Another Five for your amusement...

[magnetic_pole]

Catching up on some older Friday Fives this week to keep the posting habit going:



1. Where did you grow up and do you miss it? Suburban Los Angeles, and yes. More so as I get older. The aspects of the area that bothered me so much growing up bother me less, and the aspects I liked at the time now have a stronger pull.

2. Which are your three favorite words in the dictionary and why? Hmm! This is surprisingly difficult. Here's a bit of a dodge: "magnetic pole." When I was first creating this journal, I wanted to use it as a complement to a personal journal whose name began with "magical" (long story), and, finding myself unable to think of something on the spot, I looked in the dictionary for a word or phrase that also began with m-a-g. "Magnetic pole" caught my eye. "Magical etc." is long defunct, but "magnetic_pole" lives on.

3. What is a vegetarian dish that you really like? I love vegetarian dishes! I don't even know where to start here. Anything with tofu. (Tofu as a vehicle for spices and flavors, not as a slab of "protein" in a salad. Ugh. I don't know where we got that idea.) Anything with lots of spices and root vegetables. Bean soups. Salads with berries in them. Cake and croissants. (What? Do those not count?)

4. What do you do when you have a misunderstanding with your friend? Ugh. I'm bad at this. So you know the better half and I have been together for more than twenty years, right? And she's very outgoing, so I tend to outsource a lot of the day-to-day (well, weekly, or semi-monthly) socializing to her. I tend to make friends very slowly and hold onto them forever. The couple times I've screwed up with people, I've really screwed up, and I haven't been able or willing to go back and set things right.

5. What do you daydream about? Fictional characters in interesting situations. Sometimes that "interesting" is a euphemism for something else, but mostly not. I tend to ruminate over emotionally intense moments that reveal something about the character or the world. I've been daydreaming with characters from books and tv since I was little, and finding fic (evidence that I'm not the only one who does this!) was such a revelation. I think this is one of the reasons fandom never feels very far away, even though I haven't been writing or even reading much lately.

Anyone else want to play along? Text box below, and you can link back to the comm, thefridayfive, and see other replies, if you'd like.

<b>1. Where did you grow up and do you miss it?</b> <b>2. Which are your three favorite words in the dictionary and why? <b>3. What is a vegetarian dish that you really like?</b> <b>4. What do you do when you have a misunderstanding with your friend?</b> <b>5. What do you daydream about?</b>

Comments

[spikesgirl58]

Actually, I think your answers are great! I have similar 'daydreams' and I agree with you on tofu. There is so much more to it that just a bland slab of nothingness.

[magnetic_pole]

What's up with tofu in salads? I've seen that in several salad bars over the years. It's like the restaurants got a space shipment of tofu and didn't know what to do with it. (No offense to folks who like their tofu au naturel, by the way.)

Thanks for stopping by to read and comment! M.

[spikesgirl58]

I like tofu well enough and I suspect it's their way of offering a protein to those folks who feel that they need more in their lives. Trying to think of it from a restaurant standpoint, you want to better serve your customer and this is just one more option for vegetarians and vegans. the fact that so many restaurants do this means that it is a viable option for them. Believe me, restaurants cut costs every way they can and if the tofu wasn't going, they'd stop carrying it. Can you tell I've spent time in the culinary industry. :D

No worries! I'm glad you are having fun with the questions!

[magnetic_pole]

Ah, true, true! Good point. Someone must like it. I'm certainly glad that restaurants have more options for vegetarians these days--even though I'm not a vegetarian myself, I love being able to get that option. Which wasn't the case twenty years ago or so, really, at least where I was living. M.

[spikesgirl58]

I know what you mean. I came from a little Podunk town in Vermont. The produce aisle in one of our two grocery stores offered one type of lettuce, carrots, celery, potatoes and onions. You wanted other stuff, you had to grow it yourself. It's good to have options! :D

[magnetic_pole]

Options are *excellent.* :) M.

[spikesgirl58]

Back then it didn't seem so awful, but now, yes, the more options, the better.

[splix]

I like reading your answers so much that I signed up! :D

Finding fic was a complete revelation for me too. I couldn't believe I had found my people; I will be eternally grateful for fandom, no matter how wanky it can get.

[magnetic_pole]

Aren't these questions fun? I'm not doing much right now beyond working, sleeping, and looking at baby animals on Tumblr right now, so it's great to have prompts to get going. Looking forward to seeing yours!

I will be eternally grateful for fandom, no matter how wanky it can get.

Exactly. Nothing like folks who can understand your passionate need for, say, an elaborate fix-it fic to help heal the very real wounds inflicted by very fictional stories. :) M.

[shaggydogstail]

I had no idea about your username origins story, that's really interesting!

Sames on the daydreaming. Like you say, there's clearly a lot of us in that boat.

[magnetic_pole]

What the story behind your username, do you mind if I ask?

I was *so* delighted to find fanfiction, I can't tell you. I'd been daydreaming for years, never thinking to write it down, share it, or read someone else's! M.

[shaggydogstail]

Sorry for the delay - my username was chosen for the first HP fansite I joined, Chamber of Secrets Forums. I made it up on the spot after I discovered "Crookshanks" was already taken, mostly because I like a bit of wordplay. Still, I'm exceptionally fond of it, and probably identify more as Shaggy than I do by my real name.

Yes, I'd never written down before, despite ours of daydreaming. (Although, given the ratio of "hours daydreaming" to "actual writing" the difference in my behaviour is negligible, sad to say.)

[magnetic_pole]

(Although, given the ratio of "hours daydreaming" to "actual writing" the difference in my behaviour is negligible, sad to say.)

Hee! You've been super productive lately, S, I've noticed. (And been a bit envious.) But I agree with the sentiment.

Thanks for recounting your user name story! Some user names are obviously user names, but yours sounds so natural. I'm a bit suspicious that you even have another name on your birth certificate, to be honest. :) M.

[out_there]

The couple times I've screwed up with people, I've really screwed up, and I haven't been able or willing to go back and set things right.

Oh, man, I understand that *so well*.

[magnetic_pole]

I think you and I have a lot in common, O. M.

[write_out]

I love it when you post these; it's lovely to get to know these little bits about you. I'm copying Splix when I say I want to sign up too. :)

Tofu. I don't eat it often because of the soy. I don't know how true it is as I've never eaten enough to really worry, but I have read that it can aggravate endometriosis symptoms. I do love it in Pad Thai or rice dices when it's been fried and has a good crispy exterior. I'm not so much (at all) a fan when it's just cubed up and dumped in a soup. The latter stems from a turkey soup a friend once made me for dinner and it was one of the most disgusting meals I've had. I had to gag down my bowl and I've never quite gotten over it. I think we've maybe bought tofu once to cook at home. Maybe? I trust the professionals to cook it better than I can. What do you do with it?

That's a great name origin story! Those are always fun to learn.

I hear you on missing where you grew up and finding positives where you used to find negatives.

Thank god for fanfic, is all I can say. What an amazing discovery for me as well.

[magnetic_pole]

Aw, I'm glad you're enjoying reading! I do these kinds of random-or-silly prompts to get quieter folks talking at the beginning of my classes, so perhaps it'll work for me here. :)

Ah, the soy! Yes, that might be an issue. Hm. But if not, it's a great filler in a stir fry--we tend to mix a green of some sort (say, bok toy) with tofu because the tofu will take on the flavor of the sauce and complement the crunchiness of the veggies nicely. (I say "we" here because I actually do cook stir-frys sometimes, though the better half does the vast majority of the cooking and baking in the house.) You may just not have had good tofu. Some of the less-good stuff has a really styrofoam-y, hard-to-swallow texture that puts me off. Nowadays even mainstream stores seem to carry regular and even extra-soft varieties.

The other thing I should mention about the the place I grew up is that it actually *is* less conservative and less homophobic than it used to be--the world's changed quite a bit from the 70s and 80s. It's not all my nostalgia talking! :)

Yes, thank goodness for fanfic.

Thanks for reading and commenting, W! M.

[write_out]

I'm sure I've not had good tofu other than what I've had in Pad Thai. I need to give it another shot! We're trying to eat more veggies, so I see more stir fries in our future.

[magnetic_pole]

I should find those stir fry sauce recipes for you. They make even ordinary veggies delicious (and I'm not a big veggie fan). I'll take a look this weekend. M.

[write_out]

Thank you!

[ancientreader]

Oooh ooh look at my comment for a link to an awesome tofu recipe that turns out all crispy. Only SO MUCH BUTTER omg.

[write_out]

OOOOH BUTTER! I'm on it!

[ancientreader]

Ha! Let me know how you like it.

[write_out]

I will!

[ancientreader]

Chiming in on vegetarian dishes: Yotam Ottolenghi's black pepper tofu, oh LORD. In my house we call it "tofu crack." https://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/black-pepper-tofu-a-shop if you're interested. But our go-to comfort food is dal made with toor dal and doused with lime juice and covered with chopped cilantro, over basmati rice. Mmmmmm.

*reins self in* It is a bad idea to get me started talking about food.

Damn, I would not want to go back to my childhood home in a million years. Sometimes I think I might like a quick drive-through, but then -- nah, don't need any reminders of that phase of life.

I daydream about fictional characters all the time, only I'm all fancy and call it "working out the plot of this fic I'm writing." *snort snort snort*

[jesse_the_k]

That recipe is fascinating, but why isn't it called chile with butter and tofu? :,)

I don't eat chiles: do you think substituting in sweet peppers would work?

[ancientreader]

Nah, I'd just skip the dried chilies if you don't like them; sweet pepper would throw off the balance of flavors. I think their texture would be all wrong, too.

Good question about the name of the recipe. Surprisingly, it's not as hot as you might think from the quantity of pepper. Oh, and I forgot to say: I adore the tingle from Szechuan black pepper, so I always substitute it for some of the regular black pepper. Grains of paradise are also nice to throw into the mix.

[write_out]

MAKING THIS

[magnetic_pole]

Aha! You know, we eat a lot of Chinese food, but mostly Cantonese--none of the spicy northern flavors. This sounds like a great experiment--thanks.

I *adore* that stage in the writing process when you're getting to know the characters and working through the plot and every life is a distraction from the fictional daydreaming you want to do. :) M.

[ancientreader]

Yotam's cookbooks are a lot of fun -- he is Mr. Mashup! The big drawback with him is that his idea of an easy weeknight recipe is one that takes two and a half hours. You've been warned!

[magnetic_pole]

I should confess here: I do only a tiny fraction of the kitchen work in the magnetic_pole household, mostly washing dishes and unloading the dishwasher. The better half and I started living together about two years out of college and she enjoys cooking and baking, so I've never really learned how to cook myself, apart from a few basic brunch, snack, and stir-fry options. So the better half will be the one on her feet for two and a half hours, poor thing. But she'll enjoy it. M.

[ancientreader]

Oh, are you my Spouse? Because we have a similar division of labor, except that her kitchen skills are even punier than yours. About twenty years ago she forbade me to continue regaling our friends with accounts of what she used to eat for supper before we got together. *snicker*

[magnetic_pole]

We must be an AU version. My partner is aghast that I would eat cereal all day, all the time if she weren't around. :) M.

[ancientreader]

My God! You are mirror-world me and Spouse! You totally are!

[alisanne]

I missed this week's Friday five post (I guess they're only posting them every other week?) so this is a great idea. :)
AFAIK cake and croissants totally count. <3

[magnetic_pole]

Ah, every other week? Well, I can work through the backlog. Unlike you, I need a little encouragement to get typing!

We have this French bakery nearby that is just wonderful, and somehow every time I pass by there's some excuse for buying one. :) M.

[therealsnape]

Of course cakes and croissants count. And bean soups! They're so great.

Love to read your answers!

[magnetic_pole]

I'd survive exclusively on cakes and croissants if I could. Sadly, people keep saying these things called "nutrients" are important. :(

Thanks for reading! M.

Thanks for keeping the flame

[jesse_the_k]

The Friday Five is an excellent ice-breaking tool. Your miscellaneous facts are my intriguing mosaic.

Of course you know how to create copy-and-paste text boxes from your years running fic comms: can you point me to a how-to?

Re: Thanks for keeping the flame

[magnetic_pole]

I'm enjoying the excuse to chat! In an ideal world I've have some fic to post or recs to make, but the reality is I'm too busy right now for almost everything except a few comment. Thanks to the comm for getting us talking.

Textareas! There's a tutorial here--scroll down to just before the comments.

Thanks for reading and commenting, J! M.

Re: Thanks for keeping the flame

[jesse_the_k]

Thanks for the great link — and introducing me to facetofcathy's writing, which is fascinating. Do you happen to know if/where she's writing now?

Re: Thanks for keeping the flame

[magnetic_pole]

Do you know, I don't know that much about facetofcathy. I visited her? their? blog for technological/fandom issues and a few really great essays on fandom misogyny and racism a while back and then completely lost track of them. You'll have to tell me if you figure out what they're doing now! M.

[secretsolitaire]

This is a fun one. I also could go on all day about vegetarian dishes, though I've never gotten into tofu -- the texture and appearance of it are too off-putting for me.

Fictional characters in interesting situations. Sometimes that "interesting" is a euphemism for something else

I have filled so many long car/train/plane rides with "interesting" daydreams, haha.

[magnetic_pole]

There's a funny post going around Tumblr that says something like this:

Friday night, and I've slipped into something special and poured myself a glass of wine. Someone's getting laid tonight, and it's my favorite fictional character.

:)

I hope you have well-prepared tofu at some point! Done right, it's so yummy. M.