Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I was definitely expecting this to be about sex.

There are also two kinds of kale, dinosaur kale and curly kale. Most often people are referring to curly kale in the US when they talk about kale. Both are good but curly kale is where it is at.

There are tonnes more varieties of kale than those two! :) Red Russian is my favourite. The leaves are sweet and tender.

Roommate's boyfriend was here from Thursday through this morning. It's exhausting having a semi-stranger in your house for days. I feel like I didn't get anything done, because I couldn't come upstairs without being talked to. And he's kind of a snotty yuppy and was rude to our friend who visited, so that didn't win him a ton of points.

I'm relieved to have my house back.

I should've said that there are two kinds that you'd see in the US commonly. Well a 3rd would really be a purple version of the curly kale but it tastes pretty much the same as green curly kale.

Most grocery stores will carry curly kale in the US, the Lacinto/Dinosaur kale is seen once in a while and the purple version of the curly kale is also seen once in a while.

I hate Oregon Duck fans.

I'm on season 4 of Breaking Bad now. This show is SO GOOD.

I went to see one potential dog today. The woman was nice and obviously loved animals, but I think she had way more than she could properly care for. There were lots of dogs in muddy pens outside. Some of the long haired ones were a bit matted. Not terribly so, but they definitely weren't getting adequate grooming. She had the collie we were looking at in the house, and had obviously sprayed her with a ton of doggie perfume, I think to try to cover up the fact that the dog was dirty and smelled bad. The woman definitely wanted the dog to go to a good home, which I think may be why she has so many dogs (being very picky about where they will go). And on one hand, I'd like to get the dog out of there. But I just didn't feel any sort of connection with the dog. And I really want to make sure I'm getting a healthy dog, because I just can't deal with another pet illness/death right now, and I'm not sure a dog from that house would be free of issues... I don't know. I think the woman was under the impression that we would be adopting the dog right away, but I need time to think. And next weekend we're going to Connecticut to see another collie, so I want to see that dog too before I make any decisions.

I just got the following gem of an email:

"Kirsten,
Sorry I just noticed I’ve been getting your name wrong and have been spelling your name Kristen and not Kirsten.
[Client's name]"

I'm not sure how to respond since neither are the correct spelling of my name... My name is in my email address and in my signature, so I'm thinking that if I don't respond at all and he eventually notices, he's just going to feel stupid and know I didn't respond because I didn't know how to do it without pointing out that it's still wrong. I don't even care if my name is spelled correctly. I gave up on that a long time ago (I correct spelling a pronunciation if it's important that you know it, but if you're just someone I'm going to interact with for a short time, I just let it slide.)

to be fair, most people just click on email addresses and don`t type them or even see them. [ETA: not that it isn't annoying!!]
if it were me, i would probably say "you know, i hate to correct you, but since you were so sincere and nice about wanting to get it right, it's khrysthin. I really appreciate you trying to get it right." (and i would only do this because the corporate communications stuff i work on is based on this sort of clear communication, and if i didn't say it i would not be practicing what i preach)

It turns out that making banana pecan bread using pumpkin pie spicing is genius. I'm probably on elf the last to know this, but, damn it, I wanted pumpkin bread yesterday, but only had a pile of increasingly ripe bananas.

Also: fork Molly. She is being a revolting bully, chasing the tiel away from the apple dish. I have no time for that behavior. I put Molly in her cage, locked up, to ponder her sins for a few minutes. I wish the sweet tiel would tell Molly where to stick it. The tiel is bigger! But she is too sweet.

Oh, I know he's just clicking 'reply.' I just wonder if he'll eventually actually look at the address or (more likely) the signature and notice and go "D'oh!" It really doesn't matter at all in this case; I just wonder which way is potentially less embarrasing.

Oh crepe. I forgot about Molly.

So, now instead of understanding that she was punished by a 5 minute lock up/time out for being a mean bully bird, her little conure brain thinks she was unfairly persecuted and abandoned for half an hour.

omg! I actually happened to send a message to a girl named Kristen (or was it Kirsten? I can't remember)

I'm playing Half-life 2 (set in a dystopian future), and I came across an in-game object that is a cast iron skillet, and the first thing I though was the I wanted to scrub it up and make it top notch cook ware. I think I'm missing the point of this first person shooter.

oups - I meant:
* the SAME message

i wish i could figure out how to put on makeup without turning into a cross between my mother in 1987 and a drag version of miss havisham. both are strong positives in the appropriate context, but my average day is not that context. i spent over an hour trying to make something happen today, and in the end i just washed it all off.

What are you trying to do, and what are you using to do it?

I'm not at all an expert, so I keep it simple. I love bold lipstick, so I'm pretty good there. Use a clear liner so it doesn't bleed and blot it to soften the color. For days when I don't want to have to check on lipstick, I love the sheer moisturizing lipsticks. I love the Chanel Rouge CoCo. They are vegan, but not cheap. I just stick to two colors though, so the price doesn't bother me--my fall color is a plum called Bonheur. I love it; the texture is so soft and exquisite. And, since it's sheer and balm like, easy to reapply without a mirror. I'm sure there are dozens of alternatives that don't cost $28. I love liquid lipsticks too; those are easy to find vegan.

For eyes, since I'm hopeless, I just do one color and apply lightly. Even if my application sucks, it's sheer enough to not be noticable. I'm getting better with eyeliner, but I still only do it on the outer corners to add some definition.

For bronzer and blush, my favorite sales assistant told me what to buy (assuming its the only one I'll ever buy and will wear every day) and then patiently spent an hour showing me what to do with it. I just have the one color of blush--a sort of peachy, watermelon pink that can be applied sheerly. I'm very, very pale, so a tiny bit goes a long way, and since it's natural looking, it will work with anything else that I use.

I save my adventuring for lipstick.

So, there you go! Makeup advice from a completely clueless person! But, I get compliments so etimes, and nobody has laughed, pointed, and made raccoon or Tammy Fae jokes, so there is that.

i think the problem is that i hate makeup, and i've never worn it, but i also hate looking like a sallow old ragbag, and i'm slowly beginning to accept that i will have to get over my objection to one or the other if i ever want to feel o.k. about leaving my apartment again. i'm also uncomfortable about looking exactly like i remember my mom looking when i was little and she was getting ready for work, but i'm setting myself up for failure by asking makeup to do anything about that. i have become her. there is nothing to be done about it. bold lipstick isn't the answer for me; the last thing i want to do is attract attention. i really do appreciate your advice, though.

I wasn't suggesting bold lipstick for everyone. Just that that is where I go less conservative. I'm not going all out in eye makeup, so I'll rock red or dark lipstick if I want.

How about starting with a nice quality tinted moisturizer? It will even out your skin tone and "wake you up" a bit. I started wearing a sheer foundation last year, and I like it. I definitely look more awake in the mornings. You could also add a tinted balm.

With those, you'll just look like you, only a better version of you. No need to slather on piles of product to look or feel good! I'm sure you look great without anything.

Why? That sounds HOT.

It's sort of funny that you say that, because there are moments when I'm looking in the mirror when I have that "holy shiitake" feeling because I look a lot like my mother when she was younger. She didn't wear a ton of makeup, but she always wore mascara when she had a big meeting at work, so sometimes I get that creepy feeling when I put on mascara.

Anyway, if you hate makeup but want to "freshen up" your face a bit I would keep it very light. Get a tinted moisturizer that matches your skin well, and apply a very LIGHT layer of powder over it using a brush (too thick and you get that cakey/scary Miss Havisham look, so go easy). Maybe a little bit of nude or lightly-pigmented eyeshadow and mascara. Slightly tinted lip gloss. shiitake like that. It doesn't totally change the look of your face, but it can make you feel a bit more "put together".

I've decided that arm hair stubble is the funniest thing ever.

Well as long as her name isn't Kirstin, you're doing fine.

Ugh I guess my going to bed at 2am followed by going to bed at 3-4am the next night just caught up with me. I must have been under a fake tired-high or something earlier, now I just want to go home! (I work for another hour)

Wow, I didn't realize until just now that Netflix censors its content. That's stupid.