The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Sarah:

Taking advantage of the open thread (and, although I'd love to sit down and chat about emperors, I'm running terribly behind): I recently had a panic attack for the first time. Does anyone have any advice on managing stress to keep it from happening again? Reducing stress doesn't seem to be an option at this point.

Are you a hopeless procrastinator? Learn effective time-management with Robert Bloch's "That Hellbound Train."

You know, I like to think I'm a reasonably worldly sort, but if someone said "smoke, smoke" to me, I suspect I'd look around for the fire.

Lest you think I'm completely sheltered, though, I do know what the "doses, doses" folks mean. Maybe it's a regional thing.

Socks: green, man-sized, miles of ribbing.
Socks: black, lacy, fabulous.
Sweater: black, man-sized, miles of ribbing.
Sweater: green, man-sized, traveling stitches.
Entirely pointless frilly cuffs: green.
Yarn: cabled, beaded, neither black nor green.
Sweater: wee-man-sized, stripedy.
A quilt that's going along at a far slower pace than the child it was meant for.
A writing sample that I should spend more time attending to.

Get well soon, Teresa; I assume you're home, since you're posting?

At the risk of sounding like a stalker, I have a get well giftie, and I need to know where to send it. I promise it's not chicken soup.

This morning I was reminded of the immense sense of contentment that comes from waking up chilly and having one's partner roll over wrap you in his arms because you were shivering, despite his not actually being awake enough to process any of it.

I picked up a library book on a whim because it was near the one I had come to get, and it's pointed me in an entirely new and exciting direction for the paper I've been working on. (Okay, that happened a couple of days ago, but I'm still feeling the smartypants high.)

My son will shortly be turning pi.

Okay, I'm officially depressed for the day: I've been doing okay reading the news and thinking that it will blow over, it's all convention/veep announcement hubbub, and there's no possible way for the GOP to win this time.

And then I heard two co-workers having a chat about how much they loooove Sarah Palin, and how horrible it is that the dems are trying so hard to smear her, and how dare they, and by the way, Rossi is totally going to win this time (Washington state, Governor).

And they were just. so. sincere. They really believe that the mean ol' left is being mean to Palin, and the only actual issue they brought up was abortion, which is very very wrong. (You know what else is wrong? Describing the procedure that we in the sane world know as a "caesarian," and decrying how anyone could kill poor little babies that way. Hi, that's how my son was born. As in, became alive.)

Please, someone tell me it's all going to be okay. Pretty please?

No, sillies, it's a typo. It should say "butter." He's off to Ireland to pick up some Kerrygold.

Deadly Perversions by Brett Arquette was a very thorough example of how to do appalling things to poor innocent words. As proof that I'm just not that bright, a friend gave it to me and said it was the worst thing he'd ever read, and I said "Really? Can I borrow it?" I'm also the one who always falls for "This is gross; here, try it." Sadly, I've since passed it on, and Amazon won't let me look inside it.

Actually, I'm perfectly okay with that.

oliviacw @ 34

Chunk up your butternut squash and steam it a bit, while sauteing an onion and some fresh sage in butter until translucent. Add squash and sauted goop to a pot with stock of your choice. Cook until squishy, then have at it with an immersion blender. Allow the soup to simmer while you saute some fresh chanterelles in butter and white wine. At this point you can either add grated parmesan to the soup, or wait until you take it off the stove and stir in some plain yogurt. Dish up and garnish with chanterelles, or blend the chanterelles in with the rest of it, if you prefer.


The main points here are the squash, the sage, and the mushrooms. It's a versatile recipe, so pretty much anything in your crisper drawer will work okay. I've had good luck with adding potatoes and leeks.

Teresa @ 97:

Carob is disallowed on the grounds that it's been impersonating chocolate all this time and is therefore Not To Be Trusted.

I stopped by the main page just now, and saw three new posts with thirteen comments each. It's probably significant somehow; maybe I should buy a lottery ticket. Or maybe I shouldn't buy a lottery ticket.

Okay, it's been a very long time since civics class: if I want to encourage my congresscritters to get on this, I write to them, obviously, but what do I say? My pretty dang fabulous Representative, Jim McDermott, was a co-sponsor on Kucinich's HR 333, the one to impeach Cheney, but that's been buried - can it be exhumed if enough people apply enough pressure? With all the sound bytes in the past few days indicating that Bush wants to attack Iran before he gets booted out of the White House, I suddenly feel like this needs to be more than just a show, and it needs to apply to Bush and Cheney equally.

Is it reasonable to write to Pelosi to urge her to put impeachment back on the table and to revive HR 333, even though she's not from my state? As speaker, does she start listening to all of us?

Some days I feel woefully uninformed. I need to review my Schoolhouse Rock videos.

Keith @ 73:
For a trip that long with a high-strung cat, maybe your vet can prescribe a sedative? That might make her more prone to dehydration, though.

Keith @ 43:
I was going to tell you about the frozen water bottles, but it looks like that's been covered. Do use the two-liter soda bottles, though - the extra bulk means they will last a lot longer. And wrap them in a towel.

N.B. - Don't overfill the soda bottles before freezing; it gets messy. Water expands when it freezes, donchaknow.

I'll also add my voice to the PNW "I'm cold" subthread.

Claude Muncey @ 44:
My occasional fantasy...
I'm with Xopher - my fantasy involved them taking a trip to The Hague.

I can't help but see this as a good thing, even while I remain convinced that if won't get far.

Kathryn from Sunnyvale @ 15:

A C-section makes me uninsurable? I know there is a higher instance of complications in subsequent pregnancies, but really? That's insane. (As is probably obvious, I haven't changed insurance since my son was born. This could prove problematic very soon.)

Paula Helm Murray @ 10:

Actually, I just looked around, and I can't find my Transitive Vampire either. Are two instances of missing vampires enough to call it a conspiracy?

Andrew Plotkin @ 949:

That's it! Thanks. Apparently I have a hard time separating reality from fiction, then.

I think I'd take scumble over scrapple, but I'm easily grossed out by internal organs.

David Harmon @ 891:
Heck, onions, garlic, and potatoes are well-known for sprouting in closet or fridge
When I was a wee sprout I went to one of those "Pioneer Days" dealies, where the poor people in Revolutionary War-era costumes stand in the hot sun and show you how to churn butter. I was very excited about the spindling demonstration (now that I think about it, that was a very accurate predictor of my current obsessions hobbies), and came home with a potato-onna-stick and some fluff. I stuck it in the closet and forgot about it until the next time my mother insisted that I clean my room. As it happened, I'd just seen some sort of creepy-crawly spider movie, and I reached into the box of junk in the dark closet to find a fantastically sprouted potato trailing its tuberous appendages all over my hand...

I've been a little leery of potatoes ever since, and I find it extremely satisfying to eat them before they eat me.


Carol @ 939:
Scrapple, or headcheese
That's what scrapple is? I'd always mapped it to some sort of strong, apple-based alcohol in my head, although that might be just because it rhymes. Does anyone know what I might be thinking of, then? Or did I make it up? In my head it was a drink significantly stronger than your average hard cider.

Earl Cooley III @ 858:

I don't know whether they sell it pre-beered; I was shopping for cranberry-juice-without-a-bunchacrap-in-it last weekend, and I looked up to the top shelf and there it was, in all its freakish glory.

I didn't actually know that clamato came pre-beered either, and I don't think my life is enriched now that I do. (Is there some sort of evil eye sign specific to really terrible-sounding food?)

Sharon M @ 864 & NelC @ 872:

Thank you both for the pointers. I love that the ebay seller lists them as "rare" even though they're made to order.

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