late night anime club in the eecs dept lounge

call me sphere (they/them, 20s). mit-licensed Robotics Master + senior robot torturer. i live to cause problems on purpose and solve them by accident, and all my computers are mildly haunted due to my hubris.

[gender-trash]

as is tradition whenever we collectively receive worrying news about this webbed site's longterm health, here is my README with all my pointers to me-on-other-websites:

about/README.md at main · ideal-stingray/about

if you see me using carrd or linktree i've been replaced by an impostor - ideal-stingray/about

i'm almost certainly going to be posting here until the whole damn site 404s though :p

[EDIT, since this is my pinned post now: as a matter of longstanding blog policy i do not publish donation posts/asks. please do not send them to me.]

[gender-trash]

cognitive cocktails with chef claude part ii: apricot-mint cry for help

PLEASE let us know if you have any other ideas for Apricot Concoctions. the situation is fucking dire

[combat-epistemologist]

2oz whiskey or similar (I used this NA substitute, it was fine?)

2 very ripe apricots (driveway-bruised is great)

3/4 oz lemon juice

3/4 oz simple syrup (Sphere’s used the lapsang souchong syrup, because It Was Theah)

Small handful of fresh mint, plus more for garnish (garnish optional)

Aggressively muddle the apricot in the cocktail shaker. Seriously. Demolish that thang.

Slap the mint.

Shake with ice, strain as much as you are able - Claude suggested double-straining, the second time with a fine mesh strainer. This will probably prevent tiny bits of mint from going in your glass, which is desirable.

Add garnish, if desired. You can slap this one too, I won’t kinkshame.

This doesn’t produce a very large drink, because apricots just aren’t a very juicy fruit. But it is good!

Sphere rating: Opus 4.8 out of Fable.

[gender-trash]

shoutout to @nyantara for suggesting apricot cobbler this is banger

[captainjonnitkessler]

Today at work a couple of apprentices were rotating rows of solar panels and unwittingly turned one row directly into a couple of metal posts that had been driven into the ground, shattering two panels.

And on the one hand I feel really bad for them, because they were clearly really upset and they kept apologizing even though it wasn't really their fault. (Who the fuck puts metal posts underneath a rotating solar panel?!)

On the other hand, I kind of can't stop laughing. They were so distraught! God, what must have gone through their minds when they heard the first crunch. This is SUCH a classic apprentice scenario, everyone in the trades has been there. Congrats on your rite of passage kiddos, you're gonna be telling this story to your apprentices one day

[captainjonnitkessler]

POV: You're about to have a really unfortunate conversation with your foreman

[andmaybegayer]

Solarkatastrophe

[gender-trash]

cognitive cocktails with chef claude part ii: apricot-mint cry for help

PLEASE let us know if you have any other ideas for Apricot Concoctions. the situation is fucking dire

[combat-epistemologist]

2oz whiskey or similar (I used this NA substitute, it was fine?)

2 very ripe apricots (driveway-bruised is great)

3/4 oz lemon juice

3/4 oz simple syrup (Sphere’s used the lapsang souchong syrup, because It Was Theah)

Small handful of fresh mint, plus more for garnish (garnish optional)

Aggressively muddle the apricot in the cocktail shaker. Seriously. Demolish that thang.

Slap the mint.

Shake with ice, strain as much as you are able - Claude suggested double-straining, the second time with a fine mesh strainer. This will probably prevent tiny bits of mint from going in your glass, which is desirable.

Add garnish, if desired. You can slap this one too, I won’t kinkshame.

This doesn’t produce a very large drink, because apricots just aren’t a very juicy fruit. But it is good!

Sphere rating: Opus 4.8 out of Fable.

[gender-trash]

cognitive cocktails with chef claude part ii: apricot-mint cry for help

PLEASE let us know if you have any other ideas for Apricot Concoctions. the situation is fucking dire

[oeing-oeing-clay]

wow dude jts so awesome that your car is loud as fuck and smells worse when it drives past. thags fucking epic man. i really like how it hurts to listen to you drive past and it scares people. thats awesome man. i really like your car that makes a loud as fuck fart sound. fucking epic dude

[welcometothesnackzone]

did you know you can make a pride flag with solely the colors from ben's latest outfit

[willgrahamscock]

don’t focus on your responsibilities you need to make gay shit for a dying fandom

[literallymechanical]

This is a contender for my new favorite fusion paper. How does it feel to be the realest god damn scientist on the planet Dr. Smiet

[foxglves]

It’s so funny to me that soccer games can end with a score of 0-0 like imagine going to see a soccer game and both teams just run around the field for 90 minutes doing absolutely nothing and nobody scores any points and at the end of the 90 minutes they’re like well. Guess that’s that. Great soccer game guys.

[parachim]

inat's email game is wild

[estavionpira]

No, yeah, it's really cool that you turned out to be the rightful holder of the Mandate of Heaven, that's fantastic, but you do know that you can only cash that in to become the emperor of China if you're within Chinese borders. That's the actual hard part. There have been like 30 known people with the Mandate of Heaven in the past 15 years, they just keep getting tracked down and executed by PLA hunter-killer teams before they make it over the border. There's naval mines all across the South China Sea to catch any rightful rulers trying to sail in under the radar too. Real tough stuff.

Would have been easier a few decades ago, but there's been, what, two, two and a half trillion yuan poured into reconnaissance and R&D since then. They can pinpoint the rightful ruler of China down to a 100-mile region anywhere on the world now. Spy satellites. Hope I didn't scare you too much. If it's worth anything, I think you've got a shot. You could get on a civilian flight to Beijing and see if they're willing to tank the diplomatic hit of shooting it down. That actually might work. Nah, I'm kidding ya. Seven of them tried that and got vaporized. You're fucked.

[estavionpira]

Good idea, good idea. One rightful ruler actually did manage to get into the Chinese embassy in Bolivia, back in 2009 I think. Kinda surprised you didn't hear about it, it was all over the news. NYT front page. But no, yeah, it turns out that the Jade Emperor or whatever imperial spirit judges the magic on this kind of thing thinks embassies are kinda lame. Saw the embassy trick and just thought it was some real loser shit. Yeah. Didn't work. Seems like it's gotta be the mainland or nothing. Bad luck for that guy though. The embassy guys peeled off his skin.

[thewrldlooksred]

got inspired by a #pedestrian post + have been stressed at crosswalks and the like lately sooo.

✨️ PEDESTRIAN AFFIRMATIONS ✨️

drivers are so mindful and love me for existing on the road ❤️❤️

[thewrldlooksred]

courtesy of the tags, unlocked memory, and some friend suggestions: heres a few more!

[redstonedust]

big fan of when a character is dead and the narrative frames them in a very angelic, soft, gentle manner but then it turns out not only are they still alive (plot twist) but theyre alive in the most gruesome and horrific way. your loving kind mentor who motivates you to fight in their memory came back wrong and theres blood and dirt under their fingernails from clawing they way out of the grave.

[prokopetz]

Historically, one of the most reliable sources of widespread banditry was rulers ramping up military recruitment for major wars, then cutting their soldiers loose afterwards without pay, leaving a bunch of heavily armed men with military experience floating around broke and homeless.

Knowing this, whenever someone jokingly refers to raccoons as "trash bandits", I get a vivid mental image of, like, a raccoon succession crisis leading to a raccoon civil war, the aftermath of which forced the former soldiers of the losing side (who are all raccoons) to take up the life of the raccoon outlaw.

[justsomeguycore]

lesbian scifi is so easy. here’s a woman in cargo pants and a tank top on a spaceship. are you with me

[justsomeguycore]

maybe it’s not even cargo pants. maybe it’s coveralls rolled to + tied around the waist. maybe she even has fuckoff boots

[aroace-ryland-grace]

the sewing machine is like if a horse and an inkjet printer had a child

[gender-trash]

i was going to defend my sewing machine(s) from this accusation and then realized i sounded like a horsegirl telling everyone it's fine that my sweet baby has killed dozens or whatever because really he didn't MEAN it. but my 1966 touch-n-sew has never done anything wrong ever (unlike printers which are born with original sin). yes she does sometimes hesitate to switch between straight and zigzag stitch but that's part of her CHARM she's a FREE SPIRIT