When it hurts, it's good to be reminded we're all capable of treason

[sovay]

I have just finished eating a bowl of homemade corn pudding (Indian pudding, make a hasty pudding with cornmeal and molasses and in my case goat's milk and then bake until either it sets in the middle or you can't stand waiting any longer) with pumpkin ice cream, which is probably the most autumnal, New England thing I am going to eat this season unless someone lets me near a cranberry bog. It was very satisfying and just as I was feeling pleased that neither cat had come to investigate, Autolycus woke up with his little detective hat on. The mystery is why, if a fresh carton of goat's milk was opened in this house, none of it was given to him. I have been feeding him kippers all day from my personal store, so his moral high ground has less guilt-weight than it might otherwise.

I am feeling somewhat overwhelmed by all the things I have not done this month, both in the sense of desire as well as obligation. Time seems to be moving faster than I can do anything with it, which I know is not a fair reading of the situation: I am not exactly suffering from a surfeit of unused free time which I am simply failing to make profitable use of, or whatever the latest version of the Protestant work ethic is supposed to sound like. It's wearisome; it's not new. I may be mourning the loss of autumn even more than summer. Summer we were braced for; autumn is a theft. Not enough ocean. Not enough trees. Not enough walking in the wind.

In case you have not seen that Tom Lehrer has placed all of his lyrics in the public domain, he has and I think it's cool. There are songs on that site I've never even heard.

Comments

[selkie]

You always pick very relevant song lyrics. If you need me, I’ll be in Georgian England, but as always, do wake me if there are coups or zombies or something.

The way you starve and neglect those house panthers. He hasn’t eaten since Shavuos and you withhold sustenance. There ought to be a hotline; there ought to be a law.

[gwynnega]

The corn pudding with pumpkin ice cream sounds delicious. I suppose Autolycus wanted a goat's milk digestif after those kippers.

[cmcmck]

Pumpkin ice cream sounds so good!

[moon_custafer]

Is Autolycus’ detective hat a little deerstalker or a little fedora? Also I’m reminded of this: https://www.thebeaverton.com/2017/07/glowing-red-dot-still-large-warn-cat-detectives/

The decorated cat law enforcement official spoke frankly to an assembly of cat journalists, many of who wore small fedoras with tiny press passes, as he recounted the “red dot” investigation.

[asakiyume]

I remember taking a visitor from Japan to a cranberry bog at harvesting time--it was cool. Pinker than I imagined it would be.

Wakanomori shared with me about Tom Lehrer doing that. I love it. Thank you, Tom Lehrer.

[asakiyume]

She does! Someone could do an anthology of Sovay subject lines.

[phi]

I am feeling somewhat overwhelmed by all the things I have not done this month, both in the sense of desire as well as obligation. Time seems to be moving faster than I can do anything with it

*hugs* If it helps any, you are definitely not alone in feeling that way. You are under an enormous amount of external stressors, and I hope you can find a way to be gentle to yourself.

[sovay]

Someone could do an anthology of Sovay subject lines.

They come mostly from music or movies!

[troisoiseaux]

Time seems to be moving faster than I can do anything with it

Time is DEFINITELY moving in bizarre ways this year.

[asakiyume]

Oh I know! But I like them as single lines, and the thought of a collection of them appeals to me.

[sovay]

You always pick very relevant song lyrics.

Thank you.

If you need me, I’ll be in Georgian England, but as always, do wake me if there are coups or zombies or something.

No, just horrendous judicial bullshit that makes me continue not to understand why these people weren't dead a long, long time ago.

There ought to be a hotline; there ought to be a law.

You'll be glad to know that Hestia came in at ten this morning and made the needle-tipped biscuits until I made with the wet food.

[sovay]

The corn pudding with pumpkin ice cream sounds delicious.

I had made corn pudding several times in our previous apartment, but we weren't sure I had ever made it here, which means it might have been at least four years since the last time. It seemed a good time for it.

I suppose Autolycus wanted a goat's milk digestif after those kippers.

Autolycus considers goat's milk an always food.

[sovay]

Pumpkin ice cream sounds so good!

I like it a lot as a flavor! I wish it were more available year-round.

[sovay]

Is Autolycus’ detective hat a little deerstalker or a little fedora?

I was picturing fedora.

Also I’m reminded of this

"Frodo then played surveillance footage of the red dot, which prompted several cat journalists to leap out of their tiny chairs and paw at the screen."

Thank you.

[selkie]

Oh you're awake good you can first brace yourself and then feel a wellspring of joy and delight when you DuckDuckGo "Mitch McConnell hands."

*teethface*

[sovay]

I remember taking a visitor from Japan to a cranberry bog at harvesting time--it was cool. Pinker than I imagined it would be.

My elementary school once took us to a cranberry bog on a field trip, but I can't remember which one or where, except that it had to be somewhere in New England and most likely in Massachusetts. I want to say there was a boardwalk through the wettest parts of it. I loved the colors and the smell of it.

Wakanomori shared with me about Tom Lehrer doing that. I love it. Thank you, Tom Lehrer.

I appreciate him very much.

[oracne]

That sounds yummy. I have never been to a cranberry bog, but I love getting bags of frozen cranberries and tossing them into fruit crumble.

[sovay]

Oh you're awake good you can first brace yourself and then feel a wellspring of joy and delight when you DuckDuckGo "Mitch McConnell hands."

Is this going to be like Rudy Giuliani and his zombie hand? Because even that phrase had not prepared me for the photographs. [edit] That is worse than Giuliani's zombie hand.

May the rest of him catch up soon.

[selkie]

....It depends how often you see 3-5 day old room-temperature prone corpses with sloughing.

*teeth like sharp little gems nice nice*
Something's gone very bad with his circulation. If they were my hands, I'd be in a hospital.

[sovay]

Time is DEFINITELY moving in bizarre ways this year.

I found myself referring to the early spring as "before the March glaciation."

[sovay]

You are under an enormous amount of external stressors, and I hope you can find a way to be gentle to yourself.

Thank you. I'm trying. It's just really difficult. I lose entire weeks to pain and I like October.

*hugs*

[minoanmiss]

That hasty pudding sounds incredible! IS there a more specific recipe or is that basically the method?

Oh, cats. I have been reading about cat domestication, specifically, how cats domesticated us. ahahaha.

[sovay]

That sounds yummy.

It's a very simple recipe. We use 5½ cups of milk, 1 cup of molasses, ⅔ cup of cornmeal, and spices—cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove—to taste. Whisk together all ingredients in a heavy saucepan of suitable size and simmer over medium high heat until mixture thickens; continue to simmer, whisking constantly, until it has achieved a thick cereal consistency, like oatmeal or grits, about 15 to 20 minutes total. Turn off the heat and stir in a dash of vanilla. Turn out into a thickly buttered glass baking dish of suitable proportions, 8-by-8 in our case. Bake for 90 minutes at 325 °F. The pudding is done when the center no longer quivers when the dish is shaken. It will have an impressive, almost caramelized skin on top and can be eaten as soon as you won't scald your mouth, which the ice cream helps with.

I have never been to a cranberry bog, but I love getting bags of frozen cranberries and tossing them into fruit crumble.

My family traditionally makes a cranberry cake for our annual Halloween party, which of course we are not holding this year, so I might just make cranberry cake on my own.

[sovay]

That hasty pudding sounds incredible! IS there a more specific recipe or is that basically the method?

See above to oracne! It really is "make a hasty pudding and then keep going." We use equal amounts of cinnamon and ginger, slightly less nutmeg, and a lot less cloves. You get a lot of flavor from the molasses itself.

I have been reading about cat domestication, specifically, how cats domesticated us.

That I entirely believe.

[sovay]

Something's gone very bad with his circulation. If they were my hands, I'd be in a hospital.

I just want them to finish literally-metaphorically rotting in time to have an effect on anything, like my future survival and legal personhood!

[selkie]

I have asked M the Spook if his lights and liver are in the same shape. I will of course share the tea.

[oracne]

Thank you for the recipe!

[sovay]

Thank you for the recipe!

Welcome! Autumn food is important food.

*

[minoanmiss]

*makes a note*

Thank you :)

Re: *

[sovay]

Thank you

You're welcome!

(I like the quince. I like quinces, generally, but I like this one you drew.)

[pameladean]

I am so sorry about autumn. It's so unfair. We too are feeling deprived. In addition to a blizzard on October 20 (hardly unprecedented but never ever welcomed; the Norway maples, deliberate things that they are, hadn't even finished turning gold), there are supposed to be three autumnal hikes. The first is full of darners,both gathering for migration and hastily mating before it's too late. The second is full of meadowhawks. Hasty trees and shrubs like sumac are turning; oaks and most elms and birches look on indulgently in their green mantles. There are lots of mushrooms. The third has some bare trees and the rest brilliant; there are confusing fall warblers but seldom any more dragonflies. We got the last this year but not the others. I am grateful for the last. And yet.

Raphael calls the provision of a share of certain foods to the cats their customary vails. The cats think there are more than there are.

P.

[sovay]

We got the last this year but not the others. I am grateful for the last. And yet.

Yes. It's not the same. I am sorry the blizzard took out your maples on top of losing the darners and meadowhawks.

*hugs*

Raphael calls the provision of a share of certain foods to the cats their customary vails. The cats think there are more than there are.

Aw! Cat math is always in cats' favor.