Reading

Current Mood: sleepy

Relaxing time.

I had a good weekend. Of a type I haven’t had in a while.

I basically took the weekend completely off with a few small trips for errands.

Today was my last day off until the end of the month, but I got some important things out of the way. Paid rent. Went to a surgery consult (outpatient annoyance) and got some things for work. Dropped a bunch of grocery donations off, grabbed some lunch, and am planning a long bath soon. Shark week spin kicked me into this morning (uuuugh, pain) so it is more of a “plz need to feel better” than a chill time, but it’s fine.

Also, I have one book left in my reading challenge for the year AND to finish my “read at least one book a month” challenge. Hope I can do it!

Current Mood: cold

Entry tags:

life

I hate that I hate soup.

I made a giant pot of cream of mushroom soup. I should have brought the leftovers in as there were several people who indicated interest. It did turn out well! I just... panic remembered that I kind of hate soup? Meh. Maybe I'll buy some nice bread on the way home and try it after a night in the fridge? That helps sometimes.

Anywho. The soup did turn out well! I made the mashed potatoes and prepped the other parts of the green bean casserole. Pie is tonight. I forgot to put the pie shells in the fridge this morning (Wink was yelling about breakfast) so I'll probably prep the stuff tonight and bake it tomorrow morning. I'm also bringing the ingredients for the scalloped corn to bake at mom's tomorrow. I think dinner's ~3pm, so I'll have time. Especially as it apparently is gonna snow? IDK.

I am just excited to hang out, get my left overs and snuggle in with the girls this weekend. My new betting is fab and I am ready to be a lump.

Entry tags:

Interview and Update

Great interview about Murderbot:

Bifurcating Character with Incisive and Witty Inner Monologue: a Masterclass with ‘Murderbot’ Co-Showrunners Paul Weitz and Spirit Awards Winner Chris Weitz

Since SecUnits issued by the Corporation Rim (a group of mega-corporations ruling the galaxy in the distant future) are sentient, complete obedience to human orders is guaranteed by the “governor module” in each unit. However, Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård, who nabbed an Emmy for his intricate and chilling performance in the HBO series, Big Little Lies), figures out how to disable its module to gain autonomy. “Murderbot is sentient from the get-go — it’s basically a slavery narrative. It’s important to Martha that Murderbot was always sentient,” Chris says of the close collaboration with consulting producer, Wells. “All the SecUnits are under human control. They can think for themselves but can’t act for themselves. So, they experience this torture of being at the disposal of others.” In addition to exploring themes of humanity and free will, the series also calls into question the issue of personhood, as Paul notes: “To what degree are we going to grant personhood to non-human intelligence?”

https://www.filmindependent.org/blog/bifurcating-character-with-incisive-and-witty-inner-monologue-a-masterclass-with-murderbot-co-showrunners-paul-weitz-and-spirit-awards-winner-chris-weitz/

***

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things after basically three weeks of travel in October, catching up on household stuff, trying to get ready for the holidays, getting back into working on the current book. I think I was more mentally exhausted than physically, but it was still a lot.

I didn't stay more than a day in any one city (except for two nights in Allentown, PA, which was lovely) and I was mostly leaving before most of the hotels started to serve breakfast, so I was living on a lot of airplane food. I did get to ride the train for the first time in the US (the Acela Amtrack) which was fun. I've ridden trains in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Scotland, but never here.

There was a lot of emotional overwhelm, seeing so many people, but also it felt really good, because they were all people who cared about books and art and creativity. The smallest crowd was in New York, about 40-50 people, the largest was in Seattle with around 300. The Texas Book Festival in Austin was like an encapsulation of the whole trip, being in a giant crowd of people (the largest in the festival's 30 year history) who were all "books, books, books!" I've heard that people seemed to be going to more arts-related events lately, and that was what I saw on my trip.

Current Mood: tired

Entry tags:

A mildly dire 30 hour period.

The hilarious thing about all of this is that up until the end of the whole business, I was in a pretty good mood.

Mom's birthday was last week and she had some testing that she needed a ride for, so Sunday afternoon, I caught Metra out to her. A band that she really enjoys was playing nearby, so she'd got tickets. We grabbed dinner and went to the show.

Now, I've come to realize that I don't actually enjoy concerts? I like having gone to a concert and enjoying a piece of art like that, but the actual time from the first notes until I can leave is... complex. Anyway, the show was fine and mom seemed to have a lovely time! That was the important bit.

Well. When I walked outside, it was pretty clear that there was a fire happening somewhere. Like a big, 3-5 alarm thing going on. We later found out it was a junkyard fire which. Woof. Anyway, I start coughing instantly as ~allergic to smoke~ and it takes mom a bit longer to start having a reaction. She's allergic to leaves and some other something. Anyway, the plan was for us to drive up to the location where her testing was going to happen so that we could get a good night sleep and not have to get up at ass-o'clock to get her to the testing site. It's ~an hour away, and there's not really a direct highway route, so no matter what you have to take the back roads.

( Mom tantrum grumbling. )

Honestly, I think she was just really nervous about the testing and the allergy stuff set her off harder. Which, look. I spent my entire childhood and early adulthood being reamed out constantly for a.) not being able to read people's minds b.) not being prepared for every possibility of a situation and c.) being left to manage my own illnesses and sickness in a way that didn't inconvenience other people. I'm not real impressed with mom at the moment.

Anyway, we get up well ahead of when we need to so we can get dressed and go grab breakfast. I'd planned to drag us to the Panera nearby, which is good and has a nice breakfast, but mom got nervous and so we paid entirely too much for the hotel breakfast that was fine but was not great. Still, we went to the testing, which was supposed to end ~11. Mom finally got out at 12:30, so our plans to grab lunch got interrupted because there was a 1:05 train home.

Well, there was supposed to be. Apparently, someone got hit by a train and no one noticed until the train was about to roll out? I hope the guy is ok. But, the train got delayed an hour and then I got word from my boss that I hadn't done timesheets and that they were due. Which I thought they were due on Wednesday. Anyway, I couldn't log in because 2FA and my phone is from 2016 and overheating, so I had to race home (not leisurely wander) to get everything done by 4. THEN I went and did a few weeks worth of laundry and all my bedding as I'd originally planned to get home around 3, then wash everything and have an early night.

Man, five loads of laundry and folding/replacing the duvet cover was a lot more ambitious than I had planned.

I eventually fell into bed and am overall grumpy that doing a good deed involved a whole lot of emotional work on my part.

And I still have to make pie and some other dishes for Thursday. God bless the dump and bake ones though.

Update: And now my phone is more actively in the process of dying? Fingers crossed the replacement a.) makes it on time and b.) is compatible. Sigh.

Current Mood: hungry
Current Music: cruel youth - obey!

Entry tags:

Stuff.

I did not get a chili dog and I am still craving one. Eventually, I will track one down, eat half of it, and be mildly nauseous for the rest of the night. *shakes head*

Speaking of food, here is my list of stuff I'm making for Thanksgiving this year. We're still going to mom's friends' place. Fingers crossed the stove doesn't explode again.

1. Mashed potatoes

These are my standard half dairy/half potato dish of extravagance. I still need to go buy potatoes, but I'm planning on a Saturday 7am grocery tour.

2. Green bean casserole

I've never actually made this specific version before? Mom has a virulent hatred of the dump and mix dish, but she liked the deconstructed one I made a few years ago. But! Our hosts want it made and I got the crispy onions from Aldi. I decided to make the mushroom soup from scratch (mostly to have leftovers), so I'm going mushroom hunting on Saturday too. Joong Boo has a sale on King Oyster mushrooms, so I'll hit them up, and I think the magic grocery has miataki's. If not them, I know H-Mart's got a mess of 'em. Debating steaming the green beans vs. blanching. If anyone has opinions, lmk!

3. Scalloped Corn

I love dump and mix recipes. This is my fave and I had everything in the pantry already.

4. Apple Blueberry pie w/walnut crumble

I got the crust from Trader Joe's so all I need to do is source the apples, blueberries, and a lemon. I am gonna make this the night before.

5. Cherry clafoutis

I had never even heard of this before, but one of the people attending asked for one and when I looked it up it looks dead easy? It seems like a dutch pancake but with cherries and almonds instead of apple. I do need to buy some cherries, but we'll see if they're fresh or frozen after Saturday.

I did have to buy a new pyrex pan for the green bean casserole. I also need to remember to pack my leftover Chinese food containers so I can bring a bunch of leftovers home. I'm not going to Iowa, so I want a fridge full of leftovers so I can just snack when necessary. Might make some sweet potato biscuits with the two currently sprouting on my kitchen table. Then I can have tasty sandwiches. I am also going to make my own pumpkin pie - I said I would make one, bought the ingredients, then mom ordered one from her church - because I freaking LOVE pumpkin pie but only eat it, like, once a year.

What really surprises me about Thanksgiving foods is how mostly easy the sides are, unless you go bonkers. All of the above can be dump and mix sides. I'm only going above and beyond w/the green bean casserole because I want more soup.

Current Mood: confused

Entry tags:

food

Why.

I am deeply craving a chili cheese dog.

I don't actually like chili? I'm also not all that interested in hot dogs at the moment?

And YET.