jobhunters | Member Posts

Odd nausea, fading in and out, has marked the day. I don't know where it's coming from, but I feel like I should write it down somewhere. I drank a pot of ginger tea and I'm hoping it kicks in soon.

In other news, because I didn't want it to be the last Michael Mann movie I haven't seen, I started watching Public Enemies, and it's quite something how the last few years make it easy to see John Dillinger as a duplicitous, murdering criminal no matter the face he puts on for the public.

Current Mood: nauseated
Current Music: nothing now

hannah

Between the train being a while and the train being delayed, I arrived just in time to be fashionably late: I walked into the party just as the guest of honor was being introduced. The woman of the hour, a newly published author, a friend of the people whose library I was hired to organize who decided to invite me to the book party as a parting gift. I was the last person to arrive and comfortably below the average age of the guests, and even recognized a handful of people from overlapping social Jewish circles. I felt nervous about being there until the man who was introducing the author talked about how her memoir was both nostalgic and sad, not a combination that comes up - and I waved my hand to get his attention, because I knew exactly what to say.

I quoted Anya Von Bremzen to say the phrase she used for that sensation was poisoned Madeline.

When I say the host, author, and room were suitably pleased and impressed at the phrase, that also says a lot about the rest of the guests at the party.

What's even better is that my interjection wasn't my high point of the party. As much fun as it was to be invited to that kind of thing, as deeply as I enjoyed putting some goat cheese inside dates for an amazing snack, I mostly attended to network. I knew my clients, I knew who their friends would be, and I worked that as much as I could. I introduced myself and said, "I'm the librarian." I explained how I'd come to be at the party. I hobbed, I nobbed, I was suitably impressive. I said, "My card," and handed over a business card. I commented to one of the hosts that if all that came out of it was being able to say I'd said "My card" it was worth the evening. It was an amazing feeling to do that. So very grown up.

I wore one of my nicer dresses, and it definitely helped me feel like I belonged there. After a while, the feeling simply settled in. I chatted about fiction, about the philosophy of library science and the psychology of letting go of books, about cakes and baking, about public transportation. I said cabs were the luxury of the people and that they were union. I joked about wanting to show off my party trick but since the party was over, too bad. I nibbled and had some wine, and took some grapes home at the hosts' insistence, though they didn't have to try very hard. I took a bike back instead of using the subway or walking, and it was the best way to come down from the elevated state. Not all the way down, though - it'll be with me for a while longer, and I'm doing what I can to savor it for as long as it lasts.

Current Mood: touched
Current Music: nothing now

redbird

I have just been out for a walk, a day after the blizzard: bright blue sky, temperature around freezing, and most but not all of the sidewalks have been cleared, so I walked down the middle of the street for a bit. The turkey flock that hangs out on Egremont Road is now up to at least 12 birds, two of which were sitting on a railing. [We got 16-18 inches of snow, I think--the official number from the airport is 16.5, which is significant, but a lot less than this storm dumped on some places.]

hannah

It was beautifully quiet today. The snow helped, of course, and the snow was the cause - people staying home, cars not getting driven, taxis not cruising for passengers. Helicopters and planes staying on the ground. It took me a while to realize I wasn't hearing the usual sounds. When the snow let up and people started driving again, I honestly felt resentful that the travel ban wasn't going on longer. It'd been a nice glimpse into a quieter New York City. I feel like that's how it always is. Just a glimpse of a better world.

Or at least, a moment to resettle so I can realize just how noisy the West Side Highway really is. I went down to the park to walk a bit in the afternoon, after the snow stopped, and I don't mind noise from kids that are shouting about how happy they are or what a good time they're having when they're sledding down a big hill, or noise from people talking about an inflatable toy's weight limit before sledding down the big hill themselves. Human voices. There were a couple of shrieks right near me for some reason, and of course a very loud barking dog that its owner insisted was friendly, and overall, just nice sounds of people.

I had my headband on and my hood up, and both those things helped muffle the world. The coat itself was warm enough that when I lay back in the snow, twice, I stayed comfortable enough to settle in for a little bit. Not many minutes, but enough time to measure on a stopwatch, easily.

There were several taped-off CAUTION areas around fallen trees and threatening branches, and I found it wonderful that people had already made a single-file path underneath one of the trees in between the branches - sticking as close to the path that the tree had fallen over as best they all could. Ducking down to get under and through. A little ways away there was a bower made from bushes bent over with snow that also provided something of a roof, and some parents took pictures of their kids hanging out in there and posing at the entrance. It made for a nice echo of both adults and children doing more or less the same thing, if on different scales. The intent of play was close enough to call it the same.

There were snow men, snow women, snow people, and snow animals. There were snow structures made from hand packing it and snow structures made from using plastic bins to mold sturdy bricks. There was a moment I saw the sky start to come out and felt a pang of disappointment because it meant the day was moving on from the storm. I'd fallen back into the snow already then, and made a point to do it a second time. If I'd been more careful with my legs not getting wet, I'd have lain there a while longer. But I knew the day was going, so I might as well go, too, so I wouldn't have to see it end.

Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: nothing now

lannamichaels

Title: Lumos.
Author:

lannamichaels
Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Series: Part 1 of Leontes Granger
Pairing: Hermione Granger/Neville Longbottom
Rating: G
Archives: Archive Of Our Own, SquidgeWorld

Summary: Leontes Granger is sorted into Gryffindor.

( The boy!Hermione fic )

ruric

So much for doing a weekly round up! Whoops.

HOME: life got busy and my decluttering/#orjenising stalled.

HEALTH my sleep patterns are still FUBAR'd but otherwise good.

LIFE ADMIN: looking at European alternatives to Gmail and Dropbox - eyeing up Proton.

DIGITAL DECLUTTER: have kept email at mail at 11,000 but not managed to reduce it; staying on top of transferring To Keep items from tablet to dropbox, my phone images storage is a mess.

GARDENING/ALLOTMENTING: nope - too cold and/or wet and lacked motivation.

COOKING/EATING: a few too many coffee shop lunches but resisting the lure of takeaways.

READING/LISTENING: not the last few weeks.

WATCHING: Still not caught up on Stranger Things and have only managed one episode of Heated Rivalry. Keeping up with returning shows and trying to avoid picking up new ones! Did bing Marple and Miss Marple in Wales.

CREATING/LEARNING: dealing with sewing in ends on Halloween blanket then need to block it and the granny square blanket. Hecicardi 75% finished but need to frog a bit and redo. While in Wales did 24 granny squares for small project bags and 13 for large bag. Just need to decide if I want more to make bags larger. Have plenty of wool - then must stitch together, line and finish.

CATS: all good.

VOLUNTEERING: still have one outstanding task.

SOCIALISING: nope - not even phone calls. Proper hermitting other than crochet club and class.

WORK: a bit meh for the last few weeks and have unfortunately scheduled 3 consecutive weeks of weekend working.

Plan for this coming week - work long office days Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, TOIL Wednesday, off Friday and Sunday, working Saturday.

hannah

The travel ban's up. Schools are going back to remote learning. Nobody's going anywhere if they can help it. I'd figured this was coming, and it's nice that it's settling in. The snow's coming down steadily and I can faintly hear human voices - going from where the light's coming from, the people in the next building over are either hosting some friends or having a very loud party by themselves. Either way, it's warm human voices on a cold night.

Not a dark night, though. The clouds aren't letting that happen. It's one of the nicer parts of nighttime snow.

Current Mood: pensive
Current Music: nothing now

ghostrunner

Ingredients:

chocolate ganache left over from the fondue at that catering gig you worked three weeks ago
most of a can of canned pumpkin left over from when you thought you'd try mixing some into your chai
the caramel sauce you ended up with when you tried to make homemade Scotchmallows the other day and failed
1 stick of butter, unsalted
some flour, about a cup and a half
brown sugar, about a cup
oats, a handful
pumpkin pie spices, whatever you have
something like 1 tsp baking soda, because who even fucking knows about leavening
an egg, for good measure
also, some salt

Directions:

The pie plate is too big for the amount of pumpkin you have. And these tart pans are too small. Two of them? Nah, too much work. Where's that set of casserole dishes you got for your college apartment and then never used again because you moved back home five years ago and haven't left? There's a nice 1.5 qt dish that should be perfect.

In your favorite small mixing bowl, dump the flour, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt. Shit, there's no unsalted butter that isn't frozen. Well, it doesn't matter, you can use salted butter. No you can't, you already added the salt. Fuck. Get a frozen stick of unsalted butter and put it in the microwave for ten second intervals until you just don't care anymore.

Preheat the oven. It's set to 350 degrees anyway so go with that. I like the convection setting. It cooks faster.

Cut the now just-barely defrosted butter into chunks and work it into the flour and brown sugar mixture with a pastry cutter. Or a knife and fork, if you don't have a pastry cutter. Or a food processor, if you're a fucking wimp. Mix in the oats.

Press the resulting mixture into the bottom and sides of the casserole dish. Realize you used way too much flour for the amount of sugar and butter. Separate out the chunks of butter from the loose flour by sifting with your fingers. Curse yourself for never learning. Examine the casserole dish. Sprinkle in some more of the mixture, just in case. Put the casserole dish in the oven to blind bake for ten minutes.

The chocolate ganache has been in a container in the back of your fridge for three weeks, so set up a double boiler to melt it. Ideally, you'd like it to be liquid enough to pour into the bottom of the crust, but not so hot that it causes problems with the pumpkin layer you'll be putting on top.

Dump the canned pumpkin into a bowl. Stare at it while thinking. Add some sugar. Don't add any sugar. It comes out too sweet. Add some pumpkin pie spices. Ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg. That stuff. About a teaspoon of each, but who really cares? Add spices until it smells like pumpkin pie to you.

It seems too liquidy. You want distinct layers. Spot the bowl of leftover flour/butter/sugar/oats mixture.

( Read more... )

hannah

Trying to clear my calendar and hunker down for the next few days in light of the storm had me allowing myself a little bit of panic buying in the form of another bottle of olive oil. It's not on the same level as rescheduling an appointment because I know there's no point trying to get anywhere farther than two blocks, maximum, come Monday, but it helped a bit.

I'm also charging up my devices as something of an insurance policy and made sure to return all my outstanding library checkouts. Again, something that only helped a bit, and still helped. Mostly I'm now waiting for it to arrive so I can finally enjoy the snow. The build-up to it isn't nearly as enjoyable.

Current Mood: grateful
Current Music: nothing now

hannah

Friday night dinner this week was still with family: out in Brooklyn. My parents weren't in town but my brothers were, so I went out to them since that was easiest for everyone. There and back was easy, thanks to not waiting long for a train to arrive and for finding one of the trains was running express that afternoon. The dinner itself went okay, and when my brother J., his wife E., and their daughter A. were around, I spent most of the time in the kitchen with my brother R. so his wife G. could spend time with J.'s family - I peeked out into the living room a couple times and they were all chatting and looking at something on someone's phone, and I thought it better not to intrude.

An amusing moment came partway through dinner. Weather came up, and I was the only one who expressed any pleasure at the idea of snow. I pointed out that this was the kind of weather we used to have, getting snow at the end of February. B., one of G.'s friends who'd come as well, said she'd grown up in the Midwest and was aware of that. At the time, I didn't think to point out I was talking pre-Industrial Revolution. It's probably just as well; later in the meal, she said she didn't want to feel like life was full of construction zones, that she'd had times of at least a couple things going smoothly, and I struggled to relate. A good person to talk to, and someone with a life fairly removed from mine.

Current Mood: ditzy
Current Music: nothing now

redbird

While I was dealing with trying to figure out whether I could see my psychiatrist, and what it would cost if so, I got an email from medicare.gov about the Medicare Advantage "open enrollment" period: anyone who enrolled in a Medicare Advantage (part C) plan at the end of the previous year can change to a different Medicare Advantage plan between January 1 and March 31st. I decided that it would be worth it to get into a PPO instead of the HMO I had somehow signed up for, even though it means I'll be starting over on the annual out-of-pocket maximums for prescription drugs and for medical care generally. I put the application in this afternoon, and was told the process might take 10 days, but I also think it's supposed to be effective the first day of the month after I requested the change. My confirmation email from Medicare says the plan will notify me after they verify my information and confirm my enrollment, so I will wait and see.

Fortunately, I can afford to do this, rather than having to find new specialists who are in that stupid HMO's network, or spend large amounts to see my current doctors. (Switching now is expensive because I take one very expensive drug, the Kesimpta.)

redbird

Wikipedia has blacklisted the site archive.today a.k.a. archive.is, .li, .ph, .fo, .md, and .vn), because Wikipedia editors discovered that the pseudonymous owners of the site were altering some archived pages. The alterations inserted the name of a blogger that the pseudonymous person who runs archive.today has a grudge against, because the blogger speculated about their identity.

Wikipedia editors were already debating whether to blacklist the site, after discovering it was being used in a distributed denial-of-service attack against that same blogger. The argument for blacklisting the site was straightforward: archive.today captchas were running malicious code on people's computers. The argument against was that it would be difficult to replace hundreds of thousands of links, an argument that made sense only as long as the saved websites were considered trustworthy.

My decidedly non-expert hunch is that using the site to look at static content behind a paywall is probably safe unless the site asks you to complete a captcha.

hannah

I took advantage of the day and took in a small William Eggleston exhibition. I started reading Clockers on the way there and a book that commanding of my attention put me in the right frame of mind to take in the colors. And the colors were why it was there - it's called The Last Dyes because these prints, the ones I saw today, were made with the world's last materials for this kind of printmaking. Kodak decided to stop making the necessary materials for the process some decades ago. I don't know if it was for cost, environmental concerns, lack of a market, another reason, or a mix of several. What I can say is that all the critics were right: knowing that going in gave it an autumnal feeling. Something fading out.

They were also right that it's astonishing to see the colors up close. More than once I got as close as I could to take in the depth of blue or red or green, thinking that it was like seeing paint made from crushed-up gemstones. The intensity of color, the intentions of the lines and shapes. I'm happy to watch his fascinations with what makes America tick, and I was very happy to stop and look close and then step back and look far and take in all the different parts and pieces in the compositions. More than once I looked at something off in the distance and then farther in the distance and saw how it was a reflection of something in the foreground. Walls and fences at a parking lot. The swirl of a sign matching the clouds behind it. The flowers, the fence, the truck, the houses peeking out.

What really struck me was how the outdoor photographs had such good distance to them. There wasn't a horizon but there was clarity to a long ways away, and more than once I'd think that this was human influence as far as the eye could see. The tilled fields. The cars off in the far distance. The car right up in front of you that you couldn't look away from even if you wanted to see the stream just beyond it. Forcing you to pay attention to what's really there.

Current Mood: melancholy
Current Music: Stronger Hearts Than Mine Lie Empty - Ballboy

ruric

I realise it's only mid month but February has been a MONTH.

( The Oh Noes cut for those who'd rather avoid them- not personal ones cos I'm OK )

7. It has been grey and wet here in London for ever - at least from the start of the year with maybe 2 days of blue skies and sunshine and it's taking a toll.

8. Went to Wales last week and only took one of the two cats. The other hid and so stayed home with a pile of food. Athena - the usually quiet reserved cat - came with me and we had some bonding time without her sister getting in the way. Artemis, the little fiend who stayed home, has been making up for the fact that she was cruelly abandoned - in a warm flat with plenty of food and water and oodles of toys - ever since!

9. Relatedly having spent the week in the cosy, tidy cottage I'm even more determined to subdue and sort out the utter chaos of my living situation in London where I have tried to effectively cram the. Contents of a 3 bed house into what is essentially a two room flat.

10. I've not been able to get to the allotment or do any gardening because WET. Not amused.

The Hell Yes's

1. I spent last week working remotely from the cottage which also included a lot of naps, TV, good food and a ridiculous amount of crocheting. And though it took me 2 days to get the cottage warm - it was Wales and the mountains looked fancy with a good dusting of snow. I beached myself on the couch and barely moved from Monday to Saturday (it was grey, wet and cold there too). Of course coming home on Saturday the weather did change and for a few precious hours there were blue skies and sunshine.

2. I gave myself a pass this week and lived on ready meals while trying to bring some order to 3 work related email inboxes and 2 personal ones. I'm getting there.

3. Work has at least been productive if not enjoyable. But tomorrow I'm going to a Park colleague's community planting day for a couple of hours, next week I'm spending a day handing out free trees and the week after we are having our borough wide seed swap - all of which should be fun things.

4. Crocheting has been super productive - at the beginning of the month I finished a blanket I started the week before Xmas, I've got about half a hexi cardigan finished (even though I have to frog some back), I've almost finished the granny squares for two project bags (just need to stitch them together, line them and make handles), and I'm just over halfway through some Wednesday evening classes to crochet an Easter/Spring wreath. Crochet club every Friday from 1 to 2:30pm is the non-negotiable in my diary. Time to be creative, learn new stuff, have a chat and hang out with 5-7 other fun women.

5. The ex is at the cottage this week which means I get to use his washing machine tomorrow before and after work (2-3 loads of washing) and do some more if needed early Saturday morning.

6. On that note I'm taking myself off to bed with a giant mug of Horlicks and a couple of eps of Starfleet Academy!

hannah

Looking around the kitchen cabinets and what passes for a pantry, wanting to supplement a half-meal's worth of pasta, thinking about what's readily available. Some cherry tomatoes came my way, a couple onions didn't get used in last week's rice dish. There's sardines. There's an impulse buy can of kidney beans.

With one thing and another, there's tomato-sardine-bean soup that manages to do the trick and then some. Sardines and beans - affordable luxury.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: nothing now

lannamichaels

okay so Ernie Of Sesame Street is legalnamed Ernest Monster, without question, but what is Bert short for? Albert? Bertram? Hubert? Herbert? Robert?

I may spin out a quick Sesame Street Regency AU drabble... but I think it's gotta be Bertram.

hannah

The day's major activity was sending out some emails and texts to try to coordinate future plans. I'll probably have to send them again in a day or two, given the track record of trying to get some of these plans together - especially my brothers in regards to setting a schedule and keeping to it. My parents are presently traveling and my younger brother offered to host Friday night dinner this week, but beyond the offer, nothing's been said so far. I sent out a message this morning and all I got was a promise there'd be some coordination.

It doesn't fill me with hope, especially not without a timetable. It's not that I have anything else going on so much as I'd like to know what little might be happening so I can at least figure out what kind of nothing I might be doing.

Current Mood: grumpy
Current Music: Past Lovers - Ballboy

redbird

I realized over the weekend that I hadn't checked on those insurance/medical specialist referrals, and when I did check, they were all sitting in MyChart, but hadn't been sent to the insurance company. The insurance chat agent was able to tell me that yes, they need to be in their system, and gave me a fax number to give my GP's office. So I called this morning (yesterday having been a holiday) and asked my doctor's office to do that, urgently, because I'm seeing Dr. Awad tomorrow.

When nothing had happened by midday, Adrian suggested I call the insurance company and ask whether it would be OK if they received the referral after the appointment, on the theory that this probably happens a lot. So I called, and they said yes it would, so I'm going to cross my fingers, and didn't call to reschedule that appointment.

I also finally managed to talk to my Fidelity advisor, and set up a three-way call with him and BNY (where the inherited IRA is). That involved a lot of waiting on hold, and the agent saying he needed to check one more thing.... He then told me that it would take more time for them to figure out where that unexpected balance came from, and they had to figure that out before they could transfer the money. No, I don't know why: the balance information is from their system. So someone is supposed to call me back, hopefully soon, and then I hope they will either transfer the money to Fidelity, or be willing to send me a check for the balance and close the account.

It took me a little while to figure out why I was feeling worn out, but at least part of it is that I made multiple phone calls, and everything is still in process, if not in limbo. A bowl of Lizzy's "chocolate orgy" ice cream helped some.

On top of everything else, my gum is bothering me again ("again" because it's a problem for a day or two, then it's fine for a while, and then recurs).

melannen

I had a dream for the third time this week about watching the 1980s live-action Batman show with my sister so I figured it was worth a DW post :P

If you don't know the 1980s live-action Batman that I apparently watch in my dreams here's a quick overview:

It was a weekly one-hour show that ran for about three seasons. It predates the age of season-long arcs but it had more than the usual number of 2- and 3- part episodes and some character growth even.
It's clearly intentionally following up on the legacy of the 1960s show because it revels in the fundamental absurdity and plays for comedy, but it was also determined to not get pigeonholed as a kids' show - it has non-cartoon violence and solid emotional arcs.
For example instead of all the silly Bat-Gadgets, they had Wayne Enterprises (TM) machines. There's a running bit where Tim always makes sure he has access to a Wayne Enterprises (TM) Automatic Soup Dispenser (TM) and nobody can tell if he's just really into soup or if he's modding it to dispense other things.
Oh yeah, despite being called Batman, it's actually mostly about Tim and Dick. Bruce shows up in every episode for at least a few minutes but is rarely the focus. (Yes, I know the 1980s is early for comics!Tim - I assume the comics character was based on the show character? - and there's no Jay in this continuity, which lets it be a little more lighthearted about their relationships with Bruce.)
Tim became Robin after Dick "retired" and Bruce finally noticed how neglected the neighbor boy actually was. In the show he's mostly traveling around playing poor little rich boy and Robinning with a rotating guest cast of Teen Titans (nearly every episode is in a different city - they must have had a huge travel/sets budget.)
Dick is 100% a civilian these days he swears. He's technically in college but never appears to attend. He's always showing up to "hang out" with his little bro, or following Kory to a show, and then having to secretly superhero it up without a costume or name. The show is constantly teasing that this is the episode he'll finally become Nightwing and never follows up.
When Bruce shows up it's usually not as Bruce, or even Batman, but as his even more useless cousin "Kenneth Wayne", who only shows up in the tabloids when he's done something so ridiculous Bruce has to send Alfred to bail him out, and therefor has an excuse to be places Bruce can't possibly be. He has absolutely 0 natural authority over the boys, who treat him as an embarrassingly untrustworthy uncle, and enjoys the hell out of this.
Dick is dating Koriand'r, but they insist they're not girlfriend and boyfriend because "Tamaraneans don't have boys and girls, she's just my Kory and I'm her Dick". This is never explored beyond that at all. (Also Kory looks a lot less human and more like Ron Perlman's Beast* (except as a hot not-girl, of course.)
Tim spends every episode excited and/or worried about the main plot interfering with or facilitating a possible or planned date with a girl. The girls are never named or shown onscreen. Dick teases him about this.

The episode we watched last night involved Tim and Dick renting out an old mansion/party house in Philadelphia that was haunted by a very lazy demon shaped like a yellow cartoon rabbit, a very large monitor lizard who was wanted by the Mob, a bunch of people having to shelter overnight in a Victorian-themed cafe in the zoo, and every single character having to dress up as Matches Malone in the same bad wig at the same time. Also the Three Stooges guest-starred. I hope I get to watch more later, I don't think there's an official DVD release.

*did I only have this dream because I did that "name all the animals" game right before bed and was thinking about Golden Lion Tamarins??

hannah

In today's dubious triumph over aphasia, I told my client I'd emptied out her utility kit.

Her toolbag. I couldn't remember toolbag and tried to use the next best thing to describe the object in question.

It was a fairly remarkable moment on a number of levels, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be shaking my head over it for quite some time.

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: I Need Two Hearts - Ballboy

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Member Posts

Health account.

Party time.

a nice walk, a day after the blizzard

Savoring the cold.

"Lumos." (Harry Potter) G

Weeks 5/52 to 8/52 - where did those weeks go?

Falling.

Recipes: Chocolate Pumpkin Caramel Tart. In a casserole dish.

Anticipatory.

Out and back.

Medicare advantage, again

PSA: archive.today not trustworthy

All that's left.

The Oh Noes and the Hell Yes's!

Resource management.

sunny days...

What changes came.

unsatisfying phone calls (and web chats)

Batman: the 1980s TV show

Substitution.

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March 2014

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