We had dinner with friends. I’m allergic to turkey, but there was plenty else to eat.
What WE had as a follower: made another spaghetti sauce. Here’s my personal recipe:
Spaghetti Sauce
3 pounds ground beef.
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
4 tsp dry basil
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp powdered clove
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp red chili flake
dash of cayenne
dash of allspice
heaping TBS chopped garlic in oil
SEAR beef.
Then:
can tomato sauce (standard size canned goods can)
1 can tomato paste. (small can, not big one)
I tomato-sauce can-ful of water.
Bring to boil
let rest an hour
then add:
2 cans tomato paste
sufficient water. About 3 cups. Add more as needed.
Simmer for, oh, 3 hours checking periodically for need of water.
I’ll confess the spaghetti sauce recipe I grew up with varied some, but Lawry’s Spaghetti Sauce spice packet (2) were a basic ingredient. — I’m told that when my mom was pregnant, a neighbor whose husband was Italian brought over homemade spaghetti, and this was, surprisingly, the only thing my mom could keep down at that point. The other thing was, that Italian neighbor’s family would put whatever might be handy / leftover in with the sauce, as vegetables. A small amount of carrots were mentioned, as was a small amount of potato. I don’t know, I’d presume that was overwhelmed by the tomato and meat and spices. — One of my former, best regular cabbies had an Italian (Sicilian) grandmother who made nearly everything by hand. He said a small amount of spinach was typically added to their spaghetti sauce as an herb/spice more than any primary ingredient.
I once tried adding veggies, including a couple of stalks of chopped celery and carrot and a couple of bell peppers. I like olives, so black olives, pre-sliced or chopped, typically go in my sauce. — The veggies worked out surprisingly well, but yes, that lent a more “vegetable” undertone to the sauce.
My mom was a chili-head, without being so-called. — She would add a little more tabasco sauce or chili pepper sauce, to her serving. We did typically put a little Tabasco sauce, and/or a little cayenne, in the sauce. My mom would sometimes have jalapeños on the side in later years, haha, to eat with her spaghetti.
(And I just saw I need to get more grated Parmesan and Romano cheese for spaghetti or chili next time.) — I needed a Wolf brand chili and cheese fix earlier this week, haha.
I’m copying that recipe to try soon. That sounds good!
As I write, Shu and Finity are playing chase, thumpity-thumpity through the house, in fun, not wrath. This is good.
No surprizes this month! You knew this was coming, didn’t you?
Paul, your seasonality is a treat!
Thank you.
I don’t know why, but for some reason, not only the red, but penguins in green or blue seasonal attire appeal to me too. Though somehow, cyan seems appropriately seaworthy and continental. Or maybe I’m just getting in the mood to watch Happy Feet 1 and 2 again. Heh. — Hmm, a penguin stuffed animal did make it here to the apt. I think I should get him out for the season!
Happy holidays, Paul and all. It’s slightly cooler here, but not really cold enough for it to feel much like December. — At least it is not still 80°F, which it was a few times in November. That just feels wrong. At that point, I expect penguins and reindeer and polar bears to go surfing or something…. LOL. Aloha, Yule All!
Distracting, but very good!
Much better than Tanner yowling.
Kitty games—how nice. May there be many more. It brings a happy smile to the home.
I had to share a smile. — Just now, outside, there are a couple of very little kids playing, accompanied by adults. The elementary kids are running around within earshot elsewhere. No knowing about the teens.
The little one was playing and gave this vocalization I don’t have any word to describe, a very satisfied, happy, chortling, grumbling, chattering sort of sound. Not any kind of word-sound to it, pure feeling and vocalizing, sound-making because the little one felt good. Oh, that sound could be awfully pouty or it could be very stress-making for the adults, if the mood were pouty or angry or sad, unhappy. But this was pure glee, and casual, and I had to smile with a sort of snort of amusement at the strange sound.
By the way, I’m never quite sure if a “smirk” implies a silent sneering or amused expression, or if it implies the stifled snort or frisson that we make sometimes, amused. I tend to think a smirk covers both, but then that would need clarification if I were writing that a character smirked. Did they make that sound or only the facial gesture? Heh.
I wonder. Within that little toddler’s chattering, grumbly, yet very happy vocalization, if that also led to the first use of words Among our early, almost-human ancestors. The onomatopoeic sounds we make, plus things we intentionally make sounds for, seem to lead toward words. The babbling human babies do seems to be a human-only type of thing. (As far as I know, the other great apes don’t do that, and we don’t know when or if early Homo genus ancestor species started babbling.) But somewhere in there, our photo-human ancestor species went from sounds with very limited meanings, sounds for warnings or for voicing emotional content, to that moment when some single or few hominids first spoke a word that had a conscious meaning to it, a concrete thing, an idea with significance attached, a noun or a verb or both, and from there, on to stringing words together like babies do when first learning to talk.
The little toddler’s funny sound reminded me of that, in among all the more meaningful English and Spanish out there, from the adults doing their thing, to the kids playing, doing their thing, raucous and wild and only a small step away from our pre-human ancestors, in some of the things young kids do when playing. (Screeching, in particular.)
So…it was just a moment no one around probably much thought of. But at least the little one and a couple of adults and another kid or two were enjoying themselves, in among the car repairs and everyday talk going on.
As I’ve written this, people are heading in to rest or fix supper, likely. Quieter for a little bit. — There are times I don’t mind the extra noise at all, like then. That’s just the noise of good living.
Hmm, the upstairs neighbors must not be here today. It’s been quiet all afternoon. No clomping about upstairs. (Oh, thank heavens.)
Heh, that little one has no idea he or she just gave away one of the secrets of how our whole species gained language, from whatever few individuals to across the whole species and around the globe. …Now if only we could be a little smarter than we think we are, and not so destructive. Have to count myself in that “we.” I’m prone to it too.
Have a good week, y’all. Good to hear the cats are having such a good time. That’s much more like it should be. Maybe Tanner can integrate now, even if it takes a bit more to get him in with the others and feeling good about it. Bless him. Quite a lot he’s been through, and yet he has a better situation than he knows, and he’s just not quite ready for that step to join the others, to include himself in. … Hmm, I could resemble that more than I think….dang it. Bless the little guy. I’m glad he has such a good home, and glad Finity and Shu and Sei are feeling like playing together.
Now four days since I last saw Curry. I’m feeling less attached, but if and when I see him next and he sashays in, well, OK, kitty. That’s how you want it, and I can live with that. As long as he’s OK, that’s what matters. Hoping he’s fine out there. At least the weather’s decent; chilly tonight, cool to cold this week, but not down near freezing. So I’ll look for Curry when I see him, as the saying goes.
Meanwhile, Goober is very much enjoying monopolizing the attention and the food. Heheh. He knows what’s good. He _likes_ being an indoor cat. When we moved in, he took only a couple of looks outside, determined that was, oh, not for him, and has only rarely shown any hint of wondering what’s out there, mostly when he hears other cats; but otherwise, oh, no, thank you. The domestic life for him! 😀 But he’s a very senior kitty now, so that’s best for him now anyway.
Uh-oh. Tomorrow morning, I get to report a small, slow leak in my kitchen. I can’t tell for sure, but I think this is from the ceiling again, somewhere near the light fixture, as about two years ago, when around New Year’s, the ceiling fell in (!!) and had to be repaired. I think this is a recurrence. I don’t see any trail where it’s come from the wall by the washer or dryer, or the dishwasher and sink, or the refrigerator. That leaves the ceiling. It’s not enough to see any water actually dripping. But, eegad.
So it needs to be repaired, and whatever’s causing it is a recurring problem. Oh, joy.
I am not at the point I want to move elsewhere, which I was a few months ago. But I may look for other apartments or town homes around here. I don’t think I can swing a rent-to-own home now. Sigh.
But…I really do not want the ceiling to fall in again. This was from pipes above meetups, not my own usage or fault. Just…yee-ouch.
This also means a call to those erstwhile friends, in case I need help or have to move. Felgercarb, frak, and frell.
Had Thanksgiving Dinner on Saturday evening rather than Thursday, as my Sister-in-law is a Nurse Practitioner and worked the night shift at the Pediatric ICU. Saturday was a better day as both of their sons (and associated girlfriends) came up to Columbus. The younger nephew lives in Raleigh, NC, and the older lives in Cincinnati. After dinner, my brother broke out a bottle of exclusive bourbon for us to sample, and to raise a toast to the older nephew and his girlfriend’s engagement. One unwritten rule at these dinners: NO POLITICS. It’s been like that as long as I’ve been invited, and this year was no exception. With 7 people at the table, the conversation never lagged, though.
I hope everyone had a great week and that the coming holidays are great.
Mom and I had T-dinner with long-time friends. There were other guests besides us — his Japanese bookkeeper and her two girls (5 and 2-1/2) and an unrelated man (his friend but not so much hers). Unfortunately, politics did rear its ugly head. My mom agrees with their politics; I do not. Seeing as how the male guest had been showing off his assault rifle earlier, I kept my opinions to myself. The food was excellent, however, and the children were refreshingly well-behaved.
Well, gee. I launched the new-ish font editor this morning. Oh, an update is available. Do I want to install it? Sure, thanks. Oh, but wait, after the install, I discover that’s not free. I can buy the upgrade from the previous version for $99. I discover this, only after trying to enter my existing license key. (That’s the upgrade price with the existing license. For older or other programs, you can pay more, up to the full price.)
Do I feel like paying $99 when I didn’t know I was going to be charged for the upgrade? Well, not really. Not right now, certainly. Bills and groceries are a higher priority.
If I can still used FontLab VI, I am going to do that, convert the source files over to the new formats, and try to import those into the other new-ish and cheaper editor, Glyphs Mini, which has a better licensing / registration strategy, and see if I can get that to work. I may just ditch FontLab entirely. Every time I’ve upgraded, there’s been some weirdness involved with the registration key, such as the time I had to call and speak with someone twice, to get the registration keys they provided, one right off the box, and the other via email and orally by phone, to work.
And — If I’m going to have to pay for an upgrade, I might do that, but _tell_ me so first. Don’t spring that on me afterward. Underhanded. I looked back at my records. I purchased FontLab VI as an upgrade from 5, in January of 2018, and I’d purchased the Fontographer upgrade before or after. $99 is better than full-price or a monthly subscription (which costs you far more). But…dang, tell me beforehand, so I’m not given a nasty surprise when I try to enter a bought-and-paid-for and very legitimate serial number key for the version I have.
Other companies, except Adobe and Microsoft and probably AutoDesk, no longer do this this way. Glyphs Mini is available from the Mac App Store, and once you’ve paid, you’re good for upgrades. If Mac App Store apps later come out with a very different version of the program, you sometimes pay a reasonable fee for that, but they may offer a discount to people who already own it. BareBones Software, who make BBEdit, a very long-standing Mac text editor (programmer and otherwise) dating back to the 1980’s, have a very reasonable upgrade system, but yes, I’ve paid for it when needed, and sometimes it’s pricey and usually it’s free.
I’m not thrilled with FontLab already about having to import all my old files and save to the new formats, with no easier built-in way to do that, and a tedious file-by-file process, just to be able to work on those again, each of which can be weeks or months of work.
So…I may ditch FontLab this time. I’ll have to see if I can still use the “old” 2018 version of FontLab VI. If so, good, and I’ll decide later if I want to pay for the new version or not bother. Leaning toward, enough is too much.
(LOL, and why did they go from 5 to VI to 7? Why the Roman numerals? Aside from an allusion to Mac OS X or the vi Unix editor, there’s no real reason to use Roman numerals these days. It is the 21st century. Hindu-Arabic numerals (the ones we use, base 10, with that very handy zero and powers placeholder) makes more sense. But you know, marketing people have rather different minds. Heh.
I thought I had the right file formats, so I could export from FontLab VI and import into Glyphs Mini. But no, Glyphs Mini doesn’t want to open either one of those. Aarrgh. Now I have to go through, try another format, and see if it will do that more directly, if I can get it to export the entire file (rather than a few characters) into the proper file format.
For anyone following along: FontLab VI .vfc and .ufo files apparently are not readable (openable) by Glyphs Mini. My two best options now are to try to get it to export directly to Glyphs format, or else to import the output .otf files. — And because I thought I had the right file formats, I just spent a few hours over a couple of days doing file format conversions. I guess if I end up buying the FontLab 7 upgrade, I won’t have lost that time, but, oh, dang. (And ordinarily, I would’ve tested a couple of files before doing everything. But I thought I had this right.) Nuts.
So I’m going from Fontographer .fog files, to FontLab VI .vfc and .ufo files, to Glyphs Mini .glyphs files. — One at a time, lots and lots of files. And FontLab wants me to open from within the program, not from the Finder (like Windows Explorer). So this takes extra time and steps, not a handy batch process. They rarely do that anymore. Very frustrating, and my eyesight is getting in the way. I have a lot of work put into this. I don’t want to have to stop, as fonts still seem like my best chance at an income. But I am going to spend more time writing, and I am likely going to get that electronic plan keyboard for my birthday, if I still think I can afford it then, to give myself a possible outlet for income, after learning it. I am so, so frustrated with my situation. And I still have not found the eye doctor’s documentation from wherever I had put it before the Great Reshuffle of boxes. Nuts. Unhappy, discouraged, telling myself to keep at it, but, dang it all.
Speaking of ‘Star Trek future’ — D. C. Fontana: 1939 -2019
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/obituaries/d-c-fontana-who-helped-shape-star-trek-its-first-n1095211
🙁
D.C. Fontana’s great work on Star Trek and other shows was some of my favorite viewing, growing up and beyond. I hadn’t realized how many shows she was involved in. Besides Star Trek, I was a particular fan of Fantastic Journey and the two Witch Mountain films, back in the 70’s as a kid. (Fantastic Journey has never made it onto DVD or BluRay or streaming online, except via YouTube, ported from VHS tapes.)
She would have been 27 when Star Trek premiered on TV in 1966, and 30 when the moon landing occurred. She was 6 years younger than my mom and 9 years younger than my dad. I wanted to work out the comparison.
What a great talent. Sorry she had to go. Best wishes to all those who cared about her and whom she cared about. I hope there is something better in whatever worlds await us next door, beyond this one. May she have a grand adventure exploring.
Tonight will be a week since I last saw Curry. I think I’ve heard him twice, fighting or mating, but he hasn’t come around, or I have missed him. I stopped calling for him a couple of nights ago. I think he is still out there.
Goober has been spending lots of time with me, now that he got the idea he has unlimited access again, no closed doors, and that I wanted him with me specifically. Less time in his favored sleeping spot in the living room, a cart that, instead of for storage space, has become his. (And sometimes Curry’s.) Goober is enjoying the attention a lot, and I am very glad to have him, now more aware than ever what a blessing he is, a mild and loving cat.
I wish Curry well. If and when I see him again, he’ll still be welcome. But the shine kind of wore off when he left last before eating. I am not even sure why it got to me emotionally, or why I got the feeling it was different. I hope he’s OK, and maybe he’ll be back now and then. But I think now, he is a visiting cat, a former old friend, and not still the connection I had thought and hoped for. He wants the freedom he has outside, and doesn’t see life with Goober and me as what he truly wants. So, well, it’s his life to lead, not mine. I just wish he wanted to be with us, a friend to both, a third member of the team or family or crew.
It is sunny today and cool to chilly, mild enough with a jacket. So he is as OK as he can be, outside. But it is not the kind of life I would wish on anyone, cat, dog, or human. Bless him.
At the risk of sounding mean, maybe it’s for the best. Curry obviously didn’t want to be an inside only cat. Catching him to get him fixed and the BB removed, especially with your wacky ride schedule, was problematic. You can now put the money you saved on the neutering and BB removal (and furniture repair and cleaning!) towards something else.
That’s not mean, it’s pragmatic, realistic. I have been struggling with my mixed feelings ever since Curry got so angry and aggressive wanting out that first time, and dinged me with his claws. Really, if he’d been only inches off, he could’ve gotten my eyes. Instead, he got my ear, minor, it bled and healed up in a few days. But after that, I had to be practical, and it shook me up. When I took him back in and resolved to let bygones be bygones, well, that seemed OK, but I was still mindful of what he’d done, and that he could do so again.
So I have been back and forth about my feelings towards him and the situation it presents, with him in and out, more than has shown in my posts. So yes, I’ do have that other side going on, less sanguine about him, and I’ve been trying to determine which of my various feelings on it is the right thing to do. I still haven’t quite forgiven myself about Smokey.
Curry plainly doesn’t feel as attached to me as I do or did toward him, and that’s something I’m having to face still. If he really wanted to, he could surely figure out that he could meow at the door to get in. He’s loud enough, I’d sure hear that! He had been hanging around before, since I kept finding him or he kept finding me. So, dang it, he knows how to find me and how to get in if and when he wants.
It was a sign of how disgruntled I’ve become, that I’d stopped calling for him a couple of nights ago. So I guess in my own weird way, I’m coming to some acceptance of this. Its’ just this big difference between how I wanted things to work out versus the real world and the fact that, hmm, you know, someone else can really and truly want something entirely other than what I want. Heh. Which I suppose I needed a reminder of. I think I’m supposed to learn something from this and from how I did with Smokey, and something about how it applies to me, to my current and future situation.
The dryer and the old sofa are still here, still not out. — I’ve got to call again to get the blinds and the porch light done, but surely that’ll be done by the end of next week.
I can’t get myself to buy the electronic keyboard. I feel like relearning to play could give me a needed outlet and a potential for income, but I’m wary of spending so much. I’m also very wary of buying a new dryer. The futon, I may do once the old sofa is gone, but I’m even reconsidering that. — And I have got to find where the blazes that paperwork from the eye doctor got to, as well as for the storage space, so I can move forward on those. Or I need to get a new eye appointment and start from there. My eyesight isn’t going to wait forever, and it’s a real stumbling block for me lately.
I spent today doing font source file conversions, and I’m still not done yet, but maybe by Friday, I’ll have all the source files converted into the formats I might need. It’a a pain in the posterior. I am worried how well I can use the new programs, due to my eyesight these days. The work I’ve got on these fonts is good, and I want to get these done if I can.
Writing — I keep getting stalled out. Something’s got me blocked, whether it’s overall worry and frustration, or whatever it is. But I need that as a possible route to income, plus a creative outlet, just like the font work.
So — Yeah, Curry is his own cat. I can’t make him want what he doesn’t want, or love someone if he doesn’t. There’s that age-old problem, be it pets, or friendships, or family, or a couples relationship.
I am, uh, also trying to remind myself I’m supposed to be a grownup, here. I should know better. If Curry wants something else, OK, Ben, move on.
Whatever will be, will be, and who knows what’s ahead? I am trying to remind myself to be positive and look ahead, and maybe there’ll be something better down the road.
Anybody want ringside seats? Maybe I should sell tickets. Or alternatively, anybody want to adopt me and rescue me from this life of, uh, whatever this is? No, probably not, huh? Just asking.
There is a heated argument or something going on, at least two women, plus other people I think on the periphery. Not sure what it is, but they are not happy with each other over something or other. There was a brief outbreak earlier and then it quieted down. But I guess now they’re back for a rematch. I don’t know. Luckily some distance away. But oh yeah, it’s on, and plenty of cussing, whatever your favorite cuss words are, it sounds like they’ll appear multiple times. Sigh. I think even the kids around here are used to hearing or saying cuss words.
However, they aren’t hitting yet. And maybe I’m misunderstanding and they are not after each other, but angry / upset over something or someone else. Not sure on that point. I thought they were arguing with each other.
Not everyone around here acts like that, fortunately. But people are prone to some things more than I’m used to. I guess it’s just me, raised differently and sheltered, not too used to how most people live. Both good and bad, not being used to how most people live in the real world.
It’s a quarter till midnight. Maybe they’ll get tired eventually and go to bed. Doesn’t sound like they/d go to bed with each other. I suspect the problem is, someone else may ave gone to bed with someone, or something along those lines. Sigh. Which, you know, you could sort of hope would make at least the two people involved happier. But not necessarily the third or more, I guess. (That seems to work that way, regardless of orientation.)
OK, guess I’ll be up a while longer, then. Can’t sleep with that racket going on. — If those people have kids, I feel sorry for them, having to hear that up close.
I don’t suppose they could just arm wrestle? Mud wrestle? OK, kinda chilly for that, but…. Yeah, probably no boxing either. Dang people. If you can’t stand each other, then stay away from each other and don’t bother each other. Isn’t that simple enough? Man….
Where is that handsome prince or stable boy or cowboy or whoever, when I need him? Or he needs me? Dang it. I wish.
Oh, go to bed, y’all. Crazy people. No brains. So how come I’m not doing better either? — LOL, now dogs throughout the complex are barking. Great.
Just please don’t get worse and go beyond verbal fighting. Man….
No, it’s not you, BCS. I’ve never heard an out of control argument from another home, but I’ve never lived in, only visited, apartments. And I’m way in the suburbs, not an urban area.
Here, the sheriffs are usually Marines and nice. I wouldn’t hesitate to call them if I thought an argument was getting out of hand. But, things aren’t so chill in a lot of the country.
I’ve heard a few, in the apts I’ve lived in. The people generally were given the choice of keeping it down or moving out – though in the more egregious cases, they were told that they had to leave. (Yelling after 11pm was bad enough. Screaming cussing was worse.)