaimed web series from your home. YOU DON’T KNOW THEIR LIFE.
Ugh, I’m sick too. When I woke up my throat felt like I’d smoked a pack of unfiltered marlboros last night (I don’t smoke) and now I’m feverish and dizzy. But of course I have to sit here at work allllllll day. (With next to nothing to do, natch.) I just want someone to bring me a vat of chicken broth and tuck me in with a nice cozy afghan. 🙁
(cat mayor knocks at your door, trying to balance the chicken broth and afghan on his hip. his top hat falls off in the process)
Hooooooooooly crap moving across the country is a stressful, deplorable thing. Our apartment is nothing but boxes and bags of clothes to donate. There is nothing else in it. We have become a small family of boxes and bags, and we will form a box-and-bag family band and tour the country.
On the plus side? I can practically smell the ocean breeze, it’s so close (in time, not distance, not yet). San Diegooooooooooooooo.
you need to promise me that you will wander the tide pools at Cabrillo point for me with a cup of coffee and soak it all up. I love living out East, but I really do miss the nature out there.
I just googled that, and yes, I promise. I promise a thousand times over and thousand times more.
I wish I had moved to San Diego when I moved across the country. There is nothing I like better than unpacking and finding lovely places to set decorative piles of my rock collection and books. You will make it there and it will be worth it!
It’s juuuuust a skosh north of San Diego BUT on the plus side you have to drive through the Bay Area to get there which would be a great excuse for a ToastUp/PinUp 😀
Oh, wait, apparently there is also a Cabrillo with tide pools in San Diego. That is very confusing, because I was thinking of Point Cabrillo (also on the coast, in Cali, and with tide pools!) that is north of SF.
Never mind and sorry to confuse you!
I went to Montreal and it was amazing! Thank you to everyone who shared tips on where to go!
Meanwhile, I’ve had four interviews for a job and they said they’d get back to me “late this week or early next week” so can somebody please do The Secret on this thx.
I have not heard back from my job either. It’s been one week and one day. Sending you ALL the positive thoughts!!!
In the meantime I got a very boring/relaxing temporary job as a receptionist, so. Chilling out for $15/hr while continuing the horrible search, assured of an okay paycheck: will do, no problem.
I’m truly impressed by the wisdom, compassion and resourcefulness of Cat Mayor. Maybe it’s time we finally hand over the world to our feline overlords?
I’m hoping to receive some advice on talking to someone who is recovering from a suicide attempt– so, trigger warning:
My recent ex-boyfriend called me 10+ times earlier this week while he was attempting to OD on prescription meds. He basically vacillated between blaming me for what he was doing (“you abandoned me”) and not blaming me (“it’s not your fault, I want you to be happy”) [!!!] In the hours between 10 pm and 4 am, when he called, I begged him to call 911 and go to the hospital. Someone found him at 6:30 am (he was in the woods) and took him to the ER. This was, I believe, his 3rd suicide attempt since we broke up.
He called me from the hospital today apologizing, and asked if I would visit him in the hospital. I’m fine with visiting him. But I don’t really know what to say. If it’s not already clear, I do not want to get back together with him. However, I do love him and care about him.
I’m terrified he’s going to beg me to give him another chance, which he has done before. I want to stay on-message with a firm “no” without making things worse. But I don’t really know how to do that. Help.
(he has been getting treatment for his depression for over a year, if that makes a difference in any advice you might have for me)
Oh no. Honey that sounds terrible. I wish I did have advice for you, but I do have sympathy and internet hugs.
It sounds like you can help him most by getting a pro to help you find the best response. Time for *you* to seek counseling. You are a trigger for him, if only because he loves/loved you. You want to help him, but may inadvertently slow his healing. This guidance is exactly what counselors are for. Best wishes for his recovery and for your peace of mind.
Thank you for this– I was able to talk to his doctor and the doc said not to see him, that I need to look out for myself first, even if hope for our relationship is what gives my ex-boyfriend hope to keep living. So I’m going to call the ex-boyfriend one last time to let him know I won’t be coming tomorrow and that I won’t be answering the phone anymore. Definitely not going to mention who gave me that advice. Ughhhhhhhhhhhh. Wish me luck.
Yessss! You are doing the right thing. For you and for him. You are wise. A little pain upfront (telling him no more contact) means a lot of room for healing. Be strong and stick to it. Very proud to Internet-know you.
I’m sorry. That’s dreadful and awful for both of you.
I am not going to sit here and negate his pain. he is clearly suffering, and that’s bad. But you need to be aware that this is not your responsibility, and no matter how badly he is hurting, doing this to you is shitty.
My only advice is that you have to keep going as you are. Protect yourself, and press him to get some kind of ppsychological help. Do not engage at any deeper level than that (I care about you, I’m worried about you, but we will not be getting back together. I think you need to talk to your therapist about this.) and remeber that his actions are not under your control. He is a grown adult and not your responsibility.
(I had a boyfriend once who starting harming himself after we broke up and threatened to kill himself. I told him to go ahead, it was his choice and I wouldn;t hold myself responsible. He did not kill himself, because it turned out he was emotionally abusive and just using it to punish and control me. I do not, however, recommend this as a response )
You are a kind an lovely person, as proven by the fact yous till care. Do not allow that kindness and loveliness to push you into doing something bad for you in the attempt to help him.
Thank you all for taking the time to reply. I know that what my ex-boyfriend is doing to me is crappy, but at the same time, I feel like I can deal with it for now, because I’m not the one in danger of dying–he is. I have called his doctor to ask for guidance on what I should do or not do. Hopefully it won’t break any laws for the doc to give me advice.
This seems like a really smart idea–and I just want to echo the internet hugs and reaffirm that his actions are not your fault.
Get away get away get away get away do not call do not text oh god.
This may hit…. way too close to home for me. And everyone is different, I know, but for a personal anecdote, after a couple of suicide attempts, and the subsequent realization that this would *not* make me feel so sorry for him that I would move back in, he moved on to being violently angry with me.
So my job basically involves looking at bucketloads of stock photography (it’s actually way more fun than it sounds) but sometimes I just have to say WHYYY?
#nightmarefuel
Because cocaine, I’m pretty sure.
whattttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt
whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
someone please write the headline that this would go with, as a stock photo
The caption on shutterstock is actually “I have no idea!” But that’s boring.
“Terrible alien hand-people demand black lightbulbs.”
I actually think this is an excellent visual representation of alien hand syndrome. “My hand is sentient and makes me do evil.”
“Vindaloo: not the ideal late-night snack”
Really though I should probs start a tumblr because mostly right now I just spam everyone who’s online in gchat with weirdo pictures.
Oh god please do, I would follow a weird stock photos tumblr in a heartbeat.
I would read this tumblr!!
brb making a tumblr during my lunch.
Stay tuned: http://youweresearchingforwhat.tumblr.com/
haha love the captions! Stock photos are so weird.
I have never followed anything so fast in my life. (I’m bluelightseven over there.)
Rooster in the skyyy with rainbows ….
Followed immediately, but I’ll see that eyeball one in my nightmares
Guys, they had THE WHOLE ALPHABET in eyeballs.
THE EYES SWEET JESUS THE EYES
I used to have to buy stock all the time too and I had a folder of bizarro images. A lot of the time it wasn’t even that the picture was so bizarre, just that I had no idea why “tomato head Hawaiian lady” came up when I searched “professional attire” or whatever.
I have an etiquette question I would like some help with! I went out to dinner with my (American) friend and her Persian husband, and husband ended up inviting me to his buddy’s wedding next weekend. Which, his wife had the logical American reaction of “You can’t just invite someone to someone else’s wedding!” and he goes, “Sure I can!” So his wife at least talked him into asking the hosts’ permission, but here is my question: If I go, do I bring a gift? I’ve never met these people! What do I do? I feel like it’s super rude to show up empty-handed, but I also don’t really want to shell out $40 for a gravy boat or whatever for people I don’t know. But I really do want to go! Thoughts?
Gift card?
Hm, what about flowers? People fucking love flowers.
ohhh, not flowers. (As I once learned the hard way) it means the hosts have to find a vase, and water, and they’re busy, so that is trouble/hard on them. Plus weddings usually have pre-planned flowers that hte bride spent lots of time on.
Personally I might actually not give a gift in this situation, since you’re coming as a party with the couple that invited you and presumably did give one. Or, if you want, something nice but small and bland — those tea light or candle holders made of silver or crystal are pretty standard gifts for strangers.
Seconding gift card. Get a general one, like an AmEx one.
Okay, so then the question is, how much? How much is enough to seem like I’m not being cheap, but is respectful of my just-finished-my-master’s-and-haven’t-found-a-“real”-job-that-actually-pays-me-a-reasonable-salary budget?
And yes, RoseCamelia, this is part of a concerted effort to Meet New People. And also it will be a Persian wedding, which means so much dancing, which will be all of the fun! I went to this couple’s anniversary party a couple weeks ago, where I barely knew anyone except the couple, and had a fine time, which is why I’m considering.
I’d say $25-30 is the minimum here. One point of comparison might be: how much would you pay for a night of this kind of dinner/drinking/dancing with these friends? It’s not unreasonable for the gift to be that level or slightly higher.
$25 I think is good (like @gorebooth said, too). Also, huge Persian wedding? CHECK YES.
Once, I attended the wedding of strangers as someone’s Plus One. My date knew the couple, though. I hated the whole situation. Though my date was a perfect companion and everyone was kind and welcoming, I felt so out of place! I promised myself never again. I attend weddings only when I personally know a host or a member of the couple. Being an introvert has something to do with it, I’m sure. Maybe you will enjoy meeting all those new people.
Autographed photo of cat mayor.
Toasties! Find me some new boots. Mid-calf or knee-high, any color, sensible heels. I realized I didn’t wear any of my boots last year, so they’re all going to the thrift shop and I’m going shopping.
What? I don’t understand, what’d you wear all winter? Sometimes I worry my boots are going to fuse themselves to my legs from constant wear.
I work from home, so I didn’t go out much? I have sneakers & loafers, oh, and snow boots. Those are ugly, though. I need cute boots!
Well for cute+comfort, I love love my Aerosoles. They basically look like this: http://piperlime.gap.com/Asset_Archive/PLWeb/Asse…
And I bought them directly from an Aerosoles store a few years ago, and they still look brand new despite, like I said, my practically living in them. I think the price is good, and they are quality, and you can buy them from several different outlets (like that link is from Piperlime) so you can probably find discount codes too.
I work from home too, and I think I buy more shoes than ever.
These may be sportier than you’re looking for, but I love my tall Merrell boots so much that I ordered a duplicate pair when the first pair started to look a bit rough (after two years of daily fall-to-spring wear) so I could switch off and slow down the wear on both pairs. I tromp through puddles and knee-high snowbanks with no problem.
I was so impressed with the comfort that I also bought two pairs of Merrell high-ankle boots, one with a tall wedge heel that’s surprisingly comfortable. I haven’t been this happy with a boot wardrobe in years! (I promise I’m not shilling for Merrell; I’ve just been so pleased with these boots!)
Toasties, I am so tired, all the time, and it’s no fun. It’s not even winter yet! What am I going to do when it is ACTUALLY COLD OUT?
Good thing I did for myself this week: Ate a lot of those tiny peanut butter cups from Trader Joe’s, and bought a Happy Lamp. I don’t know if they work and I don’t much care as long as my brain placebos itself out of this funk.
Thing I am looking for: A good pea-type coat (I am not overly attached to the big lapel collars, though, so maybe one with a funnel collar?) to replace the one I had in HIGH SCHOOL that I just got rid of, um, last week.
Find me a thing and tell me what good things you did for yourselves this week!
I’m so tired too, and I know the impending darkness and coldness will exacerbate it. It’s no fun, indeed. And a very hard funk to shake.
But the end of Daylight Saving Time is coming! I always get a lift when I have more light in the morning. Anyone else, or is just one more example of my, um, eccentricity?
I totally forgot! That always helps for a bit, thank you for the reminder. 🙂
I am this way, too! So mad that they made it later than it used to be, because I really, really feel it in the mornings & have no motivation to get up when it’s still dark out. I have been late to work all month 🙁 🙁
It is definitely not just you! Most weekdays I get up at 6:30, which is now an hour before sunrise; this morning I went to the gym before work and got up at 5:30, so TWO bloody hours before sunrise. It is super depressing.
I got a peacoat at Old Navy last year that is surprisingly warm and is holding up well despite it being one of only two coats I own. And this is coming from a girl who moved from TX to New England last year, so my bar for staying warm is high. They are selling them again this year.
You too? *I* moved to TX from New England last year. Been feeling so alone. Welcome! If you’re in south/central Texas, I’ll buy you a drink.
Sorry, I did the reverse. Moved from East TX to New England. I wish I could take you up on that drink though! Although I have thrown myself into meeting new people, it’s still lonely sometimes.
Several years before this move, I moved from the west coast to TX. It was a very rough transition. Despite what Texans like to think of themselves, I found them to be unwelcoming and unfriendly. Where I was, people were not happy with outsiders especially not those from any place stereotypically liberal. I hope you’re having better luck, but if it’s tough just know it’s not just you. <3
Yeah, my partner and I have hooked up with the local Progressives group. They’re small, but mighty. That helps. I know the southern culture, having escaped it at the end of my childhood. But now I’m back. [sigh] A coworker told me I had to replace my (personal!) notebook because it is the color of the rivals to the local football team. I asked him, hey I thought Texas was known for independence. How come there’s so much attention to conformity, then?
Yes, I regularly encounter fear of outsiders and unwelcoming Texans. Even though I met my immediate neighbors at a recent First Night Out event, they avoid eye contact. There were 5 of them in the street when I came home yesterday. I lingered in my driveway, standing outside my car, trying to make eye contact for several minutes, but no one spoke to me.
Happy New Englanding! The trees are just past their peak colors now, aren’t they? Wave hello to them for me. Try to keep waahhm!
I also have a coat from ON that I have worn almost exclusively for YEARS. Like, at least the last four winters. And it’s still going strong. It doesn’t get much better than cheap AND durable.
I had a Restorative Sushi Dinner with a friend last night, accompanied by much Restorative Sake.
But I am terrible at finding coats.
Ah! Like you, I had a Restorative Indian Dinner last night with my husband, which was kicked off with a Restorative Whiskey and Ginger Beer drink. I want to call it a “Whisky Stormy.”
Whiskey and ginger beer is a wonderful thing …
I was going to be all “That is totally a thing! It’s called a Whisky Mac!” but turns out a whisky mac is whiskey and ginger wine, which means it took me a few seconds to go from not even knowing there was such a thing as ginger wine to needing to find a source for it.
Where on earth do we find such a thing?
I fear we shall have to go to England. Pack your bags.
Or we could probably make our own fortified ginger wine by, like, soaking ginger in fortified wine. But England sounds better, right?
Pack.
Your.
BAGS.
CONSIDER THEM PACKED
LETS GO.
Ginger Wine is literally the best thing, especially in autumn, its all warming and lovely. I like to take a bottle when I go watch the fireworks on Guy Fawkes night
1. I was JUST thinking about how I wish I had a carton of mini TJ’s peanut butter cups. UGH I used to work right by a TJs.
2. I bought a jacket from Zara a few years ago and it has held up great. They have a lot of styles, if you hadn’t looked there.
Where do you live and what is your budget?
I live in Kentucky, and I would like to keep it under $100 if possible.
What about this one? Lands End can be fuddy-duddy, but I am a huge believer in their coats. Also, they have sales all the time, so you would not have to pay full price.
Oh, that’s super cute!
If you’re tempted by any of the Lands End coats, sign up for their email and you’ll regularly get promotions for 30%-off + free shipping. Sometimes they’re only for full-priced items, but often it includes sale items. (Note: that same coat is available in limited sizes and colors on sale. I had my eye on the pale blue, but they sold out of the tall size.)
Thanks for the heads up! I am now merrily browsing their sale section.
Land’s End, I think it’s a stretch calling this a parka, but I respect your initiative at turning loungewear into outerwear.
Spiewak wool coats are warmer than most I’ve found, although they’re not as thick as I’d like. I can’t find anyone who actually does a nice, really thick wool coat! I have an ancient one my mom bought me when I was 17 that is thick and warm, but it’s faded now and ever since then it’s been declining quality everywhere I look. My Spiewak one is good for moderately-cold temperatures, but once your nostrils start freezing together it’s useless. I wouldn’t recommend Spiewak parkas, though.
What Happy Lamp did you buy, if you don’t mind sharing?
I bought this one. I read in a few places that you really should get one that is 10,000 lux but (a) I don’t know what that means, (b) I didn’t want to spend $75+ on something that may or may not work, and (c) I’m totally okay with having to spend a little more time in front of thing. I’m planning on bringing it to work and sharing it with my coworkers, as we all get a bit more grumpy and hopeless in the winter.
nice! I also enjoy that it has “Happy” IN THE NAME.
I know, right? No nonsense. I do wish they’d start making them in whimsical shapes, though.
I think lux has to do with the intensity of the light, and the 10,000 lux is supposedly the equivalent of full sunshine. I live in the pacific NW and use a light box for sleep disorders. I’ve never really dealt with the winter tiredness/SAD so can’t say if it helps with that; but does seem to help with sleep patterns. What my doctor’s told me about using it: big thing is that you’re supposed to use it at the same time every day, you can use several times throughout the day if you feel like you need it, but make sure that the first use is always at a set time; and make sure that your eyes are open/you can see the light box (according to my doctor, those alarms that give off gradually increasing light to give you the daylight effect don’t work because your aren’t actually seeing it…of course don’t stare at the light box, keep it at an angle so not directly in front of you).
Lands’ End for the pea-coat or pea-type coat. I have one from there and lost weight since I bought it (like 3 sizes of weight) and I still wear the fuck out of it. I want to replace it but there’s no reason why. I mean, it’s too big, but it’s totally functional and kind of awesome, still.
On the topic of cat mayor, you guys know there is a bulldog Marine, right? Chesty?
http://onebigphoto.com/chesty-the-marine-corps-ma…
And I got to PET HIM a couple weekends ago at a street festival. He was not super friendly because all he wanted to do was take a street nap, though.
He was at my boyfriend’s brother’s end of boot camp graduation (?)!
That is awesome. The last Chesty also got a promoted rank after snapping at Leon Pannetta’s golden retriever, even though the Marines say it was unrelated.
That is hilarious.
OMG, him staring down his successor, I am dying…
They were both featured on Fox News Sunday, and I watched Fox News Sunday for it.
I just watched the Reel Rock festival and they had this film about an amazing climber called Hazel Findlay who was the first woman to climb a 9 and does objectively impressive stuff. However the first 3rd of this 26 minute film was devoted to how shocking it is that she climbs AND IS A GIRL. A GIRL! A blond girl at that!
I was so mad but none of the dude climbers understood. Of course they should mention her achivement of being the first woman to do something but theres only so many times you can say ” a GIRL is doing this !” before it gets misogynist.
I didnt get why they just didnt focus on the fact that what she was doing was objectievly amazing.
Guys. She climbed THIS:
Holy sh…ipping container!
WHAT
HOW????
Did she duel with Inigo Montoya once she got to the top?
She didn’t hitch no ride on no giant, neither! Totally badass!
Also Im not sure if you can tell but that dot is her almost at the top.
Pretty impressive, I guess, FOR A GIRL. grrrrrrrrr.
whoa. Now, I’m not typically afraid of heights but just looking at this photo is making the bottoms of my feet tingle.
Anyone want to discuss 28-year-old Man Booker winner Eleanor Catton? Nicole, are you reading/planning to read “The Luminaries”?
Related: I’m a little sad that the Man Booker will be opened to Americans next year. We already have the Pulitzer, guys! Keep MB for yourselves. Cherish it.
Just bought it! So excited to read it. And yes, the Booker Prize is one of my (admittedly lazy) ways of keeping up with new Commonwealth etc. writing. I wish we’d stay out of it.
I have not read it, though I will, and I am 100% against this Booker change nonsense.
Yay!! Looking forward to a Week in Reading post on this. The reviews I’ve been browsing make this book sound nuts (in a totally great way).
Everything I have heard about this book sounds incredible. Based on the signs of the Zodiac? Chapters mimic the phases of the moon? Mysterious happenings in a NZ mining town? 800 pages? Yes, yes yes and FUCK yes.
Totally. I need an alternate universe to lose myself in for a few weeks, I think, and 800+ pages of Zodiac symbolism is just the ticket.
I’ve been working my way through the longlist for the past couple of months. I’m about to finish The Kills (please someone talk to me about that insanity), then might take a break to read the new Donna Tartt and then will start The Luminaries.
As for the Booker change, mark me down for STRONGLY AGAINST. I’m sad at the thought of all of the Commonwealth writers who will remain in obscurity because the Americans inevitably will take their slots.
Also, here is an important picture that tumblr delivered into my lap this week:
Aaahhhh, pug baby! I wuv woo!
I watched Men in Black with my daughter earlier tonight, and had to reassure her that Tommy Lee Jones wasn’t really shaking the pug. But mostly I had to reassure her there were no giant alien bugs out there. I’d forgotten how great D’Onofrio is in that movie, wearing the Edgar suit.
WHAT SHOULD I BE FOR HALLOWEEN?! The only party I am going to is “popular TV show” Themed. (I don’t own a TV and tend to watch one show at a time on netflix.) My favorite shows are Alias and Scrubs. I’ve been watching HIMYM but how do you dress up as Robin? I’d also like to pick something that I could wear to Grad School on the day of Halloween.
ROBIN SPARKLES, BITCH!
Yeah, I’ve done Robin Sparkles and it is SO easy. And you could just say you’re 80s whatever for the non-themed stuff.
Yeah, I did Robin Sparkles once and it was both a) easy and b) a big hit. Actually, it continues to be a hit as people who were at that party become HIMYM fans later down the road and start to get it.
Did you watch Arrested Development? I feel like you could mine that. I’ve always wanted to throw a party where everyone was required to come dressed as an AD character.
My other idea is a hooplehead from Deadwood, but that’s just because I really want to rewatch Deadwood right now. No one is going to know what you’re going for if you come in done up like a filthy 1800s prospector.
I’m just glad you gave me an excuse to link this: http://www.whatthefuckshouldibeforhalloween.com/
What about something from a TV show everyone loved as a child? Sesame Street character, Mister Rogers…
Mr. Rogers. [sigh] I wanted him to be my dad. Cried like a baby when he died.
I feel like the only HIMYM costumes are Slutty Pumpkin and Hanging Chad.
I was worried that my costume this year wasn’t zeitgeist-y enough, but then I thought “Ted kept wearing the Hanging Chad for like 10 years, I think I’m gonna be OK.”
In high school I was obsessed with Alias and wore a Sydney Bristow costume one Halloween. It was pretty easy to put together (black sweater and pants, cheap red wig) but recognizable.
My oldest kid is going to be Finn from Adventure Time, and that was easy as fuck. I glued the hat together, it was so easy.
Oh god, you guys, I’m pretty sure this week was cursed. Wednesday alone featured:
– my computer shutting down randomly
– a fire drill
– plastic spoon BREAKING OFF in my lunch
– getting accidentally whacked in the side by a flailingly excited pedestrian
– a student injuring herself so badly we had to call an ambulance (she’s okay now, but YIKES)
On the other hand, I went to a Janelle Monae concert that was incredible, so it evens out. I think.
seconded. although, I am blaming it all on mercury retrograde. also LUCKY and that’s awesome and of course Queen Monae would kick stupid mercury’s ass to rock it out here.
Good lord, what was your lunch??
Pearled couscous with stuff in it! Apparently the goat cheese just glued it together and trying to stir it up while it was half-heated was TOO MUCH.
Oh man, you went to the concert? I wanted to get tickets so badly, but it was mid-week and I’m old and can’t stay up late on a school night. I’m sure she was ridiculous.
On the plus side, we’re going to Neko Case in 2 weeks. Not a bad consolation prize.
This week I brought some workplace concerns to my bosses, and they responded with extreme defensive rage. I may need a new job soon. I am seeking a cat-mayor type position, if anyone has any leads.
Oh, yeah, you definitely need a new job. No way should anyone have to witness, much less be subjected to, rage in the workplace. Suddenly you don’t feel well and you are sorry that you have to take the rest of the afternoon off. Then go polish up your resume. Get out as soon as you can. Oh, I am so sorry you are in this situation. Internet hugs.
Last night I saw The Mountain Goats in concert! It was so amazing! It was in a rather small club and we were right up in front; and they played some of my favorite songs, and John Darnielle came out after and I got to talk to him and he signed my t-shirt and it’s almost 24 hours later (it’s Friday night already here in France) and I’m still so excited just thinking about it.
Holy shit, I saw them on the night before in Paris!
Did they also do a piano version of ‘Autoclave’? ’cause that was amazing.
I was at the Toulouse show! They did Autoclave, near the end. Oh, so so great. Was there a big crowd in Paris? There were only about 40-50 people here maybe.
There was around 100-120 people, I think? It was sitting room only, whick is kind of a bad idea.
I saw them a few months ago and it was so fucking good! So life-affirming to scream-sing “I hope you die, I hope we both die” with a buncha strangers. John Darnielle also has a glorious presence on Twitter; I wholeheartedly recommend.
Oh my god yes. I saw them a few months ago too. Out of context, there’s no reason that shouting “HAIL SATAN” over and over at the top of your lungs with an entire roomful of people should be as joyous and beautiful and uplifting as it is, but that’s John Darnielle for you.
Yayyayyay! The Mountain Goats are my favorite band to see live – you can tell that JD is just so damned happy to be up there performing and his mood is always infectious.
Graduate school is nuts, guys. I just want to say that. Like, no matter how many times I try and go out of my head and remember things like impostor syndrome and the fact that the academy functions on demoralization and whatnot, it is getting to me this week and also someone in my glass literally said the words “as a white male” in that awful voice where he REALLY MEANT IT and I just scrawled “FUCK GENDER ESSENTIALISM” in my notebook over and over again, and I just have to let it not kill me, right?
in other news gonna go to a sweet poetry reading tomorrow and then dance my face off to soul music. yes yes yes.
Dear New England Toasitarians, your general region is SO BEAUTIFUL in the fall. I was constantly (dangerously) snapchatting videos of trees on my drive all week.
It is perfect fall here! Possibly unseasonably warm, but that just makes it nicer to be outside!!
Will someone please share thoughts with me about Super Fun Night? Last night I was in a funk, drinking wine and listening to Patty Griffin, when I found myself watching the first three episodes one after another. I thought it was really sweet and laugh-out-loud funny in parts! But maybe I am the only person in the world who thinks so?
I had read the show wasn’t great, but now that I saw this I will totally check it out.
I really enjoyed the first two episodes! I loved seeing Rebel Wilson all beautiful and self-assured and successful. Then the third episode had, what, four Fat Girl Likes Food jokes in the first 90 seconds? I got very peeved very fast.
[eta: I was especially annoyed because I’d been telling my husband, who is an honest-to-goodness TV critic, how I’m tentatively enjoying this new show and he would too! Then he was home this week and watched it with me, and I kept half-assedly apologizing for the show.]
OK, that is definitely a valid critique. But I think I am maybe invested enough in the romance between Rebel and the small, adorable British man to stick with it? I don’t know what’s gotten into me, normally I only like shows with serial killers or royalty.
Early cocktail thread that I have jumped to the end of! Hi! I’m only here because I didn’t have to teach this morning, but I should instead be writing this stupid article that I promised my editor tomorrow morning. Because I am a dum. I hate it, it makes no sense, it will never hit my target word count, and I have come to terms with all these things.
But once I’m done, I can ignore it for a few weeks and spend time this weekend making my kid’s Rainbow Dash costume and watching all the Hollow Crown sitting patiently on my DVR.
Is anyone else only able to see articles by clicking on links? Nothing is showing up on the Toast main page for me except posts from yesterday.
Clear your cache, she says firmly, as it is the only technical thing she understands.
I’m saved!
It’s great that the only suggestion I have is almost always the one that works.
Have you tried unplugging The Toast and then plugging it back in?
You can also hold down shift while refreshing, which tells the browser to ignore and overwrite the cache.
This is a great tip, as I otherwise would probably have to search “how to clear the cache”
You live up to your name, because this is a new-to-me and useful tip!
Also, can we talk about that Gawker Kanye/Kimmel race piece here? http://gawker.com/kanye-west-knows-you-think-he-s… The gawker comments are giving me a headache and are fairly stupid compared to how great the article is.
I am constantly frustrated by how hard it is to explain to my white bread, straight, male significant other when I feel someone or something is being racist’. It’s a look, or a tone, or a million other things that I’d have to explain with the context (baggage?) of being Not White for my entire lifetime. I hate how it makes me feel while it is happening and how it makes me feel when I’m trying to recount it.
If someone who deeply cares about me makes me feel like I’m crazy- unintentionally or otherwise- how am I/we/everyone supposed to convince the rest of the human race?
I don’t have any answers, I’m just sending lots of warm fuzzy thoughts your way. I’ve had to deal with that in past relationships, and it is truly frustrating.
After more thinking: your significant other should not make you feel crazy. o_O
I was thinking about this.. my husband gets race privilege because he is also a PoC. Now, that’s not a helpful tidbit or suggestion at all, so I was trying to relate this to gender privilege. I want to say he gets that too because he is not an asshat, although I have had some aggravating conversation with him early in our relationship. (Now he calls out rugby dudes on the internet about rape culture, so win/win.) The thing that led him to change was my conversations about him AND lots of his own internet reading. The *other thing* that led him to this was thinking about how he feels about his mother/younger sisters/me facing sexism, and then he just extended it out from there.
Is your SO open at all to discussions to any kind of privilege, e.g. does he understand class privilege but has his blinkers on re. everything (else?) he identifies with? Or is he just completely obstinate to all aspects of privilege? Does he get completely defensive about any example you bring up, or…? I feel like at some point it comes down to open-mindedness.
Yeah. I’ve been chewing on this a bit more as well, and… it’s definitely a fact that the guy needs to get his act together. I guess what I was saying below is that that takes effort, on HIS part. Effort that he should be willing to put in, imho. I wasn’t trying to say “but that’s haaaaaaaard” I was trying to say that yup, he is the one that needs to work through his lack of understanding, it would be hard / impossible for anyone to somehow make him see.
Definitely. If he doesn’t want to listen… 🙁
Most of my epiphanies re: white privilege have come to me by making (admittedly flawed but still effective) comparisons to male privilege. For related reasons, straight white dudes are really hard to get through to when it comes to that stuff, so at the very least don’t beat yourself up about it. You’re not crazy and plenty of people have your back, even if they’re not in the room with you.
That Gawker post was great. Too bad Gawker commenters (and often their writers) are the worst.
Oh man. That is a great article, and I’m sorry to say that I don’t have much advice for you.
I guess what I’ve learned over the past years of my first relationship with someone who isn’t white like I am, is that whites are usually pretty invested in whiteness as a thing, and in the idea of “but can you really prove that it’s actual racism, for reals?” Sadly, that’s how we are raised. It requires effort to overcome in practice even if I’ve been nodding your head to your fave bloggers saying “Shut up and listen!” for years, in theory. Ugggghhhh, it sucks to be in that explainer position. 🙁
Warm fuzzy thoughts from me, as well.
You’re not supposed to convince anyone. You’re supposed to be you, nothing more in the “supposed to” column. You deserve some who deeply cares about you and makes you feel *fully accepted and understood* as-is. Sorry, I just can’t accept your SO as good for you, not long-term. It is not on you to educate him, though you can decide there is a bit of that you *want* to do. Do no more than that, though. There are other people who are more prepared to love you more fully. Just two cents from another stranger on the Internet.
My roommate totally cockblocked me last night and I’m starting to think she’s more than a little unhinged.
🙁
TWICE actually. I was hanging out with my secret work boyfriend watching football downtown, and then I *had* to leave because she didn’t have her keys, and she couldn’t come get mine (like I was going to need them, right?) because she didn’t want to come downtown. So I walk up the hill to a bar where she said she’d meet me, but really what she meant was that her friend who is the bar regular um… seller of contraband, would give me a ride to the house where she was with a guy she’s been dating. Who has a cute roommate who I was talking with, when she sent him away and told me to sleep in the guest room.
I know I was drunk but the whole situation seemed laughably overdramatic and absurd.
Whether it was intentional cockblockage on her part or not, the end result is kind of a bummer.
Yo Toasties, I’m about to leave for Pittsburgh for PowerShift. I’ve only ever driven through there at night, so I’m excited to actually see the city! But I know absolutely no one there besides the girl I’m driving with. Does anyone want to meet up and show me coffee/ice cream/thrift stores? (My 3 favorite places!) Or anything else involving interesting things or food, really.
I no longer live there, but I can tell you about two really great coffee shops! The first is 21st Coffee which is in Downtown in the Strip District and the second one is Orbis Cafe in Mt. Lebanon which is a suburb of Pittsburgh. I’m a huge fan of Orbis, I literally go there every day that I am in Pittsburgh.
Hope that helps!
Wait are you from Mt Lebo?
Nope, one suburb over, err…down.
I’m not in Pittsburgh, but I have visited friends there a few times and it’s a great city. They have coffee/ice cream/thrift stores aplenty (incidentally, also my 3 favorite places to hit up in different cities!). Have fun!
Oo oo! What neighborhood/area are you going to be in?
You can wander up and down Carson Street in the South Side and find little shops of all 3 varieties, Dave & Andy’s ice cream in Oakland is great, and I second @EggyInABasket’s rec for coffee shops in the Strip District – there are a couple of good ones and it’s also a cool place to just walk around and explore different shops and ethnic groceries.
The Strip District is handy to the Convention Center, and is full of food. If you walk up and down Penn Ave between 18th and 22nd, on the weekends it’s a lively experience, with street food, baked goods, cafes and other restaurants, etc. Even though this year they aren’t blasting the Steelers anthem in the streets as loudly as usual, you can still marvel at the sheer volume of the black-and-gold clothing on display.
I think I’d send you to Squirrel Hill for my favortie thirft store (although I haven’t been there in a while), Designer Days Boutique at 5873 Forbes Ave. There’s an Avalon Exchange thrift across the street for the hip young things, so if you’re cooler than me (not hard) you should check that out.
Hey! I’m in Pittsburgh, but I never go anywhere except work so I don’t have any suggestions for you. Other than if you have time, stroll down to the Point and see the giant rubber duck that’s parked in the river until the end of the month.
But I would like to know more about these thrift stores other Pittsburghers seem to know about. I have struck out entirely on thrifting, finding only sadness and droop. (Or droomp, as I originally, typed, which may be a combination of droop and doom.)
Eons in Shadyside is a good vintage store, and there’s another one really close to it that I don’t know the name of. Also for coffee: Espresso a Mano in Lawrenceville.
What! Powershift on the Toast! Oh man I hope you re having an amazing time and that it’s all going great. I couldn’t go this time because of a wedding, but I hope it’s empowering and educational and awesome. I’d love to hear more about how you like it.
Hi everyone! This is my first time on my computer since Friday (no wifi at the crash space), though I was able to read your replies on my phone. Thank you for your advice!
Sadly, the girl I drove up with does not drink coffee, so I couldn’t persuade her to drive to the farther places, though GoogleMaps says we passed Orbis at 11PM. Everything here shuts so early! Why are so many places closed on Saturday?? I’m going to try to find an open ice cream place in the Strip District today, though. I passed one old-fashioned ice cream parlor yesterday that looked good.
Also, I hadn’t quite realized how much Pittsburgh loves beer and the Steelers.
@lilsebastian01 It’s been great! Looong days on very little sleep, but so many amazing panels and speakers, and so many friendly people. I definitely want to come back. (Though the people wandering around barefoot or who think coats are for The Man baffle me.)
Face Off! Guys, I am so sick of Miranda. I know she is crazy talented but she drives me bonkers. And also: can Laney see the future? She seems to have preternaturally known what the challenges would be, because she managed to pack an outfit to match each one.
Question for Toasties– what are your favorite soup recipes? Between it getting cold, me trying to cook meals that I can eat several times as leftovers/freeze for leftovers later, and starting Invisalign with a mouth full of teeth that need a ton of re-positioning and rotating and therefore hurt A LOT, I think I’m going to survive on mostly soups this fall/winter.
I have trusty chicken noodle and tomato with roasted red pepper recipes, my mom makes beef chili by the batch and loads my freezer, and I’m embarking on a beef w/ barley and vegetables this weekend, but I can see myself getting bored of those 4 choices. I’m going to “hunt” for a chicken-based/”white” chili recipe this weekend, I think.
I make this without the yogurt pretty frequently and it’s quite hearty: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/lively-up-yo…
Like most anything lentil-based it is also great with bacon or sausage, if you feel the need to meat it up.
If you don’t have a potato soup recipe, I would suggest that you source one immediately. I used to be a diehard proponent of Smitten Kitchen’s baked potato soup, but it’s pretty time consuming. I just tried Pioneer Woman’s perfect potato soup recipe and it is quite fantastic, though it needs more garlic.
This and also baked potato soup, which has so much milk in it and is so good and you can all the crap to it that you’d otherwise put on a baked potato. Google turns up seven million versions, and you really can’t go wrong with any of them.
It might also be worth investing in an immersion blender, since that’ll basically make anything into soup.
Butternut squash soup with curry spices, coconut milk, and sriracha (peel squash, roast, cut into chunks, throw in pot with chicken stock, hit with immersion blender; brown finely chopped onion in small pan, add spices, fling into soup; add coconut milk or creme fraiche or heavy cream, whichever’s to your taste. Add salt, sriracha to your taste. Serve with additional sriracha or cream and whatever bread you’ve got lying around [whole wheat toast is good, as is sweet baguette).
Roasted poblano and corn soup (turn on your broiler [or your comal, if you’ve got one], roast lots of poblanos, maybe a jalapeno or two if you like things spicy until they’re blackened and puffing and losing lots of juices. stick peppers in a ziploc bag and seal for 10 minutes so they steam, remove and peel off the blackened skin and remove seeds as desired; cut into smallish or largish hunks or puree; throw some butter in a big soup pot, add in some finely chopped onion, brown that a little, throw in your peppers, throw in lots of frozen corn, throw in lots of chicken or veg stock, cook for a little while until heated through; season to taste with salt & pepper; serve with sliced avocado and crumbled queso fresco, tortillas) [when my sister makes this she uses about 7 poblanos, about 3 pounds of frozen corn, and probably 2 or 3 jalapenos or 1 habanero. it’s very chunky and rustic and spicy.]
If you don’t mind a self-link, here’s my stupidly easy, stupidly delicious black bean soup recipe. Bonus: it’s made of shelf-stable ingredients and easily veganize-able.
One of my favorite fall soup recipes is a chipotle sweet potato soup. You just dump all the ingredients in a soup pot, cook, and blend with an immersion blender or regular blender. Also, it has an avocado in it so it’s quite filling.
http://sundaymorningbananapancakes.blogspot.com/2…
That sounds amazing.
Definitely this delicious soup from Global Table Adventure: http://globaltableadventure.com/2011/05/05/recipe…
It’s earthy and filling and spicy and all wonderful things.
I am alllll about soup when it gets cold. I love this carrot tahini soup: http://joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/2012/02/reci…
And I’m really into Mark Bittman’s potato and leek soup, which is super simple and delicious. Don’t have a link to the recipe but it’s in How To Cook Everything Vegetarian.
This chicken chili is easy and delicious: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/02/easy-c…
More 101 Cookbooks love:
This Split pea soup w/curried brown butter is HELLA good.
If you google Portuguese kale soup and you like chorizo, potatoes, and kale, you’re in luck!
I have a couple. One is for chestnut soup (not water chestnut soup) and the other is for cassoulet. I have a crock pot, which is what I use for soup making. For the chestnut soup, I buy a packet of chesnuts (usually like 100 grammes) already peeled and ready to go. I put them in the crock pot, cover them in water, pour in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, as much red wine as I want, a couple cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, and some squash (if I have any.) I then let the crockpot simmer for a few hours, come home, and blend it up. The result is delish.
Otherwise, I make pork, greens, and white bean stew. I soak a couple cups of white beans overnight, ditch the water, and add the beans with new water to the crock pot. I cook the beans on high for an hour, then I throw in some cubes of pork from the butcher, and some collard greens. Finally, just before the beans and pork are done cooking, I add some tomato paste (a tablespoon or two) for a nice tomato-y taste.
Welcome to cooking by t_fer, in which no measurements are ever used, apparently!
You are all wonderful and came up with DELIGHTFUL recommendations! Thank you!
Is it a Halloween cop-out to go as Liz Lemon? I have brown hair, glasses, and jeans and would wear weird shoes and just quote 30 Rock all night.
Now where is a blonde friend to be Jenna…
I’m going to be Liz Lemon for Halloween this year! (Maybe every year for the rest of my life, even)
Today I went to the doctor and she fully injected me in the eyeball with steroids! So, this day and weekend can only go up from here, right?!
WHAT
I have a condition called iritis which is usually treated with steroid eyedrops. My eye has not been responding well to this so I got a needle in the eye! TWICE!
And it isn’t even Halloween yet!
… this sounds like a combination of horrifying and impressively bad-ass. Are you by any chance all-powerful?
Oh yes! I am! I must have forgotten to mention that! :)!
I am named after the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity so I am at least somewhat-powerful!
That makes this less surprising but still impressively bad-ass. Go, you.
This seriously makes me want to cry. YOU ARE SO BRAVE.
Did it hurt? Do eyeballs have nerves? Could you feel the needle? What if you accidentally moved or blinked when you got injected, would they have to remove your eye? SO MANY QUESTIONS.
The comment numbers had been going up gradually over time, but placing the Open Thread earlier in the day seems to have attracted quite a few more. The first early open thread had more than twice the number of the open thread 4 weeks earlier.
Anyway I’m probably going to work out and then eat indian food, and maybe go home to drop in on my cat and my best friend. It’s been a good week, more or less. It was nice to get something published again. Next time I won’t write about something depressing.
hi Danzig I hope things are going well for you!!!
– signed Judith Slutler
Hey Judith! Could be worse, could be better I suppose. I’m trying to think of a racy Zizek counterpart to Judith Slutler. Slavoj Sleazek? Idk.
i like Slavoj Sleazek!
Oh, THAT’s who you were on the Hairpin! Hello! Glad to see you here!
Write about WHATEVER YOU WANT. Also, Mallory and I did a huddle and decided to boot out the commenter who said your piece “reeked of male entitlement” after all, because we don’t actually want to let people of any gender derail personal rape narratives for their own ideological purposes. So, whatever, we engaged in censorship today and feel pretty good about it.
I appreciate your looking out for me 🙂 I forgot that my tumblr still had its anon ask function on, tho. Was subjected to some harassment through that, but it was clearly from a twitter troll (the usual stuff, plus they called me a “poc lover” for my broadsides against witch house, which, why would you use the socially acceptable term? Ridiculous). Extreme invective from internet trolls is ultimately far less bothersome than milder invective from people who mean what they say. It startled me but I forgot about it soon after.
I appreciate that you guys did that. There were certainly commenters on that thread who were able to say “this does not align with my feminism” without saying “you’re doing your trauma recovery wrong” (which is a pretty bullshit thing to say to anybody who’s not hurting themselves or anybody else)
Yes, please write more! I liked your piece this week as much as it’s possible to “like” something about so difficult a subject (i.e., a lot, but in a complicated way). I’m sorry some of the comments were shitty but even the unpleasantish ones encouraged some interesting conversation, so there’s that.
I started volunteering at a cat rescue and I love it because I can’t take a cat for myself right now. But also, the feelings I get from when I hear how the cats ended up there make me sad and angry that people can be so terrible to such magnificent creatures. I just want to take them home with me and cuddle with them forever!
I really want to volunteer with a dog rescue, but fear that I might accidentally come home with five new puppies. You’re really good at practicing restraint!
I can’t trust myself to cat rescue volunteer, so I salute you! I have two rescues, neither of whom I intended to KEEP KEEP exactly and now I fucking love them and they cost me a fortune and I can never part with them. Whither I goeth, they shall follow. One of them has the saddest fucking rescue story, and it makes me soo upset with people. She was treated terribly by her original owners and the rescue. 🙁
The air conditioning is consistently so high in my office that my nipples get hard and I find myself extremely turned on by this time in the afternoon. I don’t know if it is a problem to me, except that it is occasionally painful and also I don’t get a lot done. Your thoughts are welcomed at this time.
Nothing to add here, but thanks for the laugh 🙂 Fur-lined bra?
At some point they’re going to have to make insulated bras.
Or maybe some form of boob-cozy.
Unsurprisingly, Japan is on top of this:
This one is fuzzy and has microwavable inserts.
http://www.nznature.co.nz/product/possum-nipple-w… possum fur nipple warmers from the green shores of NZ also (oh my GOD do you know how long I’ve known about the existence of these and had no call to tell anyone?!)
the problem is that the world outside the office is consistently hot (Texas) and fur-lining seems like it would stick to my heaving, sweaty bosom, right?
I feel SO unmotivated at work the past couple weeks. I really like my job and enjoy my coworkers, and in general my work is intellectually stimulating and challenging. However, I’ve been thrown into making final edits on a paper that I wasn’t involved with from the start that deals with a topic I know nothing about and don’t care to learn. The apathy and procrastination that I’ve been feeling towards this paper is starting to seep into the rest of my work, and I literally have nothing to show for my time in the office this week.
Any productivity tips? Words of motivation? Advice on how to power through this stupid paper edit and move on with my life?
I recently edited a scientific thesis. I am a liberal arts person; the paper was way over my head and way too esoteric to entice me to read for meaning. I decided the first pass would be just for grammar, spelling, unifying verb tense. I gave myself permission to skip all other issues until the next pass. I just made a list of what else needed addressing. It was an artificial division, but it was the only way I could convince myself to get started.
Try setting a timer for 20-30 minutes and just focusing on it for small chunks of time. Then give yourself a 5-10 minute break to get up from your desk or check email. Even if you can only stand to work on it for an hour a day, a focused hour can be really productive and you’ll feel better about yourself.
just jumping in on this thread because i also need this advice!
Me too. I have a paper due at midnight. ha ha ha ha ha ha.
One editing trick that works for me, especially with dense text: I read it aloud, piece by piece, and usually with a finger or pen under each word as I say it so I can be sure I’m actually reading what’s written on the page, not what the author(s) intended to write but maybe omitted.
Ideally, you’d do this in private so self-consciousness doesn’t rush you. You don’t need to worry about pronunciation or even comprehension of the subject, just focus syntax, structure, and grammar. As someone who didn’t initially write the paper and who doesn’t know the topic well, you’re well-suited to this because your mind won’t fill in any gaps in the text as the original authors/experts would.
You can do this! Break it up into segments if it helps; set a timer and when the timer goes off, you’re done with this editing session, no fair lingering.
I decided to dress like A Grown-Up and go walk in the sun. It felt great! I wore my new dress and knee-high boots (even though it is too warm for boots, I did it anyway; TAKE THAT, SUNSHINE) and a bright scarf, and I felt all shiny and tasteful.
I even got stopped by an acquaintance who only happened to spot me because she was checking out my styyyyyyylin’ outfit. That was especially nice because for several years every single time I’ve bumped into her, I’ve been bedraggled and panting and limping under a load of groceries or library books. It shouldn’t matter to me if she thinks of me as permanently sweaty and slovenly, but it had started to matter anyhow.
Way to go!
ADVICE NEEDED: I just started doing OK Cupid and the person with the highest compatibility with me is a coworker of mine. We work in an architecture firm, I’m a secretary and he’s an architect but were the same age and apparently into all the same things. I feel like we sorta tried to feel this out through some innocent email flirting just a little when I started here a year ago but we both had SOs and it fell flat. He’s really good looking and I’m kinda interested even though its a bad idea (?) to date your coworkers (right?) but I think regardless it feels weird because I think it’s like… Hanging in the air. Should I bring it up???
A few points:
1) DON’T DATE COWORKERS EVER IT’S A TERRIBLE IDEA, JUST TERRIBLE.
2) Just because OKC gives someone a high percentage match doesn’t mean they’re a good real life match for you. The percent just means that person is a lot LIKE you, which is not always good. Personally, I just discovered that OKC thinks my most recent ex-manfriend is a 95% match for me which…on the one hand, I get, but on the other hand, well, “EX” manfriend, right?
3) I’m of the “just pretend you never saw coworker’s profile” school of thought, but there’s probably an argument to be made for putting it out there and letting both of y’all acknowledge that it’s weird, and then moving on.
what jinxie said. Don’t get into the habit of screening out <90% matches, I mean odds are good a 60% matched person might be fundamentally incompatible in some way, but a 77% or 85% match could be a pleasant date.
I say that not knowing where you live – OKC works best in cities and it’s slim pickings out in the sticks. Good luck!
I’m going to agree with both of these, especially the not dating coworkers (seriously, because I’m sure he IS awesome but if he isn’t and it doesn’t work out, my life has taught me that this will make your life bad) BUT if you really want to try that because you’re interested anyway, DO NOT DO IT VIA THE INTERNET. actually try and bust a move in person. but that’s just me. and also unless you are happy to not stay at this job, probably don’t do it.
My boyfriend may be making an offer on the family business next week and this week has been a little stressful as a result. The frustrating thing is that he is acting like he doesn’t even really want it (or at least not with current business partner) and has no options and no other choices, but he has options! He’s been making choices! And so if he doesn’t want this, MAKE OTHER CHOICES. But he doesn’t want to talk about it and certainly hasn’t asked my opinion, so instead I’m just stuck with him being moody until he makes the offer (or not) and stops brooding about it. Can anyone tell me why the dark-and-brooding-guy type is so attractive to some women? It has never appealed to me, and it’s annoying as fuck to live with.
Maybe it’s because when they don’t talk we assume their thoughts are interesting!
Is the family business in his family or your family? I think the latter would be very stressful indeed.
His family, luckily! It’s mostly just stressful because he’s ambivalent of whether he even wants to do it and because he can’t run it on his own and has been trying to find an appropriate partner willing to put $1million on the line. I get why he’s stressed, but he handles stress so badly it drives me crazy!
I have some experience with moody partners. I find I am less and less patient with it. My current default response is to describe his behavior calmly as unacceptable and why. Then I tell him calmly to fuck off. Then I conduct my life as if he were not in it, even though we share a house. It seems to sting him most when I go ahead with my plans without him, go to the movie alone, go to the party without him, etc. He gets to be back in my life when *I* feel better. That usually requires an apology from him. You probably have a much kinder response.
IS ANYONE PLAYING POKEMON AND/OR HAS A DS AND WANTS TO BE MY FRIEND HERE IS MY FRIEND CODE: 5086-2008-9023
#totalfriendcodeslut
My kid is. Can I give it to him? I will tomorrow.
DUDES. How do you post pictures in your post? Does one have to remember the html they so easily forgot?
http://www.nznature.co.nz/product/possum-nipple-w… possum fur nipple warmers from the green shores of NZ also (oh my GOD do you know how long I've known about the existence of these and had no call to tell anyone?!)
Hi! I’m new here, so I just wanna to say HELLO!