#life flails

[grumpyoldsnake]

Getting real frustrated with the catch twenty-two of wanting to ask for clarification any time I’m given instructions that could arguably have ambiguity in them even when the intended meaning seems clear to me, because I’ve been burned too many times before with that shit, vs. the fact that doing that always seems to drive other folk completely up the wall and they either think I’m being confrontational/nitpicky or else just get tired of me and stop answering said questions >_>;

[justashadetalkative]

Status

Clemcy musings aside: hello! I am still alive, but also still ignoring the dash for the most part.

The shape of my life currently is NOT lending itself well to fitting rp back in on just, like. A literal scheduling front??

Turns out I have to be WAY stricter with my screen time and evening routine than I ever used to be, if I want to get my sleep schedule somewhere reasonable.

And from there, it’s looking like I’m gonna either have to get creative with offline, hand-written drafting, or else straight up cancel some of my other existing obligations or social connections, if I want to make actual time anywhere in my week for rp writing.

Anyway. I'm kind of working on exploring those options, but I’ll be real with y’all: I'm prioritizing fortifying my mental health and support network first. So. It's a distant backburner project, right now.

In other words, blog remains on hiatus. 😅

But on the bright side: I am feeling better than I was! I’ve been successfully getting out of my own head a bit and, as said, working to build a broader support network (and to actually engage with the network I already have). It’s helping. It’s just also slow going and time-consuming, hah.

I hope you’ve all been well!

[gossyreblogs]

I’ve finally started rewatching Star Trek DS9 with the vague intentions of maybe actually watching and finishing the last season this time.

I’m about halfway through the first season, and I had honestly forgotten just how prominent of a character Quark is from the get-go. He gets a heck of a lot of screen time!

Quite the journey for the Ferengi from their intro in TNG, hah.

Speaking of, I’m making a parallel attempt to properly watch TNG for the first time. The contrast is stark!

The first time I watched DS9, I had very little else from the franchise with which to compare. And I think I might have been coming fresh from Farscape, of all things, which — well. Was Farscape.

So to me, the DS9 characters were just the characters.

But now that I’ve watched TOS and more of TNG, it certainly stands out more that half the cast of DS9 turns to blackmail, bribery, and yelling as very early steps in their problem solving, to say nothing of their other personal flaws.

What I’m saying is that I can see why it may have been jarring for long-term Star Trek fans. 😂

[justassorted]

I think I’ve finally nailed down a design for Ithadel’s feet that I can draw semi-reliably and am somewhat happy with!

The solution was toe beans 😂

[grumpyoldsnake]

Okay so I haven't been talking about it much because I don't tend to lifeblog much on tumblr in general anymore

BUT

THE BOOK

I am 90% done with the first draft of my book

Holy fucking shit y'all I have never made this much progress on such a large project in my life. I really genuinely think I'm gonna finish this thing!

(I am looking forward to switching from drafting over into editing so, so much sdlfkdshg)

[grumpyoldsnake]

I’m writing an aroace character with a different experience than my own and I’m starting to realize that I have less context for it than I’d realized. 😅 (My neurodivergence-spawned social isolation kind of speed-ran me right past any *aroace*-spec-centered feelings of social tension while growing up ffff)

So! Has anyone had the experience of feeling compelled to perform certain relationship styles, and if so would you be open to talking about that experience a bit? Could be anything from just feeling like you needed to pretend to have crushes all the way to actually entering relationships that weren’t right for you.

I’m mostly curious about what motivated those choices; a sense of obligation? Curiosity? Misunderstanding? A fear of missing out? A fear of discovery?

[grumpyoldsnake]

Made green lentil and coconut milk soup today and have been reminded once again that it is Fucking Delicious, so. Have a recipe!

Green Lentil Soup with Coconut Milk

Modified from the recipe at https://www.abeautifulplate.com/green-lentil-soup-with-coconut-milk-indian-spices. (Modifications include adding ginger, replacing the turmeric with saffron, making this a one pot recipe with a more ADHD-friendly process, and the optional inclusion of veggies.)

Ingredients

5 tbsp butter or 4 tbsp ghee

1 large onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced (or 1 tsp garlic powder)

½ tsp ground ginger (or ½ tbsp minced fresh ginger)

2 tsp dry thyme (or 1 tbsp fresh chopped thyme)

½ tsp ground cardamom

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

Pinch of ground nutmeg

Fresh black pepper to taste

Salt to taste

1 sachet saffron threads (or 1 and ½ tsp. ground turmeric)

7 cups chicken or vegetable broth

2 cups green lentils, picked over and rinsed

1 can full-fat coconut milk

Optional: Increase all ground spices by ~1/4 tsp and add 4 medium red or golden potatoes, diced, and/or 1 lb diced carrots.

Instructions

Measure and combine the dry spices (excluding saffron) into a cup, and chop and set aside fresh spices.

Heat the ghee (or butter) in a large soup pot. Add the diced onion (and potatoes with ~½ tsp salt and black pepper, if including), and saute over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent and soft.

Add the combined spice mixture and fresh spices, and saute over reduced heat until fragrant, ~ 2 minutes. Be careful not to burn the spices.

Add the stock and the lentils (and carrots, if including). Bring to a boil. Crush saffron and add to pot. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for ~30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.

Add the coconut milk and heat soup over medium heat for ~15 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Notes

If you can’t afford saffron and, like me, aren’t a huge fan of the flavor of turmeric, I think the next closest flavor substitute would be chamomile! If you have access to fresh chamomile, you could probably add a small handful of the flowers directly; I would add them at the same time as the coconut milk. If you’re using chamomile tea, I would brew three or four teabags in a cup or two of the broth before adding the broth. That said, I have not yet tried this substitute myself.

[grumpyoldsnake]

Hhhblagh. On the one hand issues are FINALLY maybe getting addressed at work. On the other hand that, itself, is creating a lot of extra stressful conversations and work.