I do not like to write with pencils. I will, when needed. I try to avoid it as much as possible, though. I’ve tried different “models” of mechanical pencils, including those that boasted pen-like casings that coworkers recommended. But none quite worked for me.
Until this week. Or weekend really. Let’s not get pedantic here.
I prefer pens, and a really good, smooth pen? *chef’s kiss* I have horrible handwriting, and I cramp up very easily (fingers, hands, wrist, you name it). But a really good pen can transcend its job as a writing instrument and become the tool that harmonizes your hand with the paper.
My primary pen of choice for over a decade has been the BiC Atlantis. Its price makes it more of an economy class model, but that’s okay because I need them in bulk so I can bring them to work, too. Additionally, my purse, bags, and desk drawers are where pens go to die — or at least hang out in limbo until they’re unearthed on the archaeological expeditions that are decluttering attempts.
Because of how much I prefer pens over pencils, I have always done crossword puzzles in pen. It’s not usually a problem, and I didn’t even think it was that big of deal until others pointed it out to me. I love crosswords. I love pens. It just made sense. (Semi-brag: friends have handed puzzles over to me they get stuck on so I can finish it.) I also have tons of crossword books, and they’re a great stress relief that also wakes your brain up — the good part, not the part that is going Chicken Little in the moment. Most are “easy” NY Times ones, and the one actual Sunday puzzle collection I bought was just too tricky for me to try and figure out. It now remains in my spare room just in case I need to rip it up for cat litter in an emergency.
A friend recently gave me a (very late) Christmas present: an NYT crossword book. Hooray! I kept it at work to do a couple clues between tasks to feed my ADHD and keep me going. However! These are medium-level puzzles. And they mean it! I realized after a few that doing them in pen was probably not the best thing anymore. It was time to admit my puzzle prowess was weakened. It was time to admit that I needed to get a good pencil. You always remember where you were when these kind of life turns happen, and I was at my desk wondering if my friend purposefully got me the harder book to mess with me.
But finding the right pencil for crosswords was…wait for it…the real puzzle to solve.
The search began, and unfortunately Google kept giving me results for pens that write like pencils, and not the other way around. (Okay, okay. We GET it. There are erasable pens. Papermate has been on top of that since I was in school. I’ve also used some that wrote well, but the erasing is really just applying heat through friction. Which means things disappear if your paper gets hot. ANYWAY.)
I just started searching on my next grocery order. BiC had some promising options — smooth and hard-to-break. The store ended up being out of one type, but they did have the .9 (thick) Velocity Max. I tried them, and they weren’t bad. The large eraser is convenient. It both comforts and mocks you: “We know you’re going to make huge mistakes, and we don’t want your arm to get tired trying to remove them. Here’s your big eraser, you big screw up!” They even come with extra lead and erasers. How thoughtful! The problem is the grip: the softer, gel-like part is too high. I did manage to slide it down lower. It looks odd, but it’s more comfortable. The bottom part is just too narrow and has nothing added to it for comfort. Not ideal, but doable. Even if one of the two colors they came in was orange, and we all know that orange is a color that tries too hard.
Luckily I tend to go into hyper obsessive research and testing mode. This usually just wastes my time away, but this time it came in handy! While looking online, I saw an item that I couldn’t help but add to my cart. A Wish List is no place for a pen like this. It was a 4-color BiC pen, with 3 ink colors and 1 option for pencil. It was a sleeker, multi-functional upgrade from those multi-colored pens I adored in childhood: it was the pen version of when the Power Rangers all put their vehicles together and made the big, large thing. Megazord. It was the Megazord. I couldn’t pull it out of my memory, but that’s to be expected from my pencil-for-crossword-needing old brain.
I am happy to report there was a fairy tale ending here. The good, non-messy kind that doesn’t leave a dead witch, giant, or talking wolf in its wake. (I can confirm no fantasy beings were harmed in the testing of these pens.) The grip on the 4-color pen is wide and feels great, much better than the Velocity model. The grip and lead make for a truly smooth writing experience, and I have tested it out on at least 10 crosswords at this point.
And what of the actual pen colors on it? This thing could’ve settled for just being a good pencil, but no. BiC said, “We don’t stop here. We keep going. We make this pen worth every penny.” Which was nice of them because it is not cheap, and it will run you between $5.50 to $7 — more than 1 dollar for each option. (They do throw in extra lead and erasers, just to note.) The width makes for a great writing experience for all colors. I actually used it at work yesterday to color code some notes, and it is definitely going to be in regular rotation for more than just the pencil part.
Very happy I purchased it, and I also bought some new highlighters. But that’s a review for another day.
Crack chicken is very creamy ranch chicken. I always make it in an instant pot. The recipe way below has other things in it. I almost always just put:
Chicken, cream cheese, ranch dressing. A little chicken broth for the chicken to cook in. You can add whatever shredded cheese you have on hand. I think Mexican mix gives it a bit more flavor? You can top it with green onions, or chives and it adds a lot to the flavor. The bacon makes it crisp and a bit salty. Thank you for coming to my cooking blog. Sorry Stevie
Welcome to Cooking with Stevie
Stevie placed the instant pot on the island and plugged it in. She set her ingredients on the counter: Chicken, Chicken broth, a package of dry ranch dressing, a block of cream cheese, shredded Mexican Cheese and a package of bacon.
She tossed the chicken in the instant pot, and poured in 4 oz (1/2c). She measured and everything. She opened the cream cheese and threw it in. She did not bother cutting it up. She poured on top the package of ranch dressing. She closed the lid. The pot hummed on. She set the pressure valve to sealing. She set the instant pot on manual, and clicked the plus until it reached 15 minutes. She pressed start.
While she was waiting, she placed bacon in a baking dish, on top of a cooling wrack. She stuck it in the oven at 200c (400 F). She set the oven timer for 18 minutes. While the instant pot and oven did it's thing, Stevie turned some music on, and got the kitchen clean. When the instant pot chimed, she pressed cancel, and let the steam out. As she waited for the steam to die down, she started coffee and tea.
The bacon was done next, and she set it on the counter to cool. She added extra paper towels to soak up the grease. Once the pressure pin dropped, she opened the instant pot. She moved just the chicken into a bowl. She took two forks, and shredded the chicken in it. She stirred up the cream cheese mix in the instant pot. She added a little more broth, but did not bother to measure. She tossed in the chicken, added the shredded cheese. She mixed until the cheese was melty, and served in a bowl.
Creamy shredded chicken breasts made in the Instant Pot pressure cooker in just 15 minutes! This shredded Instant Pot Crack Chicken is our n
What do you think is an underrated David x Patrick moment?
I sometimes think that the moments that we don’t see but are either inferred or mentioned:
1. Them dressing in matching PJs for Housewarming...yes there is that whole episode but think about one or both of them deciding they were going to wear matching pajamas and your head will explode.
2. The fact that they had talked about their future house multiple times on drives together.
3. There were at least three other monthly anniversary gifts out there.
4. I love that they CHOSE to wear those ridiculous t-shirts in The Bachelor Party...David Rose of season 1 would never.
5. Just little moments we see them going to bed (The Incident) or getting ready in the morning together (The MVP).
Obviously I’m re-watching the show for the ___th time since quarantine started and I’m watching 3x7- General store and I have not seen a lot of love for the shirt/sweater David is wearing when Moira tells him they funded the galleries. What do you know about it?
oh i do love that one! it’s from balmain, and i’ve previously spent some time yelling about it as a contrast to the sweater he wears in the plant
sspaz1000 replied to your post: I feel like I need to binge the entire series of...
If I wasn’t doing a Marvel Movie watch, I’d totally be down for that, haha. Is JAG online somewhere? I
Season 1 is available to stream on Amazon Prime, but the rest of the seasons aren’t. Unless you have CBS All Access, in which case I think all the seasons are available (I had a trial of CBS AA that connected me through Prime)
I figured I'd send this as an ask, because I think you could write a novel or two with this: I mean obviously assuming they all survive this and whatnot, how do you see Callen moving forward? Do you see this as say him building the walls so far back up that he doesn't let anyone in again? Or do you see something else? And lastly, do you think the outcome of the ATF IA thing will relate back to his wall building. How's Arkady going to handle things if Callen's testimony ruins Anna's career.
I’ve been mulling this over for a week and trying to organize my thoughts and make them more concise, but I’ll just start writing and hope that I stop at some point.
(This went long, obviously. Sorry, mobile users!)
1.”How do you see Callen moving forward? Do you see this as say him building the walls so far back up that he doesn't let anyone in again? Or do you see something else?”
I think that really all depends on how things go, exactly, following the finale. There are certain narrative notes/arcs they may want to utilize the accident for, and, depending on which ones they choose, that would determine how everyone does following the incident. If they callback to the fight Hetty and Mosley were having over Callen and his plot with Mosley this season, then he’d probably be at least one of the ones seriously injured. (We’ll call this Scenario 1.)
If they focus on his desperation to keep the team together, then things would probably go differently -- still a few different ways. The only real personal stakes ever for G are his team; they’re his family. It often seems like the job is all he has, but that’s not really it. He’s always up for getting fired, and -- this is where I could go on about his self-destructive and risk-seeking behavior masquerading as performative cockiness -- often threatens to quit. That tells you how low the stakes are when it comes to his job. Someone in danger or his team/family even just potentially being in danger are the only times the stakes are high for him. Again, there are different scenarios to use with this dramatically -- and I’m sure they’ll go with something we didn’t see coming.
Possible Scenario 2A: He’s the first to wake up and seems to be the most “okay.” It looks really bad, and this is his worst nightmare come to life: his team is dead, or so he thinks at first and is in shock. This leaves a very serious impression on him as the season progresses. I’m waiting on a blow up with Sam when they get back if he gets even more injured -- and even he doesn’t. G knows Sam is Sam -- he had to go, it’s who is, and it didn’t pay to argue with him too much, but you know G’s going to beat himself up for letting him go. We could actually see a flashback to the beginning of S5, when G felt the Sidorov/torture stuff was his fault. (He also blamed himself for Kensi’s getting kidnapped in S2.) He’s the one who agreed to help Mosley, and who didn’t want to get anyone else involved, really. He’s the team leader, and he’s going to feel like he let everyone go despite knowing they should have taken more time to get stuff sorted -- even though none of them were going to stay behind, regardless of what orders he gave. None of them saw anything about leaving or not as a choice. Still, we may see that Callen return. That’s a long way to say I see some potential tension, even just temporarily, with Sam -- especially after Michelle’s death -- something I would have liked to have seen explored more as having an impact on characters on not just serving as a plot/catalyst for things with discussions about Michelle not her death’s impact on a relationship and not just passing mentions. I still get frustrated that more people seemed concerned and asking G questions about the whole Anna situation rather than 1. his dad’s being handed over for torture/death and 2. how important Michelle, as a person and honorary family member, were to him.
Still on Scenario 2A, sorry, got sidetracked: The “team appearing dead” or even just one member looking that way plus S5 guilt was relevant to where I was going, I promise. I’ll move on to 2B shortly. Losing them -- any of them -- is his worst fear. The possibility of it looking very real would haunt him and set the stage for a full or even partial return of...Janvier. Even if he doesn’t come back in full, if he just mildly starts screwing with G or hints at being a threat, it could throw him over the edge or send him spiraling into full-on paranoia. Maybe Janvier sends a letter addressed to Grisha sending him condolences on the “loss” of his father and/or asking if he can be his plus one to Kensi and Deeks’s wedding (with the date, once they pick it) since he and Anna seem to be on the outs.
Scenarios 2B & 2C -- not necessarily wholly separate from 2A: G is the driving force, with some help from Kensi, in getting, in getting the team to safety. I was thinking he might serve as a distraction, and I read a fic recently and some other thoughts that suggest I’m not alone in this, as one possible method. Spencer Williams will want answers for his son’s whereabouts when he realizes he’s gone, and I’m sure G can withstand some interrogation with cockiness. Plus, like father, like son. We also know that Spencer’s seen G’s face before when he was undercover. (He’s also seen Kensi’s.) Again, G coming face-to-face with Spencer and covering up for why his son’s missing and continuing to help Mosley would tie back to their arc this season while complementing that of his dad’s. The other way is that G could be the one who recruits Max for help, again, because they did focus on the relationship between those two specifically. I really do think Hidoko is alive, and she’ll help out. There’s something very odd about how she “left.”
Again, whichever direction they go in would help determine, potentially, how Callen comes away from all this. I think he’s been relatively passive with Sam’s distancing himself from everything, which is in character for him. His style of caring isn’t pushy, for lacking of a better word, and it’s probably a combination of how he likes to be treated so he assumes others are the same way (see also: leaving Anna alone following the investigation) and that he grew up with no good modeling of caring/support during his formative years. Even the people who did watch over him out of caring/obligation, as he later found out, did so at a distance. In order to get through someone else’s wall, you have to let yours down, at least a little, as well. There’s a certain level of vulnerability and trust in letting someone see how much you care for them, and that’s why he can build these fake relationships as false personas but not as himself. He often wants to help, he just doesn’t know how. So he uses the only skills/things he does know: smart ass remarks and turning something into a mission/op, which he has excellent strategy skills for.
At Christmas, he commented on how he felt everyone was avoiding him. I think that was more loaded than just a reference to Sam and Finn. (I can only theorize and headcanon, though, to account for the lack of mentions for his bio!fam and Anna.) As Hetty noted last season, his walls were starting to come down, but it seems like he’s now facing walls from other people -- which could cause some regression.
2. And lastly, do you think the outcome of the ATF IA thing will relate back to his wall building. How's Arkady going to handle things if Callen's testimony ruins Anna's career.
See? About 1200 words in, and I’m just getting to this second part. Oops. I’ll answer the end first. I would have preferred Anna’s being Arkady’s niece he was close to for that very reason. I think they’re friends, and it never really boded well that he’d date his friend’s daughter. I don’t think he sees Arkady as a friend, outwardly, but we all know he doth protest too much. Until the retcon in “Rage,” (Rageret? Ragecon?) Arkady really was the longest relationship G ever had. At the same time, I think Arkady’s feelings for G are even stronger than he lets on -- similar to how G is. Arkady’s probably known G for a long time, or even just known of him, and has a more uncle-y affection for him. I could see that he cares about Anna and he cares about G, and they’re two of the most important people in the world to him from a paternalistic standpoint, and he just wants them to be happy. That being said, of course there could be some strain on the relationship.
As with the ATF thing, I touched on that above, a little, I think. I do think if the relationship with Anna ends, that’s 2/2 that didn’t work out well. I could easily see G making jokes about just giving up and joining a monastery. That being said, the whole ATF thing confused me on several fronts. I’m not sure how G could either save or sink Anna’s career. There’s no way to actually lie about a weapon that wasn’t there unless he says he threw the gun away, which ???? Anna also seems to have made peace with things, so I’m sure she gave a statement saying exactly what happened. I get that G wants to help, and isn’t always great at knowing what to do (see above), but I see no way for this to actually be a decision he has to make. There is understandable hesitation as we saw in his testimony, and that’s the drama in it -- he knows what will happen, but does he really have a choice? (If they make him lie, I’ll be pretty frustrated because there’s no logical way, whatsoever, that a lie could save anything. He’s also already given a statement earlier.)
I know others have drawn very clever parallels to Anna/Kensi and careers, but this arc/plot still leaves me confused, if I’m being honest. They’re playing it for drama and relationship strain, but it’s not inherently a situation that brings it. I feel like Anna still could have made the comment about her career not being everything to her, but that it was where she was now -- and that sort of solidifies that she and G take, at the very least, a break because the distance is getting difficult.
She’s a rookie and has to prioritize the job, and maybe she is trying to figure out who she really is -- since she left a steady job and was more freelance, in so many words, for years. She avoided stability, and now she has to figure out where she wants to go. That’s where she is right now, as she’s still young. This would contrast with G, who, as he told Sam, was more than happy with the status quo. He’s not someone who thinks about his future, and never really has. He’s not a big plan kind of guy. Anna hasn’t been a big plan kind of girl, and that’s how they connected, but she’s also never stopped to try and figure out if she will always want to be that person. They could have parted ways for that alone, and it still would have had some effect. You could have had dramatic scenes, such as her being distant because she was busy with her job, and then she finds out that G never told her about the situation with his dad or his sister. She’s already mentioned to Sam how Callen’s walls go up and down, and she has a hard time figuring him out at times. With the job she pulls away, unintentionally, and he doesn’t pull her back when he needs her or reach out. She starts to realize that maybe this is just not the right time for the relationship.
Or, they could have gone some other route. Maybe they will. I just think there was more drama to get out of the situation with his dad and Alex, who, I know had other commitments but could still get a mention, than with this arc. Just my humble opinion.
As this is coming in at about 2,000 words, I think I’ll cut myself off.
