muhammara is this delicious dip with something like the consistency of hummus,
but instead of being made with chickpeas & garlic,
it’s made with ground walnuts, red peppers, breadcrumbs & pomegranate molasses
which seems like it shouldn’t work but is fantastic???
it’s wonderfully rich & savory & just the right level of spicy for starting out a meal. or, you know, to eat as your entire meal. whichever.
the lebanese-syrian restaurant near me basically bullies you into ordering it if you’ve never had it before, and after i tried it i was like: “actually, please cancel my entree, i just want several enormous bowls of this glorious substance”
here’s an #aesthetic-but-accurate photo from the first page of google image search results to tempt you further, please try this delicious thing if it is within your power
I think this makes perfect! I'm curious in what way this is surprising to you
Well, first of all the entire idea of balanced meals weirds me out. I eat in small-but-frequent quantities (you can see what a normal day looks like for me here), so to me the natural time unit across which one should balance one's nutrient intake is the *day*. (Maybe even 2 - 3 days, since on any given day I often run out of appetite before covering all the categories I'd intended to.) I actually feel thrown off planning-wise when I *do* eat a balanced meal, because what am I supposed to eat to counterbalance it later? It counts towards a little bit of everything, which means it doesn't *really* count towards *anything*.
(In fact, the entire idea of *meals* kind of weirds me out. My foods are generally much more atomised, and it never ceases to amaze me that there are so many people who go through meal levels of complicatedness and preparation almost *every time they eat*. I do that kind of shit once a day at *most*, and left to my own devices I make relatively simple meals at that.)
While my diet is quite rigid and has had some thought put into it, it’s not exactly *planned* in the same sense that yours seems to be. I don't track precise nutrient intakes: I just try to cover a bunch of different kinds of food over the course of a time unit. The only thing I specifically seek out is fibre, as my body has repeatedly complained that [a version of my diet in which I do not actively seek out fibre] is not fibrous enough. I've also been eating fewer and less frequent high-fat foods, again because of negative physical responses rather than an abstract intellectual belief that they were bad for me.
“I agree with @morlock-holmes tbh. in fact you know what let’s go a...”
requiring a button up seems to me to be strictly less of an imposition than requiring a button up + jacket + matched trousers
@rustingbridges The trouble is... okay, I ranted a bunch about the practical side of this under the cut, but it’s a long long rant.
WAY TOO LONG, DR: polos and khakis were created as sportswear for goddamn rich people. they were DESIGNED to be shapeless and easy to move in, conspicuously consumed (”dash it all, I got grass stains on my khakis! time to get new ones”), and not particularly appealing (because you’re not gonna be wearing them on a date unless it’s a tennis date).
everything about them is a bad idea. everything about them is heinous. making them the preferred Business Casual Uniform is just adding insult to injury at this point.
Strictly speaking, yes, requiring a button-up is less of an imposition. But in practice, a lot of the time, what’s required isn’t just “can you wear a shirt that buttons down with jeans and sneakers”, it’s “can you wear a polo shirt with khakis or chinos”. and that is, in terms of upkeep/maintenance/general brainspace spent on clothing, actually a lot more work.
first off: upkeep. i own a couple nice suits and a whole bunch of blazers, mostly for Gender Reasons. got them from the thrift store, but they’ve lasted me well, even second-hand.
there’s a reason that anything but the cheapest, shittiest polyester suits are Dry Clean Only, and it’s because you don’t actually have to clean them all that often.
if you get two reasonably nice suits in a dark colour, provided that you wear an undershirt and aren’t prone to spilling things on yourself... you can get away with dry-cleaning each one every two months or so, even if you’re wearing one every day.
assuming you’re a man working a white-collar job, you need maybe four suits total - a super nice, barely-worn “weddings and funerals” suit, a “sunday best/Important Meetings” suit, and two “wear to work every day” suits. you dry-clean your suits every 2-3 months - which is, honestly? about as expensive as 2-3 months’ laundry detergent. you buy a new suit every couple years, when one of them starts to get manky. you keep maybe 10-12 button-downs in a colour to match your suits, 10-12 undershirts, and 10-12 ties, and you’re golden.
if you go with polos and khakis... you need a lot more of them, you need to clean them a lot more often, and they’re honestly harder to maintain. you still need that 10-12 shirts and undershirts (unless you wear your polo right against your skin, and that has its own drawbacks) but now you need 10-12 pairs of pants, too. those pants stain much more easily, hide stains much less easily, and are difficult to get stains out of- probably even more difficult than a suit, tbh, because you’re sending those to get dry cleaned. it costs a lot more to send 10-12 polos and 10-12 pairs of chinos to be dry-cleaned, so you’ll probably have to take care of them yourself at home.
and khakis are light coloured. you look like a red-hot mess unless you’re spending a lot of time making sure there’s not a fleck of dust on the damn things, and good luck if you have an affectionate cat.
there’s the added “bonus” that a nice suit is honestly? more breathable than a crappy polo? good fabric is good fabric, and polos are almost always made out of fucking polyester or something equally awful. if you’re wearing a decent button-down and undershirt, you’ll be more comfortable in a suit, even if the weather’s hot. you’ll have less Sweat Issues to deal with, and even if you do have nasty sweat issues, you’re way less likely to stain anything that’s showing.
so like. provided you have the money to send a suit for drycleaning every couple months- and if you’re working the kind of job where you need a suit, you probably do- it is genuinely, legitimately easier to take care of a nice suit than it is to take care of a bunch of crappy polos.
in addition you honestly have to think more about what you’re wearing if you’re wearing polos/button-downs and khakis because the ~fAsHiOn eXpEcTaTiOnS~ around them are different.
if you are wearing a suit, people know there is a cost factor involved. people know you are going to be wearing the same two suits every day and that is socially acceptable. if you go with basic colours for your suits and button-downs and don’t try anything fancy- which, as a work uniform, you probably shouldn’t be doing anyway unless you work for Vogue- you’re honestly not going to have to think about what you’re wearing in any meaningful way, once you’ve bought your first suits. you replace your white button-down with another white button-down, get some neutral-coloured ties every so often, and you’re golden.
if you’re wearing a polo and khakis, on the other hand, the expectation is that you have to wear something slightly different every day. if you buy 10 of the exact same polo and khakis, people will make fun of you. you’re The Guy Who Wears The Same Thing Every Day. so you need to at least pick out a different coloured polo. even if you buy 10 of the same pair of slacks and put in the absolute minimum effort-- you’ve still got to think about what matches what; when you’re replacing them you’ve got to think about what you already have and whether the New Polo will make your Old Pants look puke-green; you’ve got to weigh the benefits of wearing company-provided swag vs. looking like you don’t own clothes of your own.
finally- and this is personal taste talking, I did an Informal Survey of people who are attracted to men and opinions are mixed- I think polos are poorly fitting, unattractive on just about everyone, and intentionally designed as such.
look at this picture, and at this:
if you are looking for a generic Sexy-To-Androphiles Man you will probably pick a Marvel Chris. they have the advantage of having personal stylists, wardrobe consultants, and tailors who fit their clothes to them better than your “average” person.
do you see how baggy and shapeless the polo is on him. do you see how much it disguises his features, how much it hangs off him like a sack? do you see how it looks too tight on him at the chest and shoulders and too loose at the stomach? do you see how it kinda pools at his waist and messes with his silhouette? do you see how the suit emphasizes and works with his body, in a way the polo just doesn’t? how it brings out his shoulders and chest and hips, and emphasizes what makes him attractive rather than disguising it?
if a Marvel Chris cannot pull off a polo and make it look good, maybe we should make them an eccentricity rather than a rule, no?
rustingbridges replied to your post “You know, I enjoyed the Good Place finale a lot, but it’s kind of...”
how was the show overall. I heard good things about the early eps and so so things about the middle eps
It’s good! I do think the earlier parts are generally stronger (the first two seasons are noticeably more tightly plotted and focused than the last two), but it remains funny and entertaining throughout. It’s also quite intelligent for a network television comedy, although the qualifier of “for a network television comedy” is important and the show is sometimes (as the post you replied to talks about) frustratingly unwilling to dig into things as deeply as one wishes it would. Definitely worth a watch, IMO.
My best friend and I have been playing co-op games with each other since the days of N64. Thus, I have built up quite the list of recommendations I can share. The list favors local co-op, although most games these days that support local also support online modes. Also I have never owned a microsoft console in my life, so that’s a bit of a blind spot.
I’m ignoring pretty much the entire survival/crafting genre, since while those games can be played in a cooperative fashion, it’s not quite the same. And also there’s like a billion of them
Vaguely in approximate order of quality/strength of recommendation
Console/Local Co-op
Child of Light
An absolutely beautiful game with light RPG elements and a neat hybrid (real time & turn based) combat system. Story and writing are lovely, but the music and art style really sell it. Co-op is asymmetric, but nonetheless player two almost always has something to do, and having two players lets you do some really cool tricks in combat.
Towerfall - Dark World
The original Towerfall had 4 player PvP and 2 player PvE, and it was good enough to make me buy a full set of four controllers (and I was in college, so that was a lot of money). The (up to) 4 player co-op mode in the Dark World expansion is a substantial improvement on the base game’s co-op mode, and much richer in content. Excellent party game in either mode.
Tales of Berseria (and every Tales series game probably)
1-4 player co-op JRPG with real-time combat, interesting but not over complicated progression, awesome writing and neat level design. Plus, great art style and fantastic character design/writing.
Overcooked (2)
Work together to manage a kitchen and deliver orders! Almost as hectic as it is in real life, kitchen fires and copious swearing included. My favorite part of playing is when you fail miserably at a new level, then strategize with the group a bit and absolutely crush it on the second try. The sequel improves on everything that made the first one good without trying to stretch too far in the wrong directions.
Super Motherload
An arcade-like 2d game for 1-4 players, the simple premise (dig around and gather ores/gems for money) belies a great progression system, fun story, and quite a bit of replay value. Combos, unique characters, and an unusual crafting system add more twists. Equally easy to play for 20 minutes or 3 hours
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
This game is as unrepentantly adorable as the name implies. Play as tiny characters who have to actually run around in their (very simple) spaceship to pilot/shoot/shield/etc their way through various procedural space levels. And the bosses are constellations! Not to mention the upgrade system will have you playing longer just to find out what happens when you combine a metal and laser gem on your shield system
Trine 2
This recommendation actually comes second hand, but if you enjoy physics-based puzzle solving this is an excellent candidate
Unravel 2
More co-op platforming/puzzle solving! Only spent a few hours on this one so far, but it has some beautiful levels and hints of a strange story
PC/Online Co-op
Borderlands 2 (and the rest of the series)
Crazy FPS/RPG loot-fest with a fun story and excellent writing. You can probably pick up the entire series for a dime at the next Steam sale - do so asap. Also available on console, and supports split screen local co-op
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Literally pretty much just computerized D&D. Deep stories, tons of sidequests, and a lot of flexibility in both play styles and problem solving. And there’s a dungeon master mode!
Portal 2
If you don’t know about this already… are you okay? Do you need help getting home? Is there someone we can call for you?
Fortnite
As angry as I am about it, the co-op PvE Save the World mode is still really awesome and definitely worth a lok
Other/Special
Arizona Sunshine
Co-op shooter in VR! Already one of the best VR games out there, why not add a friend!
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
Easily the most unique take on co-op gaming out there. One player sees the bomb (either VR or just blocking line of sight to a screen), everyone else get a real printed physical manual and has to relay instructions based on descriptions from the defuser. Very fun, and an excellent team-building exercise to boot.
Jet Force Gemini
Possibly the first co-op game I ever played. Player two just controls a tiny floating robot and helps shoot enemies. I loved it
Ratchet: Deadlocked
The Ratchet & Clank series was already a joyous chaotic explosion-fest, and adding co-op just sweetened the deal. My friend and I actually 100%’d the game. I still have the disk just in case a PS2 ever falls in my lap again.
Survival Crafting
Okay fine I’ll list them here anyways.
Raft
Work together to build your raft in a Windwaker-style flooded world, and don’t get eaten by the shark following you. Very nice to have someone steer (or stop!) the raft while you go diving
Don’t Starve Together
An almost roguelike take on the survival/crafting genre. Having multiple people does really help with not dying
Starbound
2D minecraft, basically. But in space, and with guns. Actually not much like minecraft at all, but still, fun
Space Engineers
Mine asteroids and build functioning custom spaceships!
This is a callout post for tumblr user @rustingbridges
rustingbridges said: my friends generally coordinate through skype or something (but then, we collectively play many different games together)
He is a fake gamer boy, as evinced that the fact that he still uses Skype! It's almost as bad as the league client! I can't believe that there are computer people who use it nowadays for anything but keeping in touch with elderly relatives.
