magnetic_pole

The New Normal / Weeks 07, 08, 09, and 10

2020-05-26T05:20:33Z

Folks, I owe comments on my last post and need to catch up with the flist, but I wanted to say hello and write something here before I fell too far behind.

Weeks 07, 08, 09, and 10 have been very quiet.

( Sickness (mine, not serious) )

In part because of the above, there is not a single thing of interest to report from this end, unfortunately. The semester has wrapped up and the summer research and writing period has begun. I continue to be ridiculously, childishly disappointed about the lack of swimming opportunities, but that won't last forever. In the meantime, I'm going to get walking again as soon as I feel better. (I'm getting to know the three-mile radius around my apartment very well, including the paths and trails leading into the large public park nearby.)

Let me offer a few goodies before I sign off:

*** I'm almost embarrassed to make a baked goods recommendation here, because I didn't do the baking myself and I know so many of you are excellent bakers in your own right, so who am I to recommend anything to you? But this is a truly extraordinary simple chocolate cake I recommend wholeheartedly:

King Arthur's Original Cake Pan Cake (There's an icing recipe, but the cake was heavenly even without.)

( *** Have some gorgeous flowers )

*** Thanks to therealsnape, we're having a final week of discussions over at covidcoffeecorner--please come join us!

Hope you are all well, folks!

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The New Normal / Weeks 03 and 04

2020-04-12T04:15:19Z

So it turns out that online teaching is twice as much work as I thought it would be (and I was already worried it would be a lot of work) and I missed posting last week altogether, but things are settling down into a new routine here and Zoom no longer makes me nervous, so there's that.

R and I are the ultimate homebodies, so in a lot of ways the past few weeks have been as familiar as they've been strange. I'm avoiding the news, which was keeping me up at night, and trying not to worry about things outside my control. We're talking long walks, having tea, getting work done, and exchanging baked goods with some neighbors in contact-less drop offs. Oh! And continuing to walk the perennially happy Puppy A, whose enthusiasm is hard to resist.

I'm going to offer you two options here before I sign off: 1) flowers! and 2) a stay-at-home-related meme, for those who are up for it.

( More flowers! )

( Stay-at-home spring meme )

Thanks to adafrog and kelly_chambliss for the meme! Would you like to try it? Text box below!

1. Are you an essential worker?

2. How many drinks have you had since the quarantine started?

3. If you have kids... Are they driving you nuts?

4. What new hobby have you taken up during this?

5. How many grocery runs have you done?

6. What are you spending your stimulus check on?

7. Do you have any special occasions that you will miss during this quarantine?

8. Are you keeping your housework done?

9. What movie have you watched during this quarantine?

10. What are you streaming with?

11. Nine months from now is there any chance of you having a baby?

12. What's your go-to quarantine meal?

13. Is this whole situation making you paranoid?

14. Has your internet gone out on you during this time?

15. What month do you predict this all ends?

16. First thing you’re gonna do when you get off quarantine?

17. Where do you wish you were right now?

18. What free-from-quarantine activity are you missing the most?

19. Have you run out of toilet paper and hand sanitizer?

20. Do you have enough food to last a month?

I hope you are all safe and healthy and doing well!

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The New Normal / Week 01

2020-03-17T21:02:51Z

Question for you: if I were to set up a new comm, say, "The Covid Coffee Corner," if therealsnape allows us to borrow her clever turn of phrase, would anyone be interested in 1) helping me host it or 2) stopping by to chat? My thought was that we could get folks to sign up to host two posts per day (or every other day?), one for Covid-19 talk and one for anything but. It would mean there would be a place for folks to check in daily and hang out for the next few weeks. (Or is this already going on somewhere?) Comments or suggestions welcome!

ETA: Let's give this a try! I've created covidcoffeecorner, which will post daily at least through the end of March. Come join us there to chat!

***

I'm sorry I've been so scarce lately--I've been experimenting with significantly less online time this semester, giving up Tumblr entirely and limiting my online reading time. I'm feeling very distant from fandom but miss the community and the conversations here.

I'm currently on an extended spring break, during which I need to figure how to get three courses up and running online. I'm feeling a bit cynical about the whole thing at the moment, although in an effort to stay positive, I'm going to avoid complaining and simply post two articles for the instructors and students who might be interested:

Welcome to Your Hastily Prepared Online College Course (humor from McSweeney's)
Please Do a Bad Job of Putting Your Courses Online (a polemical thought piece from an academic)
ETA: I Will Survive (guitar-accompanied parody of Gloria Gaynor's classic for academics learning to teach online)

I will, of course, not deliberately do a bad job of putting my courses online, but I'm deeply suspicious of the impact this half semester (hopefully only a half semester) will have on administrative thinking about the costs and benefits of face-to-face learning...if, indeed, our institutions survive to have this conversation in six months or so. Heaven knows I've found an amazing community here online and had powerful, life-changing conversations online with folks I've never met, but fandom is not academia, even if they overlap and mirror each other in surprising ways; we're motivated to join in and speak up for radially different reasons.

***

Schools, museums, gyms, and bars/restaurants/coffee shops are all closed here. Many--a majority?--of people in my apartment building seem to be working from home. R and I have been taking a long walk every day to get some exercise and get out of the house. Despite my many worries about public health and about the economy, it's beautiful out: sunny, warm, with the first of the cherry blossoms and thousands of daffodils. I'll post some photos below the cut.

( Flowers! )

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A very happy birthday to Shadowycat!

2020-03-12T00:06:28Z

Some early bloomers to mark the special day. May this next year bring you many new joys and new adventures, shadowycat!

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Happy new year!

2020-01-16T01:12:45Z

Happy new year, everyone!

Ah, the 2020s. I'm not sure how you feel. but I was totally prepared for the end of the year and totally *unprepared* for the end of the decade. The spate of the end-of-the-year news articles summing up the 2010s really surprised me. How did we get to the end of the 2010s? What to say about this decade, other than it ended on a perilous note, and I'm glad that I'm still here to worry about the next one?

Not much news at this end, in a good way:

* My winter break is wrapping up and classes start next week. It's been a lovely break, with lots of productive work at the beginning and end but a soft, squishy, happy, relaxing middle. I spent about two weeks visiting friends in the Northeast, sleeping in, eating well, catching up, thinking about the future, playing card games (including Taco Cat Goat Cheese, Pizza), snuggling with pets, and even trying to ice skate. (Operative word: trying.) I even got to meet write_out! If, like me, you love chatting with her and always wondered what she was like in person, I'll tell you: exactly as you'd imagine, and even better.

* small_gifts, which ran during the first three weeks of December, took a break and finished strong in late December and early January, thanks in no small part to our readers and commenters and bonus gift authors. Thank you to all those who contributed and enjoyed the fest!

* I actually wrote two things this exchange season, hurrah! (For those of you who are new around these parts, I'm a fan in hibernation, a little too busy and tired to do much, so I celebrate a bit when I get something done.)

For Small Gifts: Cat People (and the Dog Who Loves Them), featuring Remus Lupin's mum, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin's dad, James Potter, a retired Auror-cum-grocer, and a big black dog; rated G; 3400 words. Remus' mother is a cat person. So is Remus. That's why taking in a giant black dog for the holidays is no fun at all.

For WAdvent: The Map and the Territory, featuring John Watson/Sherlock Holmes and a books of maps; rated G; 1600 words. Three maps of London that light up John Watson’s imagination.

* We have been invited to an f/f wedding! I can never get enough of these.

* I'm finally getting over a very odd cold that only shows its symptoms in the late afternoons and evenings. Have you ever had one like this? For about ten days now, I start the day off feeling great, but by 3:00 or 4:00 I'm tired and by 5:00 or 6:00 I've got a sore throat, a headache, body aches, and the kind of fatigue you normally get with a normal cold that just wallops you for three or four days and then takes its leave. And I've been coughing so much my partner R kicked me out of bed and sent me to sleep on the couch. Bizarre. I'll be glad to see the end of this one.

Hope 2020 has treated you well so far, flist!

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The year-end holiday season begins!

2019-12-21T15:26:37Z

As of today, grades are in and the holidays are officially upon us. No students have complained (yet). I have some letters to write on behalf of students and colleagues in the next few days and quite a bit of writing to do in January, but this can all happen while I'm happily reclining on the couch. No more commuting for thirty days, hurrah!

* small_gifts is almost finished posting its regular round and is open for bonus gifts, to be posted from Friday, December 27th, through the end of the month. The gifts there this time have been excellent, which makes me very happy. Stop by to read or drop off a drabble if shabby Defense Against the Dark Arts professors and unhinged ex-felons are your cup of tea!

* Do you send out year-end cards? What techniques have you developed to get them out the door in a timely way? For years R and I created our own New Year's cards with photos from the previous year. It was never a quick and easy process--Lunar New Year still counted as New Year's, and the very last cards often went out in August--but now we're three years behind, and we need a new system. Step 1: streamline card-making process somehow. Step 2: You tell me. Do you do them all at once? Write only a brief message? Bribe yourself with cocoa and candy?

* Random article rec: If you have ever been frustrated by the prevalence of open concept houses or apartments, Kate Wagner hears you: The Case for Rooms, on the importance of privacy, doors, and keeping messes out of sight. I wish she'd included a discussion of changing total square footage per dwelling unit over time and cultural expectations of square footage per person, and how open plan homes respond to each, but the basic argument is very gratifying to me, at least. (If you ever visit me, you will notice that you can smell stir fry everywhere in my apartment, which is lovely at dinner and less lovely later in the evening or in the next morning.) Wagner runs the popular McMansion Hell blog, mocking the pretensions of new build pseudo-historical houses. Niche entertainment, admittedly, but very enjoyable.

Via paulmcg, a very welcome friending meme over at st_aurafina's:

Come mingle and meet folks active on DW these days!

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Towards more frequent posting....

2019-09-10T01:52:17Z

Another week, another post! I can do this. :)

First and most importantly, a very happy birthday to minervas_eule! There's a photo for you under the cut, selected because I associate you so closely with this time of the year. You're always so happy to resume your usual schedule in September! I admire that and try to emulate it.

( Sunflower beauty )

In other news:

* R and I have agreed to become regular weekday afternoon walkers for the puppy we were sitting last week, so we'll continue to see him regularly, hurrah! He's just such a happy, positive little thing. Every day is even more exciting than the last! Everything we do is so interesting to him! This is the best walk ever! He can't believe there are so many people and dogs out in the world who can be his friends!

( His own excitement tires him out sometimes. )

* I've been watching Happy Valley while cat-sitting (lots of pet sitting going on around here!) and really admiring Sally Wainwright's writing. It's a bit tense and violent for me, but I can't quite stop--the characters are unfolding so beautifully.

* Something to make you laugh: "How I Spend Money," a comic that's painfully accurate for me. You, too? Or is there something else that falls in that category for you? Sarah Andersen is fun, by the way, if you're interesting in following her. I'm also enjoying Ello Pudge (she's us, write_out): "Me when making plans, me on Friday."

* Just a quick entry this week to establish some continuity. Hope you are all well!

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Meme: I don't get out often enough...

2019-07-16T18:06:46Z

Hi, flist! I've been too quiet; I'm sorry. I'm struggling with some offline writing that's sapped my energy to do anything else. I should remember the key to posting here is not to stop.

I'm going to dip my toes back in the water with an edited version of a meme I've seen in a couple places. (Copying here from nachodiablo --thanks!) The take-away seems to be that I need to get out more.

🌴 Been to an Island: Yes, if big islands like Maui or Oahu or Lanzarote or count. (Or Roosevelt Island? Or the île de la Cité in Paris?) To the remote, unpaved kind? No.
✈️ Flown on a Plane: Yes. Probably two trips a year, on average.
🚑 Rode in an Ambulance: Never.
🎤 Sang Karaoke: Never
⛸ Ice Skating: Yes! A few times with my brother and his two boys, who are now playing hockey. I'm surprisingly good at it for a nonathletic newbie. I think it's because I did so much roller skating as a child.
🚢 Been on a Cruise: Never.
🏍 Rode on a Motorcycle: Never.
🐴 Rode on a Horse: Never.
🏥 Stayed in a Hospital: Just the once, when I shattered my elbow and needed an operation.
⭐️ Met a star: Never, if we're talking the Entertainment Weekly kind. That said, I had two world-famous orthopedic surgeons put my elbow back together again. I still appreciate their stellar skills!
🚁 Rode in a helicopter: Never.
📺 Been on tv: Never.
👻 Seen a ghost: Yes! On the Metro North commuter train leaving NYC late at night about twenty five years ago. We passed another train and a hand came out to touch the glass of my window. Not a believer in ghosts, generally, but that was such a vivid, real experience I'm convinced something happened.

I'll paste the meme below, flist, but if you don't want to do the whole thing, do you have any interesting responses to any of these questions? I hope your summer is going well so far!

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Fun middle name meme (this post brought to you by the letter L)

2019-04-13T18:43:57Z

A fun middle name meme via shadowycat:

Answers all have to start with the first letter of your middle name. No googling!

(I'm adding two challenges for you below to liven up your lazy Saturday afternoon.)

Animal.............. Lynx
Girl's name....... Loretta
Boy's name...... Lupin
Color............... Lilac
Food................ Lingonberry
Something you wear..... Leather
Drink............... Lemonade
Place............... Lower Ninth Ward
Restaurant....... La Mediterranee
Reason to be late..... Laziness
Job title............ Librarian

Ha! That was surprisingly difficult. I don't think my brain stores things that way.

Challenge #1: Can you beat my time? This took me 2 minutes and 30 seconds, not including creating the links or writing the rest of the post.

Challenge #2: Can you guess my middle name? You can find a hint in my responses. I tend not post too much personal info here, but if'd you'd like to guess and you guess correctly, I'll let you know via DM.

And the text box, if you'd like to play along:

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The Friday Five spring forward....

2019-03-26T02:54:45Z

First and most importantly, happy birthday, write_out! Two photos to brighten your day:

( A celebratory reminder of both London and Sherlock Holmes )

( ...and special birthday greetings from Dog R )

And a springtime set of questions courtesy of thefridayfive

1. What is your least favorite part of Spring?
Precipitation. Last week I got caught in a downpour with graupel sans umbrella (because I'm optimistic and foolish like that). What's that? You hadn't heard of graupel? Me, neither. Wasn't aware such a thing existed until it was dumped out of the sky on my head. *sigh*

2. What is your most favorite part of Spring?
Longer days! It's such a relief to have a bit more sun in the evenings.

3. What is the latest good book you've read?
Hm. I'm just starting this: Capital City: Gentrification and the Real Estate State. Hopes are high. I'll let you know how it goes.

4. What are your plans for this weekend?
The second half of the grading I was complaining about last week.

5. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood?
Only qualitative analysis 'round these parts, thank you!

What's a good book you've read recently, flist?

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Spring break!

2019-03-20T23:40:39Z

It's spring break for me this week, and I've been sleeping in, taking naps, and lying on the couch pretty much 24/7. I've gotten a lot of academic reading done, which is excellent--I love having the time to focus--but that's the easy and fun part, and now I need to buckle down and do some grading. *sigh* Grading is my nemesis.

It's been a quiet week in a good way. R and I had brunch with The College Friend We See a Couple Times a Month and talked about our upcoming 25th (!) college reunion, which we're going to. It'll be my first reunion, and I've only agreed because I can combine it with a trip to the library and archives. (I was not a huge fan of the people at college, but I adored the library.) An old neighbor and friend from Small New England College Town (now a Florida resident) came through town with her daughter and her daughter's best friend, which was fun. There's an Unpleasant Thing going on at work via e-mail that I've been ignoring. It'll still be there when we're back on duty on Monday. We've been doing our usual lunch-time walk with Dog R and are taking care of Dog M while her human's away for a few days.

( Click for happy doggos! )

Via questionoftheday: What do you keep in your workspace to help improve your mood? Does it make you more productive?

Doesn't matter what's in the workspace as long as it's neat! My desk has been a mess for ages ( Click for sad illustration of the state of things )--a sign I haven't had enough time to file and re-organize. I don't think I'll finish cleaning over the next few days, but hopefully I'd make a dent in the piles.

What do you keep in your workspace to help improve your mood or make you more productive, flist?

Hope all's well with you!

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The Friday Five are almost on break...

2019-03-12T01:15:37Z

First and most importantly, a very happy birthday to you, shadowycat! We don't have anything here yet to share, but enjoy:

( Last year's daffodils! )

This week's thefridayfive:

1. Are we losing the art of listening? As one of life's listeners, I can only say that I'm still listening. :)

2. Have you ever interacted with the police? In a significant way? In the US, just once, when I was in (read: caused) a minor car accident as a teenager. Thank goodness. One aspect of my life in which I've been very, very lucky.

3. Do you like being alone? Love it. Do not get enough of it. The better half even goes out sometimes to give me some space and is always disappointed when I'm surprised to see her again. "You're back already?" I ask every time. "That was so quick!"

4. Who would you share your passwords with? You know, really, I ought to do a better job of sharing them with *myself*, seeing as I don't have any written down and my memory is just not what it once was.

5. What are you grateful for today? Girl Scout cookies. Thin Mints and Samoas, to be precise. I had to package them up just now to prevent further snacking.

And a question for you: Do you have a favorite Girl Scout cookie, folks who live in places with Girl Scout cookies? If not, do you have a favorite packaged cookie or biscuit?

Hope all's well, everyone! I'm down to about 72 hours before spring break, and believe me, I'm counting every one. More soon!

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The Friday Five's Life in Food

2019-02-18T03:35:52Z

Full disclosure: embarrassingly, I do very little cooking and only a bit of the shopping for our household. R loves cooking and shopping and is very territorial in the kitchen, so that's fine with her, but everyone once in a while I realize I'm like a 1950s breadwinner, arriving home just in time for R to put a dish on the table for me. I do try to do my fair share in other ways.

1. Do you make up a dinner plan for the coming week?
Not usually. We usually plan my lunches and even make them ahead of time because it's bit of a push getting me out of the house in the morning, but dinners are more freeform.

2. Do you make up a shopping list and stick to it when shopping?
Yup. Lists are crucial--otherwise I'll forget. Every once in a while I'll realize I have more time than expected and can make a detour to one of the grocery stores, but even then I'll make up a mental list en route. I stick to the list so faithfully that sometimes I'll be wandering down an aisle in the store and realize I wasn't even aware the store sold these things. I'm not a browser. R hates shopping with me--she goes aisle by aisle, looking at everything.

3. What is one thing that you always buy, but never put down on a list?
Everything's got to go on the list! Oh my word, I have a list of everything, including the things I need to check before walking out the door to make sure I don't lock myself out / get caught with no money / have matching shoes on. (Seriously. I double check because I have two similar pairs of brown shoes I've been wearing recently, and one day I realized I'd mismatched them.)

4. Is there anything that you always think you are out of and come home with it to discover you already have a year’s supply on hand?
Not really, but we do get various Asian supplies in the mail from R's mother, unsolicited, and we have enough Chinese sausages to make fried rice for the rest of our lives. Mostly R's mother just wants to stay in touch, and who can argue with getting care packages of food? But the refrigerator is just stuffed with lap cheung. (sp?)

5. Do you get your groceries delivered?
Not the usual groceries, but we do get a box of produce seconds every other weekend. It's super exciting to get surprise veggies that you didn't have to carry home.

What's the most unusual shopping or cooking habit you have, flist?

You can see see both the questions and folks' responses over at thefridayfive.

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Happy new year!

2019-01-17T01:34:31Z

How are you all? I am behind in wishing you a happy 2019 and restarting my weekly posts, but for the moment, can I offer you two things that might make you happy?

( 1) Pumpkin bread (recipe) )

( 2) A bulldog looking for a moment of peace away from his nine pups (video) )

I'll be back this weekend to catch up with your posts and write a full update.

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Friday Five a la Fromage...

2018-11-09T04:37:24Z

( Fromage-related Five with a side of sociological musing... )

What's your cheese story, flist?

On a related (gastronomical) note, I haven't forgotten my promise to post my pumpkin bread recipe here, and I'll finally have some time to type it up tomorrow. It's been a week and half these past few days. Hurrah for Fridays!

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A happy hp_halloween!

2018-11-03T00:42:55Z

hp_halloween has been delightful, as always. I was especially lucky, receiving a charming and thoughtful ficlet about Arabella Figg's relationship with the wizarding world from shadowycat: Forever In-between, Arabella Figg and Mr Tibbles, G, : Mrs Figg prepares for Hallowe'en. (Thank you, SC! You probably don't know it, but she was one of the first minor characters I wrote and grew to love.) My own gift was for kelly_chambliss: The Two Faces of Power, Dolores Umbridge, G, Sometimes Halloween is a season for masks. Sometimes it isn’t.

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Frightful Friday Five...

2018-10-29T21:36:03Z

1. With Halloween coming this next week, do you have any seasonal activities you're planning on doing for the holiday? The better half and I had a Halloween happy hour last night, costumes encouraged. Fun, fun, fun, plus lots of food and pumpkin bread, which is my absolute favorite. (Hm. I should pass on the recipe, it's that good. Will come back to this.) Due to school, I'm unfortunately missing out on Friend A's invitation to hand out candy on Wednesday (she has an actual house with a door, where we live in an apartment). ETA: I'll also be reading hp_halloween ficlets! How could I forget those bite-size treats?

2. What is your favorite Halloween or dress up party costume you've had? R adores Halloween, so we do something every year. Last year we were Amazon Prime--R in an Amazon warrior costume with headband and sword, and me in all black with prime numbers all over. Apart from the inadvertent advertising for a corporation that does not deserve it, it was fun to watch people guess. The best costume yesterday involved a sateen sash and a loaf of bread (breadwinner--clever, clever).

3. Which do you like better, apple cider or pumpkin spice flavoring? Pumpkin spice! Although having had unpasteurized cider in northern New England, I can understand why people like apple cider so much. It's so subtle and delicious it makes the supermarket stuff taste like apple juice.

4. What is your favorite scary movie and why? *sheepish* I can't watch any scary movies. They're all bad to me. The last one I watched was Poltergeist in, oh, 1982. I couldn't sleep for months.

5. What traditionally "scary" monster or fear do you think is the most overrated and why? Again, they're all scary! (I have a low tolerance for scary things.) Although I do have to say I love cemeteries. There's something lovely about seeing so many individual lives honored in one place. They've never struck me as scary. ETA: Plus I love black cats. Surely they've never brought anyone bad luck?

As always, I'd love to see you complete thefridayfive yourself (and thanks to the good folks over there for keep us chatting). But if you're only up for chatting in comments and not a full post, tell me: what's the best Halloween costume that you've created or that you've seen?

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Mid-October madness...

2018-10-18T02:41:03Z

There's slightly Too Much Real Life going on right now, folks. A close friend just got married in an amazing three-day extravaganza (R officiated), and I just met a big deadline at work. While I'm very, very happy about both, I need to say that I was not cut out for this one-thing-after-another lifestyle. I need more tea and downtime than this!

So rather than a full Friday Five this week, I just want to note that small_gifts is back for its 13th year! Sign ups should go up tomorrow, and claiming will take place on Sunday, October 28th. Mark your calendars!

We're just shy of the twentieth anniversary of the introduction of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, now that I think about it. Together? I think so.

And, in the spirit of starting some discussion every week, here's a question for you: what's something you've changed your mind about?

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Happy belated birthday, TRS!

2018-10-18T01:26:16Z

A belated but very warm "happy birthday!" to you, therealsnape! Have a bowl of R's roasted acorn squash soup to celebrate the new season?

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The Friday Five hope you are all safe, warm (but not too warm), and comfortable...

2018-09-14T03:51:56Z

Thinking of those facing down Florence and Mangkhut tonight.

1. Have you ever experienced a hurricane firsthand? No, luckily.

2. Have you ever experienced outside heat over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celcius)? Often when I was young; I grew up on the edge of the high desert. But 100F / 38C and dry is ten times better than 80F / 27C and muggy. My worst moment was just arriving in Hong Kong, passing out for a moment in the heat, and falling at the end of an escalator. I was a sweaty, dizzy mess with a skinned knee and a sprained ankle. Not my best moment.

3. When and where was the coldest temperature you have ever experienced? Objectively? Probably in January in northern New England, where the temperatures sometimes fell to close to 0F / -17C. Subjectively: the weekend I found myself in St. Andrews, Scotland, in mid March with insufficient clothing and/or backbone. I actually had to turn around and get back on the train and head to London, I was that miserable and unprepared. (These were the days before this California girl had discovered wool. That was a bit of a revelation.)

4. Is your household prepared for a possible power outage of two to seven days? No.

5. Do you have a go bag? No. Hm. I'm starting to think there may be a lesson here.

Textbox below (you can link back to thefridayfive), or just stop by and leave a comment: When and where were you your hottest and coldest, flist?

***

And on a completely different and much happier note: a very happy birthday to the incorrigible lash_larue! I spotted this months ago and thought of you....

( Your kind of cat... )

Hope you've all had a great week, flist!

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Wedding bells for the Friday Five...

2018-09-11T00:26:07Z

I went to a pop-up wedding* this weekend, so let's take a thematically appropriate set of questions from thefridayfive archive:

1) Do you want to get married? Already did. We did everything backward--became friends first and then started dating, moved in together and then started thinking long-term, celebrated multiple anniversaries and then decided to have a big party.

I'm not sure I ever made a conscious decision about marriage, especially since it wasn't legal for same-sex couples at the beginning of our relationship. There was no big question about love and forever-ness, only a number of logistical hurdles to overcome. We got a domestic partnership certificate from my partner's work early on (specifically in order to get health insurance), another certificate a few years later from the town we lived in (also to support a health insurance application and, less crucially, to get a library card), and a marriage license from our state when it became legal there (largely to safeguard our meager assets for the other in case of disaster, since we have hostile families). (Coincidentally, that was on 09/09/09, nine years ago yesterday.) Finally, we had a party because the better half is the type of person who didn't want to miss the opportunity for a very large, very fun party with everyone she knows.

2) Where would you like to get married? As it turned out, we had the party in our backyard, the one and only time in my life I've lived somewhere with a backyard. (Very convenient.) We put up a white tent, rented some chairs and tables, got a local Chinese Malaysian restaurant to cater a banquet, and made a dozen cakes ourselves, the night beforehand.

3) If you were getting married in a week, who would be in your wedding party? Hm. The same folks who showed up and helped out eight years ago, probably. A few high school friends, a few college friends, and a few more recent friends. We have one very close friend in town right now--who's planning her own second marriage for next month, coincidentally--but by and large the people we each know are scattered across the country (and in some cases have moved abroad).

4) What would your wedding colours be? We used purple, because the purple-loving better half cared and I didn't.

5) Does marriage mean to you 'til death do us part?' Not necessarily. People grow apart. I'm doing everything I can to keep this relationship working, but I recognize that even the best intentions and hardest work can't always keep two people together forever.

* Pop-up: my term, not the couples'. The decision to marry was made on a Sunday, e-mail invites were mailed out on Monday, and the guests were instructed to bring potluck items. It took place on a Saturday morning in the couple's basement apartment (tidied up and decorated with flowers) and was over by noon. So lovely and so simple! It made me happy to see how happy they were.

How are you doing, flist? Want to share wedding fantasies or stories?

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The Friday Five love food...

2018-09-04T02:04:57Z

Sorry! Didn't mean to post and then disappear last week. Every time, I forget what a big push the beginning of the semester is. (You'd think I get the hang of this after so many years, but no.)

Catching up with last week's Friday Five, all about food:

1. What is your favourite food? Any fresh baked good: croissants, bread, cake, baos, cookies.
2. What is your favourite food preparation method? Stir fry! It's the only thing I do, really, other than eggs and some breakfast foods.
3. What is your favourite cuisine or style of cooking? This is really difficult question: the one I like most of the time? The one I want right now? The one I'm most excited to eat when I have the chance? Mexican, because it's what I grew up eating at local restaurants, and it's always appealing to me, no matter the mood or situation. Malaysian, because it's a successful blending of two of the world's great cuisines, Indian and Chinese, with some amazing Malay spices and dishes thrown in. Ethiopian for vegetarian dishes. Vietnamese for soup. American for syrupy breakfasts and chocolatey desserts. Cantonese for dim sum, one the world's great cultural contributions.
4. Do you have any dietary restrictions and if so what are they? Not really. I'm very lucky this way.
5. If you could introduce the whole world to one ingredient to improve their culinary experience, what would that be and why? Hm....not sure I'm in a position to suggest anything to anyone--all of my food knowledge is a subset of someone else's. A basic ingredient I couldn't do without? Onions. Sometimes when I follow a delicious smell out to the kitchen and ask the better half what she's making, she's only started to brown the onions.

Also: my 2018 fall pledge: Every week when I post, I'm going to mention something lovely about fall, which has always elicited an unnecessary sense of dread in me. (Winter is bad, yes, but it doesn't really start until January here--there's no reason why I shouldn't enjoy September to December.) This week: I can continue to wear sandals well into September! The warm weather lasts weeks into the school year, and my toes can be free and happy for a long while yet.

And last but perhaps most important of all: happy birthday, minervas_eule! For you: a gorgeous 19c library that my students always say "reminds them of Harry Potter." (Not a music performance space, unfortunately, but an important music library locally.)

Sorry I'm so slow on comments, everyone! I'll catch up with last week's over the next day or two. Hope your September is off to a good start.

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The Friday Five have started to commute again...

2018-08-27T02:25:22Z

The school year (and my commute) are starting again this week, so let's answer a relevant Friday Five from the archives this week:

1. What is your current main mode of transportation? e.g. car, bike, subway, walking etc.
Ideally, walking; I do as much in our neighborhood as I possibly can. But I take the bus to get downtown and the metro and the commuter rail to get to work.

2. Are you satisfied with your current main mode of transportation (answer to question 1)? Why? Yes! I love being able to walk. It's one of the joyous discoveries of adulthood, that you don't actually need to own a car. (Other joyous discoveries of adulthood: you don't actually need to live in a single family house, and you don't need to date men. :) We selected our apartment and neighborhood primarily for their proximity to grocery stores, transit, stores, and restaurants. And we've been especially lucky because the neighborhood's added quite a few options even in the time we've lived here.

3. Do you think you'll change your means of transit soon? e.g. buy a car, get rid of your car, walk more etc.? If so why?
One day I may decide I can't handle the mega-commute to Neighboring City to get to my job, and we'll move there--a move that will probably entail buying a car, since Neighboring City's not as walkable. But at the moment I'm happy where I am and feel as if the trade off (lots of things within walking distance and no need to own a car vs. long commute to work) are worth it.

4. If time distance and money were not factors how do you prefer to get from point A to point B?
Mm. That's a hard one. Ideally, Apparating? Bullet train? Given the current constraints of my Muggle life, I'd take a taxi more often to eliminate the frustrating metro portion of my commute. Or I might take a taxi at odd hours when the bus or metro headways are especially long. I have transit impatience.

5. What was your worst transit experience? Being in car accidents as a child, hands down. Nothing that's happened on bus, train, metro or plane ever since has been as destabilizing. (And I've never even been in a serious accident that left someone injured.)

How are you all doing, flist? Are you celebrating or mourning the end of summer?

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A habit-forming Friday Five...

2018-08-19T18:59:11Z

1. What bad habits [of your own] bother you the most? My tendency toward occasional over-eating/emotional eating. It always seems so logical and necessary at the time, and in retrospect seems like automatic, mindless idiocy. Or the advent of my period, which is always preceded by two days of ravenousness and crankiness and catches me by surprise every time.

2. What good habits do you most admire [in others]? Regular exercise and regular writing. I can do both, but I need to work myself up to it, every time.

3. What unusual habits do you observe in your family members? Do they bother you? Knee-bouncing. I can't imagine having that much extra energy!

4. Which bad habit do you think would be the most difficult to get rid of? Why? Anything emotional or tied to childhood attitudes or fears. Speech patterns or verbal or physical tics. (I still, like, sound like girl raised in the 80s, you guys.)

5. Which good habit do you think would be the most difficult to develop? Why? Well, habits I don't actually want to develop (like skipping dessert) are difficult for obvious reasons, even when I'm in in a self-improvement mode. A lot of the habits I really do want to acquire but can't seem to develop properly (going to bed earlier, for example) are in conflict with other things going on my life.

***

In other news, I bought the neighbor's wardrobe! Thanks for the encouragement, flist. Right now it's a really expensive vacuum closet, but soon I'll figure out how to make better use of it (and, honestly, I really wanted to put that vacuum away, so that at least makes me happy). We have a walk in closet in the bedroom but no other storage in the apartment, so as you can imagine there are a number of living-and-dining-room-related items which can probably go in there. And we still have three unpacked boxes from the 2015 move, so perhaps we'll finally be able to put those away. Tidy apartment = happy me.

We saw Crazy Rich Asians yesterday. Actually quite fun, all things considered.* (R's read the book(s), I haven't, so I wasn't sure what to expect.) And while there's a lot of talk about Asian and Asian American representation in Hollywood, which is wonderful and important, YAY!, it's also a movie with some really fabulous roles for women, which hasn't been discussed the same way. Michelle Yeoh was excellent, of course, but Constance Wu was, too. And Awkwafina! Hope you get to enjoy these fabulous women soon.

Pre-semester meetings this week, class start next. Summer 2018 is on the wane.

* There are some big caveats that need to come with this movie--see my comments to TRS below.

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The Friday Five are thinking about journaling and fandom today...

2018-08-11T02:18:57Z

Whoops! I somehow missed a week there. How have you all been?

* I'm just back from a long weekend in Denver, where my partner had some work meetings and I was able to catch up with my college roommate, whom I hadn't seen for an extended length of time since the 90s. I'd been thinking about her a lot recently because she was the one who convinced me to do a semester in London with her when we were in college and then pushed me to travel with her once we were there. We did so much on a modest budget: dozens of places in London, maybe six or eight overnight trips to locations in England, Scotland, and Ireland. I've often explained our slightly Odd Couple relationship by saying that she's both a homebody and a traveler like me, but before her I was really just a homebody; she's the one who showed me I could travel. We were both in London for a few days earlier this summer, and it was so good to share our love of the city and remember how we got started on this path.

* I've just finished my first babysitting gig with the sweet little ( bulldog ) we've been walking at noon on weekdays. His humans have arranged for housekeepers to come clean the apartment occasionally and wanted to know if we could take care of him in the apartment for an hour or so while the housekeepers were working. No problem! I said. But he really was a bit anxious, even after introducing him to our apartment several times last week. (We live two doors down, on the same hallway.) Pet aunt-ing is difficult! But he seemed to be fine in the end, after a lot of treats and lot of petting. Dogs aren't so different: new situations are stressful, and positive reinforcement, food, and lots of attention go a long way for both of us.

* I might buy a used Ikea Hemnes wardrobe from a neighbor tomorrow. Would this be too big in a medium-sized room? We have so few closets in this apartment I'm inclined to get it. Surely more storage space will help make the apartment more tidy?

* I have the end-of-the-summer blues. Only two more weeks before classes. I'm treasuring every last moment and writing like a madwoman. If any of you have ever lived on an academic schedule, you'll appreciate this cartoon:

( Friday five: On journaling )

* Last but not least: A very happy birthday to fandomer extraordinaire (and RL superwoman) alisanne! Here's a ( happy image ) to celebrate the day. (Source.)

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magnetic_pole

The New Normal / Weeks 07, 08, 09, and 10

The New Normal / Weeks 03 and 04

The New Normal / Week 01

A very happy birthday to Shadowycat!

Happy new year!

The year-end holiday season begins!

Towards more frequent posting....

Meme: I don't get out often enough...

Fun middle name meme (this post brought to you by the letter L)

The Friday Five spring forward....

Spring break!

The Friday Five are *almost* on break...

The Friday Five's Life in Food

Happy new year!

Friday Five a la Fromage...

A happy hp_halloween!

Frightful Friday Five...

Mid-October madness...

Happy belated birthday, TRS!

The Friday Five hope you are all safe, warm (but not too warm), and comfortable...

Wedding bells for the Friday Five...

The Friday Five love food...

The Friday Five have started to commute again...

A habit-forming Friday Five...

The Friday Five are thinking about journaling and fandom today...

The Friday Five are almost on break...