1. Petty complaint of the day: websites are eliminating desktop versions of their sites and forcing everyone to use the mobile version regardless of the device being used to view the website. My email service did it several months ago and I've complained about it every time they send me a feedback form. Tumblr has now done the same. If I wanted to use the mobile version of your website, I'd use it on a mobile device. I am using a desktop computer and would like to use the desktop version of your site. Forcing me to use the mobile version on a non-mobile device is awkward, clunky, and cumbersome. Please stop. Thank you.

2. If I could please have one day where I don't have vertigo. Just one. I have things I want to do that require getting into the car and going places. I would like to do them. (Not looking forward to Thursday's teeth cleaning.)

3. I pre-ordered a doll at the end of last year. It arrived to the artist in May. I paid for shipping to me in May. I still haven't received my doll. The artist is apologetic every time I reach out, but my doll still hasn't made it's way to the mail. I am hoping I still like the doll when I get her at this rate.

Despite getting a late start all weekend and being distracted by a new matching game on my phone (I can lose hours to these stupid games), I got some good cooking done!

Yesterday, I made garlic & mozzarella milk bread (pics), which turned out quite well even though I forgot the salt due to its weird placement in the recipe (in theory I understand why it is where it is, but in practice it makes no sense to do it that way), but I used salted butter, so I don't think I missed it, and the bread rose just fine.

This afternoon, I finally made this strawberry cheesecake since my cream cheese was well past its use-by date and my heavy cream was getting there! It's still chilling, but when I licked the spatula after pouring the filling into the pie plate, all I really tasted was the five-spice powder. Which I like! But it's not what I would expect given the amount of freeze-dried strawberry powder in it. I guess we'll see how it goes when I cut into it tomorrow. (I also have this issue with nutmeg - even when I try to go easy on it in something, it still is frequently the only thing I taste after using it. I don't know why!)

And then I finally got up and made meatballs with oregano and red wine vinegar to have for lunch during the week. This was a method my grandmother used to use, and it is a great way to eat meatballs (or veggies - she also used to make it with zucchini, and I imagine you could do other types of squash or eggplant this way) - you make and cook the meatballs and set them aside. Then you saute onions in some olive oil (or in the beef fat left if you've fried your meatballs - I do mine in the oven, so I just use oil) and lower the heat and let them caramelize a bit, then you put the meatballs back in, sprinkle about 1/8 cup of dried oregano over them, and then pour in 1/3 - 3/4 cup of red wine vinegar. Be careful as billows of deliciously pungent smoke will rise from your frying pan at that point! Then lower the heat and let it all simmer for 10 or 15 minutes. Good both hot and at room temperature! (I haven't made it with zucchini myself, but for that, you slice and fry or bake your zucchini, and then continue on with the onions/oregano/vinegar as described.)

I have taken the garbage out and started the dishwasher, so now I am prepared for the awfulness of Sunday night. Sigh.

*

Jin Nasol of GSGW, with text saying 1 Day Reverse Big Bang. Credit to happ13unni

Description: A collaborative fan event between Artists & Authors for
Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work (GSGW)
by Baek Deoksoo.
Schedule:
Artist and Writer sign-ups begin September 6
Posting Begins March 13
Links:
Carrd
Tumblr
Twitter

Please enjoy this eloquent depiction of The Capra Demon Experience:



(Content note for animal harm in the form of killing horrifying skinless zombie dogs. Also one man's slow descent into existential despair.)

This is a notorious point where a not insignificant number of people ragequit and stop playing the game altogether.

Also as previously mentioned I struggle badly with tracking multiple inputs, I have the reaction speed of a slime mould, and my default combat state is "panicked and flustered."

It took me about 7 hours (spread across multiple days -- admittedly, most of this time was doing the boss run again and again and again and then dying within seconds of the fight starting) and I am very proud of myself.

(And right now I am dealing with a medical stressor -- hopefully nothing, but had to go get some tests, waiting on results -- so I will take my distractions and wins where I can get them.)

There's so much TV coming back soon:

- the new season of Only Murders in the Building starts on 9/8
- the new season of Slow Horses starts 9/24
- the new season of Abbott Elementary starts 10/1

And it's not tv, but the new season of Batman: Wayne Family Adventures also starts 10/1 - there was a new mini episode last night, featuring Alfred being the best. <3

Meanwhile, I still have not watched:

- season 2 of Andor
- season 2 of Wednesday
- season 2 of Poker Face (though I did watch the first episode - the one with Cynthia Erivo, who was fantastic)

And of course, China Beach is finally available on a streaming service I do not have, and without some of the iconic music they used, but it would definitely be worth checking out if I wanted to pay for another streamer, which I don't.

Instead, I seem to have fallen into another Elementary rewatch. Despite some of the ghastly murders, it is a very comforting watch and I love Joan and Sherlock's relationship so much. And I might be feeling a Killjoys rewatch coming up soon too. I guess we'll see.

There are other shows I keep meaning to check out but have not as of yet - there is just too much to watch and too little time.

*

1. The President is threatening to send the National Guard to my city and the Governor is kissing ass instead of pointing out we've got the lowest crime rate since the 70s. Silver lining: they'll be here if we get a hurricane this September? No wait, they'll be evacuated and never return instead of being here when they'd be useful. (Insert joke here about Hurricane Katrina and how strippers were snuck into the city to entertain the National Guard.)

2. FUCKING VERTIGO CAN STOP ANYTIME IT WANTS GODDAMMIT. Good news, I'm having mostly silent migraines the last few weeks. Bad news, the not pain symptoms are bad enough I've been having a lot of couch time anyway. Current bout of insomnia is doing me no favors. I'm tired, I just can't fall or stay asleep.

3. A short list of D&D characters I've recently come up with and will have no opportunity to play in the next year:

-Grumpy old lady wizard who survived an assassination attempt and is now healed up enough to start her revenge tour. She has a prosthetic arm and leg and is missing an eye. Her spellbook is written in a shorthand no one else can read. She's named after an 11th century Anglo-Saxon abbess.

- Angry teenage tiefling cleric of a creation god someone (several someones) have pissed off enough the god is now sending an nihilistic teenager to "burn it all down and start over." His name is Lament. (Lamentations if you're being formal.) ((To get the vibe you should listen to Teenagers by My Chemical Romance, Hated by Yungblud, and You're Gonna Go Far Kid by the Offspring.))(((Hated has a TW for SA of a kid. If the guy wants to sing about his own sexual assault, I'm not gonna argue.)))

-One of the third party books on D&D Beyond went "what happens if there's a skeleton and an ooze in close proximity when Necromancy goes wrong" and came up with an entire race. Mine is named Loot (as in "I wonder what's behind this door, hope it's some good loot"). He's kind of confused about the whole being-a-person thing, but he's trying. Hanging out with other sentient species is kind of neat. He crushes up rocks to color his ooze, inserts bits of plants into his face as decoration, and wants you to know that your money is filthy oh my god do you know how many people have touched that? He's a gloom stalker ranger and the best boy.

-China doll warlock of an archfey. (Autognome for species.) What if a china doll got lost in Fairy for a while? And then got sent back to the real world because watching her do stuff is super amusing?

fancake is a thematic recommendation community where all members are welcome to post recs, and fanworks of all shapes and sizes are accepted. Check out the community guidelines for the full set of rules.

This theme runs for the entire month. If you have any questions, just ask!