Tuesday Timeout

I come from an extremely talented family. The generations that preceded mine were scholars & singers & artists & craftsmen, & the generations coming after mine are even more talented.

This website belongs to my niece, Sophie. It’s a nice place to hang out on a summer’s afternoon. The artwork is fabulous. I wish I could draw like that!

But the articles are informative & her blog is cool, too. The whole website rocks. Check it out! You won’t be sorry.

link here ~~~~~> https://sophieaanerud.com/

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Saturday Caturday

Baby powder paw prints coming out of the bathroom. Yeah, I know I need to clean but I’ve been busy with other things lately, like writing a novel & hanging out at Buffalo’s Greek Festival at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church 🙂

These paw prints belong to Radar, my bathroom buddy.

If Only You Could Have Seen the Bumper Stickers on the Back of a Ford Taurus

I’ve seen cars like this, too.

Wondering Eagle

It took my breath away and was a window into evangelical culture and the culture wars. And it was in a parking lot in the Strasburg, Pennsylvania area where I saw it. An evangelical went overkill on a Ford Taurus with religious bumper stickers, and I was stunned by what I witnessed. Apparently it is also an effort to evangelize. I will just say this, evangelicals I just do not understand you. 

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The new imitation game

I hate capitalism, part infinity

language: a feminist guide

In the early days of this blog (which is eight years old this month) I wrote about Ashley Madison, an online service for people seeking opportunities to cheat on their partners. It turned out to be a scam, taking money from men to put them in touch with women who, for the most part, did not exist: they were invented by employees and then impersonated by an army of bots. Linguistically the bots were pretty basic, and some men became suspicious when they received identical “sexy” messages from multiple different “women”. Most, however, seem not to have suspected anything.  

I thought of this when I read a recent piece in the Washington Postabout a California startup called Forever Voices. Its founder John Meyer predicts that by the end of this decade,

most Americans will have an AI companion in their pocket…whether it’s an ultra-flirty AI that you’re…

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Is SCOTUS About to Screw US?

The bad guys won.

his vorpal sword

As I write this, it’s May 23, with perhaps a month less in the Supreme Court’s season.

The court has taken no interest in the massive corruption scandal brewing around it, but, worse, a HUGE number of cases remain unresolved.  26 cases have been resolved, but 36 cases remain. We have never seen anything like this.

And given SCOTUS’ penchant for destroying the fabric of American society, this has to be troubling.

May 25: SCOTUS Guts clean water protections.

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Daily wisdom from Julia Cameron, 25th of May

I don’t know who Julia Cameron is but I really like this.

Emerging From The Dark Night

One day it was revealed to me that everything is pure spirit.

Ramakrishna

Body and Soul are One.

There is no separation between body and soul. One essence, one unity, runs through all of life. This essence, the Godforce is completely pure, completely perfect. I claim for myself the perfection of this divine force. My body is beautiful, sacred, and beloved. Spirit infuses my body with radiant goodness. I experience vitality, enthusiasm, energy, and power. My physical nature and spiritual nature are one and the same. My body’s needs and urges are divine in origin. As I listen to my inner guidance, I move to mote and more perfect health, more and more abundant energy, more and more positive thoughts, feelings, and actions. My physical body is a conduit for my spiritual health to flow through into the world.

Julia Cameron, Heart Steps

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The Best Chocolate Cake Known to Man

In the comments section of my birthday post the other day, there was a discussion about favorite cakes. I said that the chocolate cake I had made was “the best chocolate cake known to man” & the recipe was requested. I pulled the page out of my recipe notebook & scanned it.

My recipe notebook. I have two other folders, stuffed with recipes, that need to be put in the notebook, but as you can see, there’s no room! I need to do some seriously weeding &/or get another notebook!

I found this recipe on the side of a Hershey’s Cocoa can in 1971. I was eleven years old & already loved to cook. Baking has always been my thing. I have a killer sweet tooth. I rarely have anything sweet nowadays but that craving is always with me. I’m an addict at heart. I admit it. I can get addicted to almost anything at all.

The cake is called Black Magic Cake & it is magical. I’ve seen this recipe many other places with many other names. If you shop at Wegmans, this is their “signature” chocolate cake. It’s a very simple recipe.

I typed this up many years ago on an IBM Selectric at one of my many office jobs. As you can see by the cocoa stains on the page, it’s been well used! The pen notations on the right side of the recipe is if you want to cut it in half. This is what I did the other day, since I knew I couldn’t eat a whole cake & I didn’t have enough people to share it with.

Half a cake. Depending on how you cut the squares, you can share this with 6-8 people, many even 10-12, if the pieces are small. This cake is wicked rich, so small pieces are advised! However, it’s also wicked addicting, so even if you have a small piece, you might be going back for a second small piece … & a third … ya know, it’s that evil frosting … LOL

I can’t have stuff like this in the house.

Saturday Caturday

After yesterday’s glorious weather, today is rain, rain, rain! Pouring rain, all day rain. The kind of day that makes you want to curl up on the couch with a cup of tea & a good book.

The cats always sleep through rainy days & after celebrating my birthday all day yesterday, I think that’s a great idea. After my cup of tea, I put the blanket over me & started to doze off … but wait! Bobby wanted to get under the blanket with me. I was able to get a picture of him, cozy & comfy. The blue tint is from the blue lights I have hung over the picture windows.