post of things

[kindkit]

1) Over the past couple of weeks, my job has gone from "ha ha, try to get enough hours to live on, sucker!" to "OMG SO MUCH WORK." This is because Christmas is, in retail-land, upon us. I'm glad for the hours but my feet hurt.

2) On my days off I made bagels! This is thanks to wisdomeagle, who directed me to this recipe. If I'd known how easy bagels were I'd have tried it ages ago! I used the brown sugar substitution for the malt syrupt, which I don't have, and made half plain bagels and half sesame bagels. They freeze pretty well, though they should probably either be toasted or reheated in an oven after thawing.

I also cooked braised pork ribs and kimchi, modifying the recipe here and there based on what I had on hand. I used a regular bonito dashi rather than anchovy dashi, regular kimchi that had been around for a bit in my fridge rather than the specially packaged "old kimchi," cayenne pepper instead of the Korean chili flakes (I used a little less than a full tablesoon), and omitted the jalapeno and green onion at the end. I'd have liked to include the green onion but I was out; I think the dish was quite spicy enough without the jalapeno. Though some googling tells me that the cayenne I used is much hotter than Korean chile flakes, so if you're using the right chiles, adding the jalapeno is probably fine. Anyway, despite the substitutions it was very nice.

3) Yuletide! I'm pleased with my assignment and have actually started writing. Hoping to avoid last-minute panics this year.

4) What I've heard about the most recent Doctor Who episode makes me glad I quit watching again. I think I probably won't give the show another try until Moffat is gone, because seriously, Moffat, fuck you and your heterosexual agenda and your loathesome heterosexualizing of the best-supported m/m pairing for the Doctor. Go and fuck off back to writing sitcoms about straight couples, because I'm sick of you.



5) In happier fandom news, the new BBC show Grantchester is pretty enjoyable! And has canon queerness. The mystery plots are meh but it's worth it for the characters, in my opinion. Also the lead actor is awfully pretty, if that sort of thing appeals to you.

Comments

[lilacsigil]

*sends cushions and sympathy to your feet*

I'm breaking in a new pair of shoes right now - they're nurses' shoes so they're super comfortable for a long day but they're not quite right yet. They will be soon though!

[kindkit]

My shoes are pretty old and battered, which isn't helping. New ones are on the agenda for the next paycheck!

I hadn't thought of nurses' shoes--I should probably check them out. I have a pair of men's work shoes I like in some ways, but they're really more designed for industrial protection and are too heavy and stiff to be comfortable for my job.

[wisdomeagle]

Bagels! \o/

[kindkit]

They are excellent bagels, too, much better than anything I could buy around here. The only problem is that eight bagels, I'm finding, do not last as long as a comparable sized loaf of bread would, because they are so yummy.

[lilliburlero]

I stumbled across Grantchester while in England the other day. I suspect it's one of those programmes for which I'm going to enjoy the fic (there's got to be fic, right?) more than the canon material, but James Norton is very easy on the eye. I didn't realise, though, that the book series on which it's based was written by Robert Runcie's son, and Sidney Chambers is loosely based on Runcie. Which feels weird, somehow...

[kindkit]

The books are terrible! Don't be tempted to read them (I was, obviously). Almost everything that's good about the show comes from the script writer and the actors.

I don't know much about Robert Runcie, but I do think it's weird that James Runcie based his hero on his father. It explains, among other things, why Sidney comes off (in the books) as so desexualized.

I don't know if there's fic yet. I've got ideas but I want to wait until the current series is over.

[lilliburlero]

Thanks for the warning! Dept. of disproving wise old saws: I looked at the covers of the novels on the author's website and though I'm not going to like these, am I?

I was a bit young, and not in Britain for some of his time as Archbishop of Canterbury, but the chief impression I've retained of Runcie is of fairly relentless hostility to him from the Tory government and the right-wing press for some fairly uncontroversial 'liberal' stances, like War is Generally A Bad Thing and Christians Should Care About Social Inequality. I think in theological and social terms he was actually quite conservative, but I don't know enough about Anglicanism in general to judge.

[kindkit]

Your description of Runcie sounds a lot like book!Sidney, who is (believably, to be fair) given some opinions that are forward-thinking for the 1950s but pretty oudated now. There's a nice moment in the TV show when a gay man asks Sidney whether his stance on homosexuality (basically: don't ask don't tell, everyone should have the right to privacy!) isn't in effect just a way of forcing gay people to lie.

[lilliburlero]

I think that was roughly Runcie's attitude to gay clergy, as well, actually: privately tolerant but sticking to the party line in public. I wonder if a scriptwriter was taking the opportunity quietly to comment?

[vilakins]

Thanks for the rec; Grantchester sounds right up my street!

[kindkit]

Yay! I'm trying to drum up more of a fandom for it, so I hope you like it. Fair warning though, there's too much focus for my taste (and probably for yours) on the main character's heterosexual love life. But it's good in other ways.

[vilakins]

You're right, but I'll see how it goes.

I hope you're enjoying the latest POIs. I notice they made a reference to Shaw and Root. :-)