"Machines built to eat people don't stop until they run out of people" will live in my head rent-free from now on.
(by @JuliusGoat)
My wife rocks. She made this. From scratch. #woodworking #LOTR
I am so proud of her skill and perseverance. I love you @amerikate !
In 1999 to 2000 I was going through a very rough patch in my life. In the span of a few years, I'd gotten married, lost a parent, birthed a child, gotten divorced, changed careers, and relocated 3,000 miles away from everything and everyone I knew. What with the state of things, I didn't get to see #GalaxyQuest when it was first released.
Finally, on a day I was feeling particularly low, and shortly before the movie left the theaters, I canceled work and took myself out to a midday matinée.
I was the *only* person in a vast theater, of a size that no one builds anymore, sitting and waiting for the lights to go down. At one point, I turned and peered up at the projectionist's booth. I saw a shadowy figure moving back and forth behind the window, bending and straightening. This was in the days before automated, digital films. The Phantom Menace had been released digitally in 1999, but the equipment to show such films was extremely expensive and most theaters hadn't converted yet; "projectionist" was still a real job.
While I was looking, the figure paused, strode to the window and peered back at me, then disappeared quickly.
I turned back around and continued to fidget and ponder the misfit pieces of my life.
At the top of the aisle behind me, the theater door swung open and banged loudly on the wall. The projectionist strode down the aisle toward me, a tall barrel-shaped man with a thick beard and glasses. My first thought was that the matinee was canceled due to low turnout, and I'd be getting a refund. Just as I'd resigned myself to that, the marching projectionist shouted out in a booming voice,
"WELCOME to your PRIVATE viewing oooooooof GALAXY QUEST!!!"
He stopped in front of my row, and I saw that he had an *armload* of STUFF. One by one, he began presenting each thing to me, and as the pile in his arms dwindled, the one in my lap grew.
"As our SPECIAL VIP Galaxy Quest GUEST today, YOU are entitled to..."
"- A commemorative t-shirt!"
"- A poster suitable for framing!"
"- A limited edition refrigerator magnet!"
"- A button to pin to your lapel!"
The list and the shwag went on. With every ridiculous item, I laughed harder and harder, until there were tears leaking out of the corners of my eyes.
Then he bowed and shouted, "WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THE SHOW!" and turned on his heel to march back up the aisle and out the exit door.
Alas, of all the shwag only the magnet has stood the test of time. But the humor and kindness of the unknown projectionist lives on.
My paternal grandmother was born in Berlin, Germany in 1900. She was, as was her whole family, Jewish. She was smart and driven. Had her own dressmaking shop by the time she was 25. But, the handwriting was on the wall, and she left home for New York in 1925. She learned English and worked as a dressmaker until she got married to an Italian immigrant she met in English language class. Some of her siblings stayed in Germany. Perished in the camps. Her youngest sister survived and came to America. But she was mentally damaged from that horror, attempted suicide at least once (had a scar around her neck) until she succeeded in drowning herself.
People talk about the horrors of fascism in the abstract. But for my family, it is very real. I think that we all need to speak about it.My generation, the grandchildren of the victims of the Nazis, is old now. I try to tell this story as often as I can.
I first read about this #Florida bill being proposed to allow the state to remove trans kids from the care of their supportive parents 20 minutes ago...and I just can’t can’t begin to get my head around what is being suggested in a supposedly democratic country.
This is barbaric, inhumane and essentially facist.
I have just renewed my vow to never set foot on US soil ever again.
watching American fascism consolidate itself by mainstreaming trans eradication and every single day I think about what happened to the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, how it was one of the first things the Nazis went after, an easy target, followed by others.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institut_für_Sexualwissenschaft
Growing up, I had three sisters. One of them was a quiet child, often angry or sullen and sometimes cruel.
One day that person went away.
And then I had a brother.
He was cheerful and warm, finally comfortable in a body he'd wanted his entire life.
Conservatives want to eradicate my brother. I'm here to say that's not going to happen.
AS we're now in March, I'm in Job Search Phase 2 1/2. ORiginally, I planned to go into "Phase 3" but the jury duty had me in a bad spot of "I can't really apply cause I can't plan interviews for like, two weeks, if I get called to serve (which I didn't)."
So I'm still looking for work that $80k like in Phase II, but "1/2" part is that I'm willing to go as low as $40k just to get money coming in. I've put in a TON of aaplications just today because of that. I'll jump ship if I get something under $80k.
We'll push off Phase 3 to April, when everything kinda hits the fan. Which is what I planned Phase 3 to address anyways....
This Week's Meals (2/4): Klobásník (aka Pigs in a Blanket)
If at first you don't succeed, get a better recipe. And now that I can make Salibury Steak, Pigs in a Blanket AND Cinnamon Rolls, I can make all the stuff I remember from the old Locke Hill Elementary School cafeteria. :D
So I melded this recipe together from the kolache recipe to make the dough, and then the "construction" instructions from the recipe I tried last week.
The good news: The kolache dough works WAAAY better. The down side? Might be too sweet for a savory pastry. But we'll find out in the morning when I have the first one! I do like sweet-and-salty, hopefully it's not overpowering. If so, I might pull back on the sugar or the honey-butter topping.
# Klobásník
Multiple
5.0 Klobásník
0.25 cup milk (scalded)
0.25 cup sugar
0.5 tsp salt
0.25 tsp mace
0.25 whole lemon rind
0.75 package yeast
0.25 cup water (dough)
1.0 whole egg (beaten)
0.25 cup salted butter (melted)
1.6666666666666665 cups flour
2.5 slices American Cheese
5.0 whole sausages (hot dog sized)
0.5 tsp water (egg wash)
1.0 whole egg (egg wash)
1.0 tbsp unsalted butter (honey butter)
1.0 tbsp honey
1 - Combine milk, sugar, salt, mace and lemon rind. Cool to lukewarm.
2 - Stir yeast into warm water; let stand 5 minutes.
3 - Add to milk mixture. Stir in eggs and margarine and enough flour to make a soft dough.
4 - Knead on lightly floured board until smooth and elastic.
5 - Cover, let rise in warm place until double in bulk.
6 - Punch down, cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
7 - While dough is still rising, add the sausages to a large skillet and cook until warmed through, turning while they cook to ensure all sides are lightly seared.
remove the dough to a work surface lightly sprinkled with flour.
8 - Cut the dough into equal amounts (depending on the amount you are making).
9 - Ignore this step. It's a duplicate step from melding the two recipes together. :D
10 - Prepare a large baking sheet with a silicone mat or sprayed with non stick cooking spray. Set aside.
11 - Working with one piece of dough at a time, press the dough into a larger square shape, large enough to cover one of your sausages on one side..
12 - Place a half slice of cheese on one side, then the sausage.
13 - Roll the dough and pinch together where it meets.
14 - Place on the prepared baking sheet with the seam side down.
15 - Continue until all the klobásník are prepared.
16 - Place the klobásník on the baking sheet with approximately 1/2 to 1 inch of space in between, they rise while they bake, but it’s ok if they run into each other.
17 - Cover and let rise for an additional 45 minutes.
18 - While rising, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
19 - Remove the cover from the klobásník
20 - Prepare the egg wash by beating the egg with the water. Brush this over the top of the dough.
21 - Bake for 14-15 minutes until the tops are golden. Turn the baking sheet during the middle of baking if needed for even browning.
22 - Remove from the oven, combine the melted butter and honey, and brush this on top of the Kklobásník while they are still hot.
23 - Let cool for several minutes, then serve warm.
Moving the speakers away from the TV to try and get a little more separation from the front left and front right. But as usual the wierd fireplace not just ruins the Feng Shui of the living room, but keeps me from moving the speakers too much farther out without unbalancing the left and right sound...
Still, a LITTLE better is still better.
Music Before Bed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO-Fva9pE80
Artist for Closetspace and A Wish for Wings
Creative Text Writer for MTG: Universes Beyond
Writer for Sea of Legends
One enchilada short of a Mexican Platter