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ladyshandioftheendless · 5 years ago

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~StarChild Assassin Side Story 8~

Haven’t updated this one in a while! Let’s wade a little deeper into Drama Ocean shall we?

~Shandi

Demon slowly begins to mold his newest prize.

THE DEMON’S SINFUL TOUCH Part 3

“Show it to me.”

“I don’t want to..”

“How do you expect me to help you if you’re not open with me?”

Stanley turned away and started shaking. Clearly this needed a gentler approach. “You can trust me. I need to see it so I can figure out what can be done.”

“Promise me..you won’t laugh..”

“I won’t.”

“Say it!”

“Alright. I promise I won’t laugh.”

Letting out a shaky breath, Stanley lifted a trembling hand up to the right side of his face and pushed back his hair, revealing his horribly deformed ear. Demon only got the briefest of looks before he turned his head again and let his hair fall back into place. “There. I showed you. Now don’t ask again.”

Demon sighed. “How did it happen?”

It’s a birth defect. I had to live with it..go to school with it..I can still hear them laughing..” He curled up in the chair and held his head. “Don’t make me go back there..I can’t…I can’t go back..!!” As he sobbed, he felt arms wrap themselves around him in an attempt to soothe him. “Shhh..you’re not there anymore.” Demon’s voice was gentle and comforting which surprised him. “You’re here with me..and this changes nothing.”

“It changes everything!! It’s hideous..I’m hideous!! Why can’t anyone understand this?!”

Grabbing Stanley’s chin, Demon turned his head, looking directly into his eyes. “Because it’s just your mind lying to you. You only believe this because of the trauma you’ve suffered. That is only one small part of your lovely face..a part than can be repaired.” Stanley’s eyes widened. “R-repaired..? How..?”

“Reconstructive surgery of course. If it can be done, I will find the doctor who can do it.”

“But..surgery is so expensive..I could never..”

“I can.”

“What? I can’t ask you to–”

“As I said before. If you choose to stay with me, I can make things happen for you. Things you never dreamed were possible.” He brushed his thumb over Stanley’s cheek. “All you have to do..is say yes.” Stanley shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not prostituting myself for you. So get that out of your head right now.” Demon laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous! You think I would allow anyone else to touch you like that? Absolutely not. You’ll be all mine~” That didn’t make Stanley feel much better. Why did he have to be so vague about everything? “What will I be doing for you exactly? Tell me everything..or no deal.”

“I suppose I owe you that much. I’m a very important man, you see. I have to look my best and show my best anywhere I go to impress my clients. There’s no possible way they’d ignore me with you by my side~” Stanley looked at him incredulously. “You mean..you just want me to be your date for parties? That’s all?”

“‘That’s all?’ Maybe you need some experience to persuade you. Go home. Dress up in your finest. I’ll pick you up at 8:00. Deal?” As skeptical as he still was. Stanley had a hard time ignoring his overwhelming curiosity. “A-alright..deal.”

Walking up to his door Stanley could hear the phone ringing inside. Cursing, he quickly unlocked the door and rushed in, grabbing the phone before the other person hung up. Hopefully. “H-hello?”

“Heeeeeey that you, pretty Star~? It’s your SpaceMaaan~”

Ace was clearly drunk which made him grimace. “Acey..are you alright? Where are you?”

“I’m fiiiiine! Me an’ the boys are just havin’ some fun in Berlin! Where ya been, baby? I’ve been tryin’ to call ya!”

He gripped the receiver as guilt stabbed at his heart. “I..I’m sorry. Just been out on call a lot more than usual. You understand..”

“Oh sure I do, baby~ Listen uh..I can go up to my room right now and we can have a little fun~ You wanna?”

The guilt twisted deeper. “Oh, Acey..I’m sorry..I can’t. A..a friend of mine is taking me out tonight. I’ve been going stir crazy sitting here all alone.”

“You’re gonna duck out on your boyfriend for a night out? C’mon! I haven’t talked to ya in days! Y’know how hard it is bein’ the only one who can’t go out an’ fuck somebody? I need ya!”

“I..I can’t, Ace. I really can’t. I have to get out of here for a while. Call me tomorrow okay?”

“Tomorrow’s a lot different for me than it is for you, baby. Who knows..I may not be in the mood by then.”

There was a loud click as the line disconnected. Putting the receiver down, he grabbed a tissue and wiped his eyes. “I’m sorry, Acey..I really am sorry..” He took a few minutes to compose himself before getting up. He swore he’d make it up to Ace the next time he called..whenever that was. Right now he needed to get ready.

After he’d showered Stanley was frantically searching through his closet when he realized he really had nothing fancy to wear. Panic began to set in as he looked at his clock. 7:00. He sat on his bed and began to rock back and forth. “Dammit..what do I do..? I don’t have time to go shopping.. Do I cancel..? No, I can’t do that..!” He got up and went through his clothes again, hoping that something would stick out this time. A faint sparkle caught his attention. “What’s this..?” Taking the hanger off the rack to get a closer look he was instantly hit with a wave of nostalgia. His favorite pair of star studded leather pants. Ace loved when he wore them. He always said his ass could stop traffic when he wore them. The memory made him chuckle. He also remember why he stopped wearing them. Towards the end of ‘85 he’d felt he’d gained too much weight to look good in them anymore. Ace had tried his hardest to convince him otherwise but his own body dysmorphia always won out. Ace wouldn’t let him throw them away so he shoved them into the back of his closet so he’d never have to look at them again. Now here they were. Should he even try? He was certain he’d gained even more weight since the time he’d stashed them away. The trouble was he didn’t have very many options left. He sighed and took the pants off the hanger. “What do I have to lose?”

Pulling the pants on wasn’t at all as difficult as he expected it to be. Maybe..just maybe Demon was right about what his mind was making him believe. Now the true test: looking in the mirror. He stepped over to his full length and chanced a look. To his amazement they didn’t look at all as terrible as he’d imagined. In fact they looked..pretty damn good. He turned to get looks from all sides, all the while fighting back the urge to cry. “He was right..t-they were both right..” He sniffled and wiped his eyes. “Snap out of it, Eisen. You don’t have time for this now. When Ace calls..you’ll give him the apology he deserves~” He went into his closet again the find the rest of his outfit: a low cut black tank top, his black leather waist corset, and his black star studded platform boots. By the time he was done dressing and fixing his hair it was 7:45. He smiled when he looked at his clock again. “Hm. I usually take an hour. I beat my personal record~” At 7:50 he grabbed his jacket, hugging it briefly before putting it on. Ace had given it to him for their 5 month anniversary. Every time he looked at the roses covering the sleeves it reminded him of Ace. He needed that comfort right now. Especially since he was going off into the unknown.

At precisely 8:00 a sleek black limo pulled up in front of the building. Stanley could already feel his heart racing. He’d only seen limos, he’d never actually been in one before. How fancy was this party they were going to? Demon stepped out to greet him..and damn was he looking hot. He wore a red button up shirt with a black tie, vest and slacks, black patent leather shoes, and a beautiful red leather overcoat. Stanley’s eyes went wide. He hoped he could afford a coat like that someday. Maybe in purple~ “Well look at you~” Demon said, looking him over with a smirk. “How delectable you look in all that tight leather~ Nobody will be able to take their eyes off you..I guarantee it~” Moving closer, the strong scent of Demon's cologne filled his nose. "And you..you smell good..and you look even better~ That coat..mmm.." He leaned closer and inhaled deeply. "I love the smell of genuine leather~" Demon chuckled as he helped Stanley into his limo. "Well you never know..if you're a good boy you may have one of your own sooner than you think~" After settling into his seat Stanley looked around. Of course the interior was entirely red..and incredibly comfortable. “So where are we going tonight anyway? You didn’t tell me in your office this afternoon and I’ve been going crazy over it!” Demon glanced up as he opened a bottle of champagne and filled two glasses, handing one over to Stanley. “One of my partners is throwing a business party tonight at his place. I’m going to be the guest of honor you might say. It’ll be a perfect opportunity to attract more clients for myself.”

“And..just what is it you do? You never told me that either.”

“I’m a...contractor of sorts. I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you. At least for now.” Stanley looked down at his glass as he drank from it. Whatever kind of ‘contractor’ he was it certainly had nothing to do with buildings. That he knew for sure. He looked out the window as they slowed down. The place they were pulling up to was gigantic! He’d never seen an actual mansion in person either. He could tell this going to be a night of fascinating firsts. When he turned back Demon’s face was only a breath away from his, making him blush instantly. “S-something..wrong..?”

“Your face is missing something..and I think I know what it is~” Reaching into the console between the seats Demon pulled out a..tube of lipstick? Stanley stared at it in confusion. “W-what are you going to do with that..?” Holding Stanley’s face still he began to color his lips with the soft shade of red. “You have such a gorgeous, shapely mouth. It should be accentuated with a little color~” Once he was done, he leaned back to admire his work. “Perfect. Now you’re ready~” Stanley never considered wearing makeup before..but once he looked at himself in the mirror, he loved what he saw. He smiled at his reflection and fluffed out his curls.

“I’m ready, Mr. Demon. Let me into your world~”

To be Continued!!

#Shandi's drabbles #KISS AU writings #the StarChild Assassin #my 2000th post!!#Stanley reveals his secret #which gives Demon the perfect way into his heart~#gonna be another long one!

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askauradonprep · 5 years ago

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OURE PERFECTION IM ADOPTING YOU AND !@whats-a-queen-without-a-king+ @descendantofasparrow okay POLY PIRATE PEOPLE UNITE

I dunno how much you’ll enjoy how I write the crew, but backstories are here: https://askauradonprep.tumblr.com/post/165429498119/happy-2000th-guys

And my blog is searchable so just plunk whoever’s name or ‘poly pirate crew’ into the search bar.

I also have an obscenely long playlist for them here (it needs to be rearranged into different time periods after D3 but the songs are all still there): (via https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4q0jKYZSfpCfKETdRuSW6B?si=w84ofL1nQPK6lS4DcKER3g)

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missdemonghost-blog · 8 years ago

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I love when I catch the time at 11:11 on my Andrew McMahon lock screen.

#mdg.img #andrew mcmahon #something corporate #Konstantine #cheesy #yes I took that picture over a year ago and it's still my lock screen #judge me #this was my 2000th post #perfect

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plasticgelo · 6 years ago

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Shot on film?

35mm film is on the rise and it is stronger than ever before. As beautiful as it is, it is not a cheap hobby.

I had started my photography journey with a little film camera before aquiring an actual digital dslr. In all honesty it helped so much when it came to shaping my own personal style.

Developing film isn't very friendly on the wallet, and I'm not going to give a super detailed step by step tutorial on how to replicate film. But here are a handful of things to concider when editing your (film-inspired) digital masterpieces.

1. Film isn't perfect.

The biggest thing to remember is that we often get caught up on being too "perfect". As important as getting that perfect exposure or getting that frame as sharp as can be, film is notorious for its flaws. Light leaks, grain, even underexposure (and maybe more) all work together to give the photo a sense of character. So embrace the imperfections, and make the most out of them.

2. Colors are everything

From first hand experience, the best way to get into the swing of things are to study study study! Study the different film stocks and examine the way they react to light. For example, Fuji film stocks tend to hold more green and blues, giving an overall cooler look. Kodak's portra series film emits more warmer tones, really emphasizing on skin tones. This helps give your photos more of a direction when it comes to the post-processing stage.

3. Less is more

It is easy to get carried away with your digital camera settings to get your settings an precise as possible. Though the older 35mm film cameras were limited when it came to settings. Shutter speeds that only went up to 1/2000th, or an ISO that never moved. Personally, I treat my digital camera as if it was a 35mm. A set ISO for the day, f stops that barely moved, and shutter speeds changing as the light changed. Then again, it is also dependant on the individual's workflow and style.

All in all, everyone has their own established style and workflow. This post was not created in effort to change that. I often see other photographers throwing film presets over their digital pieces and sometimes it works, others not too much. It is important to remember not everything can be done in VSCO, photoshop, lightroom, etc. Pre and post processes come hand in hand to create great work. Just some food for thought. Now go shoot!

#35mm #photography

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ashxpad · 3 years ago

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Shooting with a 21-Year-Old Camera: The Fujifilm S1 Pro

I find it incredibly fun to use older, especially unique, digital cameras both as a challenge and for sheer enjoyment.

I think part of it is psychological. With archaic cameras sporting outdated technology we anticipate subpar results, and so we focus more on what we can control: composition, lighting (when applicable), exposure, and so on — the things we should always be focusing on.

Conversely, when we have a Hasselblad in our hands, we may let go a bit in the unconscious belief that the camera can make up the difference for our lack of talent or effort. Of course, we all know it can’t.

I won’t get into the boring history of why I own a lot of early to mid-2000s digital cameras, but at some point, I found myself the owner of a Fujifilm Finepix S1 Pro — the first in a five-model line of Fujifilm DSLRs that housed some incredibly unique sensor technology that it dubbed “SuperCCD.”

Apologies for the subpar product photos. I didn’t have access to my full setup.

In the S1 Pro, the photodiodes of the 3.1-megapixel SuperCCD sensor took the form of a honeycomb tessellation, oriented in a zig-zag array rather than a simple vertical/horizontal mosaic. Because of this, the distance between cells is smaller, making for about 40% more (square root of 2 = 1.41) sensor cell rows horizontally and vertically than a regular Bayer sensor.

The camera then uses an interpolation algorithm that supposedly results in a resolution equivalent to a 6.2 megapixel Bayer sensor. The 45-degree orientation also allows for improved capture of horizontal and vertical detail. This is good because most of the world, thanks to gravity, exists in horizontal and vertical planes — however, this happens at the expense of diagonal resolution, which is where traditional sensor layouts excel.

The honeycomb design of the SuperCCD sensors.

Released in January 2000, the Fujifilm S1 Pro is based on the Nikon N60 (aka F60) film camera body (with modifications by Fuji). It logically sports a Nikon F mount and can use AI, AI-S, AI-P, AF, AF-D, or G type lens — however, only AF and AF-D lenses will autofocus. AI and AI-S lenses can only be used in manual exposure mode as there is no meter coupling.

Most of these photos were shot with either the Nikon AF-D 24-120/3.5-5.6 or Nikon AF-D 50/1.8. While the 24-120 is not a quality optic, it’s a more than sufficient match for this sensor, especially stopped down a bit — and you can stop down to your heart’s content without hitting diffraction on this camera.

I had initially gone out shooting with some superior G-type lenses, however, accurate manual focusing is impossible for me through the straw-like OVF (wearing glasses doesn’t help either) and the focus confirmation dot is totally unreliable. Strangely, I had more issues manually focusing on distant objects stopped down than closer ones wide open — the photo above was manually focused with the Sigma Art 35mm wide open at f/1.4, yet the below photo (slightly out of focus) was at 24mm and f/8 with the Nikon 24-120mm f/4G VR.

Shutter speeds top out at 1/2000th. There are several metering modes (3D 6-zone, 6-zone, center-weight), a pop-up flash and hot-shoe (Nikon TTL compatible), and ISO options of 320, 400, 800, and 1600. There is no auto ISO function, and you have to menu dive each time you want to adjust it.

File choices are JPEG or TIFF only — no RAW, unfortunately — recorded to either CompactFlash or SmartMedia. The camera certainly did not accept my 64 or 128GB cards, but I was able to dig up an old 1GB card that can hold a whopping 56 TIFF files in the highest quality mode available (“Hi RGB TIFF”).

This is easily the slowest camera I have ever used. The menu is the antithesis of intuitive; it’s mostly just a collection of symbols and abbreviations and my hat is off to you if you can guess their meaning without reading the manual.

Forget chimping. Just murder that idea and bury it. It takes a solid 31 seconds (yes, I timed it) for an image to populate the screen. Once it does, just about the only thing you can confirm is that a photo was indeed taken, though a histogram is available for more accurate analysis. JPEGs, however, are significantly faster to review.

In a way, if you choose TIFF over JPEG, using the camera is akin to shooting a bulked-up Nikon N60 loaded with a roll and a half of film — no image review, roughly 55 maximum shots, and no quick adjustment of the ISO.

The S1 Pro allows you to choose between either 3.1MP or 6.2MP output. To produce a traditional image file — which exists in rows and columns — the camera must interpolate by using adjacent photosites to generate data between existing pixels. After all, the recorded file can’t exist in the same zig-zag honeycomb pattern as the sensor. After each line is read out and the missing data is filled, you end up with twice the spatial resolution (6.2MP).

Compared to the Nikon D40, which uses a 6.1-megapixel Bayer sensor, the S1 Pro doesn’t quite reach the same level of pixel acuity. However, side by side with the 4.1 megapixel Nikon D2Hs, there isn’t much in it between the two. So, I think the real Bayer-equivalent resolution sits somewhere in the middle of 3.1 and 6.2MP — around 4-4.5 megapixels. As it would happen, this is exactly in line with the roughly 40% increase in sensor cell rows (3.1 * 1.41 = 4.37). It also depends on the scene — some benefit from the unusual sensor design much more than others.

CCD sensors are not forgiving of sloppy exposure. Pushing or pulling can quickly result in blotchy chroma noise, severe color shifts, and compromised roll-off from the quartertones into the highlights. It is not unlike slide film in this way.

The colors are phenomenally accurate and neutral out of the camera. “ORG” tone and color produce a lovely, neutral file that’s perfect for editing, and “STD” (standard) tone and color make for a pleasingly usable straight-out-of-camera file. Even with color set to “HIGH” and tone set to “HARD,” the images aren’t bombastically oversaturated and Disneyland like we often see with the “Vivid” setting in modern cameras. In fact, High Color/Hard Tone photos exhibit only a very modest bump in saturation and contrast compared to Standard Color/Tone. One thing is perfectly clear: Fujifilm was producing cameras with beautiful color output long before X-Trans.

All the images here were shot at ISO 320, 800, or 1600. ISO 400 is completely pointless given that it’s a mere quarter stop gain over base. It would be easier to just dial in a third of a stop of exposure compensation rather than clicking through the menu. I really wish there was a lower base ISO of 160, as well as intermediate options like 640 and 1280.

The camera’s high native sensitivity — combined with early CCD architecture — means that there is a noticeable level of noise even at base ISO. Thankfully, the noise is quite pleasing and mostly luminance up through ISO 800 — even 1600 has very minimal chroma noise straight out of the camera. Anecdotally, I’ve found this to be a running theme with CCD sensors — considerable noise even at base ISO, but the noise presents very favorably through most, if not all, of the sensitivity range depending on the camera. It also makes for astonishingly appealing black and white photos, especially given the finely grained texture from what is largely high-frequency noise. “Film-like” would be an apt descriptor for the results.

The considerable noise in this image is the result of bringing up an underexposed photo in post. Black and white helps cover the color shifts and chroma noise.

If you nail exposure in camera, ISO 1600 will produce remarkably great results with an unexpectedly low amount of noise for a sensor of this type and age — there isn’t much to speak of in terms of offensive noise and photos are completely usable without any noise reduction. However, at this point, you’ve lost a good bit of dynamic range and if you try to push the image in any way, blocked up patches of low-frequency chroma noise and banding immediately rear their head. There is essentially zero room for pushing the files at all if shot at ISO 800 or higher.

Quite impressively, there is almost nothing in terms of color shift throughout the entire sensitivity range — what is accurate or pleasing at base ISO will be accurate or pleasing at 1600. Again, this is something I have noticed on more than one occasion with CCD cameras — the Pentax 645D behaves almost identically throughout its ISO range.

ISO 1600, SOOC “Standard” color and tone, auto WB. Noise reduction and sharpening zeroed out in ACR. No adjustments aside from downsizing.

While restrictive by modern standards, a highly usable ISO 1600 in an APS-C camera in the year 2000 was exceptionally good. Fujifilm claimed the SuperCCD cameras to have superior sensitivity performance — the honeycomb photosites allow for more pixels to be packed within a given area and their shape more closely mirrors the circular microlenses that sit above them. I think Fuji’s assertation bears out in practice.

I would estimate roughly 7.5-8 stops of usable dynamic range, which is up against what I presume is an 8-bit ADC (analog to digital converter). Given this, along with the unforgiving nature of CCD sensors and processing latitude further limited by the lack of RAW, you need to be very deliberate with your exposure choices. Even in a scene of moderate contrast, you will almost certainly have either crushed blacks or clipped highlights.

However, like most CCD cameras, you do start to lose dynamic range quickly once you boost the ISO by a couple of stops. There also isn’t much in the shadows — modern cameras (CMOS) tend to have a lot of their dynamic range bunched up in the shadows, allowing for some truly incredible detail recovery. CCD sensors do not work the same way, and even with a full-blown RAW file, I doubt you’d find much usable information at that end of the histogram. You can mitigate this somewhat via ETTR (“expose to the right”), but with what is already a suboptimal amount of dynamic range, you’ll only have a small amount of latitude for ETTR, if any.

Oops, highway patrol got me. High contrast scenes like this are difficult – the whites are just on the cusp of clipping, but the blacks are gone in numerous areas.

While the camera’s light meter, particularly the 3D 6-zone multipattern meter, is exceptionally adept at balancing exposure in difficult scenes, the auto white balance is a duality: it’s either one of the most accurate I have ever seen or it’s the worst. Almost all the photos I took required zero tint adjustment and usually only +1 to +4 temperature adjustment. However, on three occasions the images were off by so much I’m still baffled as to exactly why.

The most egregious were photos taken about two hours before sunset in the shade — they were rendered extremely blue and about half a stop underexposed. The white balance went so far off the map that most of a plain white T-shirt measured blue values from 240 on up to completely clipped! I assume the culprit for this error is a combination of the camera’s CCD light meter design and spectral response — the infrared filter may be causing issues in certain situations too. IR filters can strongly affect the blue channel and it’s possible there was a bit of Rayleigh scattering at work.

The major issue is that without a RAW file, your options are extremely limited — those botched files required +76 temperature to correct. Such a massive shift in an 8-bit TIFF file results in horrendous noise — especially bad because the blue channel is always the noisiest — and extreme spectral shifts across the entire image. Strangely, a separate shot of a red step ladder taken five feet away at the same time required only -3 tint and zero temperature adjustment.

Using the S1 Pro reminds me of shooting with the original 18-megapixel Leica M9 and Leica M Monochrom cameras — both with Kodak CCD designs. Neither those cameras nor the S1 Pro has any tolerance for “underexpose to protect the highlights” or similar approaches in the same way that CMOS sensors allow — not unlike how slide film doesn’t take kindly to push processing. People who worry about how a camera handles being pushed five stops will need to adjust — it’ll help them in the long run so they can finally learn to stop underexposing so much.

Ultimately, while the files from the S1 Pro don’t contain anywhere near the latitude of even modern JPEGs, let alone the power of RAW, my biggest takeaway while using this camera was how much I adore and value transparency as a starting point out of the camera. In a way, the naturality of colors and tones from this camera makes it even more aggravating that the files can’t stand up to much manipulation — I would absolutely LOVE results like this out of my Nikon Z7, and every other camera I have for that matter.

My father assisting in the repair of a Pentax 6×7. In scenes like this, you just have to expose for your subject and let the extreme ends clip.

What I would love to see is a universal “Natural Color Solution” (to steal a term from Hasselblad) adopted by all manufacturers and implemented in their cameras as an option. If you want that “Natural Color” RAW file, you can have it. If you want the look that you’ve come to love from your manufacturer, you can pick that too. Aside from Hasselblad, I’m not sure what would be the risk for manufacturers to do this — other than that it would take some effort and time.

I would not call the Fujifilm S1 Pro a fun or pleasant camera to use at all. To be honest, I probably immediately deleted 99% of the photos I took while doing this review. And even among the ones you see here, there are more than a few that I am not happy with. Normally, I would not settle for posting simply passable images, but in this case, I think even the lesser photos here do have value by showing both the warts and the ornaments.

Have no doubt, this is a challenging camera to use. I’m sure my images would greatly improve with continued use, but how much I am not sure — I feel like you hit the ceiling quicker than you might imagine.

Perhaps I can follow this up with a retrospective review of 2005’s Fujifilm S3 Pro, which sports a new SuperCCD SR sensor with two photodiodes per photosite — one of normal sensitivity and a smaller one of lower sensitivity. Both are combined to produce enhanced dynamic range (and it works very, very well). The general principle behind such a design comes from the structure of the crystal coating in silver halide film. The S3 also has a 14-bit ADC and produces 14-bit RAW files! That’s just a few of the improvements, but I’ll tell you this much: the SuperCCD SR sensor does NOT disappoint.

from PetaPixel https://ift.tt/3Ambu6I

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bloggingbadasswitch · 6 years ago

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Happy 2019!!! Also happy 2000th post! I started the year on the beach with one of my besties @betthh95, watching fire works over the castle. A perfect way to slide into a year where I'm fully determined to do things my way on my terms. I hope you all had a fabulous night and have a kick ass 2019! 🎉 #instagram #fireworks #falmouth #beach #2019 #happynewyear #nye #happiness #cornwall #sea https://www.instagram.com/p/BsFzUsWn4Rd/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ppkywenbx6qb

#instagram #fireworks #falmouth #beach #2019 #happynewyear #nye #happiness #cornwall #sea

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nicosroom · 8 years ago

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IT'S MY 2000th post! and I'm eating soup, again! Are you tired of me talking about soup yet? This time, it's white bean, mushroom, tomato soup from Love and Lemons. Don't let the name fool you - this also contains celery, butternut squash, and spinach. Talk about "5 a day the color way"! And, I made sweet potato corn muffins, too.

This is a really good and healthy soup that makes me feel exactly those things: good and healthy. It's not the type of soup I want to eat in bottomless bowls, though. That's probably a good thing, because even with a super veggie soup, we have to have boundaries. I may try it again - but won't have any regrets if I don't. Though I would say, if I do it again, I might pulse my tomatoes in the Vitamix first. I think it's just this brand of diced tomatoes I'm buying though. Back when I was able to get Glen Muir's fire roasted diced tomatoes at Costco, I got very spoiled. Those tomatoes, though diced, seemed less chunky than what I've got now. In other news, I've been reading the Whole 30 book this week. I am slightly convinced I'd like to try a Whole 30 'reset,' but every time I look at my calendar, I am just like nope, nope, nope. This might be a thing I do just after I pass comps - it could be the thing that distinguishes life of comps from life of dissertation prospectus. In the meantime, I look at every meal I make and think about how it could be Whole 30 compliant. In this case, I could use chicken instead of white beans. EASY. Most of my other meals are Whole 30 non-compliant because of the grains. I'm not even such a carb lover the way many of my friends profess to be, but something about not having rice or quinoa makes me very anxious. My other hang up about Whole 30 is all the meat - I'm not accustomed to eating meat as its own thing, if that makes sense. So many of the dishes of my childhood and my adult life might qualify as what the Hartwigs categorize as "one pot meals." Only in my dating relationships (I've dated a lot of White Americans), with my stepfather and at his family gatherings (over the past 6 years) and at restaurants have I really grappled with the segregation of foodd groups around the plate and the domination of meat dishes. I'll stop here and save my opinions about Whole 30 for another post.

On another note, I made these corn muffins because I had some mashed sweet potato idling in my fridge. I had that because my sweet potatoes were starting to look rough and I cooked them all at once with no real plan as to eating them. I made a sweet potato puff for breakfasts earlier in the week, but still had some leftover. One of my very favorite cornbread recipes involves sweet potato (rather than cheddar) and jalapeño. I wanted to avoid the store, so I figured I could make it without the peppers. I didn't remember that recipe also calls for both cream cheese and greek yogurt. Hassle. I searched for a good 30 minutes for a sweet potato cornbread that didn't call for cream cheese, sour cream, or Greek yogurt and one that wasn't sweet and cinnamony. Leave it to Paula Deen to meet all those criteria. Normally, I avoid Paula - for health reasons and for race reasons (by which I mean, because she is racist), but today, I swallowed my pride and trusted her recipe. This must be from the era after Paula got lambasted for the unhealthy qualities of her culinary repetoire, but I can vouch for the goodness of this sweet potato cornbread that only calls for a quarter cup of sugar and 2 oz of butter. I made vegan "buttermilk" out of cashew milk and lemon juice. I did not put enough salt in this, but that was my own fault - I didn't want to measure it. I added a teaspoon of chipotle chili seasoning to give it spice and that's perfect.

#saturdaynight #soup #loveandlemons #nicoskitchen #dinner #cornbread #my year of soups #whole 30 #2000th post

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