Familial ties through food porn

My sister loves YouTube. Having cut the cable cord a few years ago, she turns to it as her primary source of video entertainment (though we watched PBS on her digital antenna TV most of the time during my recent visit). So, she sends me a lot of YouTube links, most of which I view when I’m not saddled with work or in the midst of family time. Except for cute animal clips and reviews of Chicago places I’ve not yet visited, the YouTube links are largely cooking videos.

With my husband getting acclimated in a new job in recent weeks, I’m trying to take up more of the dinner responsibilities at home. So I decided to catalog some of the better cooking videos I’ve received, which I plan to try at some point. Even the Spam mayonnaise rice.

More to come. She sends a lot of video links.

February photoblogging challenge, Day 16: REST. #mbfeb

Three-day weekends are generally not made for congestion and head colds. Except in my world. 🤧

“Trump did not specify which of the 11 species of badger he especially wanted to understand.”

On the Catholic blog: Memento mori, friends.

In other news, you’ll find random theological quotes and an occasional observation of my own at my commonplace book project, Rosa Mystica, now no longer in soft-launch mode.

I was a contractor for 5 years; before that, I spent more than 2 decades in the news industry. Three or 4 years into my current, conventional, full-time job, I’m still not quite used to having a holiday off, and actually being paid for it.

February photoblogging challenge, Day 15: BALANCE.

(It’s probably not been obvious at times, but a lot of these are from my stockpile of photos over the years. This one is from August 2016.)

February photoblogging challenge, Day 14: WARMTH. #mbfeb

Farm boy makes good in the big city

I love a good obituary – or at least an obit that makes me feel good. Here’s one from The New York Times: “A Beloved Neighbor Leaves the Building.”

Charles’s Midwestern sensibility and practicality served him well — both in the city and in our co-op, where he had a calming effect during stressful times. And when he gave you a cantaloupe or a honeydew melon, you knew it would be perfect.

Because I am too lazy to reboot my limited coding knowledge or acquire more – and because life is too short – I’m simply telling people to read more on the blog.

I’m sure they’re nice pups, but standard poodles at dog shows make me cringe. That said, this made me appreciate Siba, this year’s Westminster Kennel Club champ, more than I care to admit.

“It’s funny to see the Sanders 2020 campaign as the fulfillment of Ron Paul’s dream, yet here we are.”

Fascinating piece here on the debate over female deacons in the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy’s “pretty fierce division” on the matter, and how the issue could either draw the churches closer or further separate them.

February photoblogging challenge, Day 13: RISE. As in, “Watch my sister’s kitten rise to the occasion.” #mbfeb

“Anyone can write a long book. The grace of brevity is much more dearly bought.”

TODAY! This makes me happy. And it almost makes up for the crap weather predicted for later this afternoon.

February photoblogging challenge, Day 12: ATTACHMENT. #mbfeb

Perhaps the mice and roaches who shared our newsroom back in the day will enjoy the new luxe condo environs in the old Tribune Tower.

Jonathan V. Last in The Bulwark, quoting a friend on Trump and Trumpism: “Like a preacher with a Rolex and a private jet, he beckons you to believe in his vision.”

Posting this from Alan Jacobs (@ayjay) on Twitter. Brilliant.

"Let’s bring the tomboy back, without taming her"

Lisa Selin Davis, writing in her New York Times op-ed piece, “Bring Back the Tomboys,” in which, among other things, she traces Billie Eilish’s tomboy bonafides back to Nancy McKeon’s character in “The Facts of Life”:

These were often my favorite characters, living examples of the feminist zeitgeist that told me I did not have to be feminine to be female: I could, and maybe should, dress and act like boys and have access to their domains. … The pop star Billie Eilish offers a refreshing twist: Through her affinity for oversize hoodies and pants and her confident, offbeat swagger, she provides girls an alternative to the overtly sexualized pop singer. I’d like to see even more of this — the return of Jo and her descendants, alongside the representations of strong, feminine girls and nonbinary and trans people. Girls who claim all the traditional traits of masculinity they want, girls who fix motorcycles or play drums or wear short hair.

February photoblogging challenge, Day 11: PLAIN. As in plain water, on a plane. Somehow, I found this to be a tough prompt!

I can’t believe I overlooked this bit of political reporting from a year ago. But what about the best comb to use with hot dish?

“… increasingly unhinged U.S. centrists announced Monday their plan to round up the nation’s populace into camps to force them to engage in meaningful dialogue.”

BBC News: “The CDC points to a wide variety of driving forces behind suicide … But it also highlights a common factor in the majority of American suicides: a gun.”