lack of goodwill

people suck. they really do. i've been saying this for a long time but like, what are some people even doing?

few stories, mostly rants.

1. how are you living your life that you think all your coworkers and bosses are either incompetent or racist?
like, i don't care if everyone likes me, but i do try to be a likeable coworker because that shit's important. i may have a question, need help, need covering, whatever. and also cause i spend 40 hours a week with my coworkers, that's a lot of time. i want to be able to enjoy that time. 

2. how are you living your life that you think your next door neighbors hold you (a frail 70 year old lady who rarely has guests over) responsible for their house robbery and installed cameras pointed at your house after the break-in?
either way, if you're right that your neighbors do think that, or if you're wrong and you neighbors don't actually think that, how are you living your life?
i generally try to get to know my neighbors and be kind (take their packages and trashcans in) because that shit is also important! i want them to want to call me if they see something/someone suspicious at my place. i also want to bring in my packages and trashcans if they get to them first. like... how can you not trust the people you directly live next to? i want my home, my safe space, to extend outside the physical walls of my home, you know?

3. how are you living your life that you can't be bothered to read or follow any instructions for things you want that are free?
i have some new and necessary medical stuff to give away on buy nothing. i'm only in town a few hours each week so in my post, i provide that time frame and ask that people comment with when they could come. many people did not comment with time of proposed pick-up. iignored those comments, and someone actually dm-ed me. like UGH. you can't be bothered to read my post NOR follow group rules about messaging people when they haven't asked you to?

4. how are you living your life that you're such a fucking flake?
you didn't have to have a full on conversation with me about what you wanted and when and where we could meet then suddenly do a no call / no show. like... just let me know you changed your mind? 
for a few things, rather than have to match up schedules, i've literally just set them outside and told the person to come at their convenience. and STILL i've  had people flake! like.. what the fuck is the point of you?! is this a new way of trolling people? like... i'm giving things away for free, go troll someone selling something for way more than it ought to be?

3 and 4 are basically the same in that people are so fucking disrespectful of other people's time and energy. like. jesus, i wanted to give away the stuff for free since they can be necessary objects, can be expensive for some people, and i got them for free but like after so much fucking run around i really wanted to sell them just to make up for some of my lost time! (it's medical stuff [commodes, walkers, etc] so goodwill / savers won't take them, at least, not the ones i went to and talked to the workers about?)

january 2026 donation

this month's news has been taken over by all the bullshit going on in minnesota, but we should not forget that ICE is still here in la too. so this month i donated to the los angeles neighbor's support fund organized by the california community foundation. 

also want to help those in la affected by ice? here's a list of different orgs you can you donate to, or go find a different org that speaks to you!

speaking of, why did i donate specifically to this org rather than one of the many others doing similar work? because the california community foundation does a lot of really great work in la. it's sort of like a non-profit for non-profits. they provide resources and grants for la based non-profits. local cities also work with them, so i feel pretty good about my donation going towards whatever they say it's going to go to.

2025 donation list

my giving list for 2025 is like last year's, in that it reflects some of the places we've lived this year. i've skipped a couple because my finances aren't looking so great (nearly $2k hospital bill was not helpful, plus taxes, and so many flights!), but I may go back and donate regardless.

january - prisoners literature project
february - pbs
march -  soft paw vintage
april - various national parks in hawaii
may - npr
june - molokai heritage trust
july - 
august - 
september / october - algalita and moore institute thru long beach gives
november - ywca south florida
december - east jesus

2024 donation list

2023 donation list

2022 donation list

2021 donation list

2020 donation list

mini chocolate basque cheesecakes

basque cheesecake: Basque Cheesecake (with crust!)

chocolate versions - Chocolate Basque Cheesecake, Chocolate Basque Burnt Cheesecake, and Chocolate Basque Cheesecake

oreo crust - 18 regular oreos, scant 4 tsp butter

cheesecake (ingredients mostly from the first cbc link from Catherine Zhang)
16 oz (450 g or two bricks) cream cheese, room temperature
200g (7 oz) dark chocolate, 65-70%.
    if regular chocolate, can add bit sugar
    melt at 20 second intervals in microwave
1/2 cup (100 g) white sugar
1 tbsp (7 g) cocoa powder (can add 1/2 tsp extra if non dutch processed)
1 tsp instant coffee (pretty much 1 packet of the travel size ones)
1/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs, room temperature
240ml (1 cup) heavy cream

using a cupcake tin and liners, you'll make about 20 mini cheesecakes with the full cheesecake recipe.

like with the actual recipe, you don't need to pre-bake the crusts, just put into fridge while you prep the cheesecake. 

fill cupcake liners pretty near the top. they will rise a little, but not nearly as much as the full sized cake does. 

you can preheat the oven 25 degrees higher, then just before you put them in, drop it by 25 degrees.

december 2025 donation

j's current work contract is in la. we've been here for about two months now, but took our first trip away, to palm springs! j's brother was there for a work training and had a room, so we stayed with him for a night. palm springs was / is okay, but i was really excited for the "new" desert x art installations at the salton sea, and especially for east jesus!, which i've never actually been to. last time we tried, it was during the pandemic and the residents there weren't allowing visitors.

east jesus is actually a lot more... organized than i thought? i thought it was just a subsection of slab city, which it is? but it's actually quite a bit more than that. anyway. i'm not interested in explaining it, but if you're interested, you can read about it on their website. 

anyway, so i donated my usual $25 via venmo to their cause because weird desert art is one of my favorite things :)

pavlova recipe

the pot de creme uses only egg yolks, so what to do with the whites? make pavlovas with whipped cream and macerated berries! personal sized ones are especially fun :) 

recipes: pavlova and mini pavlovas

i had doubled the pot de creme recipes (and got 9 of those), so had 4 leftover egg whites. i made 12 pavlovas (on two baking sheets), but they were very fragile. maybe make them a little taller (so thicker) and less wide? it was a bit hard to make a little depression in each (to better hold the whipped cream and berries). also, possibly make 13, or one more than you want in total, in order to test the texture.

recipe: macerated fruit 

macerated berries "recipe": berries, lemon or lime juice, and sugar. marinate!, cover, and fridge. longer means more wet. can also use flavored liqueur and/or herbs.

these are quite a bit of fun, with nice presentation, but once you add the whipped cream, they get soft pretty so you'll want to serve pretty quickly. in other words, maybe not the best choice for potlucks.