The one I eat most often is overnight oats, just steel cut oats and whole milk with some fruit if I have it. Favorite to eat is probably bananas foster french toast made with home made brioche. Nothing like starting your day with a brown sugar, caramel and rum sauce haha.

Oh is that the term for it? I’ve been calling it “super smooth scrambled eggs” which doesn’t adequately describe the texture. Egg curds is pretty close but it’s almost like a creamed egg. So soft and fluffy, I like to add cream cheese into it while it’s cooking and serve it on toast with melty cheese and a bit of tomato salsa. Yum!

EV driving really shines in local trips, which is the majority of most people’s driving. My husband and I have solar panels and a plug in hybrid, so his commute to work every day is essentially free for us (aside from wear and tear). If you’re regularly driving long hauls then fully EV doesn’t seem to make sense yet, but for every day driving, the trade off of having cheaper daily trips with occasional higher expenses for long hauls probably still nets a lower cost per mile.

Women absolutely are penalized for showing emotion. Socially between friends there is a lot better support, and that is probably what you are thinking of. In a workplace environment though, there can be serious consequences for expressing anything other than congeniality. If you’re socially withdrawn you’re an ice queen, if you get angry (no matter how justifiable) you’re a bitch or a dragon lady. If you’re stressed and not perfectly composed you’re weak “unable to handle the pressure”. I get that men are subject to the same kind of judgments but there seems to be more leeway.

I agree with your feeling for the most part. White chocolate is not chocolate and does not belong in chocolate assortments or in the lofty company of actual chocolate. It’s a byproduct of chocolate making more than a chocolate itself. That being said, candy and sweets that are made with cocoa butter can be nice. I’m just not going to eat it when I want chocolate.

Flip flops or beach shoes, some kind of shade, and a HAT!

We have a credit card that gives 6% cash back on groceries, 3% on gas and some discounts on streaming services. It blows my mind that every few months I can cash out a $200 or so credit towards my balance. I needed to buy those things anyway and have autopay set to the full balance each month so it really is free money. So if you can get one, absolutely a credit card that gives cash back. The one I mentioned is Amex Blue Cash Preferred but there other options out there that give other bonuses, like 2% back on everything or 6% back on something up to a certain cap.

Oh man, as a new-ish parent I’m starting to get those sudden out of the blue hugs and cuddles and they’re amazing. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me that my kid would love me but it’s like an instant shot of dopamine every time.

I’m excited to see the progress of 3d printers becoming more user friendly, reliable and inexpensive. I’ve been keeping an eye on the development of consumer printing and there are so many types of materials to print with at higher and higher details with less troubleshooting needed. I’m thinking I’ll finally jump in this year but I’ve had very little time for hobbies lately.

There are so many different types of intelligence, and so many different ways of judging them. Someone’s intelligence can vary so much even on a day to day basis based on if they get enough sleep, their blood sugar, stress levels, hormones, health issues, distractions, etc etc. I used to put SO MUCH stock in intelligence but as I’ve gotten wiser I’ve realized it doesn’t matter if they can solve math problems quickly or have a big vocabulary or specialized in a niche field of science or got an advanced degree etc etc. I learned that as long as a partner is good at problem solving and makes good decisions, none of the rest matters. Are the decisions they are making consistently making their and other’s lives better? Are they able to tackle hurdles when they come between them and their goals? If the other pieces of compatibility are there then that’s really all that’s important.

Ranch dressing, or a mix of half ranch dressing and half ketchup I call “krantchup”. Specifically Marie’s ranch mixed with Primitive Kitchen ketchup is so good on fries.

In a similar vein I’m really enjoying the Murderbot series by Martha Wells. It has a similar feel and it has an addictive action pace with snippets of deadpan humor and wit. If it was a movie it would be a popcorn muncher.

That’s because the characters just serve as tour guides for the detailed and compelling world building. It’s funny that I’ve read the books over and over and couldn’t tell you much about the plot or what happens when or why but I can tell you about how Seanchan nobles wear their fingernails and the meaning of those knives Ebou Dari women wear around their necks or how seafolk political hierarchies work in a nomadic ocean based society. I think I read it over and over again just to spend more time in that world.

Lol yeah that was a big issue with the books. He made this massive, detailed, multicultural world with all of this dimension, but then he wanted the same few characters to go everywhere and do everything in it. So getting them from place to place was super tedious. He started off trying to make them just walk, then take a boat, then the Ways, then alternate dimensions, then the dream world, then he straight up gave up and said “fuck it, they can teleport”.

I had the same experience with the Fountainhead. I read it when I was young going to an art school and saw the commitment to Roark’s artistic vision as heroic, despite hating brutalism and his general architecture style as described in the book haha. It was way too long but at the time I was ok with it enough to finish it. Then I found out more about the author…

We have solar and a plug in hybrid car. I try to support small local businesses. We moved to a place with historically cooler weather above sea level. I vote in all the elections I can. I keep up with the town planning board and try to influence towards car independence. I stay hydrated, wear natural fibers, and try to buy used when I can.

Not everyone handles sleep deprivation the same. Not every baby sleeps the same amount or at regular intervals. Some babies just never seem to sleep or have weird needs that require exhausting accommodations. It’s terrible, but new babies are so vulnerable and there are so many chances for failure at the same time parents are at their most compromised. I have sympathy for the stupid, addled, forgetful mistakes anyone could make under constant, chronic exhaustion.

We were never meant to do it alone, the nuclear family is a myth.

My cat has literally sprinted in order to get to a room with carpet before he barfs. What the hell is that all about?

My cat loves to be a bongo, there is nothing in the world he loves so much as to have his bum bomped. So rather than lie in my lap or rub his cheek against my hand when he wants attention, he sticks his butt in my face instead. If my face is inaccessible, he makes sure his butt is by my hand or arm so he’s constantly in the way if I’m on the computer or working with my hands. If he’s near me his butt is pointed towards me. He’s a handsome boy so it’d be nice to see the other side of him sometimes.

How about some jazzy harp?

Brandee Younger

Francois Pernel