The Epsilon Common Room

A Tumblr without the baggage of teenaged me.

[inked-in-earlgrey]

Still deciding on a better pfp and header.

Credits

Background image: Blach Orchid from Subtlepatterns Sidebar Image: A cup of tea or coffee stock vector

Tags

Curated Reblogs

the cursed cookbook concoctions (not necessarily edible) that came from shitposts.

the edible cookbook actually good and useful recipes that came from mostly comedic tumblr posts. has a masterpost.

the fanart museum various fanworks that wouldn't look out of place if displayed in a classy historical museum or exhibit. will be tagged by the fandom, specific character/s, or ship/s that inspire similarly themed works.

eldritch posting a very specific vibe/aesthetic of mostly text posts.

to the vault posts i reblogged here specifically so i could have a non-deletable copy i can link to my personal vault.

inspo art or posts with imagery or themes that i want to use in my own art

[swagvo1d]

lighthouse

[houndmother]

deriding things as performative is anti third space

[houndmother]

im sitting on a patio at my favorite cafe rn and im hand stitching them hem of a dress im working on. and i can see why someone would say im being performative by working on something like this in a public space. but frankly theres no element of that. i just want to work somewhere that isnt my apartment. i want to be in public, i wanna chat with strangers, i wanna see the world. it’s nice to hang out somewhere that isnt my home!

[houndmother]

what i mean is when you say people are being performative you discourage them from doing shit they love in public. and thats no way to foster the world we want to see.

[dilfhershellayton]

there's nothing more performative than only doing Normal Things in public

[nobrashfestivity]

William Hawkins

[libraford]

An incomplete list of

Potions of Hydration!

Earlier this week I mentioned putting pickle juice in my water to replenish electrolytes. I work outside in a very hot and humid area, so it was very necessary.

Since then, a LOT of people have chimed in with their favorite hot weather drinks. I want to try... all of them. I've only had a few. Many of them are similar, but I still think its cool how many variations there are for 'its fucking hot out here and I don't want to die.'

So here is the incomplete list.

ORS (oral rehydration solution) (link has several recipes)

Shrub (sharaab)

Agua de pepino

Switchel

Posca

Ayran

Straight up drinking pickle juice (small doses)

Agua fresca

Sekanjabin

Pickle lemonade

Lebanese lemonade

Salted watermelon

Jamaica/hibiscus tea

Lebu pani

Ayuvedic gatorade

Soda chanh muôi

Suero

Aam paan

Sharbat

-

These ones were given to me without names, and were just lists of ingredients, to taste:

- water and umezu

- diluted apple juice with lemon and salt

-watermelon, lime juice, mint

- sparkling water, mint leaves, lemon or lime juice, cucumber

-coconut water, lime juice, salt

-salt, lemon juice, water

-orange juice, salt, sugar, water, lime or lemon juice

-elderflower syrup and lime juice in water.

There are probably more! Hydrate or die straight!

[oooeygooeygoodness]

Nutella Fudge

Ingredients: ½ cup butter ½ whole milk 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 1 cup Nutella 2 1/2 cups – 2 3/4 cups confectioner’s sugar

Directions: Grease an 8×8 pan. Place the confectioner’s sugar in a mixing bowl and set aside.

Melt butter over medium low heat. Add the milk and light brown sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and then boil for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and quickly add the vanilla and Nutella. Stir until the Nutella is melted.

Carefully pour the hot Nutella mixture over the confectioner’s sugar and mix quickly until completely combined. Once everything comes together, it will set pretty fast. Pour/scoop the fudge into your greased 8×8 pan. Press the fudge into the pan, if needed. Chill for 2 hours.

*One of my personal favorites. The fudge does turn out a bit gooey in consistancy (which is how I like mine) but if you prefer it a little more hard and solid try adding a little bit more powdered sugar.

Source: Mine!!

[turtlesandfrogs]

So I was scrolling and saw this image in an article about the European heat wave,

And was like, uh, are you missing something there, buddy? Like all that red in northern Africa? Because that's a lot of red.

And I was going to give them the benefit of doubt, since I don't know much about the climate in Northern Africa, aside from Morroco and Egypt, which seem like really hot places, so you know, maybe it's normal there?

But nope, that's not the case:

‘Hot Continent’ Perception Downplays Africa's Heat Wave Dangers

Africa is struggling with heat waves and many countries on the continent lack the resources rich economies have to deal with rising temperat

Some selections from the article:

"The region has been experiencing some of the most intense heat waves in recent years, but in many cases they’ve been under-reported due to misconceptions about Africans’ ability to withstand them.

“Africa is seen as a sunny and hot continent,” said Amadou Thierno Gaye, a research scientist and professor at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. “People think we are used to heat, but we are having high temperatures for a longer duration. Nobody is used to this.”

"The Sahel, for instance, has been heating at a faster pace than the global average despite being hot already. Burkina Faso and Mali, both in West Africa’s Sahel, are among countries that are set to become almost uninhabitable by 2080, if the world continues on its current trajectory, a UK university study found. Its people are especially vulnerable due to shrinking resources, such as water, and poor amenities, and a dearth of trees and parks means there are few options for places to cool off."

[wiisagi-maiingan]

Peeps in extreme temperatures, plain water is NOT the only way to stay hydrated and can in fact be more dangerous if you're sweating a lot and not putting more electrolytes back into your body.

There are a ton of quick and cheap electrolyte drink recipes that you can find online. Tea, coffee, cocount water, milk, milk substitutes, juice, etc are all hydrating despite extremely persistent myths. Many fruits and veggies like cucumbers, watermelon, strawberries, bell peppers, etc have high water content and are a great way to hydrate while also getting vital nutrients. Popsicles are also a good way to stay cool and hydrated and you can buy them or make your own with whatever ingredients you want; there are recipes online, including ones for electrolyte popsicles, but you can also just do basic ones with your choice of fruit juice and whatever you want to add, like chunks of fresh or frozen fruit.

Anyone who is telling you that you can ONLY drink plain water to stay hydrated is incredibly misinformed, even if they have experience with high temperatures.

[zephyrine-gale]

happy witch hat atelier day!

[zoinyoi]

teachers

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

"Just because I'm right, doesn't mean I'm being helpful" is a vastly underrated thought process that I strongly encourage others to get comfortable with

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

This!!! So when I was growing up, I attended religious classes at a local queer friendly spiritual community that a lot of queer jews in the region had shifted to. The auntie who ran our classes used to say to us "it is important to learn the difference between knowing and understanding and to be capable of both" and what she meant was essentially that you can KNOW facts and still not UNDERSTAND how to make effective use of them in a given situation. She often used "right but not helpful" as shorthand for this.

When we talked scriptures and religious texts (and we did this for more than just Torah, because the community itself was multi-demoninational even if it was formed largely by queer jewish spiritual refugees from the local orthodox community) she wanted us to KNOW what the texts said, and to be able to cite information and text in our discussions. But she also wanted us to practice understanding different ways of interpreting, using, or conveying that information. Essentially, her argument was "being right under your own framework is less skillful than being able to convey yourself accurately and pursuasively UNDER SOMEONE ELSE'S and if you want to connect with people who do not share your framework, you cannot just keep insisting you are right over and over and citing the text. You need to be able to orient yourself in why the other person thinks THEY are right and explore the space between you until you can find consensus or impasse.

On the one hand, she believed this to be an important social skill. On the other hand, as a Jewish woman trying to come to terms with her own alienation from her community, she believed it was spiritually important as a skill too. You cannot understand G-d, she said, you can only SEEK understanding of G-d, and part of seeking it is seeking understanding of "G-d's creations" so to speak. The interpretations and meaning-making of our fellow humans IS part of trying to understand G-d, because humans aren't separate from the divinity and sacred infrastructure of the world, at least as she taught us. So if someone is "acting on faith" you cannot convince them with facts, you can ONLY find consensus with them through mutual understanding, and the concept of "being right" means that consensus becomes an inherent failure state rather than a goal or a success state.

If you go into a conversation with someone seeking to understand them, the only person who loses is a person who comes away deciding that being right about themselves was more important than seeking g-d through the work of community. And in her mind, this was a form of self-denial or even self- harm in a spiritual capacity. "If you need supremacy, even in your umderstanding, over others, than you are not embracing the role of humanity in sharing and co-creating the existence of and effects of the divine.

I think there is a pretty Jewish approach in this argument, but I also think it is an approach bred for mitigating conflict that is not occurring on your terms, and what a self-securing skill to develop, whether in a spiritual capacity or outside of one

[yukisubmarino]

One of the striking things about Ikoku Nikki is how fundamentally different it is from other single-parent shows like Usagi Drop or Kakushigoto. Those shows played into the (very real) pro-childbearing propaganda, showing the immediate rewards of child-rearing while also glossing over the drawbacks. Ikoku Nikki flips that trend, at least four episodes in.

What’s become clear is that Makio and Asa are not a good pair. Makio gets easily overstimulated and Asa needs regular attention. Asa very clearly needs therapy but her support system is failing her. And while Makio probably doesn’t want a romantic partner right now, having a second income and pair of hands would come in really handy right now.

Basically, Makio is just not a good caregiver at this point in the story. And that makes sense! She’s never raised a child, much less a teenage one, and it appears like something she never had any intention of doing in the first place. Why would she be good at this??

But her understanding that she needs to keep trying makes her endearing. Asa doesn’t motivate her guardian instincts because she’s cute or talented or extraordinary in any way, but because she’s a child who needs a parent, and dammit, that’s reason enough. It’s admirable that a show like this is basically saying, “this is often thankless work that you may hate, but do it anyway because it’s the right thing” and not some weird right-wing, breeder bullshit. Being a parent is hard, but it’s the only way these kids survive.

Good show. Sometimes a hard show, but well worth the time.

[l0stfantasy]

photography by: nonalimmen

[archivlibrarianist]

From "More Than Just Recipes," at the University of Michigan Library blog:

"But in substance [A Domestic Cook-Book by Malinda Russell] was unique: then and now, the only known copy of the earliest cookbook by an African-American, published in 1866 in Paw Paw, Michigan. 

"In addition to recipes and remedies, the book features an introduction by its author, Malinda Russell. This brief account is an intriguing and moving glimpse into the extraordinary life of this second-generation freewoman born a generation before the end of slavery."

A Domestic Cook-Book : Containing a Careful Selection of Useful Receipts for the Kitchen by Malinda Russell, is available in full text at HathiTrust.

[ladylingua]

the new york times has such a great series of elevated butter noodles, if you ever want a super fast easy dinner that still feels grown up and you can emulsify pasta water + butter together basically the sky is your limit

ya got

gochujang butter noodles

peanut butter noodles

chili crisp fettuccine alfredo

miso butter noodles

any one of these + a bag of salad or whatever vegetable side you find easiest/cheapest, and you've got yourself a full meal that tastes far above the effort you put in.

[helilart]

S I N N E R S [link]

[gobusto]

saw someone mix up "abysmal" and "abyssal" today, so as a reminder:

her skills are abysmal = she is unskilled

her skills are abyssal = her abilities draw upon the forbidden power of the dark void