In which there’s an item of furniture.
Bought a coffee table. (Also bought a couch, to replace the air bed we’ve been using as a couch, but it’s not here yet.)
Coffee table! It weighs a ton and reeks of finish, but I love it! Was expecting something much flimsier, but this guy’s solid as hell. Nice, simple, non-plastic little piece of furniture.
I’ve never bought a coffee table before in my life, I don’t think. Furniture is generally either already there when I arrive, or gifted or found, right? People give you old coffee tables, right? I mean, I bought a desk, but a coffee table? Who buys coffee tables?
Me! I bought a coffee table! Box says it’s walnut, and I like it a lot.
Target pays low wages, withholds benefits, treats their employees and the communities they operate in like shit, and they store their (well, really our) wealth offshore to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.
Ditto Walmart and Home Depot and all those other massive chains. FUCK THOSE BUSINESSES. THEY ARE NOT GOOD CITIZENS, AND THEY DO NOT DESERVE ANYTHING: Not our respect, not our protection, not our grief, and absolutely not our bailouts.
Fuck them. Fuck every one of those society-looting, conscienceless motherfuckers. They do not operate in good faith.
They’re the enemies of healthy society: they stand in clear opposition to prosperity, dignity, and beauty. Their business model is to suck wealth out of communities, destroying Main Street in the process, and have the government (read: us) subsidize them in two ways: welfare for their under-compensated employees, and tax cuts and bailouts for themselves.
Continue reading »
In which it’s an intense time to be alive, no doubt about that.
The images that get traction are of broken-hearted wailing and absolutely JUSTIFIED rage; fire; despair. Cops acting as if the population they’re sworn to serve and protect are enemy combatants, and so hatefully indoctrinated they don’t know why that’s a problem.
The images of comfortable, wholesome protests, of community and support and love, get little to no coverage. If it doesn’t bleed, it doesn’t lead.
Far too much coverage of looting. Listen, when you never earn enough, have no healthcare, and live at the edge of homelessness in a grossly rich country that spends BILLIONS ON WAR AND COPS, why not take shit from a Target when shit’s on fire? If you don’t, it’s just gonna burn up anyway, why not get something to use or gift or sell?
I would, I absolutely WOULD loot a fucking Target if I didn’t have the support that I have — all of which is due to my luck, not my intrinsic worth. I don’t offer society anything of real value, and neither do most of you. The only reason I’m not looting a Target is that I don’t have to, and the reasons I don’t have to are luck and skin color.
Let them have their Martha Stewart lamps and bicycles and flat screens. What those businesses have stolen from us is much, much worse than that. Those businesses pay shitty wages, withhold benefits, treat their employees and communities like shit, and store their money offshore to avoid taxes. FUCK THOSE BUSINESSES, THEY ARE NOT GOOD CITIZENS, they’re not citizens at all, really, AND THEY DO NOT DESERVE ANYTHING. Not our respect, not our protection, not our grief, and not our bailouts. Fuck them. Fuck Walmart, fuck Target, fuck every one of those society-looting conscienceless motherfuckers. They’re enemies of society: enemies of prosperity, dignity, and beauty.
Five Black human beings have been found hung from trees in the past week. (Obviously, in light of history, this is not how any Black person suicides, ever.) This is absolutely fucking unacceptable and shows how deep racism is in this country. Fucking lynchings?!? I am heartbroken by how safe, comfortable whites are willing to just ignore the suffering of people JUST LIKE THEM who have more melanin. That’s fucking racism; it’s really not that hard to understand how running highways through affluent Black communities for decades might have had an effect on a population we’ve been so happy to ignore and push away unless they adopt our bullshit White saviour pseudo-Christian culture.
The population is acting recklessly in face of a killing global pandemic. This is entirely the fault of the current administration failing to bother to message properly.
Wear your mask. Stay in as much as possible. Wash your hands. Ignore the re-openings, IT’S NOT SAFE.
Trump is incapable of compassion, old, weak, dumb, venal, and ugly of heart. He is the reflection of the nation’s cumulative personality.
We’re risking millions of lives in the forms of millions of service workers because our society is broken, and I hate it. It breaks my heart that people too poor to not work have to work for CEO bonuses are forced to work. It’s slavery, but we pretend it’s a free market.
Walmart costs you, the taxpayers, billions of dollars annually because their MEDIAN PAY is under twelve bucks an hour. They literally maintain hotlines that assist their underpaid workers with their assistance applications.
The Supreme Court actually surprised me today, however; there is still hope that people, many people, do their duty for its own sake.
In which I got packages that weren’t stuff I ordered myself from Amazon!
Okay, I got presents, for basically no reason beyond the greatness of other humans, but first I gotta bitch about humans being stupid about THE TRANSMISSION OF A KILLING FUCKING DISEASE:
The governor let my county move to Phase 2 re-opening last week so restaurants are open at 50% capacity, you can get your hair cut, bars and tasting rooms are open, small gatherings are permissible, blah blah blah.
I’m back to working my full schedule (part time, under 30 hours a week) and the cheese shop is open its regular hours for customers again. We’re filling a lot of orders, making cheese three times a week rather than just once, and everything’s pretty much humming along as it was before the pandemic. Last two days have been busy as hell and I’ve personally handled hundreds of pounds of cheese!
But. I observe that fewer than half of the customers who come into my cheese shop wear masks (and I’m convinced that non-mask wearers are probably also non-hand washers, and have been having fucking parties the entire time). I saw one person sanitize their hands since this began, and it was a child whose mother made her do so before eating. Two separate customers told me today that they were entertaining this weekend. None of my customers are distancing in the store or observing maximum occupancy.
All my co-workers save one won’t wear masks, don’t appear to be doing (or, for that matter, to have done) any distancing, and I saw one today hug some friends she clearly hadn’t seen in awhile. Only two of us ever sanitize per official CDC recs (although our regular standards are already high because we’re a food manufactory), and basically it’s a free-for-all. Everybody’s acting like it’s over.
Well, it’s not over. It hadn’t even gotten here yet. The Umatilla county COVID map shows cases growing steadily.
Anyway, so, based on the humans I see at work and while shopping (I’ve been to Safeway and the hardware store since March), I’m finally about to be exposed. Might be asymptomatic, might not be. My lungs aren’t great to begin with, so I wish people would wear masks and wash their hands, but apparently, they don’t. Not until people they know start dying. Maybe that person will be me!
Ugh. Anyway. Out of my control, no point in worrying too much about it.
In better news, I had the most awesome mail week EVER!
First: I asked someone I follow on Instagram to send me a little doodle of Ganesh; he shipped me seven pieces of art and some sour gummi worms. All the way from Great Britian! How awesome is that?!?!
I bought a couple little frames. Gonna hang that toilets one in the bathroom. Because it’s toilets!
Second: Not too long ago, an ex-coworker said she was doing a book stash reduction and I signed up. She shipped me some Octavia Butler!!!
Fuck yeah!
Third: There hasn’t been any yeast at my local grocery store since March, and even Amazon was out until just recently. So one of my online friends took pity on me and sent me some from her grocery store!
Art! Books! Yeast! YAY!
Oh, ALSO: my dad showed up and is living in his RV in our driveway. Not only did he pay us rent (for water, power, and internet) so my utility bill’s half covered, but he made us dinner last night! All I had to do was load the dishwasher!
And also-also: I finally made a dental appointment. Next Tuesday I’ll go in, get x-rays and a consult, and they’ll give me a treatment plan that will allow me to spend hours in a chair under local WHILE getting rid of that two grand burning a hole in my savings account! Certain my gum disease is all the way into my jaw and I’m going to get Very Serious Lectures About Dental Hygiene. Sigh.
is on fire, and it’s a nuanced and complex situation ranging the gamut from genuine societal rage and a systemic cultural reaction to entrenched oppression, to boredom from lock-down, spring weather sprung, opportunistic bullshit by outside actors, and a pinch of actual anti-social behavior. (after all, young men aren’t known for their self-restraint in emotionally-charged mob situations, that’s why all nations use them as soldiers.)
now, [white and other privileged] people are blowing off all that complexity because they’re focused on how… holy shit commercial property is being destroyed!!!
really.
you think it’s fine for the state to REPEATEDLY use lethal force against non-violent black and brown and poor people, but god forbid anybody torch a fucking walmart? THAT’S what’s utterly beyond the pale for you? not the literal state-sanctioned brutal loss of human life without any repercussions, but destruction of… commercial property bothers you?
REALLY?!
people don’t destroy their communities; there’s no community there to destroy. there’s pan-national corporations sucking wealth up from the bottom to the top, shitty jobs, dangerous intersections, racism, stagnant wages, lack of health care, late busses, racism, shitty landlords, food deserts, class divides, racism… you can’t possibly believe that healthy communities fucking BURN THEMSELVES DOWN for absolutely no reason, can you?
no. you think they’re burning shit down because they’re, you know, just intrinsically LIKE that. them. not us, them. basically animals, which is why it’s fine to kill them
review your comfortable beliefs and learn about complexity, bitches: turns out you’re classists and racists.
In which holy shit THIS REALLY IS A RECIPE BLOG NOW.
Okay, not really! This isn’t a proper recipe as much as a reminder to myself for the next time. The smoked paprika and yellow mustard really made this dish.
Heat:
butter & olive oil
Add chopped:
onions
carrots
celery
Saute until soft. Add:
dried split peas
water + vegetable bouillon
smoked paprika
prepared yellow mustard
Herbs de Provence
salt
Simmer or pressure cook until the split peas are soft.
Season with salt & freshly ground black pepper.
Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a garnish of fresh thyme.
In which it was deeply relaxing and refreshing.
With the world on varying levels of lock down, Amma’s stuck in Amritapuri for the time being, and Her tours, including the summer North American Tour, are postponed (if not cancelled). So She’s directed senior disciple talks and local satsang (“a spiritual discourse or sacred gathering”) meetings to move online.
The North American e-newsletter has sent out a massive calendar of online offerings. It’s so great!
The closest Oregon satsang is in Bend, and tonight I joined their live stream for chants, bhajans, and meditation. (Meant to join last week, but stayed at work doing cheese affinage stuff.) There is, of course, no local satsang here.
Tonight’s online virtual satsang was lovely!
I rarely ever live near an active satsang (there was one in Fairfield, but I lived in Batavia so never went; and there was one in greater Minneapolis but it moved every month and was never near me, so I only attended once in five years), so this online stuff is really wonderful for me. So many options I wouldn’t have otherwise! Silver linings and all that.
Anyway, if you want some spiritual nourishment, Amma’s talks are here and the senior disciples’ YouTube channel is here. It’s really good viewing.
ॐ AMRITESHWARYAI NAMAHA
In which it’s a recipe!
Now, this dish doesn’t look much in this photo because I was too lazy to properly plate or garnish, but it’s nutty, incredibly rich, earthy, and awesome.
Soba is a Japanese pasta made with buckwheat flour, wheat flour, and sometimes yam. It’s often served chilled in summer with a tamari-based dipping sauce, but you can also use it hot, as in this recipe.
(There aren’t any measurements because you can just choose ratios that make sense to you and/or please your palate.)
-
Bleu Cheese Soba
1. Boil soba noodles according to package directions.
2. Mince onion and celery, and saute gently in butter in a small skillet.
3. Drain soba, return to pan, add the sauteed vegetables and butter. Add half and half and crumbled blue cheese. Toss ’til the blue cheese is melted, and season liberally with cracked black pepper.
Soba is an odd color, so this dish would probably look best served with a garnish of minced parsley, cracked black pepper, and shaved parm-reg.
This is a very rich dish with strong flavors, so maybe try a sauv blanc or a hoppy beer? And because it’s so soft, something crunchy alongside, a salad featuring pear or fig, or possibly a fresh spinach salad with a grapefruit viniagrette, would be excellent.
So easy to make, and so delicious!
In which there’s a TINY GRILL!
So I use a Chase VISA that gives me points. I spent some on this little grill and it arrived today.
I realize it’s a pandemic and I probably should have turned those points into cash but JUST LOOK AT THIS ADORABLE, PORTABLE LITTLE THING. Holy shit. Smitten.
Now I know people often shop specifically for foods to cook on the BBQ, but I want to play with this thing NOW and I’m not going to the store unless I really, really need to (because nobody out here is social distancing for SHIT).
So I rustled up some stuff and tossed it all in a bowl with olive oil and salt & pepper.
Potato, tomato, mushrooms, garlic, onion, jalapeno, halloumi, and a 2-day old baguette.
FIRE! WHOO!
We already had charcoal, lighter fluid, and a grill set in the garage because my aunt gave them to us last year.
Is there anything more wonderful than sitting next to a little grill on a blanket next to an irrigation ditch on an absolutely GORGEOUS, BREEZY spring day?
No, there is NOT.
Ate this smoky bounty with some garlic tomato sauce I keep in the fridge for pizzas. (Recipe is canned tomato, garlic, vinegar, olive oil, salt & pepper, in the blender. Super easy and super delicious.)
Grilled bread and halloumi with garlic tomato sauce is FANTASTIC. With mushrooms and garlic and onions? Sort of a deconstructed grilled pizza!
Put the tomato, jalapeno, and some of the onion and garlic in the blender with a can of diced tomatoes and some cilantro, for salsa.
Possibly the very best afternoon EVER! Just sittin’ outside, slowly grilling (I only used 15 briquettes because there’s no point in wasting fuel) and eating, enjoying the creek and the breeze and the warmth and the green and some pink wine.
FUCK YEAH TINY GRILL!
Bonus salsa!
I AM SO HAPPY!
In which I’m on about the anti-vax movement again because really can’t figure out how it attracts so many otherwise normal human beings. Like, most of the people I loved during my Fairfield/TM days.
No SHIT, right? Right?
Antivaxxers and alternative medicine quacks are attracted to simple solutions. Reinforces their worldview, which is that they’re personally capable of expertise without earning any qualifications beyond google university.
They don’t like complexity (unless it’s the pseudo-scientific nonsense they make up themselves), and they don’t like nuance or method. They like bad guys and easy solutions, they like victimhood and keeping their (almost overwhelmingly white, middle-class) privilege at all costs.
So we’ve got wholly unqualified keyboard warriors promoting a medicine they know fuck-all about for use in a disease they also know nothing about, because… they read some dumb shit in their online echo-chambers.
Which are supplement stores, by the way. That’s where they get it. Mercola, Natural News, whale.to, Oz, Chopra, Oprah, Goop: they’re all stores. It’s like getting your worldview and ideology from Safeway and then deliberately exposing your children to potentially fatal diseases because of something you read on a pop tart box.
Then there’s this: “President Donald Trump on Sunday once again touted the potential life-saving benefits of treating coronavirus patients with hydroxychloroquine, a powerful anti-malaria drug, despite a dearth of medical professionals or clinical evidence supporting his claims. It just so happens that one of the largest manufacturers of the drug, Novartis, previously paid Trump’s now-incarcerated former personal attorney Michael Cohen more than $1 million for healthcare policy insight following Trump’s election in 2016.”
They’re literally supporting what they claim to hate, the whole “evil big pharma” thing. Mostly because they can’t discern between Citizens United fallout and, you know, the whole of scientific method.
What a time to be alive.
