idiosyncreant

Tumblr home of Bethany Powell. Attack poetry and comfort meta.

[idiosyncreant]

hmmmm what if I stopped cutting out my safe foods just because they are not “necessary” and are a little costly??

[feyd-meowtha]

[7fff00]

Borani Banjan (Afghan-style Eggplant in Yogurt)  Recipe

Traditionally in Afghan-style borani banjan, an appetizer or vegetable side, eggplant slices are soaked in salted water for 20 to 30 minutes

made this tonight and it's. extremely good, fyi :)

INGREDIENTS

Yield: 4 servings

1 cup full-fat Greek or Indian yogurt

1 garlic clove, grated

Salt

½ to 1 cup vegetable oil

4 Japanese or Indian eggplants (see Tips), or 1 globe eggplant [what we used], cut into ¼-inch-thick rounds

3 plum tomatoes, chopped

½ teaspoon Kashmiri or other red chile powder (optional) [we just used paprika]

2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds

4 to 6 small mint leaves

PREPARATION

In a bowl, mix the yogurt, garlic, ½ teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons water. Place in the fridge to chill and develop garlicky flavor.

Line a tray or large plate with paper towels. In a large frying pan, heat ⅓ cup oil on high. (The eggplant slices should be submerged about halfway in the oil while frying.) When the oil is heated, about 1 minute, add the eggplant slices in a single layer, and fry 1 to 2 minutes on each side, working in batches to avoid overcrowding and adding oil between batches as necessary. When the eggplant starts to caramelize and turn brown, transfer to the prepared tray or plate. Pat dry with a paper towel or clean kitchen towel to remove any excess oil and to preserve the eggplant’s crisp texture. Season with salt as desired.

To the same pan, add tomatoes, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons water and chile powder, if using. Cook on high until the tomatoes start to break down, about 5 minutes.

To serve, spread the yogurt in a single layer in a large shallow dish. Add the eggplant in a single layer on top, and then scatter the tomato over the eggplant (see Tips). Finish with pomegranate seeds and mint.

TIPS Indian eggplants tend to have thinner skin, are round in shape and are about 2 inches in diameter. These eggplants have a milder flavor and creamier texture than globe eggplants when cooked.

If multiple layers are preferred (the traditional way), use half of the yogurt, eggplant and tomato for the first layer, and create a second layer with the second half of the elements.

[7fff00]

lmao i was like 'have we talked abt this recipe yet?' and. apparently yes. :) however. bears further discussion 🥰

[themakeupbrush]

Yang Huaju at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival

[thoughtfulfuri]

[molotovblogtail]

Hey dont cry. Grab some sticky notes and make yourself a bouquet of flowers.

[schlarklezyaoi]

i’m gonna cry it’s raining right now and i just passed by a family where both parents were without an umbrella but their kid who couldn’t have been older than like 3-4 was proudly holding this GIANT umbrella whose diameter was as tall (if not taller) as the kid. both the parents were getting absolutely drenched but u could tell the kid was just so happy to have an “adult” task and carry the umbrella themselves and i think that sacrifice is what love is all about

[schlarklezyaoi]

hastily-made artist’s recreation in the five minutes it took to get to my stop

[idiosyncreant]

makes me think of this Ada Limón poem I love: The Raincoat

[languid-bones]

I’m BACK to feed you more MB art

[chimaerakitten]

I think one of the things especially well done in The Goblin Emperor is that it’s an in-depth depiction of extremely rigid etiquette around a monarch that isn’t intended to signal that the monarch is an asshole.

Like, ok, a lot of SFF includes characters getting suddenly elevated to a position of power they weren’t socialized for, and every time it happens I want to see how it changes their relationships and how they deal with it when the way people treat them shifts.

And I don’t mean in like a hackneyed kid’s-cartoon “the family got rich suddenly and now the kid’s an asshole” way, I mean… well, you’re now Everyone’s Boss, or you’re the guy who just became vitally important to the rebellion because you can blow up planets with your mind. Maybe your closest friends would still be casual with you but a lot of other people won’t be, and while you can encourage people to not get overly bootlicky to you, the one thing you can’t do is demand they be casual since that is just as much an abuse of power as demanding groveling.

Which is why it’s so annoying when a story chickens out and goes with either “this character is an asshole so they demand formality and therefore groveling” or “this character is nice so they don’t demand anything and everyone treats them the same. Don’t worry about it.”

Like, formality around people in positions of power didn’t develop solely because in ye olden days we had the divine right of kings. That’s part of it sure, but formality is also protective, and I don’t mean for the monarch. If there are rules about how you interact with someone below you in a hierarchy, those rules protect both of you. It makes it easier to not accidentally fuck up an interaction in a way that gets someone stabbed by a bodyguard, or referred to HR.

Having formal etiquette established doesn’t necessarily make the people involved assholes, and continuing with a casual atmosphere doesn’t necessarily make the protagonist cool and nice. All of which means people in this situation should struggle with it. Being a cool chill person isn’t a get-out-of-hierarchy-based-social-complications free card.

[pwlanier]

A superb Jun purple-splashed blue-glazed tripod censer, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127)

Courtesy Alain Truong

[kirikiri1]

I made a risograph zine about grief, being in between, and what's left behind. Each one comes with a little pouch of poppy seeds to plant in memory of someone.

All the plants in When You Go are associated with the underworld in Greek mythology.

[odyver]

alright I've got to do some quick math to explain attitudes towards AI to my boss.

we're looking to create an AI policy, and when we were talking about this, my boss (older millennial) was genuinely shocked to hear that younger people do not (seem) to view AI positively (a la the recent commencement speakers being booed)

please rb for larger sample size!

Question 1/3

What is your age, and do you feel AI is a net positive or net negative in our lives today?

under 18, AI is a net positive

under 18, AI is a net negative

18-29, AI is a net positive

18-29, AI is a net negative

30-45, AI is a net positive

30-45, AI is a net negative

46-60, AI is a net positive

46-60, AI is a net negative

over 60, AI is a net postive

over 60, AI is a net negative

Remaining time: 3 days 7 hours

[odyver]

Question 2/3

How often do you visit or interact with museums/archives (whether in person or online)?

Frequently (multiple times per month)

Often (multiple times per year)

Occasionally (a couple times per year)

Rarely (once every couple of years)

Never :(

Remaining time: 3 days 7 hours

[odyver]

Question 3/3

If you saw a museum was using AI in exhibits, marketing, research, etc., would you be more or less inclined to visit that museum?

under 18, more inclined

under 18, less inclined

18-29, more inclined

18-29, less inclined

30-45, more inclined

30-45, less inclined

46-60, more inclined

46-60, less inclined

over 60, more inclined

over 60, less inclined

Remaining time: 3 days 7 hours

Thank you for helping with this data collection. Please rb for as big a sample as possible!

🫶

[damndorothea]

i saw this somewhere else but reply / tag what you did today so everyone can see that we all did something different today

[idiosyncreant]

Claude Lemieux’s family donating his brain to Boston University CTE Center

"No conclusions should be drawn at this time regarding any diagnosis," the family said in a statement. Lemieux died this week at age 60.

This is a kind of off-brand thing to post in the context of my usual Tumblr, but it's on a topic I think about a lot.

When I saw the title of this article specifically, I felt relief.

For those who don't follow hockey, Claude Lemieux was a notable retired hockey player who died at 60 this past week. My mind went immediately to suicide reading an earlier article, then to CTE, even before later articles made it fairly reasonable to assume.

One of the podcasts I follow (Agent Provocateur) is loud about how the NHL denies that hockey has any significant connection to CTE, even though it's patently absurd to say so. Ken Dryden was passionate about this cause, based on what he saw with other players.

The realities of CTE are so dire, and we need more people to understand how serious it is, in more sports. Maybe someday it'll even get to cheerleading (as seen in Leverage & article rec by John Rodgers: prepare to have an angry day)

I'm glad that Chris Johnson is part of this even if just by reporting on what can be known now.

[fourdiagnosesinatrenchcoat]

This book is a brutal narrative about the death of a longtime enforcer. I have had a hard time watching NHL games since I read it but I don't think there's any chance of changing the culture of fighting in the league until Don Cherry dies

[themboots]

[velvetcloak]

Ottoman cape and vest, 1890s. Whitaker Auctions.

[orteil42]

given the current climate this pride especially i feel i must mention that i love my trans friends, i stand with trans people in the fight against transphobic legislation and those who would enforce it, and this blog is not a good place for you to be if you do not vibe with that

[noah-wyles]

it's pride month

everyone get more understanding of the asexual spectrum right nOW