April 11, 2024

The robins are back!

 

April 10, 2024

Today is the 10th anniversary of my legal name change. A five minute hearing at Pgh's City County Bldg. in front of an old Irish judge named O'Reilly, who spent most of the time cussing out the two attorneys who helped me (thru a pro bono initiative called the Name Change Project) for cheating on their service requirement. I went to a SSA office after that to change my legal gender designation. The past ten years have been challenging, but I can honestly say that I'm happier than I've ever been.

April 10, 2024

I've had this poinsettia for about a year and a half. I lost the last of the red leaves (blossoms?) sometime last year -- summer, I think -- but the plant itself had doubled in size (at least) by then, and is still that large. Over the past few weeks, I've started getting some new red leaves. This is the biggest cluster.

 

April 8, 2024

This past weekend's foodie fun chez moi.

1. Dessert first: fig cake
2. Fig cake after a little mouse helped herself
3. For lunch: pork bowl with lotsa goodies in it (shredded/thinly sliced cabbage (red and savoy), carrot, red pepper, garlic, fresh ginger, honey, rice vinegar, etc.)

😋

 

April 6, 2024

After an 11th hour change in plans, I decided to go see Dune 2 last night. I haven't seen the first film, but know the general outlines of the story, so I was able to follow along without any major problems. The film is visually stunning, and I also really liked its slower pace -- the fact that it took its time letting things unfold rather than trying to feed the adrenaline junkies in the movie-going public. But I otherwise can't say that I was wowed by it. In terms of its script and acting, Dune 2 felt like Avatar made by the Game of Thrones production team with a less hamfisted Great White Father racial overlay. Having only read part of the first of the novels when I was a teen, I'm curious how much of the latter comes from Herbert's trilogy. (For a comparison, without a radical rewrite, Lord of the Rings is marred by Tolkien's racism and arch-conservative politics.) In any event, Dune 2 is good escapism, and for $10 at the Manor with a can of Guinness for company, it was a fun way to close out my Friday.

April 1, 2024

Foodie fun chez Stas this weekend:

 

1-2: Rhubarb crumble (in process and completed)

 

3: Trader Joe's latest weird fruit: a Mayan ball melon, which is basically a honeydew with racing decals

 

 

March 27, 2024

The manufactured outrage continues: TDOV is on March 31 EVERY EFFING YEAR. The date Easter falls on CHANGES every year. If anything, Christians are trying to troll our observance. But I'm inclined to say that the calendar is big enough to accommodate both celebrations in the same 24 hour timespan. FFS.