January 2019 – Batfort

Month: January 2019 (page 1 of 2)

It’s the end of World Carnivore Month 2019

What a more perfect time is there to reflect on what an ideal carnivore future might look like.

The typical carnivore line is “eat steaks!” and, let’s be real, steaks don’t have much complexity to them. Steak is delicious, but it’s simple. Cooking steak is a craft that can be honed, but it’s not the same as taking 3 days to prep for a feast. And so, with eating mostly meat, my kitchen skills have been put on the back burner.

Enter Tara at @slowdownfarmstead. She’s mostly carnivore, lives on a farm, and raises, hunts, or grows all her own food. Her freezers are full of grassfed, organic beef and lamb, venison and pork, ghee and all sorts of good things.

Tara has shown me that it is possible to be both a strict carnivore AND a good cook. Her diet is varied in a way that I’d like mine to be: fowl and swine and cow, juicy steak and pate and raw-milk cheese, homemade charcuterie and cultured buttermilk and stock.

I present lunch, hubby’s plate, mostly from our farm: grass fed and finished lamb chops cooked in homemade ghee and topped with a foraged and dehydrated wild mushroom salt, braunschweiger made with rabbit livers and heart, bacon and duck liver paté topped with ghee, dried mushrooms used as crackers, prosciutto, raw sheep cheese, a couple of cured egg yolks, and a cuppa’ lamb bone broth from yesterday’s lamb shank supper. @slowdownfarmstead

I mean…look at that plate. Look at it. Such a range of flavors and textures, of mildly processed foods (braunschweiger!) and straight-up meat.

I’m in love.

Tara also advocates fasting, based on the writings of Thomas Seyfried. She was not the only influence into my recent forays into fasting, but she certainly showed me that one can fast, still eat well in between, and heal from deep-seated chronic ailments.

It’s easy to romanticize the homestead life, Tara reminds us that life is still life, and that life on a farm is not as glamourous as we like to think.

It’s not all Martha Stewart sipping chai while she braids bacon over a terrine. It’s Tara, with goose poop in her hair, reminding herself to be a little more grateful than frantic. A little injection of reality lest my pretty IG pictures suggest I’ve got it all together.

Most of all, I’m inspired to dig out my copies of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I and Nourishing Traditions. Before I started weeding plants out of my diet, I loved cooking. For a long time, baking made me happy—but even after cutting grains and sugars out of my diet, I found joy in trying new dishes and inventing new, interesting ways to eat food.

Now, I mostly cook burgers and the occasional tuna steak (#currentfave). I had kind of given up on being a “cook” again, with the idea that once I fine-tuned how to cook a perfect steak, I’d have reached the end of what one can cook as a carnivore.

Oh, how wrong I was. And I’m happy to be wrong.

Now, I’m re-inspired to cure egg yolks, make my own sausage, and try frying up some pig’s ears. Experimenting with organ meats and offal. Cultivating relationships with local ranchers.

It’s gonna be a delicious year.

Checking in on the Creative Achievement Quiz

2019-01-30 / childlike empress / 2 Comments

I was curious, so I peeked.

People have been taking the Creative Achievement Questionnaire Quiz. 97, so far. That’s good enough for some results, right?

I didn’t include the original category names, courtesy of Jordan Peterson, because they are cringey.

Are you surprised? I’m not.

The Creative Achievement Questionnaire is set up to get results like this. Lots of people in the “new” category. Very few people in the “genius” categories.

Let’s not talk about the fact that this questionnaire is based solely on other people’s approval of your creativity—which by definition excludes the most innovative and original thinkers.

What strikes me—and I’m no statistician—is that this graph looks like half of a squished-down bell curve.

What would be on the other side—anti-creativity? Whining? Plans with no action?

Maybe that’s where they stick the people who are so innovative that they look insane.

Anyway, I’m still not happy with JP’s questionnaire but I haven’t come up with anything better yet.

How would you measure creativity?

Stop lying to yourself: you know what you want

2019-01-28 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

This is a pep talk for myself, but you’re welcome to listen in.

Look.

I know you play the “I’m still trying to decide” game when you talk to other people. Like somehow it’s more socially acceptable to be undecided. Maybe you think it’s a conversation starter. People can help you think through options. Whatever.

Bullshit.

You know what you want.

You made some of these decisions years ago, but your life hasn’t caught up to them yet. You haven’t put in the work. You’re still adding 2 and 2, hoping that somehow this time they’ll equal 5.

That’s not how this works.

Maybe it’s not ~God’s perfect timing~ either, but there’s not a dang thing you can do about that.

If the key to having clear eyes and a strong backbone is the truth, you have to stop lying to yourself.

Even if you haven’t 100% committed,

Even if there are other options out there,

You know what you want.

And the longer you lie to yourself about it, the less time you have.

The Reader: Conspiracy Theories, Slow-Mo Music Videos, and HOAXED

2019-01-27 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

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I’ve been searching for a church. As someone who is really good at seeking and researching, the search is easy for me. It’s the finding and committing that’s a problem. I’m trying to balance the need for theological soundness with the knowledge that churches are made of people, who are flawed and sinful. Too entrenched. Too young. Unbiblical sermons. So many reasons.

One of the biggest dealbreakers that I didn’t anticipate is my utter antipathy to the Baby Boomer influence. If there’s one thing that will provoke an immediate heel-turn, it’s a Boomer in the pulpit booming his boomer platitudes. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the two I feel most drawn to are the Orthodox church and a church planting operation run by Millennials for Millennials.

Neither church is perfect, but I’m hoping to embed myself in one that helps me work on my own faults in the context of a Truth-centered community.

Short link list this week.

» If you read one article this week, read this one: Bryan Singer’s Accusers Speak Out

» In other “conspiracies are actually real” news, Brandon Truaxe got thrown off a building in Toronto this week. I’m not surprised, since he got “let go” from his own company last year and was ranting about very familiar topics on social media last year. I’m curious about who he got caught up with, and how much his “cheap good skincare for all” philosophy threatened people who make a lot of money. Context: Truaxe founded Deciem, the parent company of The Ordinary.

» Hoaxed is finally out! Go watch it. Expect a review soon.

» How the newspaper industry got into this mess (without talking about fake news)

» An interesting booklist

» The minimum wage debate: point and counterpoint (definitely read the counterpoint)

One music video, two ways.

One of these things is not like the others

2019-01-23 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

Looks like there was a little glitch with YouTube this morning.

But don’t worry, YouTube fixed it.

I wonder when they’re going to fix this one:

A week or so ago, I was looking for a clip from one of the Trump/Clinton debates. I usually try to watch political topics on MAGA-friendly channels, but I couldn’t find a single one in the search. It was all mainstream media.

Just like the media piled on those Catholic high school boys and then made fun of them for not being sufficiently sophisticated in dealing with the media, things like this expose the twisted mentality behind so much of what’s going on in our world today.*

“The algorithm” pulls stunts like this expecting we won’t notice, and then when we DO notice we’re deemed paranoid.

*Yes it’s a weird sentence structure, but it’s there for a reason. I blame the underlying pattern—and the architect of that pattern—more than I blame the people who are carrying out the pattern, who are usually useful idiots.

Appreciation Post: Gosford Park

2019-01-22 / childlike empress / 1 Comment

I love the movie Gosford Park.

Let me tell you why.

It’s a beautiful movie. I must confess to loving the “upstairs/downstairs” aesthetic, but this movie is just beyond. The clothes are gorgeous without being costumey. The camera meanders through scenes and lingers over little details. Light and shadow actually matter.
The cast is brilliant. Charles Dance is an absolute treasure.
It showcases the reality of upstairs/downstairs. While it seems like writer Julian Fellowes has dedicated his life to smearing the British aristocracy, it’s striking to me how many parallels exist between the “upstairs” folks in 1932 and the “director” folks in 2019. There’s a huge gulf between the people at the top who put their names on things and the people downstairs who do the work. In the words of Detective Stephen Fry: “I’m not interested in the servants; only people with a connection with the dead man.”
It’s subtle. Nothing is explained—it is shown. (Until the murder is solved at the end, of course. Then we get a few explanations.) This is one of those movies that I can watch multiple times and find something new each time. Some people hate this type of movie. I am not those people.
The accents are lovely. /Hi, I’m American
It’s a good reminder of just how little justice is done on this earth. Much of the time, the authorities don’t really care. People can be counted on to act in their own best interests, and true selflessness is rare.
Slow-burn melancholy romance is the best kind of romance.
It’s delightfully planned out, but executed quite naturally. Like how there are not one, but two sets of mis-matched couples—where if they paired up and swapped spouses everyone would have been a whole lot happier. So much duality, but since it’s never explained, you have to work it all out for yourself.
It’s not often that I find fictional characters that I identify with. Mary Maceachran is one of those characters.
Helen Mirren’s speech on the gift of anticipation speaks to my soul.

What gift do you think a good servant has that separates them from the others? Its the gift of anticipation. And I’m a good servant; I’m better than good, I’m the best; I’m the perfect servant. I know when they’ll be hungry, and the food is ready. I know when they’ll be tired, and the bed is turned down. I know it before they know it themselves.

And that’s it, really. It’s a movie that requires attention from the viewer—a puzzle that extends beyond the murder mystery.

The Reader

2019-01-20 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

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Overhauling the “worlds” diet sounds like the worst kind of paternalism. The world has not asked the “experts” for help.

—Taffiny Elrod

» Describing veganism as a cult is not far off, apparently.

» It’s not retail that’s dying. It’s our imagination.

The details are what distinguish the real thing from cheap imitation. In an age of manufacturing en masse and copycat e-commerce, the feeling of true connection is one thing that can’t be knocked off. It comes from within your brand, from celebrating what makes you who you are. Retail’s not dead. You just have to remember to feel for your own pulse when you try to reimagine its future.

» According to data science, it’s time for war again.

» Ludwig Wittgenstein: Portrait of a Genius

» Dermatologists tell us to avoid the sun. But what if it’s a lack of sunshine that’s making us sick?

When I spoke with Weller, I made the mistake of characterizing this notion as counterintuitive. “It’s entirely intuitive,” he responded. “Homo sapiens have been around for 200,000 years. Until the industrial revolution, we lived outside. How did we get through the Neolithic Era without sunscreen? Actually, perfectly well. What’s counterintuitive is that dermatologists run around saying, ‘Don’t go outside, you might die.’”

» Requiem for a Dream: RIP Aaron Swartz

» Placing the USA on a collapse continuum

» On Brexit, bureaucracy, and the deep state

What’s your self-love language?

2019-01-19 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

If you’re on the internet these days, you’re probably aware that “self love” is a big thing right now. Somehow there’s this idea that if we all just loved ourselves more, the world would be a better place. The problem, in this school of thought, is that we’ve forgotten how to love ourselves and/or that we practice unlovely acts toward ourselves constantly.

The solution to this, from one camp—usually the Millennial-pink feministas—is self-care. Usually in the form of a spa day, or accepting your fat self for who she is, or some extra-special “me time” (if you know what I mean). Escapism of some form.

From another camp—the ‘words can be magic’ camp—the problem is self talk. We talk to ourselves negatively all the time, and that is the source of our problems. “If you talked to your friend like you talk to yourself,” says Mike Cernovich, “You wouldn’t have any friends.” Start talking to yourself like you would a friend, and things will change.

These are both good ways to deal with the constant barrage of negativity we get from the world, and from ourselves. We need rest, a little bit of escapism, and encouragement.

What does love look like?

There is a brand of Christian self-help focused on “love languages.” It’s this idea that people have 1 or 2 primary ways that the feel or receive love: words, actions, physical touch, gifts, or time. In order to strengthen your relationships with others in your life, you find out both yours and your partner’s love language, so that you can communicate in a way that “feels” right to the other person. (Google it if you want to learn more, there’s a quiz you can take.)

Knowing your own love language can also help you communicate your own needs in a way that’s actionable. With the greater self-knowledge, you can understand why sometimes you can easily brush it off when someone wrongs you, but other times it cuts to the bone.

Differing love languages are why sometimes the things that we do that would make us feel special (such as gifts) fall a little flat (if the other person’s primary love language is quality time).

So if we know that people have different preferences for receiving love, and we know that it’s important to love ourselves, perhaps we should consider loving ourselves in a way that resonates with us.

Use your top “love language” to practice self-care.

While I love the idea of changing the voice in my head from negative to positive, working on that never quite seems to change my ~internal narrative~. Maybe this is because “words of affirmation” is at the bottom of my love language list. To me, words are just words. They don’t mean anything unless you do something about it.

One of the things that I struggle with most is keeping my house tidy. I often feel “too busy” to do the daily chores that keep a house clean and sparkling—and then I feel bad about myself for having an untidy house. It’s a terrible feedback loop. Perhaps, for me, doing “acts of service” for myself—ie, doing things each day to keep my house clean—is a form of self care. And guess what? My #2 love language is “acts of service.”

So here’s what I’m thinking: by knowing ourselves, we can re-frame what self-care looks like so that it actually works for us and our lives.

This list is me brainstorming. Please add your thoughts in the comments!

Words of Affirmation

Re-framing our mental narrative
Daily affirmations
Positive quotes as artwork
Having a “theme” word for the day/week/month/year
Writing yourself letters
Journalling

Acts of Service

Re-framing daily chores as ways to love yourself
Thanking our past selves for doing work*
Working out regularly**
Maybe creating little rituals around things like prayer, bedtime, etc.
Making a point to front-load schedules and activities so you’re doing things that you want, rather than being reactive to deadlines (aka thoughtful planning)

Physical Touch

Dry brushing
Regular massage or pedicures or facials or sauna time
Investing in quality skincare products
Only purchasing clothes or sheets with fabrics that feel good to you
Hobbies that involve tactile sensations (knitting, rock climbing, fingerpainting)
Fix the drafts in your house and keep it at a good temperature

Quality Time

Meditation and/or journalling
Taking long walks in nature
Unplugging from social media for a day/weekend/week/whatever
Blocking out time for yourself in your calendar
Maybe something like yoga would be good, time to check-in with your mind and body

Receiving Gifts

Re-framing grocery shopping as a gift to yourself
Wrapping up your lunch like a present (cute bento box, anyone?)
Staying in the “present” moment 😉
Leaving yourself little surprises to find in the future, like wrapping up a trinket with your summer clothes when you store them for the season
Investing in cosmetics that feel like little gifts every time you use them (like luxury brand lipsticks)
Y’all, gifts are not my love language—suggestions?

I’m excited to try out this approach to self-care. My top 2 love languages are physical touch and acts of service, so I’ll be dry brushing (which feels sooooo good) and working on re-framing my daily household chores as an acts of service and love.

If you try this out, let me know how it goes for you!

Discussions of self-care often creep a little close to “self worship,” so I’ll end with this: it feels right that in order for you to love your neighbor as yourself, you must first love yourself. But let’s not forget that we love because God first loved us. The love that shines through us ultimately comes from Him, so the ultimate self-care is fixing your hope on Jesus Christ.

*A friend of mine washes dishes for her future self, and then, when she goes to use the clean dishes, thanks her past self.

**Obviously working out is one of the basics of self-care. Exercise is good for your body no matter your personal love language. I’m including it in “acts of service” because that’s where it fits best.

It’s gotta be exhausting

2019-01-18 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

…the way these wannabe wizards run around casting spells all day.

They repeat these words over and over and OVER like their words will somehow shape reality.

The interesting thing is that, while I do believe that words have impact on reality (especially the reality in our own minds), ultimately words are just…well…words. Especially when you’re up against someone who is better at words than you are, and someone who has millions of prayers at his back.

The circus around Trump has birthed some really great compilation edits, so I really can’t be too mad.

Exposes these clowns for who they really are.

The Reader: New Year’s Health Craze Edition

2019-01-13 / childlike empress / 2 Comments

Oh hey there

Last week, I quit coffee again. Not banishing it from my life, just recognizing that I should not be dependent on it. After the headache subsided, life continued as usual. It always strikes me how much things don’t change in your life, even after you make a change. Inertia, even applied to things like quitting coffee or going to the gym.

Anyway, I gave myself a reprieve this weekend because I was meeting a friend. Coffee for me and tea for her. That was this morning. Now, in the evening, I’m not in a great frame of mind. Darkness has settled over my brain. Neurons are not happy. The world is ending. I don’t know what it’s like for you, but for me—coffee depression is real.

If that’s not a warning sign, I don’t know what is.

» I had already quit drinking coffee regularly before I read this article, but it’s fascinating—and alarming—how much we neglect our sleep.

“People are stunned when I tell them the quarter-life of caffeine,” he says. “It’s 12 hours. So if you drink a coffee at noon, at midnight a quarter of that caffeine is still in your brain.”

“And what’s the zero life?” I wonder. “When does it leave your system?”

“Somewhere between 24 and 36 hours.”

» Oh, and don’t forget: our sedentary lifestyle is killing us. (If you can get past the tone of the article, it’s an overview of how exercise is an add-in to lives of leisure.)

» “The Weight I Carry” is an essay about being fat, and wishing to not be fat. This is why Rule #1 is Don’t Get Fat.

» Hmm, I sense a theme here…. Let’s switch things up a bit.

» Earth’s magnetic poles are shifting and scientists have no idea why

» Peter Thiel is teaching a class on Sovereignty and the Limits of Globalization and Technology

» Maker or Manager? Your schedule impacts the type of work that you do.

Each type of schedule works fine by itself. Problems arise when they meet. Since most powerful people operate on the manager’s schedule, they’re in a position to make everyone resonate at their frequency if they want to. But the smarter ones restrain themselves, if they know that some of the people working for them need long chunks of time to work in.

» Pot may not be as safe as they tell you. #tellyoursonthis

» No idea if this is a hoax or not, but it’s pretty cool: ‘Wounded rare tiger seeks human help’ at remote border post on Chinese-Russian frontier. (Also a reminder that Russia is freaking HUGE.)

» I’ve been reading about fasting and this book chapter is interesting: How and When to Be Your Own Doctor: Fasting. The author’s views are pretty extreme but I’m caught by the idea that fasting forces the body to burn through fat stores and deal with the trapped toxins within, instead of carrying them around forever.

» Louis C.K. is not OK

Batfort

Style reveals substance