Reading Wednesday, yeah, cos it's Wednesday in lot of places, even if it isn't here.

[st_aurafina]

URGENT ETA: Please don't describe the things you see when you google the thing I said not to google!

Last year I had a lot of concentration issues, and I really didn't keep track of what I read, what I started and never finished, what I put in the to-read pile. This year, I will do better! I know I read a lot of books last year, before I fell into the Mercedes Lackey epic re-read, but I didn't really think about it. So.


What have you just finished reading?
London Falling, by Paul Cornell

Someone on my flist - glinda, I think? - posted about this, and I remembered that I had tried it, and given up. She said that the start tripped her up at first, with a lot of police procedural talk. Which was the reason I put it down - I felt trapped in an episode of The Bill. So I picked it up again and pushed on and I really enjoyed it - the magic system was interesting, I loved the history and mythology of magical London and football culture, and the way the characters adapted to police work with magic was super cool. I'm looking forward to more from this series. (I presume it's a series? It's set up that way.)

Also, canon gay characters, canon POC characters. Yay.


Rivers of London, Ben Aaronovitch

Because I liked London Falling, and because I like the trope of 'London is old and full of magic', I gave this a go, too. Yeah, I liked it? Well enough? I adored the spirits of the rivers - I want all the fanart of them at their various gatherings. I liked Nightingale, I loved the Folly and Toby and Molly and Leslie. Took me a while to click with Peter, though; he's kind of an arsehole at the start. But we worked it out. I'll definitely read more. Because there is more. Needs moar queer tho. Lots more queer.


Divergent, by Veronica Roth
[Redacted rant about invisible queer people] We know all that. I should know better than to have picked that book up in the first place. I need to stop grabbing the ones that have all the buzz and the upcoming movie, and look for the ones that don't have all that attention.


What are you currently reading?
I've started Moon Over Soho, second in the Rivers of London series.


What do you think you'll read next?

I'm going to go plumb diversityinya. It's a good tumblr. [ETA: Going to read Inheritance, the sequel to Adaptation, by Malinda Lo.]



Other random thoughts I am thinking right now:

- I like cooking and baking, but I am crap at cakes. They're either weird and rubbery or dry and horrible. What is the secret of cakes? Why can I bake something complicated like bread, but not a cake?

Ditto for hummus. (Entirely prompted by someone's delicious homemade hummus on my flist, drool.) Why is tahini so gross? It grosses up my hummus, and I don't understand what I can substitute for it.



- It turns out my Harvest Box code is reusable, so if you're in Australia and you want to try out a service like Graze in the US, here: 86231FJMCVJ (You get two half-priced boxes, and I get a $4 discount.

It's working out pretty well for me; there's only been a couple that I really, really hated - the one with dried rockmelon (ugh, like bitter leather wrapped around my teeth) and the one with the spoopy berries that set off my things-with-holes phobia.

The website is here: HarvestBox, you get four snacks in one box, and as you rate them, they tweak what you get. So no more spoopy berries ever again, thank goodness because they were nasty. (They were dried white mulberries, don't google it if you have trypophobia and DO NOT GOOGLE TRYPOPHOBIA IF YOU THINK YOU MIGHT HAVE IT. DO NOT. NO. GET A FRIEND TO DO IT. Ugh, even the word has too many holes for my comfort.)



- I wrote some fics for fandom_stocking. Not as many as I would have liked, but since the mod has unfortunately been sucked into the polar vortex, I'm taking the opportunity to peck away at more. Stay safe, people in the icy north!



- I had a good therapy time on Tuesday, which involved a discussion of Klingon birthday rituals, and the visualisation of pain sticks becoming matchsticks. (In preparation for my family's heinous birthday season in April/May.)



- Every now and then I remember that Derek Jacobi is the narrator on In the Night Garden (of the genre of trippy British children's puppet shows) and will exhort you to catch the ninky-nonk. I think this is either really good or really terrifying, or maybe both. Sample at 2:25, under the cut.

"" (Watch on YouTube)

I watch it on my ipad when I can't sleep. I think it's hypnogogic. Like, literally and deliberately.

Comments

[thegorgon]

Just commenting to say that I am not a hummus expert by any means, but you should be able to just skip the tahini, or sub it for a dash of sesame oil. I have made "I am too broke to buy fancy shit" hummus without it before. :)

[st_aurafina]

I'll try it! I love sesame oil, but tahini is weird and bitter to me. Thank you.

[ducened]

Our household has both sesame allergies and peanut allergies - mentioned because peanut butter is listed as a frequent substitute for tahini. I use any ol' nut-butter in lieu of the death-paste. I also use this recipe from the Food Network in the US. Haven't had it fail me yet.

As for cakes... at a guess, are you mixing them too long? My other guess would be to use really accurate measurements, and to not substitute anything until you've got a good handle on the basics, but that sort of thing is difficult to diagnose over the internet. So instead just mix until the batter comes together, and try that.

(Oooh! You might also look for a good cake-baking book in your library, and find one with a troubleshooting section. That will probably be more helpful than I've been.)

[weaverbird]

A big yes to everything you said about cake-baking! Cakes are *way* more finicky than bread, both about measurements and batter-handling.

And I've made sesame-free hummus without any substitute for the tahini and it was yummy, so that's yet another option.

[st_aurafina]

Definitely going to leave the tahnini out! Lots of people do, it seems.

Yeah, I think what's happened with finding recipes online is that I'm using a lot of recipes with US cup measurements, and I don't always convert to mass even though I know your cups are smaller. Accuracy in cakes! Improvisation in bread!

[st_aurafina]

I bookmarked the recipe - that looks awesome and quick. I didn't think of peanut butter!

I don't think I'm overbeating the cakes - I only use a spoon for folding in the flour. I have to confess I'm a bit of a substituter, though - that could be a source of problems. Bread is all about how much flour to add on the day, which is not a good habit with cakes. And the measurement thing is a whole kettle of fish - US cups are smaller than Austalian cups. I use a converter, but I might stick to recipes that use mass instead of volume and see if that makes a difference.

It's frustrating, because I'm good with cookies, but not cake.

[ducened]

*whimpers* *flails hands*

Yes, this. Bread is not cake, no matter what history's interpretation of Marie Antoinette would have us believe. Bread is a woodgy mass of uncertainties that magically comes together into something delicious (more flour? less time rising? add some extra gluten?). Cake is your finicky English teacher who marks you off for forgetting the Oxford Comma.

Try also this yellow cake recipe, also from Alton Brown (he of the hummus) - he gives his measurements in US volume and weight. You might enjoy reading the transcript of that particular episode linked here. (And if you like Alton's style, try the Good Eats Fan Page with transcripts of (nearly) all of his shows. (Alton's a food geek/scientist with a knack for explaining food science. Including why cakes are so finicky.))

((Things that are reassuring: Beach balls, sealions, fuzzy puppies, marble tiles.))

[gehayi]

I just finished the third book in the Rivers of London series, so I'll definitely try London Falling.

Is Adaptation any good? The only book I know by Malinda Lo is Ash.

[st_aurafina]

I think I liked London Falling better than Rivers of London, though it's also a lot darker.

Adaptation is excellent! It's sci-fi, with a teen lesbian romance. I really enjoyed Ash, but I love Adaptation.

[likeadeuce]

The third Divergent book has a canon queer couple, but it's basically framed as 'character had a crush on Tobias but it didn't work out because Tobias is so straight'. Which is . . .problematic. I know that character features in one of the novellas Roth released but I didn't read that so I don't know how the portrayal was done. (And even so it's kind of like BSG letting people be queer in minisodes and spinoffs but not the main series.)

But yeah, one would think that in a society where race and gender don't seem to be an issue at all that queer people (at least in some of the factions) would be visible and commonplace. Hmm.

[st_aurafina]

Divergent got more and more frustrating, because once you've seen the big blind spot, it gets worse and worse. And the whole idea of being secretly divergent - can anyone see? Can people tell? - is such a worldview a closeted gay teen would have, and then the big freedom breakout with the Dauntless and body piercing and tattoos, and it's still 100% straightness. Ouch.

I should know better, especially when people are working hard to compile lists of diverse or inclusive YA.

[muccamukk]

Loved London Falling, but found it a bit slow at the start as well, at least until the magic kicked in more majorly. I'm really looking forward to the next one. I always appreciate Cornell's determination to represent queers, poc and ladies.

I'm kind of love and hate on the Rivers of London series. Some of it's great, but it also does icky gender issues in a very urban fantasy way.

Sounds like the polar vortex is wrapping up, and we may be fandom_stocking soon. I've appreciated the extra time.

[st_aurafina]

I'm kind of love and hate on the Rivers of London series.

Yeah, pretty much this - what I love, I love a lot, but the fail is disappointing.

I'm glad I pushed through with London Falling, though, because once it got going, I couldn't put it down.

[kindkit]

Cakes scare me. I only try to bake really easy ones, or at least ones that aren't supposed to be light and delicate.

I don't understand the Harvest Box/Graze thing. I mean, I understand how it works, but I don't understand why everyone but me seems to find it so exciting. All the offerings at Graze seem to be basically trail mix, and for six dollars a week I can buy my own nuts and fruit and things and have more trail mix than four handful-sized portions. If I liked trial mix, which I don't. (Is the term "trail mix" US-only? It means various mixes of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit that supposedly originated as concentrated food for hikers. To me, it epitomizes "snacks that are not actually delicious.")

[st_aurafina]

See, I'm good with the complicated, but the simple never works out for me. It's like, 'cream butter and sugar, fold in flour, bake' shouldn't be difficult! I think - okay, I know - I'm a chronic meddler. I have to tinker. That's got to be the problem. That, and using recipes with US measurements without converting the cup size.

Things I like with Harvest Box is the variety, the randomness, and the portion control. I really, really like things in small boxes, it suits the way I manage my eating disorder, but also, they've sent me things I've never tried before, like roasted broad beans, yum. It's definitely not as economical as making my own, but it is fun to see what I get each week, and the quality has been pretty good so far. I haven't ever really had savoury trail mixes before - I'm definitely going to try roasting some chickpeas with spices myself, because lentils are awesome to munch on.

Yeah, 'trail mix' is slowly migrating over here, along with 'granola' instead of toasted muesli. Which is shorter, to be honest.

[clare_dragonfly]

I never put anything in my hummus other than chickpeas, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic (sometimes roasted). It generally comes out thinner than storebought hummus, but it is delicious anyway.

[st_aurafina]

Yes! Free from the tyranny of tahini! I go forth with my stick blender to make my own!

Thank you!

[lonelywalker]

invisible queer people
There needs to be a book about invisible queer people. Like, literally invisible queer people getting up to shenanigans.

[st_aurafina]

You know they'd make them straight in the movie, though. Blah.

[lonelywalker]

...I wish you were wrong.

But in other news, I now have a phobia about the word trypophobia, as I don't know what it is and am afraid to google it. I"m trypophobiaphobic.

[st_aurafina]

DON'T GOOGLE IT.

[oyceter]

trypophobia

OMG it's A Thing!!!! I don't have it, but CB does, as does his brother, and I think we all kind of assumed it was some idiosyncratic thing. I just told him and he is super excited that it has an actual name.

[laurenthemself]

I have it too. It's definitely a thing, unfortunately.

[st_aurafina]

*solid and smooth fist bump of solidarity*

[laurenthemself]

I got got by a fucking pomegranate on Tumblr the other day, so TS that if you haven't already. Pomegranates, jeez.

Danny says apparently there was a study done that found that trypophobia is more based off visceral biological 'do not want' reactions than it is akin to an actual phobia but FUNNILY ENOUGH I have no desire to google it to find out if that's true.

[st_aurafina]

Ugh, I will add it. Thanks.

It's definitely part of my sensory overload/ASD thing - if I'm already overloaded, I am so much more susceptible.

[laurenthemself]

I assume you already have lotus TSed. Tomatoes? I flipped out yesterday morning over tomato seeds in a chicken sandwich. I am so bad at making salad in general, ugh.

I can understand that overload; if I'm already anxious, I'm more easily triggered. I actually think my tendency to (sorry, this is kind of yuck) pop pimples instead of letting them heal on their own is related too.

[st_aurafina]

I'm okay with tomato - oval shapes are better than round for me. I'd probably be okay with pomegranates but I'm not taking chances there because they are epic fruits.

And yeah, definitely skin stuff involved for me. I'm snapping rubber bands right now to avoid bad skin behaviour. Ugh. Brains! So messed up!

[laurenthemself]

Fortunately the little moles I have dotted around on my skin aren't clustered, so I can deal with those, but sometimes I get these little clear fluid bumps on my fingers, and they're probably the worst because they take forever to settle on their own.

[st_aurafina]

Okay, time to stop! Let's think about smooth shiny penguins!

[laurenthemself]

Happy sleek penguins sliding across ice floes on their pudgy little tummies!



Fuzzy fukken baby penguin, aw yeah, check that bad boy out.

OR WE COULD CRY OVER THE WEATHER, DUDE, IT'S GOING TO BE 41-39-39-38 next week or some shit.

[st_aurafina]

Lookit the awesome little fluff ball!

Yeah, it's going to be gross - we're usually a couple of degrees below Melbourne, but the difference between 41 and say, 39, isn't really worth celebrating. And the town to the west of us, made mostly of people from Brighton who retired to their holidays homes, are having fireworks tonight, yay. This will be the second time they've tried to burn us all to death this summer.

[nixwilliams]

(Sorry, I know you guys don't want to discuss this further - but what ARE those things? I get them too.)

[laurenthemself]

They're not much of anything, according to my doctor. If they bug you, I've found that antifungal cream soothes them and makes them go away a bit faster.

[st_aurafina]

It is a thing! Don't let him google it.

[tree]

not looking at the comments because i do have trypophobia thank you for the eta! usually i like reading the comments to your entries because you know interesting people.

tahini is gross because it is made of sesame seeds. and sesame seeds are evil. they are trying to kill me. okay maybe not trying. but they're dangerous. people think they're all sweet because they're toasted and stuck together with honey, but NO! it's a trap. don't fall for it.

[st_aurafina]

The bad comment is gone, but if you're feeling touchy, laurenthemself and I were talking triggers in the thread above you, so it's probably safer to stay clear.

Tahini is gross! I'm starting to think that that reason it's always hanging around at the deli is because nobody every buys it. BUT! Sesame seeds are cool, man. They are sweet and toasty and stuck together with honey and they will never hurt me.

[nixwilliams]

Have you tried both hulled and unhulled tahini? Hulled is not as bitter. Or is it the texture? I find the trick is not to add too much to my hummous - like, one dessert spoon per cup or two.

[st_aurafina]

I have tried unhulled tahini - it was slightly less bitter, but still not my favourite thing. I'm going to give sesame oil a go, and maybe try peanut or almond butter.

[lurkingcat]

I keep meaning to read London Falling and then I keep remembering that I have a Kindle full of unread books at the moment... I might just bump that one up the list based on your recommendation though. I've really enjoyed what I've read of Paul Cornell's comics work.

[st_aurafina]

Once I got past the first section, which was actually really muddled and impenetrable, it's very good!

[ruuger]

I'll have to check out London Falling, it sounds like something that I'd like. Have you read Mike Carey's Felix Castor books? They're also set in London, and I liked them more than I liked Aaronovich's books (which I read around the same time) - they're much darker, though, and more grounded to reality, dealing with issues like sex slavery and poverty.