Dreamwidth Atlantis

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2e2zvlyy38o

"If they would rather die," said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

I really think that's the attitude some NHS officials have towards those with complex needs. Like me.

The two slices I made yesterday. Plan is to cut them into slices and freeze them for later eating.

Pecan Squares

2 cups flour
½ cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
200g butter, cut up

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup golden syrup)
125g butter
4 large eggs lightly beaten
2½ cups finely chopped pecans (note: 1 cup finely chopped, 1½ cups whole - I like the pecan chunks)
1 t vanilla extract


Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl; cut 200g butter thoroughly with pastry blender until mixture resembles fine crumbs. (or blend in food processor until lightly clumpy) Press mixture evenly into a greased 9x13 inch pan, using a piece of plastic wrap to press crumb mixture firmly into pan. Bake at 175C for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.

Combine brown sugar, golden syrup, and 125g butter in a saucepan; bring to boil over medium heat, stirring gently. Remove from heat. Stir 1/4 of hot mixture into beaten eggs [to temper the eggs]; add to remaining hot mixture. Stir in pecans and vanilla. Pour filling over crust. Bake at 175C for 35 minutes or until set. Cool completely in pan or until set. Cut into bars.

--

recipe: dulce du leche blondies

Never tried this one before - the dulce du leche layer wasn't as distinct as I hoped it would be, but I hadn't really done it quite right. However, there was some good encrustation along the edges where the dulce du leche had gone to medium crack.

Made some throw-together pasta - fettucine, tomatoes and garlic (fried together), a couple of shredded basil leaves, a small tin of tunafish (chilli and mango), and a tablespoon of feta cheese to salt it and give it that cheesy richness.

Not bad.

I made bean soup for dinner. The soup is pretty basic, in fact, but the addition of a picada - a Catalan nut-herb mix not unlike pesto - apparently makes the soup.

And then I'm thinking of making some blondies - dulce du leche blondies - since I have the ingredients and baking is usually pretty easy. And I think blondies freeze well, so I could bake a whole tray and freeze some and defrost them later. Maybe even make some pecan pie squares.

Hockey training got cancelled due to rain: also, I wasn't going to go because I pushed my back/butt muscles a bit too much (we drew 2-2 against a more skilled team, even if they weren't as young) and I need to rest them. Maybe even take a nice long bath with salts...

So many things to do, only one night to do them in!

Completed & Online

• Finished moving all of https://www.so-obsessed.com to the new host a couple of days ago and updated DNS
• https://www.xenacentral.com finished about and hour ago, DNS updated and resolving to me already. If you can see  https://www.xenacentral.com/moved.html you're getting the current, moved site!

Working On

• https://gameofthrones.seven-kingdoms.net - started uploading today
  
• https://houseofthedragon.seven-kingdoms.net - waiting
• https://knightofthesevenkingdoms.seven-kingdoms.net - finished uploading (not active yet)
• https://www.seven-kingdoms.net - finished uploading (not active yet)

“Are you sure?” Dafoanairi asked, having figured out what the Enigma intended to do.

“Not entirely, but do you or Ninja Talon have any better ideas?”

“Not right at the moment,” Dafoanairi admitted.

“Um, no,” Ninja Talon added.

Dafoanairi figured that Ninja Talon had figured it out too. “We need to defend her,” she said.

“I’ll do so too,” SpiderGirl said.

Dafoanairi saw that an agent had exposed more of the stone. ‘Trying to bury it in the short time left would be difficult,’ she thought.


The sun began to rise, illuminating everyone there.

“Now, you’re going to witness something.”

“That’s, like, what you think,” the Enigma said. She then concentrated as she tried to telekinetically lift a large amount of soil nearby.


Dafoanairi watched as the Enigma strained. ‘It would take at least ten minutes to get her home if she exhausts herself,’ she thought.


The Enigma strained and realised that she was trying to pick up too much soil too fast. She settled for just ripping up a sheet of grass.


“How long can you hold that up?” Osborn asked as he watched the grass block the rising Sun.

“Long enough,” the Enigma said, although she wasn’t sure.


But the lack of sleep that night had taken its toll on her and her hold on the grass slipped after another half of a minute. “Sorry,” she murmured to Dafoanairi.

“We’ll have to….” Dafoanairi started before the Enigma let go of the grass and leaned against her in exhaustion. ‘She’s not as out of it as before,’ she thought.

The stone glowed as the sunlight hit it. The mound started shaking.

“Uh olh!” SpiderGIrl said.

“Finally!” Osborn said.

( Read More )

You know how sometimes you enter a fandom by the fanfic doorway?

That's me these days.

I mean, it was me back 20 years ago reading my way through Mulder/Scully fic in the X-Files fandom, which I hadn't watched since around S2. (The alien 'oil' freaked me out at the end of S2 and I never ended up going back. Horror and suspense are not my oeuvre.)

But I have very fond memories of reading my way through...golly, I can't even remember the fic archive anymore. But there were a number of "Virtual Seasons" and some fics that were very good - full episode types. Some better than others, obviously, but I still carry the gist of them here and there.

Anyway, more recently, I've read a Heated Rivalry fic or two, but my latest 'go through all the fic' obsession is Avatar: the last Airbender but specifically Zutara fic. And since I haven't seen the series all the way through (I watched Book 1 and maybe got a little way into Book 2, but never got to Book 3), then the AU doesn't bother me. Not that AU has ever bothered me when I'm talking about a pairing I like.

For this, I'm mostly blaming Pinterest, which has turned out to be more addictive for me than Tumblr. I go to FB because I want to know what's going on in my 'real life' friends lives; I go to Threads because it keeps me up to date with world events...and educated about the milieu of life beyond my experience. I scroll through Insta for pictures and sometimes 'turntables' of information and crafts and art and oddities.

But Pinterest has turned into my fandom exploration space. Mostly because all the Tumblr theories end up there, but algorithm'd, not just off a friends feed.

And, after a decade of Maria/Steve and maybe 700 fics, about 1/6th of which I either wrote myself or inspired, it's so nice just to wander into a fandom, plonk myself down, and get to read the best of some 8000 fics without having to create anything myself!

It's true that I've belonged to other fandoms with pairings with a decent amount of fic about my favourites (BBC Merlin: Arthur/Gwen had a reasonable amount, and Bridgerton: Kate/Anthony still has its proponents), but this is ~8000 worth of fics where people have extrapolated four seasons (and a lot of tie-in material) of a non-canon relationship and come out with some beautiful results!

I don't read much in the fandoms I write anymore - as I had to say in the 3weeks4dreamwidth friending meme - "specifically [insert female character here]" because so few of thoe fandoms had a focus on the (usually secondary) female character.

It's true that I'm not getting much sleep, cos I'm too busy reading 100,000 word fics. But this? This is fun.

I feel like I haven't had fun in fandom for a while...

3rd May: https://www.deviantart.com/brenorenz/journal/Church-notes-3rd-May-2026-1328736435

10th: http://fardell30.deadjournal.com/349936.html

17th: http://fardell30.deadjournal.com/350883.html

17th
Evangelism
One beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.

Luke 15:1 - 10
Lost people matter to God.
vs 1, 2
The Pharisees and Teachers of the Law muttering about who Jesus was associating with.
God's heart is broken when His children are lost.
vs 10

Luke 15:11 - 32

Therefore they should matter to you.

You can share the Gospel and be yourself.

As there are many ways of teaching, there are many ways to be an evangelist.

Peter - Confrontationist
Paul - Intellectual
- Acts 17:22, 23
Blind Man - Testimonial
- John 9:25
Matthew - Friendship
Samaritan Woman - Invitational
Dorcus - Service

Ephesians 4:7 - 16
Roles
- Apostles
- Pastor
- Teaching
- Evangelism
- Prophecy

We are all called to be evangelists
Matthew 28:18 - 20

Acts 1:8

2 Timothy 4:8
Do the best you can

God has given us the responsibility, to tell other beggars where to find bread.

(I am so behind in responding, I always am. Hopefully some catching up tomorrow.)

I'd read Good Omens and enjoyed it and the TV series, though I'm not a huge fan of either Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman.

Enjoyed the second season okay, though thought it was a little erratic. I can see the appeal of the Crowley/Aziraphale, though they're not one of my pairings. I do love wings. And Staged, those two as supposedly their real life personalities are adorable.

I watched the third season of Good Omens on Wednesday night, to make sure I didn't get spoiled. I knew that it had gone from being an entire season to one movie because of the allegations against Gaiman and wondered how they would work out. The creator stepping back must have thrown a lot of chaos into the process.

Spoilers, hopefully cut texting correctly:

( spoilers )

1. How often do you hear live music?

Not very often. I never have been much of one to go see bands or even concerts. A few musicals. The occasional concert by an artist I enjoy. And sometimes bands on a Saturday night down at the pub back in university days.

These days? Very rarely.


2. What was your favorite live musical performance ever?

I don't know if I remember this one with fondness so much as just it's the strongest memory I have. One night after university computer lab, a couple of the people I'm working and doing uni with say they're going to a bar in town to celebrate the 18th birthdays of a couple of the guys we work with. The two of them room together, and their birthdays are back-to-back. It's not my usual scene, but I figure I should really do more socialising with this group, so I agree to go along.

It's a dive bar. On a Wednesday night. In a university town. Kinda quiet, but there's a band on stage that's doing rock covers from the 80s. The floor is an old nylon carpet and we're not going to think about how it's slightly sticky underfoot. The lighting is dim, there's about a half-dozen of us, and after a drink or two, we're singing along with the band who takes it pretty well.

They invite the birthday boys up to sing the Eagle Rock, but somehow end up singing Hotel California. I am served a triple-rum-and-coke having admitted to the others that I don't really drink, and they think that it's hilarious to get me an excessively alcoholic drink for my 'first drink'. The 2xrum&coke is foul, and someone else ends up drinking it. I go for a wine cooler, which is sweeter and easier on my palate. We bawl songs until it's midnight and it's the birthday of the second guy, and then we keep going for another hour.

TBH, the performers weren't standout. But I remember the night the best, simply for the hanging out and the friendships.


3. Do you play an instrument, or sing?

I play piano, I learned flute and tuba, and I sing - happy birthday, at church, in the car, on the karaoke machine.


4. Have you ever performed music onstage?

Does karaoke count? But even without that, yes, I've performed at concerts and eisteddfods when I was younger. Not for three decades now, but then it might even be years since I've touched a piano.


5. Who is your favorite musician?

That's a tricky one. Modern or classical? Artist or musician? Live, recorded, without autotune?

I can't choose. I love them all - Beethoven and his Ninth, Elgar and the Engima variations, Chopin's Impromptus and the haunting notes of Tchaikovsky's opening to Swan Lake. There's Queen's Rhapsody and P!nk singing about falling into trust, there's Billy Joel crooning smooth and sweet and Deborah Harry declaring she wants that man, there's Rihanna singing about being unfaithful and Anna of Cleves rmeinding us that she's the Queen of the Castle... I remember going to see Roxette and Offspring, singing with U2 in the car - raised by wolves | stronger than fear | when I close my eyes | you disappear...

You can't make me choose. I carry it all in my heart.

I'm trying to organise a weekend away, first weekend in June. Only had the idea last week, sent an email out, got about a half-dozen interested people, but the price of accomodation is going to be the sticking point.

Just sent out another email to check budgets, will have to wait to hear back. I'm pretty sure at least two women, and at least one couple will come - their finances are reasonably in order. The others... I'm not sure.

Oh well, if it all collapses, I could drag a couple of friends out maybe. Just do a day trip on the Saturday instead maybe.