Working today, but I’ve also got the back of my mind hard at work designing a fairy* door.
As one does.
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* Don’t tell those uptight little pixie dust factories, but I like garden gnomes better:)
Archive for the ‘Other’ Category
Pixie Dust Factories
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, home, inspiration, Thoughts on July 12, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Day 2
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, ouchies, Thoughts, tired today, vaccination on July 10, 2021| Leave a Comment »
“I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it.”
― Mae West
Tempus Fugit
Posted in Likes, Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, Affinity Photo, creativity, inspiration, sff on June 25, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Mr. Man had to get up early so we started the day with an extra hour. I decided to use it to learn something.
Suddenly, that extra time has disappeared and taken its friends with it.
On the plus side, I found an angel.
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A Quick Trip to the Public Domain
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, history, public domain, Thoughts on June 21, 2021| Leave a Comment »
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In the early twentieth century, Dorothy Levitt, née Elizabeth Levi (1882-1922) was “the premier woman motorist and botorist [motorboat driver] of the world”… The Woman and the Car is a practical, how-to guide for those who wanted to take to the roads, but did not quite know how.
— On the Road: *The Woman and the Car* (1909) – The Public Domain Review
Have times changed since 1909? Obviously, but not everything. “Many of the extensive recommendations regarding mechanics, etiquette, and the temptations of car culture hold true today.” Also, who wouldn’t like to have this much fun going to the grocery store?
I’m off to run an errand, but am I just picking up milk, or am I practicing a little petro-feminism?*
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* And I’m looking forward to the day when I can practice electro-feminism.
Work Work Work
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, inspiration, quotes, Thoughts, work on June 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Today, work work work.
Did I wake up tired? Did I procrastinate a little too much? Does everything I say or do today seem not quite right?
Yes.
No matter.
It’s time to work. It may not be the fun kind, but it is the kind worth doing.
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“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”
— Jack London
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Chilling
Posted in Food and..., Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, food, home, magic yogurt on June 16, 2021| 3 Comments »
Today is Fridge Day. As previously mentioned, Mr Man and I were unlucky enough to need a new fridge, but ! fortunate in that we were able to find a replacement that would arrive before Fall.* The replacement is being delivered sometime in the next couple of hours, so we’re getting ready.
Step 1: empty the old fridge
Step 2: marvel at the ancient relics to be found therein!
yes, that fish label says 2012!
The old fridge has a very deep deli drawer and things could, and did, obviously, get lost in there. Like these Riviera yogurts from 2016 that somehow (incredibly!) still look 100% edible five years later. How?! (Magic, that’s how.) Or the mint vodka I made lo those many years ago (that’s code for I have no idea how old it is).
It’s true that best before dates are food quality guidelines, rather than “you will absolutely, positively die if you eat this even one minute after this date” warnings, but even so, I’ll skip the decade-old fish.
Everything that can be composted/recycled was. The dining room is full of coolers and insulated bags. Drawers were emptied, shelves cleared, and sacrifices to the Appliance Gods were made in the usual fashion.
Now we wait.
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Photo by Whitney Wright on Unsplash
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* I’m not kidding about this timeline, as you will know if you have had to purchase a new appliance lately. Supply chain issues from computer chips to shipping bottlenecks are rampant these days, but it will all get sorted out… eventually.
What Was
Posted in Likes, Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, history, inspiration, Thoughts on June 14, 2021| Leave a Comment »
I’m still thinking about history, and how even when it’s gone it really isn’t.
I came across a series of reconstructions (by a travel insurance company, who knew insurance could be this interesting?), showing a selection of UNESCO heritage sites as they are, and as they were.
Once upon a time.
Reconstructions of UNESCO World Heritage Sites
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Grandma as a Whippersnapper
Posted in Food and..., Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, Affinity Photo, family, photos, recipes on June 13, 2021| 7 Comments »
More history, today. And photography. This is my grandmother on the Swedish-ish side. She was ten or twelve* at the time, and much more agile than when I knew her.
This is also me experimenting with photo restoration techniques.
Grandma Dorothea was sweet, literally and figuratively. She did many things well (gardening, bridge, surviving the Great Depression with her sense of humor intact, making grandchildren happy), but above all, she baked. I can still recall the flash of joy on seeing pound cake in her kitchen. Her chocolate mint squares are decadent, melt-in-your-mouth bites of chocolate cake, creamy mint, and dark chocolate glaze.
She wasn’t much of a cook, but (despite the very cryptic notes left on her 3″x5″ recipe cards) she was one hell of a baker.
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Grandma’s Chocolate Mint Squares
Cake Layer
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup melted butter
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 can chocolate syrup (16 oz)
- 4 eggs beaten
- 1 cup flour
- ½ tsp. salt
1. Mix and bake in 9”x13” greased and floured pan for 30-35 minutes at 350°F.
Mint Layer
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tbs. Crème de Menthe
- ½ cup melted butter
2. Mix and spread on the cool cake. Chill briefly to set.
Glaze
- 6 oz. chocolate chips
- 6 Tbs. butter
3. Melt over low heat. Cool a bit and spread over mint layer.
4. Chill until chocolate sets and cut into small(ish) squares.
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* Inquiring minds want to know: at what age does one stop being a whippersnapper?
The Big Train Rolls On
Posted in Likes, Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, family, history, technology on June 11, 2021| Leave a Comment »
More from the olde thyme archives. You may have seen the recent to-do about My Heritage’s Deep Nostalgia:
‘Deep Nostalgia’ AI gives life to old photos through animation – Big Think
Essentially, they are using AI-based technology to animate a static image. Very cool with a side of potentially creepy, but fascinating.
This is my great great great? uncle Walter “The Big Train” Johnson (1887-1946), one of the first inaugural members of the Baseball Hall of Fame:
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I love how people are using this technology to animate ancestors, and also add life to historical figures we know only as two-dimensional figures. Here are just a few examples:
Pretty Ok Day
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, #dontquit, persistence on June 8, 2021| 1 Comment »
Sometimes, there is only one question that matters: Did you quit today?
No, no I did not.
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