David Cabrera
The Guardian by `nykolai
(via fuckyeahcrows)
Syd Mead
Notes EM: this is how you start a takedown!
The first paragraph of Matt Cartmill’s review of Donna Haraway’s Primate Visions book. It appeared in the International Journal of Primatology (Vol. 12, No. 1, 1991)
This is a book that contradicts itself a hundred times; but that is not a criticism of it, because its author thinks…
Gluten-free brownies!
A night in the fridge cured the cakey-dry texture, and they’re really quite good. Therefore, I am sharing the recipe. You will need gluten-free baking powder in order to make these genuinely celiac-safe—please note that before making them for a GF friend. :)
2 squares (60g) unsweetened chocolate (the chocolate taste comes through well enough, so a decent chocolate like Bakers is worth it)
1/3c butter (unsalted not specified) (you can use margarine but I pretend it doesn’t exist)
1c granulated sugar (white, but I think a fine raw sugar would taste excellent here)
2 eggs
1t pure vanilla extract (I really do like the pure best, but you can use the synthetic without harm)
1/2c potato starch (I used Club House, obviously)
Alternately, try this: substitute 1T each rice flour, corn starch, and tapioca flour for equal amounts of potato starch. I find this improves the texture.
1/2t baking powder (this is where you will be careful re: hidden gluten)
1/4t salt (I would leave this out if you used salted butter)
1/2c chopped nuts (I left this out)
1/2c semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional; I did not use these)
Melt butter and chocolate by any means you like. (I like the microwave.) Remove from heat; stir in sugar and let stand 5 minutes. (I am assuming it is standing to cool but I let it stand anyway.) Beat in eggs one at a time; beat in vanilla.
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. (I sifted them together out of habit.)
Stir dry ingredients into wet, until smooth. Pour into greased 8” square pan*. Sprinkle with chocolate chips if desired. Bake at 350F(180C) for 25-30 minutes. (If you have a hot oven, I would put it in for 20 and test as usual, because you do now want this to be dry.)
Cool, chill, then cut into squares. (A recommendation I read recently advised going straight to the freezer, then thawing and cutting, for maximum chewiness. I will be trying this.) Store, covered, in the fridge.
*I used a foil liner that I could lift out. I take a piece of foil longer than the pan is wide by 6”+. I fold it so that it lies in the pan nicely with the two ends hanging out. When I spray with canola oil, I spritz the pan, put in the foil, spray again.
Also, these brownies are brilliant when you use a mini muffin tin—the recipe makes 24 mini muffins of about 1T batter each. The shorter cook time makes them softer and moister. Make sure to thoroughly grease the tins, otherwise you’ll be digging the brownies out with a knife.
Tales from a Part-Time Basement Dweller: Feminism
Feminism is for atheists. Feminism is for Jews, both ethnic and religious. Feminism is for Muslims. Feminism is for pagans. Feminism is forBaha’i feminists. Feminism is for Mormons. Feminism is for Unitarian Universalists. Feminism is…
A quote from Mike Meyer, the mentally disabled Superman fan whose comic book collection was recently stolen, reacting to the overwhelming response from the comic book community to help restore it (via euclase)
I have never felt so much love in my life; I no longer feel like the Frankenstein monster. I feel that people understand me now, for the first time in my life.Liquor&Spice: So…reading and me have a complicated relationship. But I want to try...
So…reading and me have a complicated relationship. But I want to try and do more of it in ways that are sustainable for me. ie: do not rely on hyperfocus (where I neglect physical needs like sleep, food, the toilet), or lead to me feeling frustrated and stupid because I can’t pay attention long…
Just saw this, I have a lot of these issues, too. Some of reading for me is practice. I went through a period where I couldn’t read because of being ill and then I couldn’t pay attention when I got back to it. So, working up to reading longer stuff helped. I have ADHD, too, and it makes me feel like I’m missing half my IQ.
I take notes and underline—this is my #1 strategy for learning and paying attention, in any format. Taking notes forces me to pay attention and I can review them. I will do this for fiction if I am getting confused by names and places. A little notebook is good for this and makes me feel all professional: SEE I AM TAKING NOTES I AM A GROWNUP. LOOK I HAVE A PEN. (That’s actually my interior monologue at the coffee shop.)
Magazines and short story publications are great for if you can’t read longer pieces. I go to the bookstore and buy smart people magazines and feel smart, then I read them in public and pretend I know what I’m reading.
YA! Reading YA and MG stories is what got me back into reading. There is awesome YA out there and it made practicing the act of reading really fulfilling. YA is not just for kids, it’s just appropriate for them, too.
Getting a Kindle was not cheap but it has paid for itself in book shipping fees (I research for my job and when I can’t read, I can’t even tell you). If it’s an option for you, you might try borrowing a friend’s and see if it helps. Being able to alter font size/spacing can be a big help. And, again, notes and underlining. Also, you can subscribe to periodicals and fiction mags.
filed under: favorite people
↦ adele
Adele. Perfection.
(via mimisaurus)
This Is Hysteria!: microaggressions: When I was over at my friend’s house, her mother...
When I was over at my friend’s house, her mother called my friend out of the room for a chat. When my friend returned, she asked my girlfriend and I to not sit next to each other because it made her mother uncomfortable, and then returned to cuddling in her boyfriend’s lap
The idea of “not ‘disrespecting’ someone who invited you into their home” by calling them out on bigoted bullshit has cropped a few times in my life now. I am opposed to the principle, apparently in contrast to everyone around me. I wonder what they would say about this incident?
Sometimes showing solidarity is more important than calling someone out—though calling out is not necessarily aggressive or inappropriate. Saying, “I think that’s unfair” and then not sitting with your opposite-sex partner for the rest of the visit is one way to show solidarity. So is offering the suggestion of another gathering place where your friends in a same-sex couple will be welcome. Making it clear that you’re not comfortable being where everyone isn’t welcome to behave alike isn’t calling someone else out but it does make a point.
One doesn’t have to go as far as a couple straight male yahoos I know who started snogging in response to bigoted comments about their queer friends. Still, there’s a lot to be said for a little drama.
Talking about this is great, because that’s how strategies for these situations are developed. A bunch of feelings and theories don’t have any impact on their own—how will they be deployed into the real world? It takes a lot of practice, even role playing. Sometimes it’s so shocking to be confronted with bigotry that it’s only by practice a good response can be summoned in the moment.
When I was over at my friend’s house, her mother called my friend out of the room for a chat. When my friend returned, she asked my girlfriend and I to not sit next to each other because it made her mother uncomfortable, and then returned to cuddling in her boyfriend’s lap
An entire room of people I considered close friends heard her say this and no one said a word. I made a half-hearted attempt to say, “but that’s ridiculous,” and still everyone stared silently at the floor.
BUT THAT’S RIDICULOUS.
If my mother pulled that shit, the house would be empty (including me) in under 2 minutes. I’m a mom now and my house is open to everyone except bigots.
(via mynameisjuthika)
Vegan (Gluten-Free) Cake-inna-mug!
all mixed in one mug! — if you want this to be vegan/gf, I’m assuming all your supplies are vegan/gf, of course. :) even if you’re using dairy milk and butter, the flax is way better than an egg and the texture isn’t bad at all.
2t ground golden flax
1T cool water
wait a few min (I used to wait 15, but another source says just 2-3); will turn into thick gel
1T each: raw cane sugar, potato starch, rice flour, cocoa powder
2T milk (dairy, almond, rice, soy)
1T oil (melted butter, canola, or some neutral fat source)
1/4t each: baking soda, vanilla
stir until no longer lumpy; scrape down the sides of the mug if you want easier clean up
1T chocolate chips (optionally stir in but I like them all melted on top)
microwave on high for 60 seconds—it will look firm and pull away from the side of the mug if it’s cooked. you don’t have to worry too much, of course, because there’s no egg in it! you can lick the spoon without reprisal. hopefully this will be a gateway to you using flax instead of egg in cookies and more.
I haven’t tried mixing it all up ahead of time except for the liquids, yet. I’ll report back, but in theory you could just about whip this up with water. I plan to give it a go with protein shake mix and will fill you in on that as well. because protein cake-inna-mug that you can keep in your desk? far too awesome.
A quote from
Steven D. Levitt, saving us from ourselves, on the Freakonomics blog (via Feministing)
(Jesus fucking Christ Steven Levitt, it’s not up to you what your daughter does)
If the answer is that I wouldn’t want my daughter to do it, I’d teach her why I felt that way. The rest is up to her. But, wait. I’m not a complete moron.
(via mollycrabapple)
If the answer is that I wouldn’t want my daughter to do it, then I don’t mind the government passing a law against it. I wouldn’t want my daughter to be a cocaine addict or a prostitute, so in spite of the fact that it would probably be more economically efficient to legalize drugs and prostitution subject to heavy regulation/taxation, I don’t mind those activities being illegal.
