Weekend Warble 324

In Which I Blather About My Weekend

This weekend has mostly been filled with writing, but I've got some video game, food, and other thoughts to share lol.

I'm watching some shows to help with research on the wrestling book, but I'm also watching other shows to help with another project. If you've been hanging around me, you probably know that I don't believe in ghosts (or, at least, not in the idea of a physical spirit which is released from the corpus upon death). I believe fully that there is such a thing as a haunting. I believe that people have seen and experienced some stuff. I don't believe in angels, demons, ghosts, or spirits. Hauntings are your brain trying to cope with an overload of information. We only have limited experience, limited instinct, and limited understanding, so when, say, a house we know people have probably died in makes weird noises or has strange shadows or drafts, our brains fill in the details with something like ourselves. We're social animals. We look for other humans, and when there aren't any, our brains try to make people so we don't die of loneliness. That's why we personify everything from bloodstained volleyballs to pets to toast with unusual burn patterns. We want other people (yes, even introverts).

We also don't like things we don't recognize.

So we add our innate desire to see other people, our dislike of the unknown, and our innate understanding that literally anything can kill us at any time including our own bodies, and you get a bizarre set of reactions and overreactions to external stimuli, simulating what we call "haunting".

I'm sorry. It's probably not really your grandma you're seeing. It's probably your memories replaying and trying to form new connections, craving what is familiar. It's probably your mind and heart trying to heal from loss.

That's all to say I've been watching a crapload of Ghost Adventures and Ghost Brothers. Mechanically, GA is a far better-constructed show, but if you're going for entertainment, you cannot beat GB.

And the only reason I'm watching them is so that when I write about the ghost hunting group I've got on the back burner, they're believable.

So far, it's looking like I can pretty much do whatever I want. I've learned that with few exceptions, the leader is usually pretty sanctimonious and deeply paranoid, there's one guy everyone craps on who follows along for whatever reasons, and there's someone who should probably be on meds because no one sane drinks in that much woo.

It's always dangerous to write about people you find annoying, though, so here are some of the things I like about these shows:

• These shows tend to increase tourism whenever they go somewhere, so they can be a great economic stabilizer for these "haunted" towns
• I've never seen them litter
• There's at least a surface-level attempt at learning and disseminating real history from locations, without pretending that lynchings aren't murders or saying that a supposed Native American haunting targeting white people (usually middle-aged or older, I've noticed) aren't warrented.
• While there's an overuse of outdated terms (like Indian :|), there are attempts being made to not be dicks about other people.
• Actors are getting paid to do reenactments, and that's always good.

Now, I'm also watching a lot of wrestling to work on my wrestling novel, and someone on YouTube has just added a bunch of vids of behind-the-scenes stuff and satellite feeds from WCW! This is great, because now I have a better grasp on what goes on before the cameras are beaming out to the public. It's also really fun to watch Mean Gene get annoyed with unprofessional crew behavior.

That's my tv habits from this week.

For gaming, I have a few things to talk about!

First of all, I suck at the Trials of the Sword quest in Breath of the Wild. I've gotten to the next to last floor, but... it was all for naught. Dead. Every time, dead. I gave up and now I'm going through Hebra. I'll get Revali's Gale and then blast off to the desert to grab that sweet, sweet lightning (and to finish leveling up my armors...), maximizing my hearts along the way, and then I'll try again. If I can get the upgrades to the Master Sword, then I'll try to go for the Champion's Ballad DLC. I'm pretty sure it won't end well for me lol.

I've also been playing more idle games on Kongregate, including a fun little game called Loot Loop Loot. You play as a character going through a map until you die, gaining skills and loot as you go. It's fairly straightforward, but if you get good at it quickly... it can be pretty short. It took me a week to beat, and that's with me barely paying attention to it.

Since I play a lot of Breath of the Wild, you can probably guess that I've also been greedily consuming all those multitudinous Zelda Theory videos you can find on YouTube. You'd be right. I'm ravenous for them. Here are a few things I've been noticing, myself:

• Yes, if you play the teaser for BOTW2 backwards, the singsong voice is singing "poor Hyrule, for Link has found the body/Poor Hyrule, for Link is gone". And it's freaking me out
• Have you noticed that part of the Castle theme towards the end of BOTW is kind of a variation on the theme for Link's Awakening? Because I swear, it is. The low brass that comes in sounds like a dark version of the theme. Which makes sense, since you're "awakening" both Calamity Ganon and Zelda...
• Do you think that the Stables are modeled after Malanya, or is Malanya modeling himself after the stables? Also, if Malanya is a god, does that mean the Great Fairies are also gods? And is the Horned Statue one of these Old Gods who was naughty and got locked away? Is it going to be a part of BOTW2? How will the fairies and Malanya fare in a World of Malice (which is what BOTW2 is rumored to involve).
• Speaking of the World of Malice theory, what if, instead of being just the same Hyrule, blanketed in evil jam, you're literally transported to a straight up Malice Hyrule - kinda like Lorule or the Dark World or something, where you have to cleanse that realm before returning to save Hyrule? I mean, Ganon would get a kick out of chucking both Hero and Princess out of Hyrule as has been done to him before...
• Since there's a new Zonai theory out right now, here's a thought in addendum to it: what if there were multiple "barbarian" tribes? The Zonai were clearly warlike, but their worship at the Spring Of Courage tells me they were likely closer to Courage than Power. The Lomei were clearly Wisdom-based (their labyrinths!) and likely comrades of the Ancient Sheikah (or perhaps they had housed their own shrines or something in each labyrinth), but who were the last Tribe? The Tribe of Power? Were... were they the ones who became the Bokoblins?
• Uh... Zonai armor is made from Lynel bone. The Zonai were badass enough to slaughter Lynel for armor like we would slaughter cows for hide armor... What were they protecting themselves from??

That's my Gaming Thoughts for this week.

And for food...

Guys, I like food.

I really, really like food.

But I only really like to cook if no one else is home here, and that's not really feasible during Lockdown, even with regulations lifting.

That being said, I'm working my way slowly through a bunch of snacks my partner gifted me, and boy, do I have one thing to tell you:

I do not like fishy fish.

Give me tuna any time, but if I ever so much as smell a sea bass snack again, I'll hurl. Not my thing. Not even the cat's thing - she picked it up, spit it out, and kicked it across the kitchen.

That being said, I really, really liked the mentai-flavored corn snack I had (mentai is cod roe). It kinda tasted like sweet Doritos.

So aside from gorging on tasty Japanese snacks and drinking way too much coffee, I haven't done much food-wise. I've baked some bread twice for my partner, and if you know how to make a quickbread, that's what I did. If you don't, then just look on the internet - it's almost as easy as a box mix, I promise.

I have been watching a lot of YouTube vids on Thai food, so the urge to cook Thai food is strong. Perhaps one day soon... Regardless, I have seen a lot that I want to try making, so here's the easiest recipe I found on Facebook this week:

WENDY'S FROSTY TASTE-ALIKE:

• 1/2 gallon chocolate milk
• 14oz can of Eagle Brand milk
• 8oz tub of Cool Whip

Blend together until smooth, then place in freezer. This mixture should not solidify fully, but remain constantly at Frosty consistency!

That'll do it from me, guys!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Weekend Warble 323

This Weekend Was Hard

I want to state firstly that I'm gonna delve into exactly why this weekend was hard, but if you're not here for that, you can stop before the break. Compassion fatigue is real, and if you are at your limit, you shouldn't feel bad for skipping the end of this blog. Keep yourself going. You matter.

Here's the light part:

This weekend I received a few packages from my partner, who decided that I needed snacks and who I am eternally grateful to. In these packages were a big bag of Japanese snacks I'm working my way through slowly (so far my favorites were the green apple konjac jelly cup, the grape konjac jelly tube, and the Texas Corn!), a 4lb (1757.7g) container of M&Ms, and an 8-pack of homemade pretzels from Kentucky that are just as good in the microwave as they are in the toaster oven, taste faintly of honey mustard, and are bigger than my ding-dang hand! These snacks are a lifesaver, since I haven't really been able to get to the store lately. Some friends of mine also sent me a lovely cloth mask that I'll be using to pick up some bottled water and/or juice later this week, I think.

I haven't been watching much tv or many movies, though I learned a bit about a failed Gilligan's Island follow-up and I've been watching both a PPV for the blog and a lot of Ghost Adventures for research purposes (story idea). I've been writing a lot, I've been practicing my digital art, and I've been crocheting.

I've played so much Breath of the Wild lately, because it's the only thing that has been able to keep my attention. I've tried to play quite a few Kongregate games, but none of them are keeping me focused, which isn't the games' fault. There's a lot on my mind.

I enjoy cooking, and I did actually make more quickbread with Everything Bagel mix for my partner, but I didn't cover it. I might eventually make some Soda Bread for home, but between the pretzels and the fact that it vacillates between 80℉ (26.7℃) and 60℉ (15.6℃) I haven't really felt the need. Also, I have to see if I can use one of the lidded casseroles to stand in for a Dutch Oven, which I don't believe we actually have here...

So this weekend was productive, just not maybe blog productive, lol.  It's been a lot of practice, novel progress, and listening to Dandy Wellington.

***

Now for the heavy:

It's been a bad weekend across America. Our 400 year history of screwing over people of color is really coming up, and it hasn't been pretty. People are dying. Police are killing people. A reporter was blinded by police who targeted her. A very old man was shoved down by police for the crime of walking slowly with his cane. It's... not good.

I hope there is progress made. I hope the officers involved in George Floyd's negligent homicide are charged. Not stopping a fellow officer from taking a life for no reason - no one was endangered by Mr. Floyd, who was accused of passing a counterfeit $20 (a nonviolent crime that anyone could commit by accident, think about that) - is, I believe, a crime in and of itself.

Now there are protests across the nation, and just like in the 1960s, when there were righteous protests filled with angry people who were tired of being commanded to die for no reason (Vietnam), angry people tired of being beaten and abused by society (people of color), people who were tired of being mistreated for their very essence of being (LGBTQ folks), and so many more people who were crying out for justice, these protests have been met with violence by the police. Just as wretched are the people who are obviously unconnected to the protests themselves who go about committing arson and looting and acts of violence of their own - the Umbrella Man with his very suspicious tactical gear, the old scumbag with the bow and arrows (trying to murder protesters!), the white morons with their automatic weapons, the white monsters starting the riots themselves while black organizers scream and plead for them to stop...

It's a terrible mess. It's a terrible time.

I suppose we never learn.

There are good things to focus on, though.

There are the hundreds of law firms who see the protesters who have been arrested (not, likely, the actual looters and provocateurs, if I had to guess) and are offering pro bono services.

There are doctors, nurses, paramedics giving advice on how to treat the most common protest-related injuries (chemical burns from tear gas and pepper spray, bruises, light dislocations, etc), offering confidential medical assistance.

There are people passing out water so no one gets dehydrated.

There are people who are using their voices.

Hopefully there will be justice for George Floyd. Hopefully, there will be justice for the reporters who have been beaten, bloodied, one with her (thankfully non-dominant!) eyeball exploded by a rubber bullet despite her obviously not being a threat. Hopefully, there will be a disarmament of the police, because as we see time and time again, the more weapons you give a person, the more often they will use those weapons, whether they need to or not.

I have hope that the people of America will (eventually) start doing the right thing. That we will destroy the systems that allow men like George Floyd to be held down until they die, or that allow police to destroy the private property of citizens without regard, or that allow police to slaughter women in their sleep (Breonna Taylor). This has to stop.

Black Lives Matter.

FC

Weekend Warble 321

Apologies for the Radio Silence...

What a whirlwind weekend it's been here in Quarantine/Social Distancingville! Let me give you a brief rundown of what things have been like since Thursday:

• I was an exhausted, sleepless mess on Friday, spending most of the day watching silly YouTube videos and playing Breath of the Wild.
• My mom made roast chicken for dinner that night.
• Saturday, I was so tired that I'd become dizzy with exhaustion. Been a while since I've done that.
• The roast chicken was reworked into a delicious leftover-based dinner!
• Despite the sleepiness, however, I managed to write over 200 words!!! That, I credit entirely to a very productive and enjoyable digital work session with my partner. <3 li="">
• Today, I helped my mother fix one of our windows, which became weirdly angled in its tracks. It took the better part of two hours to wrestle the dang thing back into the right position. Tilt to clean windows are great, but they pose their own risks lol.

So I mentioned a leftover-based recipe above. You want it? I give it:

CHIKKY BIKKY BAKE

• Leftover cooked chicken
• Chicken Gravy mix
• herbs & spices to taste
• Frozen Corn
• Onion
• Cooking Oil
• A biscuit recipe, prepared

Do you have your grandma's drop biscuit recipe? If you don't, just find one online. They're usually pretty simple. You don't really want a firm, cut biscuit recipe, though, so don't pop open the Pillsbury or whatever - you want to splat that dough on at the end, so hold off on it until you've got everything assembled.

1. Pre-heat the oven according to your biscuit recipe
2. Shred up that cooked chicken as thick or fine as you want, then dump it into the bottom of a casserole dish in a more or less uniform layer
3. Sprinkle the gravy mix over your chicken - use as much or little as you like! Then add maybe 1/4 the water it calls for, throwing in any herbs or spices you like and think would go well (like thyme, for instance). Smooth the new chicken/gravy mixture out into a nice layer.
4. In a saute pan, drizzle some cooking oil and cook up some frozen corn and diced onion! You can use any veggies here, though you'll want to par-boil any potatoes if you use them. You want the onions to get translucent and the corn to get soft.
5. Dump your veggies on top of your chicken, spread this layer out gently so that it's still on top of the chicken
6. Remember your biscuits? You want them to be a little wetter than your recipe calls for, so add milk or water (whichever liquid your biscuit uses) until it's just a bit easier to move around. You want it to be able to easily cover your casserole dish of meat and veg.
7. Once your biscuits are plopped/spread over the casserole, you want to pop it in the oven for about the same time as you would if you were just straight-up making biscuits.
8. Watch this like a hawk! Don't let these biscuits burn!
9. Once the biscuits seem done to you (they're the only thing uncooked, after all!) take this puppy out and let cool just long enough to be edible.
10. Spoon this tastiness out and gobble it up!

I'd have a photo for you, but we ate the food so fast there wasn't a chance to photograph it!

And once you're done eating, if you're looking for a game to play, may I suggest Idle Mine Remix on Kongregate? It's a simple clicker game with a lot of random chance to it. If you like that kind of gameplay plus simple graphics, go for it!

That'll do it for me today. I'll go back to sipping my coffee and griping about the hole in my sock :P

Go Enjoy Something!

FC