Emchap's Shit from the Internet 03/30/22 š
My cat has always been what rescues euphemistically refer to as āchattyā. Though heās scared when new people come in to the house (if theyāre loudāand honestly I canāt blame him, he weighs 14 lbs), once folks are settled down heās never met a person he didnāt want to run away with. When my HOA president first visited, he flopped onto her feet and rolled around, because he is shameless. And along with being sort of aggressively friendly (heāll headbutt you with his whole body weight behind it and do a very goofy somersault), heās very, very loud.
He meows, and if the meows donāt render him the attention he wants, he escalates to horrible warbles that he used to just reserve for situations where I was taking him to the vet. Periodically Iām worried that heās dying in some way Iām unaware of, but itās been going on for 9 years now and he seems alive, so I assume heās just That Way.
Normally this is annoying, but fine. I can deal with the fact that he paws me in the face if I stop petting him, and escalates to putting a claw in my mouth if I ignore him further. I can figure out a way around how he wants to groom me while also sleeping on the parts of my face I use to breathe. But recently, heās picked up a new thing, and itās going to drive me up a wall.
I got one of those alarms that slowly turns the light on over a half-hour period, so by the time I wake up at 6:30, Iām theoretically brighter-eyed and bushier-tailed than Iād be if Iād just been pulled out of full REM. The cat, however, sleeps with me, and as far as I can tell, knows that lights tend to mean that itās time to be awake, because as soon as the light turns on, he starts meowing at me. Iāve gone from being woken up suddenly at 6:30, to being gradually woken up at 6:30, to now just being abruptly awoken at 6:00. The cat seems to regard this as a great success, since when he does this I go pee, and then he can stand by my legs and headbutt them while Iām in the bathroom. (He seems to enjoy this very much.)
Iām curious to see if it dies back down or ramps back up as we head in to summer. At the very least, summer might mean that he stops sleeping directly on my body, which at least means Iāll have full command of all the holes in my face again, and thatās something, at least.
Shit to read
Iām obsessed with Instagram Reels, because they are terrible and the algorithm is worse, and enjoyed this piece about why creators feel forced to make them. Itās fascinating to me that PMs at Meta/Facebook are so influential when they leave, given that the company exclusively seems to make UX decisions that do not benefit users in any way.
And I did enjoy this piece (linked in the first article) about the new IG chronological feed, which does argue for why itās likely going to be unenjoyable anyway.
Loved this piece on the absolute tonal freakazoid nature of Gilded Age.
Why do we need a new show about Juila Child.
I enjoyed this, as someone who bought a weird old condo with heat I canāt control.
AHP, as always, writes compellingly about the absolutely untenable situation of care giving in the US.
Shit to eat
Buy a pound of pork, because buying a pound of lamb makes you feel faintly guilty. Buy wonton wrappers, or the ingredients for dumpling dough, or however else you might want to package your filling.
Drop the pork in a mixing bowl, add a grated half onion, a tablespoon of salt, and a little over half a cup of ice water. Mix in a mixer until tacky; for me this took longer than I was expecting.
If you made dumping dough, spread it out on the fancy dumpling mold you got from the restaurant who made this recipe. If you are me, you will have slightly fucked-up your dough and it will refuse to roll out as much as it needs to, so youāll just sort of awkwardly lay it over part, which is fine too. Remember to flour your dough and mold heavily, which I did not, and which did cause friction.
Alternatively, just get your wonton wrapper pack.
Plop a teaspoon or less of filling into each of the holes in the dumpling maker, or into the wonton wrappers. This part feels like it should be easier than it was.
Wet the exposed dough with a spray bottle or pastry brush.
Put another badly-rolled layer of dough on top, and run the rolling pin over it until the dumplings are formed. This part will be very satisfying.
Flip the mold over and shake until they detach themselves/you detach them because you failed to flour enough onto a floured backing sheet, and repeat until you run out of filling or energy.
Freeze them in a single layer and pop in a freezer bag, or boil them directly. They will cook quicker than you think, and the pork will cook through no matter your particular fears about that fact.
Serve coated in white vinegar and sour cream, which is in fact delicious, and enjoy.
(Adapted from Kachkaās Pelmeni recipe. Watch someone whoās good at making them here.)
Shit to watch
I was mesmerized by this video about what a cooking Youtuber took with him when he moved to Paris, despite absolutely not being the sort of person who would craft a whole kitchen bag were I to move abroad.
Shit to buy
Iām eyeing these towels as replacements for my very soft but slow-to-dry bath sheets.
I bought this dress and am enjoying it very much.