magnetic_pole | Reading

One of the many things we learned by doing them wrong when initially renovating this house when we bought it was that you can't just go to the hardware store and buy an affordable faucet for a sink.

I mean, you can, but you shouldn't. There are cheap, crappy faucets at these stores!

What you should do is buy the reliable, standard, plumber-recommended workhorse brand of faucets, even if they cost a lot more.

So we have three faucets in our house, and two of them are ones we picked out at a hardware store and have given trouble from day one, and one is one that the plumber brought with him, and is a standard model of the standard brand that is in all the apartments around here.

The crappy kitchen faucet finally, after being a headache for the last six years, reached the end of its usable lifespan a couple of days ago when I turned it on and there was a loud KACHUNK! noise and then the two little plastic screen-thingies that were apparently just GLUED in the opening shot out into the sink. They were broken and impossible to put back. Since then the faucet has just had a big round open end like a garden hose (lol), and when you turn it on the water shoots out and sprays across whatever you're wearing unless you very carefully turn it on only a little tiny bit.

We have learned our lesson and are going to buy the same brand that's in our downstairs bathroom sink this time. We are not 100% sure if we can install it ourselves, in spite of having watched people installing sinks so many times in videos. I guess I need to watch a few more of those and then if we give up we can always call a handyman (we hope to avoid this because we don't like calling people).

delphi

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

torachan

1. We had a very nice morning at Disneyland today. A little warm (I wore a sweatshirt when we got in and had to take it off about halfway through, so then I had to lug it around the rest of the time, which was annoying) and a little crowded, but we ate a lot of good food and had a good time.

2. Poor Tuxie looks like he got in a scuffle again. Yesterday he came to the door with one eye partially closed and the fur between his eye and ear on that side scraped up. He's looking better today (eye fully open) and unlike some times before where he disappeared for a few days to hunker down, he has been spending his time in our yard as usual, so hopefully he's doing okay. I do wish he wouldn't get in fights. :-/

3. Jasper is just hanging out.

torachan

Today is Anaheim Ducks Day at DCA and I specifically made a reservation for today rather than Saturday (our usual), not because either of us care anything about hockey or the Ducks, but because last year we just happened to be there on that day and had an amazing burrito that they only serve on Ducks Day lol.

( Read more... )

musesfool

I got up to watch the hockey this morning and despite Team USA pulling it off in OT, I do not accept that Bill Guerin was proved right in his choices. Eighty-five percent of the game was played in their defensive end and they only won because Connor Hellebuyck stood on his head. Maybe a little more scoring power on the team could have given them some breathing room. I am just saying. I'm happy for Hellebuyck and the Hughes brothers, and I got a little teary when they brought out the Gaudreau jersey and his kids, and I'm not gonna lie, watching Jon Cooper and Connor McDavid (along with Sam Bennett, Tom Wilson, and Brad Marchand) lose was pleasing to me on a deep, personal level, but overall, I'd still have preferred the Finns or the Swedes take home the gold.

I then baked some oatmeal for breakfast for the week, and made macaroni salad for a few days of lunch, and then for dinner, I made angel hair as planned, though when I actually read the recipe, it was not anything new to me - it was what I always do for a super quick tomato sauce, except they were adding chile crisp to it, which I guess is the thing nowadays - every recipe I read has chile crisp in it, but I'm not really a chile crisp person. I have the heat tolerance (in terms of spiciness, though I also don't like my food super hot temperature-wise either) of the whitest baby you know.

Anyway! It is a super easy but delicious meal and if you don't mind waiting a few extra minutes, you can do it all in one pot. Boil your pasta - angel hair is best for this, imo - and reserve a cup of pasta water before you drain it. Return the pot to the stove over low heat and add in a nice glug of olive oil (2 tbsp if you need a measurement), and then add a whole can or tube of tomato paste to the oil (so between 4 and 6 oz). Stir it around and season it as you like - I used garlic and onion powder, oregano and red pepper flakes and salt, but if you want to get fancy, you could probably saute a diced shallot and some minced garlic in the oil for a minute or two before adding the tomato paste - for 2-3 minutes, until it's all hot and sizzling. If you are so inclined, add chile crisp to suit your taste. Then add the pasta back, and about half the reserved water and toss it until the pasta is coated. I only used 4 oz of angel hair, so if you have more, you might need more water. Then put it in bowls and sprinkle it with parmesan cheese. If you are in an even bigger rush, you can sizzle the tomato paste in a frying pan while the pasta cooks and then combine it all back in the pasta pot. The couple of minutes you save isn't worth having to wash an extra pot to me, but it might be to some people.

*

Current Mood: productive
Current Music: Cruel Summer = Taylor Swift

conuly

I didn’t guess that I’d be stuck with the roads closed until at least noon tomorrow.

Well, I’m getting paid every hour I’m here, at least.

aome

Not going anywhere except to pick up Two from work eventually (please please close early, please), so here is a review of my most recent reads:

5. The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem (audio)
( Non-mythology-based Egyptian-based fantasy, m/f, New Adult/Adult )

6. Listen, Slowly by Thanhhà Lai (audio)
( Middle grade; Vietnamese-American girl must travel to Vietnam and discover her roots against her will. )

7. The Takedown by Lily Chu (audio)
( Modern Chinese-Canadian m/f romcom with themes of willful ignorance on DEI topics, toxic positivity, and the plot of taking down belligerent, predatory, and ignorant managers from the inside. )

8. Driftwood by Harper Fox (audio)
( In Cornwall, England, former Army doctor with PTSD rescues a former helicopter pilot from a surfing accident, they fall in insta-love, and then doctor tries to rescue former pilot from abusive ex. )

9. Cafe Con Lychee by Emery Lee (read-aloud)
( YA; an out Asian-American boy dislikes closeted Hispanic-American boy because their parents run rival cafes and both cafes are struggling. They reluctantly team up together to try to boost sales, and in working together, start to fall in love. )

10. The Charm Offensive* by Alison Cochrun (audio)
Needed a comfort re-read. I'm pretty sure I've read this book at least once a year since it came out. <3

11. Blood at the Root by LaDarrion Williams (audio)
( YA/New Adult What if Hogwarts was university-level and specifically for Black American youth? MC is straight but book is queer-friendly. )

12. Perfectly Imperfect Pixie by MJ May (audio)
( In fantasy-based America, giant pixie helps werewolf uncle retain custody of his niece/nephew and away from evil mobster grandpa. Pixie and uncle fall in love somehow, despite NEVER ACTUALLY TALKING TO EACH OTHER )

13. Scythe by Neal Shusterman (audio)
( YA: In a future where death and even injury have been conquered through internal nanobots, Scythes serve as an exalted calling, to kill with compassion and help keep the global population growth balanced. Two teens are apprenticed to a single, highly-principled Scythe, but when he dies, they are separated and complete their apprenticeships under two HUGELY different mentors. A++ book )

14. The Disillusionment of Nick and Jay by Ryan Douglass (read-aloud)
( Billed as a queer, Black retelling of The Great Gatsby, but it really ... isn't. )

trobadora

candyheartsex author reveals have happened! And here's the fic I wrote for

facethestrange:

**

Title: in the darkness with you
Word count: 4,233
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV)
Pairing: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Rating: Mature
Content tags: Blind Zhao Yunlan, First time, Hand-Feeding, Finger-Sucking, Clothed Sex, Zhao Yunlan's oral fixation, Episode Related, Episode 21, Missing Scene, Blindness Arc
A/N: Many thanks to

china_shop for beta-reading.

Summary:

Zhao Yunlan woke to the smell of citrus, sweet and strong in the air. Without fully turning his face out of the pillow, he slitted open a sleep-heavy eye - to complete, unchanged darkness. Reality came crashing down like a landslide. Right: still blind.

aome

So I obviously fell off the DW wagon almost immediately. I really need to get better at turning to DW rather than obsessively checking IG or FB for memes, responses, etc. :-P

Since I last wrote, I started my new job as the leave-replacement librarian at our elementary school. I officially started on Jan 20 (Tues), with two days of overlap with the outgoing librarian, and then I was officially "on" by Thursday. ( Brief overview )

( The Monday Blues )

In the rest of my life: I've only been getting an average of 1 TKD lesson per week; it's been hard to find days that work with my schedule, my exhaustion level, their availability to do live streaming, etc. This past week I missed it entirely, although that's partly because I attended the NJ School Librarian Assn/NJ Library Assn conference in Atlantic City on Wed, necessitating my driving there on Tuesday night and back on Wed night, so no TKD class on either night. And in general I'm still working on doing more constructive things with my free time other than games or doomscrolling on my phone. I HAVE managed to watch all of Heated Rivalry (SO GOOD), and am midway through Bridgerton S4 (not done yet with the half that was already released). I have not gotten to see ANY of the Winter Olympics, because I'm usually doing something else when I DO get to sit down, and don't have time to just sit and WATCH something. *sadface* (The only way I watched Heated Rivalry and Bridgerton was when I was on the exercise bike/treadmill.)

It's the Chinese Year of the Horse! Both MiniPlu and Will are horses; in fact, Will is a fire horse, like this year. (Nina's a water horse.) ( In sadder news: an orphan is re-orphaned )

And speaking of death - this Thursday will be the one-year mark for my dad. Still doesn't feel real sometimes.

It's been a year since we left for NZ as well, and I wish so much I could go back. We're going to Europe over spring break this year, so it's not like we don't have something to look forward to, but still - NZ! *more sadface*

I think that's about it from here? Will do a separate post for books.

smallhobbit

Week 4 of the Stuff I Love: Top Ten Edition promoted by

dreamersdare This week's theme is Relationships in our media, but as it doesn't particularly appeal, I've gone for general stuff I love, again in no particular order.

( Stuff I love )

conuly

So, you got my opinion on Heated Rivalry, but I gotta say, I will never not read fanfics structured like ongoing internet sagas.

Also, gotta love the one dude, BostonSportsBro69, who posts in both /r/relationship_advice and /r/hockey going around in /r/hockey saying "Uh, no, it's just normal sportsbro rival stuff, you're all reading way too much into this" ~~when~~ because he absolutely knows better. (I don't think he's supposed to be one of Ilya's teammates, just a fan.)

***************

( Links )

pauraque

This early PC platformer is of no small historical interest, as it was the first game released by everybody's favorite totally uncontroversial and non-resented game publishing company, Electronic Arts. Like most of their titles then and now, it wasn't developed in-house; Michael Abbott and Matthew Alexander get the design and programming credit for this one.

grid of construction scaffolding with gaps and chains hanging down to climb

grid of construction scaffolding with gaps and chains hanging down to climb

But you don't need to me to tell you the illustrious history of EA (or, as it was briefly called at its inception, "Amazin' Software"—and I can't tell you how disappointed I am that we don't live in the timeline where they kept that name). I guess you also don't technically need me to tell you about this ridiculous game and my memories of playing it while being unable to identify most of the characters and objects it contains, but I'm going to go ahead anyway.

In Hard Hat Mack you play as a construction worker. I did understand that much. In the first level you have to collect pieces of a beam and use them to fill in the gaps, and then grab a wandering jackhammer to hammer them into place. ( This is where my understanding of the game began to break down; I thought the jackhammer was a tornado. )

Hard Hat Mack is... well, it sure is a game. You can find it on abandonware sites, but I couldn't really get it to run well on any version or emulator I tried. The DOS version (which I had as a kid) runs too fast in DOSBox by default, but when I reduced the clock speed I found that it lagged badly when multiple objects were moving, which made the second level pretty much unplayable. We probably shouldn't hold our breaths for EA to offer a re-release, and maybe that's for the best.

torachan

1. So nice to get back to my routine at home. I tried my best to stick to the things I could while away but it's not the same and it's definitely a source of stress.

2. Carla got some frozen char siu fried rice from Trader Joe's and it's really good. Making fried rice from scratch is an easy meal, but I wouldn't mind keeping a bag of this in the freezer for times we feel like something even easier.

3. A moth got in the house the other day and Carla was able to get some really great pics of Ollie when he was laser focused on the moth.

musesfool

This afternoon, I made this lemon cake because 1. I had an open container of ricotta I wanted to use up before it spoiled, and 2. I've been looking for a nut-free alternative to my favorite lemon cake since one of my nieces has a tree nut allergy. It turns out I did not have enough ricotta, but I made it up with sour cream, and the cake seems fine. It did stick to the pan in one small spot so I didn't take a picture of it since it had a gash in it, but it tastes great. The trick of adding turbinado sugar to the glaze to make it crunchy is a good one, too.

I also made dressing for coleslaw, which I've never done before - always just bought the pre-made deli version - and it's ok, not great. Not tangy enough, tbh. I wonder if replacing some of the mayo with buttermilk is the way to go. I ate some with a steak I pan-fried for dinner and that was nice. I don't have steak very often, but sometimes it goes on sale and I get it.

We're supposed to be getting between 12"-18" of snow tomorrow/Monday (wait, I just checked, and the current forecast is 39% likelihood of at least 18" if not more, wow), and I'm supposed to go into the office on Tuesday, so I guess we'll see what actually materializes, whether the streets are cleaned, and how I feel on Tuesday morning. Supposedly we're getting a free lunch, but I don't know when the consultant who is supposed to be buying it for our in person meeting is flying in, idk what is going to happen. There was some back and forth on Teams today about the storm and they are notifying everyone to be remote on Monday, which is the smart choice.

Anyway, my menu is not very cozy - I was planning on making that lemony macaroni salad for lunches, and some baked oatmeal with cherries and chocolate chips for breakfast. I do have bread, milk, and eggs, so there could always be French toast! Though I did make that on Wednesday when I realized it was Ash Wednesday (and that I'd completely forgotten Shrove Tuesday). I'll probably have pasta for dinner tomorrow regardless, since it's Sunday.

Today, I watched Batman Ninja, which features the Batfamily time traveling back to feudal Japan (but so much Joker and I am so tired of Joker), and then its sequel, Batman vs. the Yakuza League, which I enjoyed more because it has Wonder Woman in it and she's fantastic as always. It also features ( I guess this is a spoiler ) It was weird to me though that we got 4 Batboys (Jason's feudal Japan headgear is HILARIOUS), but no Cass or Babs at all, and I didn't love the art for Selina. Someday we'll get an animated version of Wayne Family Adventures and the girls and Duke will get their due!

*

Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: So Far Away - Carole King

torachan

Recently Finished
The Reyes Incident
I think I got this on some sort of ebook sale. It feels like the sort of thing where I'd be like "well, it's free or just a dollar, so I'll take a chance". It wasn't great, though. Interesting premise about a woman who comes to the police station with a story of killer mermaids who ate her friends. The writing just wasn't great, though.

Another Appalachia
Memoir about a queer Indian woman who grew up in West Virginia, where her dad had taken a job as a company doctor for one of the chemical companies there in the 70s. I liked this.

A Skinful of Shadows
Set in the 1600s during the English civil war, the MC is the bastard of a powerful family who all have the ability to see ghosts and host them inside themselves. When her mother dies, she is taken in by the family, who it turns out, like to keep bastards close in the event that they need a ghost host, becaue the currently living members of the family are all host to multiple ghosts each, of dead family members. In some cases the host is too weak and becomes completely taken over by the ghosts. This was a neat premise and an enjoyable read. I have never not liked anything by Francis Hardine that I've read, and this was no exception.

Paying the Land
Non-fiction graphic novel about First Nations people in the Northwest Territories. The author is white, but he spent a lot of time interviewing people and it's basically like an illustrated interview. Very interesting.

Hen na E vol. 4

Ojisama to Neko vol. 16

conuly

The evening darkens over
After a day so bright
The windcapt waves discover
That wild will be the night.
There’s sound of distant thunder.

The latest sea-birds hover
Along the cliff’s sheer height;
As in the memory wander
Last flutterings of delight,
White wings lost on the white.

There’s not a ship in sight;
And as the sun goes under
Thick clouds conspire to cover
The moon that should rise yonder.
Thou art alone, fond lover.

***************

Link

primeideal

Didn't agree with everything in this article, but it had an interesting deep dive into the translation of the Biblical phrase "love your enemies"

The Greeks had at least two words for enemies. An echthros was someone hated, a personal enemy. Polemioi were the people of a city that one's own community was contending against. (The root polemos means "war.")
...
The verb form is second-person imperative. Unlike English, Greek also has a third-person imperative, which is awkward to translate. If Jesus had used it, one might translate this commandment as "Let them love enemies," or passively as "Let enemies be loved." But the commandment is addressed to you.

"Echthroi" shows up in Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wind In The Door," I didn't realize that was a Biblical Greek word!

tjs_whatnot

...or...

I Want to Finish What I've Started: Author Edition

The first 3 authors are the ones were I've read *almost* everything they've written. The last 3 are authors were I've read one book but loved it so much that they *might* be an author I need to read all of their work. The rest are just authors I've loved and want to read more of.

( TJ Klune (of course) )

( Cat Sebastian )

( Alexis Hall )

( KJ Charles )

( Freya Marske )

( Nora Sakavic )

( Rachel Reid )

( Maggie Steifvater )

( Scarlett Drake )

( Taylor Jenkins Reid )

( Frederik Backman )

conuly

And lemme tell you, my team picking was solely on the basis of "Are people in this team active" and "Do they have an open slot for me", because active team members send you more lives and you're more likely to win prizes in the team competitions, but most teams are 100% people who joined and never play.

But you can talk to each other, great, except that there's this one person who is very active and posts every single day about how they've changed the game so she can't win, she sucks, she is always stuck, she doesn't like it anymore, she's gonna quit - this all prompts a flood of "Oh, don't go, please stay" responses, and I can't help but wonder if that's the sole reason she posts like this.

One day I'm going to tell her that if she really feels that way she ought to quit, or at least shut up about it, because her posts bring my enjoyment of the game way down. Don't know what sort of response I'll get from everybody else who isn't her, but I can't be the only one who's itching to say it.

********************************

( Read more... )

conuly

Oh boy....

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magnetic_pole

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where to find me

Page Summary

cimorene - the good faucets
delphi - Six Sentence Sunday
torachan - Daily Happiness
torachan - 2026 Disneyland Trip #10 (2/22/26)
musesfool - i don't wanna keep secrets just to keep you
conuly - I guessed people would call out, and I was right
aome - Review of 10 books while it blizzards outside my window
trobadora - FIC: in the darkness with you (Guardian: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan) [Mature]
aome - Five weeks later...
smallhobbit - Stuff I Love: Top Ten Edition - Challenge 4 (General)
conuly - (no subject)
pauraque - Hard Hat Mack (1983)
torachan - Daily Happiness
musesfool - it would be so fine to see your face at my door
torachan - Weekly Reading
conuly - [The evening darkens over] by Robert Bridges
primeideal - Etymology fun times
tjs_whatnot - Actual. Legit. To. Be. Read. 2026
conuly - So, the silly phone game I play has "teams"
conuly - Over a foot of snow projected for tomorrow!

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