We’ve taken a lot of steps to be where we are now. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued in 1863 and announced, finally, on June 19, 1865 in Galveston, Texas, was a big one.
Is everything perfect? Of course not. But our path is clear and the goal is righteous. This is a good next step.
Dear Apple, thank you for the recent software update. Unfortunately, there is now a problem with the spellcheck gremlins. You appear to be asking too much of them.
Case in point: If I wanted squiggly underlines beneath my homonyms, I would have turned on Grammar checking. I do not. I did not. So why do you (sometimes, periodically, unpredictably) “helpfully” point out that I have used “your” instead of “you’re”? Or “to” instead of “too.” I know, I did it on purpose. Yes, I am sure, and even if I’m wrong, it’s my mistake to make.
Please give your gremlins some time off, and leave my homonyms alone.*
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* Drafted yesterday, edited today to be more polite. Because I’m mostly over it, and it’s not the gremlins’ fault. Probably.
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.
* 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.
I’m tired of Tuesdays, but you know what? I’m also tired of hating Tuesdays. So today let’s take a moment for the fun, the interesting, and the cute with this small selection from the “we can still have nice things” department of the internet:
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.
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.
My Twelve-Year Old Grandma
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?
Library of Congress, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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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:
I tried animating this picture of Twain I colorized a while back. Used the new feature on the MyHeritage app. pic.twitter.com/Y5W7trHg31
I’m feeling Olden Timey today, so let’s take a trip down memory lane, to 1906 San Francisco. Sure, this video has been posted all over the internet, but this definitive version includes narration and historical details, with a new digital transfer to include the full video, sprockety edges and all.
Plus it’s just cool.
Funny how a simple video conversion can suddenly make the past feel quite present. And really, they were us, and someday we will be them. Let’s do history proud!
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