April 2018 – Page 2

Month: April 2018 (page 2 of 4)

I will tell you the secret of perfect shredded beef

What does a carnivore do when she’s had minor oral surgery, under strict orders to eat nothing but soft foods? Why, make shredded beef, of course!

(There’s only so many dishes of scrambled eggs one can eat.)

This recipe is based on one of my favorite dishes in the entire world, Nom Nom Paleo’s Crock Pot Kalua Pig.

Easy Shredded Beef

Ingredients:

1 beef roast, preferably over 3 lbs. I’m not sure that the cut matters all too much, but for the record I prefer a cross-rib roast over a chuck roast.
1.5 tsp salt (or maybe less). You really don’t want too much.
NO LIQUID. None. Not even a little bit.

Method:

Plunk your roast into the crock pot. Sprinkle it evenly on all sides with the salt. You seriously want just a sprinkle, since the salt will concentrate during the cook time. Put the lid on the crock pot, and set it to low if it’ll cook all day or high if you’re impatient.

5 – 9 hours later, you’ll have a beautiful roast swimming in its own jus. Grab a pair of tongs and poke your roast; if it falls apart immediately, it’s done. Give the beef a couple of stirs to “shred” it into the jus. I’m sure you could skip this step, but I then turn the crock pot down to warm and let the beef stew in its own juices for a couple minutes. At this point, you can add additional salt to taste, if needed.

Voila: super-easy shredded beef with two ingredients.

I’m convinced that this recipe is as good as it is because of the lack of added liquids, which would dilute the natural juices exuded by the roast as it cooks. Unlike the Kalua Pig recipe, the amount of juice from a beef roast is exactly the amount needed to season and moisten the shredded beef. Such a lovely synergy.

Image of the Week: One meme, two books

2018-04-20 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

This week, I discovered that Rich Dad Poor Dad, a book about personal finance, is really a book on mindset (although I do feel like I have a better understanding of personal finance now that I’ve read it). And it’s the same dang book that I’ve read before.

In fact, I could make a map of the ideas in this book and how they directly correlate to other self improvement books. One of those is Jordan B Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life, which references the same cartoon as RDPD.

It’s an influential cartoon, clearly. The 98-lb-weakling meme is real.

I feel a little bit duped, to be honest. By myself. Like I pull the wool over my own eyes. I keep reading these types of books trying to find – what – the right idea that will get me on the right track. But I’ve known all along that my problem is not learning, but doing. So it doesn’t really matter how many of these types of books I read, if I don’t put any of it into practice.

Robert Kiyosaki says it himself: action always beats inaction.

He also finally namechecked Think and Grow Rich so I feel marginally less crazy now.

Money mindset

2018-04-19 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

I’m finally reading Rich Dad Poor Dad, and it’s surprising to find out that it’s more of a mindset book than a personal finance book.

At least so far, there’s very few details of how to live a rich life.

What there are instead is a lot of lessons about how to think about money, contrasted between the rich dad capitalist mindset and the poor dad communist mindset.

There are a lot of lessons that I would have completely missed had I read the book when I first heard of it a few years ago, and I was pretty alert back then.

I’ve always been struck by this fact:

Money isn’t real

But Rich Dad Poor Dad takes that concept to the next level.

Poor-thinking me, believing that money isn’t real, considers it therefore not worthy of time or attention. Money becomes this unknowable thing – and the unknowable is in effect not real. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Rich-thinking says that if money isn’t real, all the easier it is to bend it to your will. So what if it isn’t real, people agree that it’s real and that’s enough for now.

Instead of hiding from what you don’t know, go out and find that knowledge and fight back.

There are also sections on fear, risk-taking, and government education.

It’ll require some supplemental reading after I’m done (since RDPD does not provide many specifics on plans) to formulate what kind of financial moves are right for me, but so far this is a great book.

It shows that the mindset shift from poor to rich is not difficult, and can be done by anyone.

If that isn’t something we all need to know and apply, I don’t know what is.

If you think something SHOULD happen you are probably projecting

2018-04-18 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

All writings must be in a degree exoteric, written to a human should or would, instead of the fatal is. —Ralph Waldo Emerson

Let me explain why should is one of my least favorite words. Seriously, it’s on my list of Top 5 Most Hated Words of All Time, and has been since 2014. Do you know why?

Should is a trap.

So many people get caught trying to figure out what they should do, and never do anything at all. Other people decide that they know better and tell their neighbors what the should be doing, whether or not it is good for them. Still others think of the world as it should be (in their minds), and have a difficult time dealing with it as it actually (or fatally, according to Emerson) exists.

I’ll tell you a story.

I once worked for a woman who was very detail-oriented. She followed every instruction to a T, and before the deadline. The kind of person who couldn’t sleep if she spotted a crumb under the refrigerator on her way back to bed after a midnight snack. She was a fantastic boss, and taught me many good things.

However. This woman could not comprehend it when other people refrained from crossing all their Ts, or made three more crumbs after their midnight snacks, or even forgot that there were instructions at all. Like it literally would not register with her that there were other ways to live one’s life. This caused lots of distress and last-minute scrambling.

“Why haven’t our clients turned in the form yet?” She would ask. “They should have had it done weeks ago!”

Something that should be done—in her mind—must be a should in everybody else’s mind too. Right?

Well, no.

Because what is should? It’s a construct in your mind.

Let me repeat myself: it’s a construct in YOUR mind.

(Not anybody else’s.)

Let us now turn to the Oxford English Dictionary, in which some Ye Olde Definitions can give us a clue as to why should is such a trap.

Should (archaic)

A statement of duty, obligation, or propriety (originally, as applicable to hypothetical conditions not regarded as real). Also, in statements of expectation, likelihood, prediction, etc.

As you can see from this old usage of should, it’s based very much in a squishy reality. A reality that may not, in fact, exist—one that’s built on expectations and hypothetical conditions.

If you’re imagining how the world should exist, maybe it would be a great one. Maybe your shoulds would solve all the problems known to man. But guess what: it only exists in your mind.

You can’t make decisions based on what the world should look like (according to you). I mean you can, but you can’t get mad if things go awry. Why? Because your version of reality may or may not match up to the real version of reality.

Why should I do something based on your version of reality?

No reason at all.

I like my version of reality better anyway.

So how are we supposed to express something that we might to in the future, which might be a duty? Or that people as a whole might be obligated to do?

My friends, let’s meet another archaic word.

Ought

That which should be done, the obligatory; a statement using ‘ought,’ expressing a moral imperative.

This word is tethered to reality through morality.

Should is based in hypothetical, in expectation. It’s subject to personal whim. It is untethered. Ought is based in morality, that is, reality.

Why it matters

When you get caught up in the “shoulds,” you can make yourself crazy. The world outside your window doesn’t match up with how you think it should be.

Politicians should make this or that kind of decision.
Parents should raise their kids like this, or like that.
Your neighbor should act the way that you want him to act.

But guess what?

These people all have free will. They don’t have to act out your should. They have their own problems. And tbh if I’m going to live out a should, it’s going to be my own.

When you buy into that should 100%, and then reality doesn’t come through for you? Think back to Hillary Clinton supporters the morning after the 2016 election. That’s rough. I don’t wish that on anybody.

Stick with reality. Stick with “ought.” Align yourself with the fatal is.

And avoid the trap of should.

Binging with Babish makes me want to add garnish to my steak

2018-04-17 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

As a carnivore, I loves me some steak. You may not be a carnivore, but I’m sure you loves you some steak, too.

Most of the time, I’m quite content to eat nothing but the steak. It’s delicious. You really don’t need much else. Maybe a pat of butter on top if you’re getting fancy.

But every so often, I’m reminded of all the delicious things you can put on top of a steak, and I get food envy.

Behold:

Red wine pan sauce
Roasted Cipollini onions
Sauteed mushrooms with thyme and garlic
Gremolata

None of these steak accoutrement are incompatible with a paleo, keto, or LCHF diet. Onions, mushrooms, fresh greens, garlic, wine, bone broth. Richness or brightness of flavor and sumptuous texture that play off the steak and contribute to a spectacular eating experience. I used to think that cooking paleo was a challenge; now all I see are delicious choices.

For now, my body insists that we remain strict carnivore. (By “we” I mean myself and the Leviathan that lives in my gut. Most people call it Crohn’s disease.) Any carb stronger than the faintest whisper of the lactose in cheese or sour cream gets a resounding “NO” from the inflammation markers in my body.

But a girl can dream.

Someday, I will eat mushrooms and onions and thyme with my steak, and it will be beautiful.

Someday, I will actually deglaze a pan with something other than water.

Someday, I will not pick the garlic out of the cooking pot.

Tuesday is a Blooming Day

2018-04-16 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

Ah, EXO-CBX. So good to see you again.

One of the things that I like most about Korean entertainment is that quite often they pull off tropes that would be tacky, cheesy, or otherwise embarrassing in a Western context. This happens in a variety of media – dramas, movies, music.

In this case, the hook for “Blooming Day,” the title track of EXO-CBX’s new mini-album, sounds AWFUL on paper.

Can I be your boyfriend, can I?

And yet, CBX make it work with their smooth vocals. The “ask” is over-the-top, but the presentation is low-key enough in the vocals and music (even the video isn’t overtly sexy) that the question sounds matter-of-fact rather than desperate.

My favorite part of this song is the bridge, which reminds me a little of “Forever” from The War album, the way that it goes full minor key and feels a bit inside-out.

As expected from SM and EXO, CBX’s second mini-album is full of complex pop songs. This album is built for grooving. Chill, but built on a layer of that 70s funk bass that permeated CBX’s first mini-album. Some of the music is super-nostalgic to me – really nice 80s synths – but coupled with modern beats so nothing feels like a retro throwback. It’s a really easy album to listen to. I’m especially fond of “Monday Blues,” “Blooming Day,” “Thursday” and “Vroom Vroom.”

As with their previous album, this one is tailor-made for working, single women – so much this time that there’s a track for every day of the week, from “Monday Blues” to a “Lazy” Sunday. SM continues its full-court press with the “virtual boyfriend” trope.*

This only works because of Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin – the most flirty and shameless members of EXO. CBX are energetic and playful, so their subunit appropriately explores happier types of music that regular EXO would never try out. Regular EXO has a mysterious image to maintain, after all. (Can you imagine DO trying to pull this off? Never gonna happen.)

Anyhow, I enjoy this mini-album a lot. The aesthetics are great, and I’m probably going to do a post soon breaking down one specific set of outfits because I like them so much. The music is good. Most of the songs are good (and none of them are bad.)

It is impossible to be sad while listening to EXO-CBX.

And that is a good thing.

*I have a theory that SM is feeling a tad threatened by BTS aka the internet’s preferred virtual boyfriend. There’s been a lot more overt fanservice and fantasy-building in regular promotions, which was usually reserved for fans only in concerts and fan events. Specific examples include the choreography for EXO’s “The Eve” and the cringefest that is NCT 127’s “Touch.”

Milestones

2018-04-15 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

Some people – usually people who don’t have experience with kids – think that it’s stupid to applaud a toddler for drinking out of a sippy cup. Big deal, they say, everybody knows how to drink out of a cup.

Sure, maybe we all know this as adults.

But for that baby, in his own timeline, that is the very first time he figured out how to be coordinated enough to drink out of a cup. Even though humanity as a whole has done it gorillions of times, it’s a first time accomplishment for that one specific human.

Absolutely worth celebrating.

Today Batfort hit 1,001 overall views.

Probably the sippy cup of blogging, but I’ll take it.

What’s interesting about those 1,001 views is that probably 20% of them were accrued in only maybe five days total. There were a few days where my traffic spiked massively. Of course, traffic did not sustain at that level, but each spike did establish a new normal – two average views per day to three, to seven.

When I was younger, these types of things would have discouraged me. A spike of traffic is such a dopamine hit, but then it goes away. Life returns to normal. Christmas doesn’t come every day.

Now, I find great comfort in seeing the great patterns of the universe (like the Pareto Principle) repeat themselves in my own little tiny corner of it. Tiny and insignificant as it is, I’m still a part of the fabric of existence. I’m part of something much bigger than me.

That’s pretty cool.

And worth celebrating.

So raise your sippy cup – Batfort continues!

PS. I’ll write about something other than recursive blog stuff soon, I promise. This whole “recovering from minor surgical trauma” thing took a lot more out of me than I expected.

Checking in: becoming my own boss

2018-04-14 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

Seven months ago, pretty much to the day, I started thinking about how to show myself that I could, in fact, work for myself. There are two major difficulties that I’ve identified in switching from the 9-5 grind to a solo work enterprise:

Used to having structure imposed on me, by school and then work and the expectations of the people in those systems
Being so overjoyed at having “unstructured” time that I revel more in not having to do anything than I focus on doing things for myself

So I devised some things that I could do in “my own time” (how I hate having to write that) to show myself that I could make good use of time if I were to become unstructured all the time.

Even though I couldn’t remember exactly what was on this list, it feels like I wrote this a month or two ago–I was surprised to find out it was more than 6 months–so let’s check in on my progress.

Set up a (big) project, plan it out, and complete it within a deadline
- Not great. I have a big project in mind, and a deadline, but have made very few concrete plans and need to get my act in gear (since the deadline is July).
Clean my room, Jordan B Peterson style
- In progress. My new apartment is not 100% in order, but it’s much more in order than my past apartments and rooms have been.
Address my resentment of tracking time, and start using time to my advantage
- Now that I’ve identified this as a problem, I can start tackling it. I’ve been working through some of my thoughts in my morning pages.
Stick to a consistent sleep time and wake time
- I make excuses for this like some people make excuses about changing their diets. “Oh just a little bite of this….”
Continue to publish a blog post every day until we hit a year
- On track!
Work out consistently
- Getting there – it’s not super regimented, but I’ve been working out 2-3 times per week.
Get out of bed immediately upon rising, instead of languishing in the half-asleep/half-awake stage that I love so much (this will legit be a sacrifice)
- This I’ve actually made progress on. I still lie in bed for a bit waking up, because I’m not one of those people who can just bolt upright and go, but I’ve moved my phone to outside of my bedroom and bought an analog alarm clock, which has drastically cut short the time I spend in bed in the mornings. It also helps that I’m greatly enjoying writing in the mornings, so there’s incentive to get up.
Design a daily schedule for myself that incorporates all the projects that I plan to complete, along with the self-care that my chronic illness demands, and stick to it
- This one is in the planning stages still.
Finish the Self-Authoring suite
- On the docket for this weekend, but I’ve been kind of out of it due to my visit to the oral surgeon yesterday.
Complete a plan for my future, with action steps and deadlines
- Before a plan must come a vision, which I’ve been developing with morning pages.
Sell a product online that people buy on a consistent basis while still employed full time by someone else
- TBD. I did just come up with an idea that might actually have a viable market and would be credible with my past activities, which I’m excited to explore.
Tackle the reading list that I’ve had in my mind for years
- Working on incorporating dedicated time for reading into my schedule, and have already made more strides at reading more.
Define what success means to me
- Working on it!

Some of these are longer-term goals, some are lifestyle changes, and others are shorter-term. It’s a pretty mixed bag — like I wouldn’t expect myself to have sold an online product at this point in time.

There’s more that I could be doing, but neither have I dropped the ball on any of it. Things are still moving in a positive direction. I consider that a win.

Now, how to improve: I need to be better at setting up intermediate steps and systems for carrying those things out, and holding myself to my internal deadlines. This is where difficulty #2 comes in.

I need to work on the whole “discipline equals freedom” concept, clearly.

Image of the week: Calligraphy goals

2018-04-13 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

Lately, I’ve been checking out a nearby Orthodox church.

I’ve also been dusting off my dormant love for document design.

Well.

This is both.

German translation of the Book of Sirach, 1654

Readable it is not, but as an act of worship, it is exquisite.

I aspire to bring beauty of this magnitude into the world.

Winnipeg the Bear

2018-04-12 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

It’s been somewhat of a rough week. Syria, major regulatory-type site visit at work, and a minor medical procedure scheduled for me tomorrow morning. Honestly, I got nothing for ya tonight.

Please enjoy this photo of Winnipeg the Bear, the inspiration for Winnie the Pooh.

Over and out.

Batfort

Style reveals substance