Digital Manticore

A Week in the Life: September 13, 2019

Posted on September 13, 2019 by Lindsey

This week was a busy one. We are in the “flow” portion of “ebb and flow” at work right now and a lot of proposals have come in. Yesterday, I spent six straight hours editing and afterwards I wanted to collapse and never get up again. It’s been a week busy with some good things too, though. I’ve been reading a lot and I made some good progress on my knitting. This weekend, my mom is coming to visit me and I’m taking a couple extra days off work, so I have that going for me too.

Consuming

Here are some things I read and bought this week. Spoiler: it’s all books.

Reading

the book "braiding sweetgrass" — Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

I’m not quite done yet with Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, but I am already profoundly affected by it. This is an essay collection by indigenous ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer that blends, as the title suggests, her scientific background and indigenous philosophy and perspective in writing about nature and the world. Kimmerer speaks a lot in this books about plants and their importance in indigenous thinking. Plants are there to provide us with everything we need, but we, in turn have to respect plants and take care of them.

This book has made me feel like crying at times almost as if it’s making me miss something I never had. As regular readers know, I’ve been feeling a lot of climate anxiety lately. The way Kimmerer thinks about nature offers something of an antidote to our current ecological woes. She articulates the concept of the Honorable Harvest, which calls for not taking more than we need from the world, not taking the first thing we see, leaving resources for others (including other animals), and respectfully using what we take. It’s something that resonated with me a lot as I read the book. It’s impossible to completely opt out of the capitalist system we’re inhabiting (at least, as an individual), but I want to incorporate some of this approach into my life. I highly recommend reading this book if you have been worried about the environment. It makes me feel like there’s something I can do.

Rampant Consumerism

I try to get a lot of my books from the library so I don’t spend all the money I earn on books (-insert rueful laughter-), but I also make a point of pre-ordering books from authors I like or for stories that look exciting because first day sales really determine a book’s success. On Tuesday, my pre-orders of Margret Atwood’s new book, The Testaments, and of The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow dropped onto my Kobo. In paper book activities, I bought Pantaleón y las visitadoras by Mario Vargas Llosa on the recommendation of my Spanish teacher because she’s helping me prepare for my upcoming Peru trip. I also bought The Cook’s Herb Garden in hopes of stepping up my herb game.

Making Things and Doing Stuff

Work cut into my making things and doing stuff time this week (and my energy), but I was able to rally and still do quite a bit.

Kitchen Witchery

On Saturday, my cookbook club met! We made food from Signs and Seasons: An Astrology Cookbook. Although I’m not a great fan of astrology, it was a fun theme and everyone made great food! I choose two of the Taurus-themed recipes: brisket and mashed Lima beans. I was excited about the brisket because I’d never made it before. I cheated a little bit though and didn’t exactly follow the recipe as written in part because I wanted to make it in the slow cooker. The brisket came out really tasty and so did the Lima beans, although I still prefer mashed potatoes as an accompaniment to meat, but I wouldn’t turn down beans.

Outside of cookbook club, I made a corn chowder (which I think turned out a little too thin, but there are worse things) and biscuits for dinner last night. I also made another batch of zucchini bread because my mom requested it. I used up the last of the large zucchini that I got from Taco. True derby wifehood is sharing your garden produce.

Brisket time
Corn chowder and biscuits
Kirk said I should take a photo of the zucchini so I did
Last zucchini bread of the season, probably

Knitting and Crafts

squares of fabric of different cat designs preppared for quilting — ready to quilt!

I finally got started on the blanket I bought fabric for a couple months ago. This week, I ironed it all and cut it into squares so I can get ready to sew it. Next up is the fun part: deciding on the design and how the pieces are going to fit together.

I was going to post a picture of my knitting until I realized that the pictures I took were blurry and terrible. Regardless, I finished knitting the hood part of my hooded caplet. It looks handsome and I’m really pleased with how the cable turned out. It’s amazing to think that I can make something so nice.

Derby Life

It’s been a good week for derby and (hopefully) it’s still getting better. On Sunday I coached my peers for the first time and it was great. I love thinking through skills and figuring out what small pieces we need to work on to build up to the larger whole. We worked on improving our lateral blocking in pairs and our jammers practiced patience. I think the best part was running some jams and pausing mid-action to think about the next move. Everyone knew what they wanted to do, they just needed to practice thinking faster. On Wednesday, I coached again but for our new skaters. They have been learning how to hit people so obviously that was a fun session for me to coach. I let them all hit me for practice, which seemed to make it less scary for them. They didn’t have to worry about their own instability plus a teammate’s.

Tomorrow is our second home team game of the season. Team Blue Steel is taking on Team Yellow. We lost our first home team game, but I’m hoping we’ll win this one! It has been much less stressful to make a roster because more of our blue skaters are available, so that has been a relief. We also have a visiting announcer who I’m excited about. I’m looking forward to a good game!

Finally, some cats for your nerves. This week, we have cats in the sun.

Viola, hanging out
Huey in the afternoon sun

weekly update

A Week in the Life: September 6, 2019

Posted on September 6, 2019 by Lindsey

I’m glad it’s September because that means summer is almost over. It has still been a bit warm this week, but I sense the days getting shorter and it’s cooling a little more at night. It’s not much, but I’ll take it. The end of August invigorates me—I think I said as much last week. I’m looking forward to colder weather.

Seasons aside, I started playing World of Warcraft in the last week or so. I never played it when it was in its heyday, but Kirk was excited for the release of the “classic” edition of the game so I, being an absolute romantic, agreed to give it a try so we could play together. My character is a night elf druid who I have named Goatmancer. This makes me chuckle whenever I’m being assigned quests and the NPCs (non-player characters) give me serious instructions and say “we need your assistance, Goatmancer.” I’m 13 levels in and it’s still funny. My character also has the ability to turn into a bear. So I guess what I’m saying is that I’m entertained by this game, despite my initial suspicions.

Consuming

Here are some things I read or bought this week.

Reading

I’m currently in the middle of Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America by Kathleen Belew and House of Trump, House of Putin: The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russian Mafia by Craig Unger. Both are interesting but fairly heavy. I’m going to have to mix in a novel here soon so I don’t combust with rage.

Here are some of the articles I read this week:

Relax, Ladies. Don’t be so uptight. You know you want it. via Medium. This piece deals with norms, how they change, and the horrible bullshit many of us were brought up to see as normal and fine. “Look, I get it. I was 20 years old in 1990. After my boyfriend punched me in the eye, he cried too. I held him until he felt better. I told friends I’d stupidly walked into the corner of an open cabinet. Because, like the Washington Post in 1990, I understood it was my job to help men feel better about themselves. “
New York Times Columnists vs. the Haters via Slate. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at this but the author chronicles all the recent New York Times opinion columns that are basically a response to someone being mean to the author on twitter, which … seems deeply unnecessary but that’s 2019 for you.
Against Cheerfulness via Aeon. The author asserts that American cheerfulness is bordering on psychosis and I must agree. “… but forcing yourself to smile when you don’t feel like it amounts to lying to the people around you. ‘Fake it till you make it’ has brutal consequences when applied to the emotions. When conceived as the attempt to trick others into thinking that you feel cheery, cheerfulness is far from a virtue. It’s a vice. It falls on the deficiency end of the spectrum of trust. Too much trust is called naïveté, and is a vice of excess. But cheerfulness is just as bad. It confesses: I don’t trust you with my darkest feelings; I don’t think you are responsible enough to handle my inner life. Forced cheerfulness is a denial of life.”

Rampant Consumerism

One thing I like spending money on is the artists and creators I support on Patreon. I follow a number of authors, journalists, and podcasts. This is one way I can contribute directly to things I like and value. Plus I think it helps keep our media landscape from getting too homogenized (I hope).

I think I have talked about our pending shower remodel in a previous post. This week we finally picked a contractor and we went out to their showroom to choose tile and sort out the details, plus make a deposit on the work. I am looking forward to showering in the master bathroom again, although they’re not scheduled to begin work for almost a month. Getting a contractor for a remodel like this feels like one of the most adult homeownership tasks we’ve done yet. The upside is we’ll have a nice shower and hopefully we’ll never need to do this again.

Making Things and Doing Stuff

a bike basket carrying two books and my purse — library bike ride

I know I say this all the time, but I always feel like I do so little (-anxiety intensifies-) but the business of being alive takes up a lot of time. I spent a lot of time knitting and watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer this week, which is, frankly, a very good use of my time. I also did a bit of around-town bike riding, including a ride to the library today, which is my favorite Friday custom.

Language Learning

August has ended which means I start a new page in my notebook. I didn’t do a whole lot but I did start focusing more on watching things and getting input in subjects that interest me. I’m watching a knitting podcast in Spanish and a a cooking show in Icelandic. I’m hoping that getting into language in things that interest me will help build some more groundwork for understanding other things, particularly in Icelandic.

August Spanish notebook
August Icelandic notebook

Kitchen Witchery

It was a little warm this week but I’m out here pretending it’s fall (yes, I know it’s still summer). I had leftover chicken and homemade broth from earlier in the week so I decided the right thing to do was make a chicken pot pie. It’s not warm weather food, but it was a goodchoice anyway. The recipe I like comes from The Harvest Baker. I also made a loaf of bread today (recipe from the BBC, although it’s a plaited loaf and I’m too lazy to do all that) that’s destined to become garlic bread to accompany spaghetti tonight. Last weekend, I picked the pepporchinis from our garden and bottled them up to be pickled. I’ve never pickled anything before—largely because I don’t like pickles—but Kirk loves them so I thought I’d give it a try. Plus it’s another handy skill for the coming collapse of civilization. (lol … but really). No word yet on how they came out. The pickling takes a week minimum.

ugly delicious chicken pot pie
first attempt at pickling
ugly delicious bread

Knitting

Last week I started knitting a cool shawl but got frustrated at the level of attention it required. I switched to knitting this hooded caplet, which I am very excited about. This is my first time knitting cables. I was shocked to find that it’s so easy because it’s one of the handsomest knitting techniques, in my opinion. I’m looking forward to having something fun and foresty to wear once things cool down. Probably after this I’m going to start knitting some holiday gifts so knitting updates may slow down.

cable knitting!
hooded caplet in progress

Finally, here’s some Huey cat appreciation for your nerves.

window cat
hello darkness my old friend
Time for Huey and only Huey

weekly update

A Week in the Life: August 30, 2019

Posted on August 30, 2019 by Lindsey

I’m always pleased when August is finally at an end. I know September is still summer for the most part, but it’s the emotional start of fall (although for some I suppose pumpkin spice latte season is the true harbinger of fall). I hate being hot and I love being cozy and making foods so summer is not my favorite, especially here in adulthood when “summer” and “vacation” no longer have anything to do with each other. Alas.

Consuming

Here are some things I read, listened to, or bought this week.

Reading

I’m in the middle of a few books right now, so I’m going to take another week of sharing articles I read.

The Misogyny of Climate Deniers from The New Republic. Another article about the weirdness of caring about the environment being coded “feminine” (p.s. please abolish gender roles), but it adds an analysis of the misogyny that women standing up for environmental causes experience.
The Case for Climate Rage from Popula. I love this essay. This is such a good, strong entry into the corpus of feelings on climate change. You should definitely read this.
Amazon’s Ring is a Perfect Storm of Privacy Threats from the EFF. A discussion of these Ring doorbell cameras and how Amazon collaborates with police departments (including Elk Grove’s, it seems) to provide data collected from Ring.
After Abortion Ban Attempt in Alabama, a Flood of Confusion and Phone Calls from PBS Frontline. In short, no one knows what’s happening with women’s health care in Alabama right now. The law banning abortions isn’t even in effect but it’s already impacting women because so many people are confused.
Unfulfilled at the Amazon Tour from The Outline. Vicariously experience the existential horror of an Amazon shipping facility.

Listening

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I love the Gaslit Nation podcast. It’s the clearest discussion of current events at the moment. This summer, they have hosted a bunch of interviews with journalists and other experts and it’s been fascinating. It’s also really filled my “to be read” list. Last night, I checked out House of Trump, House of Putin from the library after hearing the Craig Unger interview.

Rampant Consumerism

We had a roller derby game in Rohnert Park last weekend, so Kirk and I decided to have a look around Sebastapol beforehand because if we’re going to drive somewhere, we might as well do something other than see the inside of a roller rink. We bought lunch at a cute tea house that unfortunately made Kirk sick to his stomach. We did not realize that the entire menu was vegan (and the menu was not very clear on this subject). So, while I had some cute food, it was not worth it. In fact the whole day was full of difficult food. I was starving after eating miniature tea foods. I later bought a burrito at some bougie Mexican place and it was the worst burrito I’ve ever had in my life. I don’t know what was in it, but it was so acidic that it was inedible.

The good thing about this misadventure was I did get to by some books at a local bookshop, Copperfield’s Books.

bookstore finds
Cute but regrettably vegan food

Making Things and Doing Stuff

The week was full of roller derby, knitting, and making food, as well as a smattering of work and language studying. Perhaps as an anti-doing stuff entry, Kirk and I decided to stop going to Body Tribe for our workouts. We realized we’re tired of driving all the way downtown three times a week to go to a gym, although it’s quite a good gym. We’re thinking about setting up a garage gym, but it won’t happen for a couple of months. So this week I’m going to be figuring out how to get my sweet gainz in the meantime. If anyone has a lead on cheap gym equipment, please pass it along.

Derby Life

a glittler-painted skate wheel on a wood block — Best Blocker Award

As mentioned above, we had a game last weekend. Our B team played Resurrection Roller Derby. The other team was a little rowdy and didn’t totally understand the rules, which probably worked to their advantage since we only had four referees (out of the typical six). I always find it hard to play my best game in these kind of circumstances. It’s difficult not to play worse in response to sloppy play, but I think we did alright. That said, the opposing team did vote me as “best blocker” for the night. I’m pretty sure I only got it because they remembered being hit by me. I’m not convinced I was actually the best blocker. The more I get these awards, the less I think I deserve them. That’s anxiety for you.

Knitting

I finished knitting my socks! They are delightful and cozy. I can’t wait for the weather to cool down so I can wear them. I’m already on to my next project, but I think it’s going to be a little bit tricky and will take a whole before I have any photos worth showing.

newly knit and blocked socks
fresh socks

Kitchen Witchery

I tried some new things and revisited things I already know I are good. I made granola in the crockpot with a recipe from Adventures in Slow Cooking. It’s actually quite good and pretty simple to make. I will probably make it again, but perhaps with some variations on the spices. I am not sure the cardamom the recipe called for tastes great with the yogurt I typically eat.

My derby wife Taco gave me some zucchini from her garden so obviously I had to put it to good use. I made shells with bacon, zucchini, and onions for dinner and it was a success. Simple and not too heat-generating for a warm evening. Yesterday I made (and ate a large amount of) zucchini bread using the recipe from The Bread Bible. I had a huge amount of zucchini so I doubled the recipe and stashed some of the bread in the freezer for later.

cooling my granola
granola + yogurt = breakfast
pasta with zucchini, bacon, and onion
zucchini bread season

Here’s a cat picture for your nerves. It’s Viola again this week because Huey has spent the morning vomiting and I must say it’s not cute.

Viola the cat, sitting on a pillow, reaching for a ball of yarn — Viola trying to ruin my life

weekly update

A Week in the Life: August 23, 2019

Posted on August 23, 2019 by Lindsey

It’s been a week. I’m exhausted today. My week was full of roller derby, actual work, and a hearty dose of climate anxiety despite trying to avoid the news.

Consuming

Here are some things I read, watched, or bought this week.

Reading

This week I read Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg. It was a really interesting novel and very different from anything I’ve read lately. I have a lot of thoughts about it but I’m not quite ready to distill them into a paragraph. Suffice to say, I recommend it.

Some articles I read and appreciated this week:

Uber is a slow-motion tragedy: Uber (and Lyft) are exploiting workers and making traffic worse. Need I say more?
Fat is not the problem—Fat stigma is: This feels like something I know intellectually but it’s always nice to hear other people affirming that being fat doesn’t make me a villain.
How to eat less plastic: This stressed me the fuck out, not going to lie. Read at your own risk.
No more green tea, vaping or drinks ending in ‘-ccino,’ Mormon Church tells members: To end on a lighter note, this made me laugh. I’ve never had a single regret over leaving Mormonism.

Watching

In search of something to knit by, I started re-watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I wanted something that would amuse me and not require too much investment. Also, Giles is my style icon.

screenshot of a tweet about buffy the vampire slayer — Seriously though

Rampant Consumerism

After last year’s fires and the horrible air quality we had in Sacramento, I’d been mulling over buying some respirator masks in anticipation of the fire season. It feels kind of crazy and like a “prepper” thing to do but I do honestly think these kinds of things are the new normal. This week I ordered masks for us so we’d be ready for whatever comes next. The next day I saw news of a fire in Shasta and that the Amazon rain forest is on fire, so maybe I’m not too crazy after all.

Making Things and Doing Stuff

my bike with a new, light green basket — new basket who dis

Now that I’ve sat down to write, I realize I did quite a lot this week. I never feel like I do anything (lol, anxiety) so it’s good to reflect and realize that I’m doing plenty.

One of the highlights of the week was getting my bike back from the bike shop. I took it in because I had a flat tire and it needed a tune up anyway. I spotted a festive bike basket and the spirit moved me to upgrade. So this week I’ve been enjoying bike errands (despite the heat).

Spanish

I can’t say whether it’s my summer doldrums or something else, but I’ve been thinking about how to invigorate my Spanish studies because I am flagging. My usual routine involves lots of flashcards, reading and identifying words to save in my flashcards, weekly chats with my Spanish teacher, and maybe some TV or other things when I find time. This routine is not doing it for me lately. I was reflecting on why I want to keep learning Spanish, especially since I’m at a point where I can more than get by, so what is the point of endless studying? The answer is, in part, there is no point to endless studying. I want to be fluent in Spanish so I can communicate and appreciate everything that’s in Spanish. With that in mind, I realized I need to let go a little of the “studying” part of my studies and just enjoy what I do know. I want to read more in Spanish but the whole process of reading for me normally includes underlining words I don’t know, adding them to my flashcards, and learning them. I am still going to do that with harder books or things I really want to focus on, but I’m also going to have something I read just to read to take the pressure off myself and enjoy it. I love to read but I’m not finding the pleasure in reading in Spanish (partly because it’s still kind of hard), so I hope this will help make it fun for me.

I wrote the previous paragraph as kind of a note to self earlier this week. I’ve since added a bunch of Spanish sites to my feeds and started watching a knitting podcast called Desmadejada. So far, so fun.

Derby Life

It has been a derby-filled week here. On Saturday, we played our first home team game of the season. Although Team Blue Steel lost, we had a lot of fun and it was quite a good game, all things considered. We had a number of skaters playing their first game, and I was glad to see that they had fun. Helping new skaters keeps me from getting too jaded by derby drama.

I also made my debut coaching our derby 101/201 class, what would have been called “fresh meat” in times past. It was fun to plan out a practice and then teach it. I always forget that I actually like teaching, I just hate children (RIP teaching career, 2011–2013). The skaters had some requests for things to learn, so I let that guide me instead of doggedly adhering to my plans and I think that worked really well. Might as well seize that enthusiasm when you have it. Plus now we have a bunch of newbies who can’t wait to jump the apex.

At last night’s practice, three people showed up wearing my face. It’s surreal that people were willing to pay money for these and then actually wear them. I also think it’s delightful that Amandaconda fashioned hers into a crop top. #fashion.

photo of me with three people wearing shrits with my picture — Fan Club because Stone rocks

Knitting

one and a half hand-knit socks — Socks in progress

I had hoped to finish knitting my socks this week, but I didn’t quite make it. I blame having to do work. However, I got through the heel turn and the gusset so the rest should go pretty fast.

I’m excited to start on some new knitting projects. I mentioned last week that I had a pattern picked out for the yarn I dyed. I also looked up some youtube videos for how to knit cables and discovered that it’s shockingly simple. I can’t wait to get some handsome cabled garments into my life.

Kitchen Witchery

I went on a bit of a baking frenzy last weekend. Maybe it’s an attempt to avoid the news, maybe I’m just ready for fall. After making the sweet potato biscuits last Friday, I went on to make chocolate bread (from The Bread Bible) and bacon, cheddar, and corn muffins (from The Harvest Baker). Both were delicious, although the corn muffins were definitely much better fresh out of the oven than as a leftover. I also got to enjoy some time out on the back patio after we swept up all the pine needles last weekend. We have three huge trees so if we don’t keep at it, nature reclaims the yard before long.

chocolate bread
backyard paradise

Finally, here is a cat photo for your nerves. Huey and Viola are surprisingly close to each other. By their standards, they’re practically cuddling.

two cats lying on the floor about a foot apart — afternoon cat truce

weekly update

A Week in the Life: August 16, 2019

Posted on August 16, 2019 by Lindsey

It’s been incredibly hot this week. The kind of heat that promotes nothing but lethargy and a need for ice cream sandwiches. Yesterday we hit 107 Fahrenheit (a word that I will never learn to spell correctly) and today it’s projected to be 105. At the time of this writing, it’s about quarter to 10 in the morning and I’m currently baking biscuits because I know I won’t be willing to bake later when it’s hot. Reading this back it looks melodramatic, but the heat just shuts me down. What can I say.

Consuming

Here are some things I read, listened to, or bought this week.

Reading

I read a couple of novels this week. It’s been too hot for the gym or roller derby so I’ve been parked in front of the fan with books or knitting for the last few days. I finished one of the Powell’s Indiespensable books that’s been languishing on my shelf for a few months: Late in the Day by Tessa Hadley. I read the whole thing but didn’t enjoy it all that much. It was well written, the characters were complex people, but I guess I’m just bored of stories about straight people having affairs with each other. Why is that interesting or new? I don’t know. But, I tried something new so good for me. Most of the Indiespensible picks are really good but this one didn’t resonate with me.

cover of the book "Witchmark," shown on kobo e-reader — Witchmark by C. L. Polk

The book I did enjoy this week was Witchmark by C. L. Polk. It’s a speculative fiction/fantasy/steampunk-ish tale of sticking it to the man and trying to find your own way in a society that has a certain idea of what you should be doing with your life. Also: gay witches. Need I say more? I was super invested in this story. I was also disappointed to learn that the sequel won’t be published until February. So rude.

I also came across this article about a fashion line designed to frustrate license plate-based surveillance. I don’t have a lot to say about it other than I think it’s really cool and innovative. I hate that we’re living in what is becoming a surveillance state.

Rampant Consumerism

I ordered some fabric this week because I had a Spoonflower gift card and was hit with inspiration. I decided I want to make a quilt out of cat fabrics. I want something that’s going to make me happy when I look at it (file under: coping strategies for bullshit times), so that’s what I’m doing. I also ordered a new hoodie from TomboyX because they finally got theirs back in stock and I will need a new one once it cools down again. I guess there’s something about the hot weather that makes me dream of being cold again.

Making Things and Doing Stuff

It feels like I haven’t done or made anything this week, but I know that’s not exactly true. I definitely haven’t been studying my languages at the level I want to, but with Spanish in particular, I’ve been feeling a bit undirected. I’m at the point where my progress with the language is going to come from getting interested in native materials. I guess I need to find some new media to keep my attention. Or perhaps it’s only a matter of habits and discipline.

Kitchen Witchery

I haven’t cooked a whole lot this week, but this morning I did make some delicious sweet potato biscuits using the recipe from The Bread Bible. They are amazing. I want to eat them all immediately. The recipe was quite different from other biscuits I’d made—it called for yeast and egg yolks, among other unconventional biscuit ingredients—but I can’t argue with the results! I think I will make these at Thanksgiving this year (plus whenever I feel like eating biscuits).

sweet potato biscuits
sweet potato biscuit on a spooky plate

Knitting

My #WarmLadySummer presses on with knitting. I finished a sock and started it’s partner this week. I really love making socks. I also found the perfect pattern for some yarn I’ve been wanting to use. I took a yarn dyeing workshop last fall and have some forest-colored yarn that I want to make into a leafy shawl. I’m looking forward to knitting up this forestgreen pattern once my socks are done.

a freshly knit sock
on to sock two

Derby Life

We’ve got our first home team game of the season tomorrow! My team (Blue Steel) will be facing off against the white team. We won the home team championship last year but I’m not sure if we’ll be able to hold onto that trophy. It has been pretty stressful preparing for this game. I’m the team captain and have had a hard time getting enough people willing and available to play on my roster. We’re going to have a lot of newer skaters on our team tomorrow, which is exciting but I’m not sure our teams have ended up being evenly matched. I guess we’ll see how it goes!

Finally, here are some photos of Viola for your nerves.

Viola, being adorable
Viola the fluff beast

weekly update

A Week in the Life: August 9, 2019

Posted on August 9, 2019 by Lindsey

This week was hard. Last weekend’s double mass shooting had me upset, especially given the white supremacist attitudes of the El Paso shooter (I honestly didn’t have the will to read up on the Ohio shooting). I was talking to a teammate last weekend and she told me that she suggested to her mom that they not speak Spanish in public, just in case. That honestly broke my heart. Feeling like you can’t speak your native language without putting yourself at risk for violence is so upsetting to me, both as a human being and as someone who loves languages. I just feel so bad for my friends—and others but if I’m being honest my friends are more real to me than people I don’t know—and I wish I could do more. On facebook I put out an offer of general aid to anyone who wants or needs it. It’s hard not to feel useless in these bullshit times.

Tips from the APA on surviving climate anxiety

The other thing causing me anxiety is global warming. The news about the melting ice in Greenland has been alarming. One article I read said that experts didn’t expect this level of warming until around the year 2070. I have generalized anxiety disorder. The thing about anxiety is that it makes you feel a lot of stress and emotions about things that are unlikely to be a problem, or at least being that much of a problem. This climate anxiety though … it IS a real problem. It’s not just my dysfunctional brain whispering unsavory nothings in my ear. Global warming is fundamentally changing our planet and probably going to change how we live. I was searching for “climate anxiety” to link something relevant and discovered that the American Psychological Association put out a 70-page report in 2017 on Mental Health and Our Changing Climate. I thought the suggestions (pictured) were interesting and they’re sort of things I’ve already been prioritizing, especially maintaining practices that provide meaning and promoting community connections. I’m glad to see I’m not alone in feeling climate anxiety. I’m going to have to be proactive in dealing with it.

Consuming

Here are some things I read, listened to, or bought this week.

Reading

I read a lot of interesting articles this week.

A glacier is dead. A monument will tell visitors whose fault it was via Washington Post. On the subject of climate change, this article discusses an Icelandic glacier that has melted out of existence. They have put up a plaque at the site of the glacier to commemorate it.
The Decline of Yelling via The New Yorker. I thought this was interesting because my dad is very much a shouter. I’ve written in the past that I thought yelling louder was the way to win an argument for way too long. The article discusses that younger generations see yelling as “a mortifying and old-fashioned display of toxic masculinity.” I couldn’t agree more.
This Bread Was Made Using 4,500-Year-Old Egyptian Yeast via Smithsonian Magazine. I started following this tale on twitter, where I found it at the intersection of two things I love: baking and ancient Egypt (fun fact: when I started college, I had intended to go into Egyptology). The loaf is part of a science experiment and its a trial of culturing and using ancient yeast. I’m fascinated.
Is It Possible to Stop a Mass Shooting Before It Happens? via Cosmopolitan. This article is taking on the question on all of our minds: how (or can) we stop mass shootings? The article profiles a woman who infiltrates groups online and keeps tabs on men who seem likely to commit a mass shooting. She says she feels bad when she misses one. I feel bad that this one woman feels the need to bear the guilt of every mass shooting. There are so many other ways we could stop this. And yet.

Watching

I’m currently watching (and listening to) roller derby! Sacramento Roller Derby is at the North American West Cup in Orem, Utah this weekend, so obviously I’m watching. I’m also invested in my friends on Team Announcer and I’m enjoying listening to the broadcast. I’ll be shouting my opinions into the void all weekend on twitter with #NAWestCup. I’m feeling only the mildest FOMO about not applying to announce. I’m not sure I would have the emotional strength to visit Utah, plus I know I’m saving my vacation time for a good cause.

Rampant Consumerism

I bought a new cookbook this week, ordered from semi-local bookseller, Bookshop Santa Cruz. It’s called The Modern Cook’s Year and it features plant-based recipes organized by season. I have been working on cooking and eating more vegetables and trying to somewhat reduce the amount of meat I eat (challenging because my tastes are finicky and my body seems to hate a lot of things). So I’m hoping to find some good inspiration here.

Making Things and Doing Stuff

Making things and doing stuff is what’s keeping me grounded in these bullshit times. Although I feel like I did nothing all week. I had to do a lot of work this week (ugh, paying bills and saving for retirement!) and it kept me from some of the things I’d like to do, like study my languages. I also really wanted to ride my bike to the library yesterday, but I discovered one of my tires is totally flat. Patriarchy strikes again.

Kitchen Witchery

I didn’t get too wild with cooking this week. Although I did make some pancakes last weekend, which is always enjoyable. Last night I tried a recipe for a grilled corn and gnocchi dish from Simply Recipes. It was good but I think it could be better. It needs a note of acidity and maybe some red pepper flakes. I’m hoping to try something new in the kitchen this weekend, especially since I have no obligations for once.

Weekend breakfast
Corn and gnocchi plus cornmeal chicken

screenshot of the Lost It app congratulating me on a 100-day streak — 100 days of calorie tracking

Related to kitchen things, I wanted to note that I have now tracked my calories for over 100 days, according to my app. I don’t write about weight and its gain or loss much because it feels boring, for one. I also think that it’s the least important aspect of who I am and want to promote being comfortable with my body as it is. However, I have been tracking my calories and trying to lose some weight for health and athletic performance reasons. I like the app I’ve been using—Lose It—a lot more than other apps I’ve tried. It feels easier to use and less judgmental. I’ve decided that, once I’m done losing weight (whatever that may mean), I am going to treat myself to getting a custom suit. It’s something I’ve wanted for a long time and it’s something I am using to help me stay focused on this task. Normally I would say that, if you want something, you should do it, don’t wait for some imaginary time when you might be a different size. So I feel a little conflicted about setting up this kind of reward for myself, but I think it’s the right thing to do for me right now, so I’m doing it. On a side note, I don’t really want to talk about weight loss so that’s probably all I’m going to say about it for a while.

Derby Life

This week I made my debut as a derby coach. I decided I want to start coaching our newbie skaters so I am taking that on and stepping down from my job as a WFTDA league representative, in the interest of not doing too much (lol). It was a lot of fun coaching with one of my teammates this week. I’m definitely looking forward to doing more. I really like teaching when people actually want to learn.

Finally, here’s a cat photo for your nerves. Yes, Kirk is feeding Huey ice cream.

weekly update

A Week in the Life: August 2, 2019

Posted on August 2, 2019 by Lindsey

The last couple of weeks have been giving off one of those “if it’s not one thing, it’s another” feelings. We bought the new car last month. Now we have to get our shower repaired. It’s been leaking periodically since we moved in but we’ve come to a point where the grout is cracked and some of the tiles are starting to bulge, so that is not great. Much like getting a new car, it’s a little fun to pick out designs and make our shower just how we want it, but it’s not fun to spend even more money. 2019 is proving to be an expensive year. I’ve been emailing contractors and having people come to my house to make estimates. I guess this is what people mean when they talk about the “joys” of homeownership. What I’m trying to say is: I’ve been a little stressed.

Consuming

Here are some things I read, listened to, or bought this week.

Reading

Photo of the book cover on my e-reader. "How to do nothing: resisting the attention economy" by Jenny Odell — How to Do Nothing

I finished Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy this week. I encountered a few negative reviews of this book, but I really liked it. Maybe it comes off as too academic or not focused enough on providing instructions for how to do nothing. But the point of the book is you have to discover your own “nothing” outside of social media and our attention-stealing machines. This book resonated with me and I felt like I was truly in the discourse with the author because I’ve read so many of the books she cited. It was neat to see someone refracting their experience through all these works and how she arrived at her specific way of thinking. The book takes the stance that we can resist the attention economy by creating context and noticing the things in the world around us, which Odell does through learning to identify and connect with the flora and fauna around her. It’s a little hard to sum up this book and my thoughts about it, but I definitely recommend reading it. If you want to pair it with another work, I recommend Anti-Social Media for the full “I’m tired of the modern internet” experience.

Listening

I could omit this section because I haven’t listened to much new or interesting lately. I’ve been enjoying the silence, if you will, since coming back from Rollercon. My neighborhood is very quiet and it’s been nice to sit with that.

Rampant Consumerism

Rampant consumerism or maybe anti-consumerism this week? I finally decided to cancel my Netflix streaming account. I’ve been threatening it for months, but I finally did it. I’ve been frustrated by the lack of things that interest me. I end up browsing forever and watching nothing, which is not the point of Netflix at all. Some months ago I signed up for a one-disc-at-a-time DVD plan again to get access to things I actually want to watch. After cancelling the streaming, I increased that to two. I think this will help me be more deliberate about my time and watch things I actually want to watch, instead of watching things just because they’re on Netflix.

Making Things and Doing Stuff

This week I got back into my groove post-Rollercon. It took me an entire week of doing almost nothing to feel fully human again.

Kitchen Witchery

I’ve had fun trying new things this week. I’ve been interested in cool foods for the hot weather and I’ve felt a little more adventurous about vegetables and meatless meals so we’re getting a bit of that. I made a really nice salad of quinoa, lima beans, green beans, and zucchini this week (not pictured), but was reminded that quinoa makes me sick to my stomach now. Not just uncomfortable, but full on roiling. I felt gross almost all night and I’m never eating quinoa again. Fortunately, I was able to put the rest of the beans to good use though and made a lima bean parmigiana from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I also learned the art of pita bread last week (from The Bread Bible). The pitas were delicious and Kirk, who is not a bread lover like I am, liked them and said they were like what you’d get in a restaurant.

Last weekend our cookbook club met! We cooked from The Oh She Glows Cookbook, which I honestly expected not to like—not because it’s vegan but because the recipes didn’t seem especially appealing. I was proved very wrong though. I made a lentil-walnut loaf, which is the kind of thing I’d been wanting to try. It turned out quite tasty. For a dessert, I made “yolos,” which I was skeptical about since the author positioned them as a knock-off of Rolos, yet they contain no caramel. The yolos are a date and peanut butter mixture covered in chocolate and they were surprisingly delicious. I’m not sure if this book is going to enter my regular rotation, but I’m definitely keeping the yolos recipe.

Lima Bean Parmigiana
Pita bread success
Homemade “yolos”
Cookbook club: part of this complete dinner

Knitting

I’m in the middle of knitting a sock and I wanted to share it. Turning the heel is the most magical part of sock knitting. How many grandmothers sacrificed to bring this wisdom down through the ages? This is sock one of two, so I’m not even halfway done, but I’m enjoying it. Socks might be my favorite thing to knit.

a half-knitted sock in purple and green variegated yarn — Sock, post-heel turn

Language Learning

Things went well with Icelandic this month, but not so well with Spanish. This month I wanted to focus on getting language input so I started watching an Icelandic cooking show. Although I only watched a few episodes, it was more than before, so I’ll count that as a success. Spanish sort of got derailed. I think I put in too much time to catching up on Icelandic and then, with my Rollercon vacation I didn’t do much else. Alas. One day I may learn balance.

Icelandic notebook: July
Spanish notebook: July

Finally, here’s a Huey cat for your nerves.

Huey in command.
Huey in repose. Husband for scale.

weekly update

A Week in the Life: Rollercon 2019 Edition

Posted on July 26, 2019 by Lindsey

This year’s Rollercon ran from July 17 to 21. It’s now July 26. I’ve been hibernating all week trying to reclaim some energy in the wake of it all. Rollercon is amazing, but it’s certainly not restful. This was my third Rollercon and it was a frenzy of activity. Of course I always want to do everything because there’s just so much to do. I didn’t do everything, but I did a hell of a lot—I even wrote it all down and actually took some photos this year.

The first year I went I thought this will probably be fun but too overwhelming. I assumed I wouldn’t want to come every year because it’s a lot of ruckus. I’ve really surprised myself by going three consecutive years. It is a lot to handle, but the joy of so many people working to make something great is too wonderful to pass up. It’s even better when you can be one of those people trying to make things great. So, here are some great things I did at Rollercon.

Games

The games are one of the best things about Rollercon because you get a lot of silliness but also a lot of cool match-ups where groups can celebrate their identity, like with Team Indigenous v. Jewish Roller Derby (the first ever borderless derby game!) or Bitch Please v. Side Eye. For me, the best game was one I organized: Pool Partiers v. Lazy River Riders. The point of the game was for everyone to play in a pool floatie. It’s the most fun I’ve ever had playing roller derby and I think everyone who played agreed. I also got to join in on the #derbytwitter game, which was was a physically challenging game but also so much fun because I got to play with all my internet friends.

I had a couple of firsts playing games, like in BDSM v. furies. I didn’t want to buy any BDSM gear for 30 minutes of roller derby, so I skated in just shorts and a sports bra, which is something I’ve never done before and honestly never expected to do. In fact, I’d never even worn a crop top until about a day before said game. That was a personal best for body positivity. In a personal worst, I got expelled from a game for the first time. I was knocked out of play and accidentally hit a referee. The head official determined it was avoidable contact and expelled me from the game. It was very disappointing both for letting my team down and because I really tried not to touch the ref. I hope I never get expelled from a game again! It was an added insult that it was during the Lumpy Space Princess game, and I had a great outfit (recycled from last year’s Reidell party costume, naturally).

Classes

I appreciate the opportunity to learn from people who don’t know me and who have different perspectives on the game. It’s nice to get feedback from someone who hasn’t seen me skate from my baby derby years on up because they don’t have any preconceptions about me. That’s not to criticize my coaches, but sometimes fresh eyes see new things. I took several interesting classes this year. The most fun were Rock You Like a Hurricane with Allie Gator and Fast Feet with Yeti or Not. Both of them had interesting content and just seemed like really nice coaches who want the best for you. I also appreciated Stef Mainey’s How to Control People on the Track because it gave me a totally different approach to moving people around and getting them off balance. I think it will take some time to incorporate into my game, but I definitely want to give her techniques a try.

Announcing

Sometimes I think maybe I like announcing more than playing, but I’ll probably do both until I can’t skate anymore so it’s really a moot point. I had fun calling serious and silly games this year. I got to work the broadcast call for Drag Queens v. Drag Queens. It was a delight announcing that game with Allie Gator. I also got to get on the mic for one of the Team Indigenous games, which I am proud I can support with my vocal talents, such as they are.

What I enjoyed most about announcing this Rollercon was working with new announcers and finding ways we can make announcing more accessible for everyone. I spent a lot of time mentoring newbies and we talked a lot about how we can support some of our dyslexic peers. I think that is going to result in some real action for next Rollercon and I’m proud that I could help start that. I want to be able to make room for other women, especially, to develop their voices and their talents on the mic. To me, it’s an act of feminism and resistance. I’m hoping we can do more next year.

Announcing with Schwann
Announcing Drag Queens v. Drag Kings with Allie Gator
creeping on fellow announcers
announcing with Muffin Tumble
Giving room to the announcer youth

Doing Everything Else

I try to get out of my usual routine and do a little more socializing than I would really like at Rollercon. Although I think half of my motivation is to dress up. I had a lot of fun unicycling at the circus-themed Reidell party (although I was disappointed to be turned away from the costume contest!). I know that my antics personally delighted Smarty Pants and honestly that made my night. I don’t unicycle much anymore but it’s cool to know that I still can and that I can look boss doing it. I also made an appearance at the Black and Blue Ball, mostly for the announcer group photo and for the questionable tradition of taking a shot of Malört. This year my derby wife joined us for the shots, which made it more fun, if only to witness the miserable reaction.

sparkling and ready to party
Malört shots with the derby wife

I also ate some really good food, both the meals I brought and warmed sous vide and some tasty food I bought. I posted the sous vide photo collection on my instagram, but here are some more food photos, which, we’ve established, people both love and hate.

a “milkshake”
room service #richbitchlife

Despite missing my cats (and husband) all week, nearly breaking my thumb, and being generally exhausted, I am planning to do it all again next year. Only 354 days to go!

weekly update

A Week in the Life: July 12, 2019

Posted on July 12, 2019 by Lindsey

This was one of those weeks that felt both fast and slow. It’s hard to remember what exactly happened because there was so much chaos surrounding our car (buying a new one, returning the rental, and disposing of the old). I was also tired all week, which always makes it hard to do things. On top of it all, I’m excited for Rollercon, so I’m not very well grounded in the present. All the same, here I am, writing about the week that was.

Consuming

Here are some things I read, listened to, or bought this week.

Reading

This morning I came across the article Small Acts: Finding Friendship with My Spanish teacher and it really resonated with me. The author, Courtney Maum, decided to learn Spanish as an act of political resistance, which I think is wonderful. Although I’ve been learning Spanish for years, I can absolutely relate to the impetus here. Wanting to connect with people that our government is trying to demonize is one reason it’s important to me to keep improving my Spanish (and, perhaps, to eventually remember how to speak Arabic). I also liked that she discussed making friends with her teacher because that is what happens. My Spanish teacher, Via, and I have been meeting for a couple of years now and I really would say we are friends, even though I pay her for our conversations.

I also read about the people who drive all over the country scouring stores for deals that they can resell on Amazon. Amazon Ruined Online Shopping profiles a few people who make their living this way, traveling in search of rare finds like discontinued cereal flavors. Some friends pointed out that this isn’t really a new practice, but for me it’s another reason to be disillusioned with Amazon. We (as a society, but maybe “I” is better) think that retail is magic and Amazon really just has everything. Of course, they don’t. As we learn more about the working conditions that underpin its success and Jeff Bezos’ wealth, Amazon has become a company I can’t patronize in good conscience.

Listening

I’ve had the Lingthusiasm podcast on my radar for some time, but finally listened to an episode this week. I enjoyed the episode on “Untranslatable Words” and the discussion of the fact that nothing is really “untranslatable,” just maybe less conveniently translated.

Rampant Consumerism

Last week we did the most consumerist activity of all: we bought a new car. It was not something we had been planning to do and so was fairly stressful. Our old car had been with the mechanic for an entire month (did you know that, if you keep a rental car for more than a month, you have to go back into their office and sign new paperwork?) and we realized it was never getting fixed. They replaced the car’s computer only to discover that they would now have to open up the engine to deal with some new problem. We got that news on Friday afternoon, decided it was time to give up, and bought the new car on Saturday. We now have a brand-new Prius—it had 13 miles on the odometer when we bought it—which is exciting despite the stressful circumstances. It has a lot of nice features and of course gets great mileage. Overall, we now have a better car, but we also have a car payment. What can you do.

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When your new car has only 13 miles on the odometer

A post shared by Rosetta Stone (@rosettasteinn) on Jul 6, 2019 at 3:26pm PDT

Making Things and Doing Stuff

Here are some things I did this week.

Getting Crafty

I’ve been working on some cool outfits for Rollercon festivities. I’m preoccupied with adorning myself with as many lights as possible. Here are some action shots of the process. Also my house is full of glitter thanks to that tulle.

the most glitter-intense tulle ever
illuminated bustle
sneak preview of my Reidell party look
hot looks for one-wheeled devices

Kitchen Witchery

I haven’t done much noteworthy cooking this week, but I did bake these handsome loaves of zucchini bread based on the recipe in The Bread Bible. They’re tasty and a good use of vegetables.

snall loaves of zucchini bread on a cooling rack — small brauð

Finally, here’s a photo of Viola for your nerves.

Viola the cat seated on a pillow on the sofa — Viola in repose

weekly update

A Week in the Life: July 5, 2019

Posted on July 5, 2019 by Lindsey

I’ve been stressed this week. The 4th of July stresses me out because of fireworks noise and I know I won’t get to sleep. I’ve been stressed about concentration camps at the border, which I wrote about yesterday. I’ve also been stressed about our car, which has been in the shop for the last month. It broke down on the way to Lake Tahoe in early June and we’ve been driving a rental car since. I realized our total cost for the rental is now over $1,000. The mechanics have gone through various fixes including a new fuel injector and now a new computer. But now that there’s a new computer, it turns out the problem is in the engine. It’s like an episode of Looney Tunes where they keep trying to smash down a dent in the car and it pops up elsewhere. No matter what, we’re out over $2000 between repairs and rental and we’re going to have to buy a new car anyway. I can’t wait to throw money away this weekend.

Consuming

Here are some things I read, listened to, or bought this week.

Reading

cover of the book "The Big Nine," taken outside — “The Big Nine”

This week I read The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity by Amy Webb. The Big Nine traces the history of artificial intelligence and provides an overview of the companies most involved in its development. She then describes three scenarios—one optimistic, one pragmatic, and one catastrophic—for how AI might change society in the next 50 years. Honestly, this book has fucked me up. All three AI scenarios are highly plausible and rooted in events already in motion. The optimistic scenario really made me feel good, and the catastrophic one evoked dread. Webb makes the argument for a variety of counter-measures that would help individuals have rights over their own data and would encourage corporations and governments to collaborate. I’ve never been so invested in policy around artificial intelligence before. Most of the things that would set AI on the optimistic path are things that happen at institutional levels, but Webb closes the book with recommendations for how we can all take part. One suggestion is that we all need to be more aware and more critical of where our data goes and what it’s used for. We should think about apps before we use them. For example, fun apps that require your picture are probably being used to create data sets to train AI. We have to consider what we’re trading for convenience. One site I thought about amid those suggestions is LibraryThing, which I used to link the title above. A lot of people love GoodReads for their book-related social networking, but I’ve been using LibraryThing for years. I refuse to use GoodReads because Amazon owns it and they don’t need more of my data. LibraryThing isn’t selling data, so I feel good about that choice. These are the kinds of choices Webb is asking us to consider when we use the internet and technology.

I also read an article on Rewire.News called The Image America Shouldn’t Need. It discusses the fact that Americans shouldn’t have to see images of drowned migrants to have empathy for everyone struggling to get into this country. I recommend reading the article because it is powerful.

Listening

Spotify has introduced me to two songs on the topic of horse girls recently and frankly I don’t know what it’s trying to suggest. First, there’s Adam Ant’s Why Do Girls Love Horses. Then, there’s Tacocat’s Horse Grrls. I’ve never been much interested in horses, but it makes me chuckle that it’s enough of a meme to have songs about it.

Rampant Consumerism

There hasn’t been much exciting consumerism here this week, but I did get my other new favorite shirt, based on a second-grade writing assignment I did that my dad dug up recently. You can get your own from my teespring store.

Making Things and Doing Stuff

Here are some things I did this week.

Language Learning

I’m feeling good about my Icelandic studies this week. I feel like I’ve finally recovered from basically taking a year off when my teacher had her baby. It feels like the language is coming together in my brain more and that’s awesome. I’ve started watching this cooking show to get more listening practice. I can’t claim to understand all of it, but the good thing about cooking shows is that they demonstrate everything, so it’s easy to make connections between signifier and signified.

Kitchen Witchery

I didn’t do a whole lot of cooking this week, but I did finally do something with the cake I made a couple of weeks ago. I defrosted half of it, filled it with white chocolate buttercream and topped it with cashew buttercream. The results were not particularly beautiful, but they were tasty. I also finally tested out the sous vide immersion cooker that my sister bought me for Christmas. I have been planning to do some sous vide cooking to feed myself at rollercon this year, which is why I tested it out in a cooler instead of something more conventional like a pot. The results were good. I think I’ll be able to feed myself reasonably well!

sous vide testing round 1
Sometimes I’m not bothered to make aesthetically pleasing food

Finally, here are some cat picture for your nerves.

Viola is a person