palephilosopherstranger

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02/04/25

Well happy February … it already feels like this year is flying by.

Dude I think my hair might be curly. I still hate it and it’s a bitch to brush and I hate how everyone wants me to keep it long but me. I’d cut it all off in a second. But lately I’ve been trying to appreciate more of what I have. And as I learn to take care of it, the better my hair seems to get; and I still kinda hating it for doing that.

I started reading The outsider and I’m hooked already. I swear, something tells me he didn’t do it. I want to start watching the HBO show but I don’t want to spoil anything for myself. We’ll see how long that lasts lmao

I decided I’m going to crochet the scarf for dad finally. He’s been asking me to make him a scarf with the Boca colors for a couple months now, and winters almost over now! I need to give it to him for his birthday coming up. I hope im able to do it in time.

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Julie & Julia

Since I’m going to start posting my book review stuff on here, might as well start as I’m still reading! Like I’m gonna remember every single thing that happens … (yeah right) keeping a draft open while I read would be the best solution going forward, right?

I’m probably the last person on earth to read this book, but I was specifically saving this one. I wanted to wait for a reading slump because I just knew I was going to love it.

The biggest thing I’m starting to realize is, I should probably be reading memoirs more often. It’s interesting reading about a persons normal life and realizing your life must be pretty normal too. Between parts about the food and her blog, the moments about her marriage and her mental breakdowns and dead bedroom are reassuring and real.

Overall, I’m finding Julie Powell to be quite charming and her writing style took me some time to really get in to, but it’s keeping me glued now. I’m currently 43% into the book. It’s seriously making me consider making braised chuck roast or short ribs for dinner. But do I have the time to do it justice? It would have to wait til Sunday. I’m glad Julie had the will power to cook into the unruly hours of the night, but I’m past thirty to her pushing thirty. I can’t do that anymore lmao

Baked cucumbers? Apparently I’ve got to try it. She also shares my distaste for cucumbers, but baked? Apparently they’re a fuckin banger. UPDATE: not bad, but I bought the wrong cucumbers for the recipe I chose, so that was my bad. But cucumbers smothered in cheese and garlic is a good improvement to the base itself.

My problem with memoirs is that if I can finish it, it must be good, which also must mean that we could’ve been friends if we had managed to skirt along side each other in life. When it’s a real person I’m reading about, I need to know what they look like, what they sound like, etc. and next thing I know, I’m looking at the similarities between our lives. Like how Julie would compare her life to Julia Child’s throughout the book. And I don’t just mean our mutual distaste for cucumbers. There were a few right off the bat, not to totally expose myself or spoil the book though. This notion first brought me to audible, cause of course she would’ve narrated her own memoir, right? Spoiler alert, she does. And she managed to sound just like I thought she would. Great. Weird, maybe? Next, I needed to know what she looked like. Cause all I could picture in my head was Amy Adams, and that just wasn’t fair to her or me.

Going to google simply brought 3 things to my attention: the first being that Amy Adams was a pretty decent cast choice, the second being that Julia Child actually didn’t like Julie’s whole blog thing(wtf?), and third, by the time I’m reading her memoir, Julie Powell was dead(have another wtf for good measure).

At the time I’m typing this, not only was Julie dead, but she also died a little over two years ago on my birthday. Do you call that a coincidence? Or just plain dumb fucking luck somehow?

I’ve also never in my life wanted to try liver, but Julie makes me want to try liver. She literally makes liver sound sexy. I brought it up my SO and he was not so happy about the idea. Maybe Julie will help him see liver as sexy.

I ended up just zooming through the rest of the book and I loved it. There were times that I was laughing, wanting to cry, and join in on her hysterics. I’m not sure how much of it is actually true and not exaggerated, but I still enjoyed it all nonetheless.

5 ⭐️

First one of the year.

Some favorite quotes:

“Eric is a sensitive twenty-first-century sort of guy, but a Texan nevertheless, and the idea of a dinner without animal flesh gets him a little panicky.” (My SO is the same way. I feel the pain)

“Maybe I needed to make like a potato, winnow myself down, be a part of something that was not easy, just simple.”

“She wants you to remember that you are human, and as such are entitled to that most basic of human rights, the right to eat well and enjoy life.”

“But hard-bitten cynicism leaves one feeling peevish, and too much of it can do lasting damage to your heart.”

“Of course the cow I got marrow from had a fairly crappy life—lots of crowds and overmedication and bland food that might or might not have been a relative. But deep in his or her bones, there was the capacity for feral joy. I could taste it.”

“So sometimes I’m irritated by my husband, and sometimes I’m frustrated. But I can think of two times right off the top of my head when it’s particularly good to be married. The first is when you need help with killing the lobsters. The second is when you’ve got an inspirational story to relate regarding a large African American woman who runs an S&M dungeon. I told it to him as we sopped up the last of the buttery lobster juice with some hunks of French bread.”

“If you are not one of us, the culinarily depraved, there is no way to explain what’s so darkly enticing about eviscerating beef marrowbones, chopping up lobster, baking a three-layer pecan cake, and doing it for someone else, offering someone hard-won gustatory delights in order to win pleasures of another sort. Everyone knows there are foods that are sexy to eat.”

“Julia taught me what it takes to find your way in the world. It’s not what I thought it was. I thought it was all about—I don’t know, confidence or will or luck. Those are all some good things to have, no question. But there’s something else, something that these things grow out of. It’s joy.”

This was my first time ever really writing a review, but I think it’s more of just my thought process as I made my way through the book. If you took the time to read this, thanks! I really appreciate it :3

[palephilosopherstranger]

Did I just spend $25 for all the items to make crunchwraps at home? Yes

But currently, the single average Crunchwrap costs $5.79. With everything I just bought, I can make at least 8 crunchwraps. So that’s worth it enough for me!

[palephilosopherstranger]

01/26/25

Well, I officially feel old. Buying fiber powder does that to you I guess. I haven’t pooped properly in close to a week and I’m starting to get a little worried. Sorry if that’s tmi, anyone out there reading these beside myself. I really don’t want to be that person going into the ER with extreme abdominal pain. OMG ARE YOU PREFNANT? DID YOUR APENDIX BURST? Nope. Just poop.

I ordered 1001 books you must read before you die on thrift books this morning. Hopefully it’s a good edition and I don’t have to worry about it. There wasn’t a picture of the cover, but it was available for purchase. I can’t wait to update when I get it. I’m just so intrigued … like yes of course there are a ton of new books coming out that I need to read, but how can I read those books when there are so many *old* books I haven’t read yet?? INCONCEIVABLE

UPDATE

I pooped! Finally lmao I’m just putting this fiber powder in everything now. My morning protein shake, the curry I made for dinner. /EVERYTHING/ is there anything better than a good poop?

Anyway, I’m picking this up again a few days later. It’s the 29th now. I’ve really gotta get better at just reflecting on my day when I lay down for bed. It’s all a work in progress.

My mom is scheduling the flight for me to go to Florida in march. She’s having knee surgery and she doesn’t have a huge circle down there. My aunt will be able to come down the following week, and hopefully by then she’ll be able to hobble around a bit better.

[palephilosopherstranger]

Tonight’s dinner: red wine braised chuck roast with mashed potatoes and baked cucumbers.

I felt like making something fancy tonight. Also, I was inspired by the book I’m reading now to make the baked cucumbers. I absolutely despise cucumbers, but apparently baked cucumbers is where it’s at. Not gonna lie, it was actually pretty good.

I’ve never been good at food photography but I thought these shots weren’t half bad.

Recipes:

[palephilosopherstranger]

No thanks.

[palephilosopherstranger]

arcane style goes so well with my boy

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01/23/25 - 01/24/25

I GOT THE SICKEST FUCKING LAMP AND MIRROR FROM GOODWILL!

I forgot to mention it but I saw them at Goodwill yesterday. I couldn’t justify buying them at the time, but I managed to find the very thing I went in there in search of, so I figured that was good luck enough. But I went back today. I told myself if either one of those items were still there, I was taking them home with me. Imagine my fucking surprise when they’re *both* still there. It was just meant to be I guess. Now they’re both in my house and I’m so happy about it.

I know I’ve already proclaimed 2025 as my year of coffee and tea, and that’s already been well underway I believe. I have my little coffee station made up on the kitchen counter, pushed my barely used keurig out of the way, and set my Moka pots out like a couple special soldiers. Next stop is matcha, but part of me really wants to wait and use up the Walmart stuff I got before getting something better. I’m not even really sure if the Walmart matcha is for actual tea. It says culinary grade matcha, but is it *latte* grade matcha? Probably not. But I like it none the less. I did crack and get Dunkin though. I thought it’d be a nice little treat but I was mistaken. Just bleh. At least I’ve got my little set up now and with a little patience, I’ll have my brown sugar shaken espresso at home. Take that Sabrina.

Wr went out for a date night to china buffett and Costco tonight. It definitely blew my Taco Bell plans out of the water, but I’m not complaining. I told him I really want to try and prioritize spending quality time with him this year. Im worried he’s starting to pull away from me. I mean, hell, it’s been 7 years. I know I haven’t exactly been easy to deal with but he’s no walk in the park either.

SO got a couple of humidifiers at Costco and now those have been added to our chaos of interior design. I’m hoping on Sunday will be able to really start decluttering and arranging the office area in the front room, where my new lamp sits and adds some nice ambiance. NO BIG LIGHTS NEEDED IN THE LIVING ROOM ANYMORE. Just the way I like it 🥹

[palephilosopherstranger]

Sleeping

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i look for you!!!

[palephilosopherstranger]

𝑳𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆.

ghostkidtradingcards.

[palephilosopherstranger]

[palephilosopherstranger]

01/20/25? - 01/22/25

Ok gotta look up fanfiction of the Quarry. Specifically Abby/Emma

(This was the only thing I initially had written for Jan 20th xD)

Definitely needed to take a breather before *really* posting anything for Jan 20th 2025, aka MLK day, and also the inauguration of Trump … again. Why these two events/holidays manage to fall on the same fucking day, only god can say I guess. I really wish I could go back to when I didn’t give a shit about any of this stuff. Years ago, all this didn’t seem like such a big deal. Little seemed to affect me and I was happy with just letting the country and its people decide what was best. At least when I was much younger, I didn’t seem affected by any of this. I had too much shit going on and more important things happening. Not that I *dont* have too much shit going on and more important things happening now. I think just so much has changed for me within the last 8-9 years. Thinking back on how things were back in 2016. I remember watching that initial debate between trump and Clinton, and I couldn’t even care less back then. It all seemed like such a joke to me. Now look where we are.

For some reason I’ve been thinking back on my abuser around this time. I wonder who he would’ve voted for. It was all thanks to him and his wife that I started paying attention to this shit I guess. Would they have voted for trump in hopes of staying rich and getting richer? (Even though they’d always been forwardly democrat) and I know at least his wife voted for Hilary. I’d managed to get away before I knew what they did in 2020, and they died before any of that even mattered any way. (I’m sure my dates all wrong here, my memories a little fuzzy from that time) ever since I went through the big bad, the very thought of manipulation and pinning people against each other is the worst possible thing anyone can do. Taking out all the other awful things this man has done(and I’m not discrediting any of it), I didn’t even vote for him and I still feel fucking betrayed.

Being a millennial so fucked isn’t it? How many traumatic world events do we need to see before we just throw in the towel for good? Maybe I should start my own 2025 bingo card. I’ve heard that’s fun. I’m 32 now and I guess I need to wait until I’m at least 36 before finally having a kid. Saying my kid was born while trump was president gives me the ick.

I’m just so mad. And I have nothing to do with this anger. I have not even been on TikTok since it came back to life. I haven’t deleted the app yet but I haven’t even opened it.

Speaking of the 20th, I found out one of you know whose sons got married the day before. Good for them, honestly. I hope it all works out. It just hurts me a little inside. I’d hoped that would be me by now, but it is what it is. I’m not sure it’s ever in the cards for me now. Maybe for young cass it was, naive cass. That was cassey. She doesn’t exist anymore.

In other news, it’s fucking cold. I can’t wait for the temps to get above 30 degrees again. The poor heater at our house can barely take it anymore either.

I’ve still been reading more which has been nice. I decided to read Julie & Julia. I thought it might inspire me to do some other blogging again, plus the food always amazed me. Id only dream of making Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon for my inlaws someday.

As the initial note above says, I’ve also been wanting to look into different fandoms for fics. The Quarry, Until Dawn, Harry Potter, … my bestie has been on a big dramione kick lately and I’m trying to spark that interest again. I’m literally dying to make an Until Dawn fic. I just think it’s too much for me right now. It would probably send me into a spiral and I can’t hyperfixate on something that big at the moment. I just have so many theories that I’d like to play out.