Note of the Living Deb

I got a blank yard sign at my local hardware store for reasons that I won't make to clear to search bots. But in these days, it's nice to have a re-usable sign. So I got one of those corregated plastic yard signs. I chose a small one, with the longer sides about two feet long.

I have some so-called dry-erase markers that work on it, but they work as wet-erase markers. So I won't be updating the sign during any events. Still, it should be easy to change it between events. These days I feel like I should carry it everywhere I go, updating it every hour. (My horror journal regularly has more than ten entries per day!) But that's the kind of weirdo I'm not quite up to being at this time.

I've gotten one of these signs before, but used a Sharpie on it, which I'd heard could be cleaned off with alcohol. Not so much. Then I used multiple pieces of paper taped to each other and to the sign, but my new system is much quicker and easier.

The yard sign comes with a double post for displaying in your yard, but I have found that this is awkward for event use. Instead, I bring a fork whose tines fit in the little holes at the edge of the sign. Then it's pretty easy to hold the sign up in the air. I keep the fork stashed during my bus rides.

(Maybe I will find a neighbor with a yard sign whose posts are messed up, and I could leave mine with them.) (Well, I suppose I could use it for a yard sign, too, but my yard is so terrible that it gives a negative impression of the residents.)

I like to remove labels from wide-mouthed glass jars when I can. (My favorite is peanut butter jars.) If I can't then use the jars myself, I donate them to Austin Creative Reuse. (Before they existed, I donated them to Goodwill.) Here's how I do it.

Removing the label

1) Try just peeling the label off. Sometimes this works! First I scrape up a corner with a fingernail, then try to peel it as slowly as possible to minimize glue residue.

2) If that doesn't work, I soak it in water for a while. Sometimes the label will just float away!

3) If that doesn't happen, I might scrape it a bit with a fork to give the water more access. Then sometimes it's quite easy to just scrape up the label with a fingernail or even with the fork.

4) If it's stuck pretty good, I'll try my metal spatula.

A friend of mine recommends Goo Gone for non-plastic labels. She says to spray it on and let it sit. Also, she says you can use razor blades on glass.

Removing the adhesive

When a small amount of adhesive remains, it can often be removed with alcohol. I put some on a piece of paper towel and rub it on the jar. The adhesive might just dissolve right off. Or it might take some elbow grease. Or it might kind of just move around, so sometimes I use the spatula again. And sometimes I just give up and toss the jar.

A friend of mine thinks lighter fluid works better than alcohol. The kind for refilling lighters, not the kind for lighting charcoal (assuming they're different). That scares me, plus I don't keep it on hand.

If you have additional strategies, I'd like to hear them!

Link of the day - Grumpy Rumblings' About that anti-price gouging policy — economists don’t actually hate it (it’s just not been explained well in the press) - Kamala Harris's policy is actually an anti-trust thing, not a price-fixing thing.

Despite the title, Meik Wiking's Little Book of Hygge is really about three things: hygge, happiness, and Denmark. (Oh, I guess that shows up in the subtitle: Danish Secrets to Happy Living!)

Hygge (pronounced HOO-gah, like an old-timey car horn)

It's fun, if your language has a good word that's not perfectly translatable into another language, to write an entire book about what it means. Because although you can roughly translate hygge as coziness it really means a lot of things. For example:
* the art of creating intimacy
* coziness of the soul
* the absence of annoyance
* taking pleasure from the presence of soothing things
* cozy togetherness
* cocoa by candlelight
* hominess

The word comes from a Norwegian word meaning well-being, which might have come from the word for hug.

He made up a hygge manifesto to explain better. Hygge involves: 1) atmosphere, 2) presence (no phones), 3) pleasure (edible treats), 4) equality (we, not me; sharing tasks and conversation), 5) gratitude, 6) harmony (vs. competition and bragging), 7) comfort (relaxation), 8) truce (no drama), 9) togetherness, and 10) shelter (peace, security).

(I found a fun blog post on taking these principles to heart, Cup of Jo's I'm Swearing by the Hygge Manifesto. The comments are fun, too.)

And then, to make it even more clear, he goes into detail about what it means, how it's created, what it looks like, etc. So here are some elements of hygge:
* soft lighting - candles, fireplaces, campfires
* slow food - stews, jams, yeast breads
* hot drinks - coffee, hot chocolate, tea, mulled cider
* sweets - cake, Danishes [which are called Wienerbrød (literally Vienna bread) there] (Exception: cake man - make a human-shaped cake to resemble the birthday person, then cut off its head first while everyone screams in horror)
* clothing - casual, with a lot of black, scarves, and sweaters
* home - smooth and soft things like wood furniture, ceramics, fur, blankets, and cushions

Denmark

One reason hygge seems to mean so much more than just coziness is that it's actually a much more important concept in Denmark than in the US. Like, when I enjoy an activity, I might call it fun or interesting or just some general awesome. I would never call it cozy. When I'm looking for a restaurant, I care most about the food and prices, less about service and atmosphere, and when people talk about atmosphere, they mostly just say the restaurant has atmosphere or doesn't. Not whether the atmosphere is cozy, luxurious, elegant, or whatever.

In Denmark, they will deliberately plan events and go to places that are hyggelig (hygge-like). They regularly discuss how hygglig various situations are. And since the language is full of compound words, a bunch of them have "hygge" as part of the word.

And this is where things get a bit alien. So much so that he feels he has to give many examples of activities that are hygge, because they are generally not the kinds of activities we focus on in the US, especially grown-ups. Basically, they are small get-togethers where people socialize. I mean, I guess we try to do that in bars? Here are some of the activities:
* picnics
* movie nights (classics everyone's seen so you can chat)
* foreign country theme parties (movies, food, vocabulary post-it notes)
* weekends in a cabin (board games and grill)
* board game nights
* TV nights (watch a series with friends every week or 2 episodes every other week)
* croquet games
* little free libraries (especially in your apartment building)
* campfire cooking
* outdoor movies
* swap parties

Living in the present also means seasonal ideas:
* picking produce from farms, then coming home to can it
* ski trips (especially the part where you relax afterwards with friends)
* sledding (you can use a plastic bag if you don't have a sled)
* solstice picnics and elderflower cooking
* watching the Perseid meteor shower (and reading Greek mythology stories)
* foraging for mushrooms
* hunting and roasting chestnuts
* barbecues
* community gardening

My sister also points out that errand-hanging (taking a friend with you while you do errands--kind of like an urban form of barn-raising) is hyggelig.

Another idea is from the guy who wrote No Impact Man - he started having an open house once a week on the same weekday night where people could drop in and out whenever for home-cooked food (cabbage soup in the winter, because he was trying to buy only locally-produced food), play charades, and just hang out.

Two examples the author gives are sort of like potlucks, but instead of bringing things that are already cooked, you just bring the ingredients and everyone helps each other. I can't even imagine coordinating with several people cooking several dishes--each person in charge of a different one--in one kitchen.
* soup cook-off - Everyone brings ingredients for soup for one, you work together to make them, everyone tastes everything, and you also have bread.
* pantry party - Everyone brings ingredients for a jarred good such as jam, relish, or stock, you work together to make them, and each person leaves with 1 jar of each.

Here's the closest I've come to that:
* potlucks - You cook your own dish at home and bring it already prepared or mostly prepared.
* chili cook-offs, pie contests - This workplace activity let everyone taste all the chilis or pies but again involved making the food at home.
* cookie exchanges - This workplace activity let you sign up to make several dozen of one kind of cookie at home, then bring them to work and go home with multiple varieties. But the cooking was not together.
* My sister had a party where we made multiple flavors of hamentaschen (filled cookies). We all helped roll out the dough and form the cookies, and maybe some guests brought their own filling, but I think only one or two people made the dough(s) and my sister had to be in charge of most of it, so it still wasn't quite the same.

And both of those also involved a lot of people. The most hyggelig activities usually involve very small groups of people. So it's perfect for introverts!

I also learned that Danish workplaces have hygge with plants, couches, office gardens, pets, and potluck Fridays.

And I learned or was reminded about a few other things about Denmark: Apparently they are into bicycling like the Dutch. Hans Christian Anderson is from there, and so are Lego and Danish furniture design.

Happiness

The author is actually the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, so of course he wants to talk about happiness. Denmark regularly makes the top of various happiness lists, and he's biased to think that hygge is a big part of raising Denmark's happiness above that of other Nordic countries, though he admits that many things help with happiness.

He says everyday happiness has three dimensions: 1) life satisfaction (compared to the best and worst possible life you could lead, where do you stand?), 2) emotions (are they mostly positive or negative?), and 3) sense of purpose.

'Several factors influence why some people and countries are happier than others - genetics, our relationships, health, income, job, sense of purpose and freedom.' The welfare state 'reduces uncertainty, worries, and stress.' Specifically, he supports Denmark's 'Universal and free health care, free university education, and relatively generous unemployment benefits.'

'Furthermore there is a high level of trust in Denmark (notice all the strollers parked outside cafes when the parents are inside, drinking coffee). There is a high level of freedom (Danes report really high levels in terms of feeling in control over their lives), of wealth and good governance, and a well-functioning civil society,' just like other Nordic countries.

Social support is also important (do you have someone you can rely on in times of need?). A good work-life balance leaves you time for family and friends. The language and culture also support prioritizing time with family and friends. Also happiness and good relationships are a feedback loop--each helps the other.

Savoring and gratitude are important. Gratefulness improves happiness and also makes people 'more helpful and forgiving and less materialistic.' Even just writing in a gratitude journal once a week can increase alertness and enthusiasm, improve sleep and health, and help one be 'more mindful of situations where they could be helpful,' and more resilient (recover more quickly).

Hygge is all about savoring simple pleasures, planning for them, and later reminiscing about them. One study showed 'nostalgia produces positive feelings, reinforces old memories and sense of being loved, and boosts self-esteem.'

Take-Aways

What do you think? First, I think that in Austin in the summer, hygge is going to look a bit different than in Denmark in the dead of winter. You're going to want cold foods and drinks and ceiling fans (or other sources of breezes), though comfortable clothes are still good, and avoiding plastic/vinyl furniture is still good.

I do like the idea of hygge activities. Currently I have a weekly online craft night and an every-other-week VR golf game with friends that qualifies, though if they were in-person that would have an extra element of hygge. I also go to book clubs and a craft meeting at the library, but those are a bit large for ideal hyygelig. It's possible to do hygge alone, and I do plenty of that--reading books, doing projects, playing video games, eating comfort food.

The Rebel Badge Club has an Environmentalist badge which I originally blew off because I didn't want to do the first two requirements which are a) to keep track of all your trash for a month and b) do it again while actively working to reduce your trash. I have already (especially after reading No Impact Man) made a lot of changes in my life to reduce trash. Here are some I can think of off the top of my head:
* Use a sponge instead of a paper towel for most things.
* Use cloth hankies instead of tissues.
* Use a metal water bottle instead of buying water.
* Use cloth bags for shopping.
* Buy some things in glass jars instead of plastic (like peanut butter).
* Use a silicon mat instead of parchment paper or waxed paper except when making pie crust. (It is possible to pat pie crust into the pan like with a graham cracker crust, but now that I finally figured out whole wheat crust needs more water than regular, I'm back to rolling it out. Hmm, maybe I could roll it out between silicone mats.)
* Recycle and compost--my city has a great recycling program including glass, paper, cardboard, metal, and hard plastic. Though I now only recycle #1 and #2 plastic because I've heard the other numbers are really a mess. And I bring my plastic film to the grocery store for recycling. My city also has a composting program and I finally got a replacement bin after my last one went missing. So there's a place for egg shells, banana peels, etc.
* Buy in larger packages when possible (one big container makes less trash than several small containers, in cases where I can keep things from spoiling).

But it turns out I like the rest of the badge, so I've decided to make a go of it. I tried to keep track of all my trash for the month of September (though I'm sure I forgot a few things). I'm not counting recycling here, though some of that (most of that?) is also problematic. I didn't buy anything big or do much decluttering, so this is probably a below-average month. And now I will try to brainstorm ways to reduce, though I don't expect to get any new ideas. (Skip to the bottom to see what I came up with.)

Here goes:

* dental floss - plenty. I did find a new floss that comes in a cardboard container rather than a plastic container inside a bubble pack, but it has "sponge" floss instead of "glide" floss. It's supposed to be more effective, but I don't like it and of course the most effective floss is the floss you actually use. I'm going to try to finish it anyway. Currently I'm rewarding myself with the floss I like for my second flossing of the day, so that's actually good.

* receipts - plenty. Receipt paper is known to be kind of toxic especially if you're touching it with wet (sweaty) hands. I could join the modern world and get my receipts electronically. However, I like having them on my desk when I enter the information into my financial spreadsheet. Maybe I could try it next month when I have options. Mostly I shop at HEB, where you just get a receipt automatically, but I'm not sure if you have to get one at Trader Joe's. Some places I shop do ask whether you want a paper receipt.

* toilet paper - plenty. Some people use "family cloth" (like hankies) and then wash them like diapers. Some use it only for #1. I don't wanna. I have already experimented with finding the minimum amount to use that keeps me happy.

* sweepings - plenty. After sweeping, whatever's in the dustpan goes in the garbage. A bunch of it's probably compostable, but there are probably bits that are not. I will not worry about this or stop sweeping.

* yogurt container - 2. I was trying several new flavors and only wanted to get a small container of each. I like Skyr. And I like the plant-based yogurts--it turns out they are based on coconut milk, which I like. Especially after mixing in some pineapple (even from a can). I'm back to buying only big yogurt containers.

* restaurant items 1 sheet of paper, 1 cardboard tray, 3 plastic cups holding butter and jelly, 1 holding ketchup - One day I tossed paper and a paper tray from crispy tacos (from Taco Shack). (Yum!) I actually had way less trash than the folks I was sharing a table with, who both had giant styrofoam containers full of food plus multiple little plastic containers of extra ingredients. In the future, I will want to try other things at that restaurant that come with more trash, but I do also like just getting their crispy tacos.

In another restaurant (Monument Cafe) we got biscuits. Delicious complimentary biscuits. And we like the butter, though may say no on the jelly in the future. We will continue getting these in the future. Another place gave us ketchup.

* salad bags - 4 big bags + 5 packets. I buy spinach in plastic bags, pre-washed. I could buy it in bulk, held with a twist tie, and wash it myself and store it in a re-usable bag, but I'm not willing to go through the trouble. I don't eat many vegetables, and anything that encourages me to eat more vegetables is a higher priority for me than reducing trash.

I also buy chopped salad kits that have chopped cabbage plus packets of dressing and packets of other toppings. I mix this with plain spinach. I could instead just buy dressing in a glass jar that I could recycle except for the lid or I could make dressing and then also buy extra toppings (like seeds) in bulk. But again, my current strategy makes it much more likely that I will actually eat salads.

* TV dinner container - 7. I like to buy paneer tikka masala (vegetarian Indian food) and palak paneer (creamy spinach) (paneer is a soft cheese) and mix them together with a can of chick peas and then put some more cheese on top (weirdly, I'm enjoying cotija, which is a Mexican cheese that is often compared to parmesan though it is milder and less dry and also way more affordable where I live). So, this is yet another way that I'm eating vegetables, so I won't be changing this.

I also like Trader Joe's macaroni and cheese. There are no health reasons for me to keep buying this, but when I make macaroni and cheese myself, I cannot make it this yummy. This is a special treat and I will continue buying this. This tray is now paper instead of plastic, but it's still sealed with plastic that tends to partly stick to the tray, so I don't try to recycle or compost any of it. When in doubt [about what's recyclable], they say to throw it out.

* cream cheese wrapper - 2. I get my cream cheese in a foil wrapper. I have seen recipes for cream cheese but have not tried any. As one recipe writer says, it would 'not contain commercial stabilizers or preservatives.' I don't generally go through cream cheese very quickly, so that would probably be a bad plan. But it might be worth trying if I'm planning to make a cheesecake.

* bread wrapper - 1. For bagels. I'm not making my own.

* candy bar wrapper - 4. I actually snack on chocolate chips as often as candy bars. They're cheaper and tax-free where I live, but I do also like candy bars, especially when they are on sale or on clearance.

* paper napkin - 3. I sometimes end up with paper napkins from restaurants. I could try harder not to (and just wash my hands in the bathroom afterwards).

* straw and paper from straw - 3. I don't even use straws, but sometimes restaurant staff give them to me. Usually I tell them I don't want one, but sometimes I don't have the energy--it feels like making more work for them. Okay, I can definitely make more of an effort to refuse straws next month.

* disposable cup - 3. Sometimes I end up with a plastic cup from restaurants, even though I just drink water. I try to remember to bring my water bottle with me and use that instead--I can try harder next time. (I also bring them to parties, but I didn't go to any parties last month.)

I also got a paper cup from the blood donation place where I get juice. I like getting juice, but it occurs to me they would probably happily pour it in my own cup if I brought one.

* snack packet - 6. I got two packets of snacks from the blood donating place. I could bring my own snacks; it's not like I even love theirs (except for the juice), but I also like getting free snacks, so I won't.
I think I was gifted 2 more snack packets later. And I got a box with 4 breakfast cookie packets on clearance. Yes, I can be bought.

* bandages - some bandages and wrapping tape and other medical garbage were generated by my blood donation. I will not be changing that.

* food sample containers - 2. I will eat food samples from grocery stores. This definitely results in trash (tiny cups, napkins, tiny cupcake liners), though at least it's tiny. For a while I was trying to bring my own little silverware with me, but then I had trouble remembering to wash it when I got home.

* wrapper from plastic bottles - 1. Some plastic bottles have a plastic wrapper on them with all the printing. It doesn't seem like those should go in the recycling with the bottle, nor am I confident that it counts as plastic film, so I just take it off and throw it in the garbage. Okay, brief googling was unhelpful, so I'll continue doing this. I got one from a stain-remover bottle and the rest were from some protein drinks I inherited from my mom (they were just going to be thrown away if I didn't take them). I'm using the protein drinks to flavor milk--normally I make chocolate syrup to do that (1 part cocoa, 1 part sugar, 1 part water, boil 1 minute).

* A/C part and packaging - 2. Our air conditioner broke, so we bought a couple of new parts, which came in a package and we threw away one old part.

* chocolate chip wrapper - 3. I can buy chocolate chips in bulk from a place that lets you bring your own container, but they cost more, they don't taste as good, and I don't go to that particular store very often, so I will continued generating this waste.

* tortilla wrapper - 1. I have successfully made my own tortillas, but the ones I buy have more fiber, taste better, and have better preservatives. I will continue generating this waste.

* butter wrapper - 1. The box the butter comes in is recyclable, but not the wrapper. I've also made butter myself and I do not want to do that. Hmm, per Zero Waste Butter (Meridith Tested), sometimes you can get the folks at farmer's markets to give you butter in glass jars. She also says you can buy ghee in glass jars--I'm sure that costs way more; maybe I should check it out. (She also says you can recycle Kerrygold wrappers by washing them and crumpling them, but I don't want to use that much hot water and soap.)

* cheese wrapper - 1. This is from a package of sliced cheese--there were also some papers between the slices. I've heard of people going to delis with their own containers and asking them to use those containers and then, after getting a lot of weird looks and maybe going to speak to their managers, they will let you do it. I will not be doing that, though.

* bits of moldy cheese - once. Yep, I went too long without using that kind of cheese. I saved most of the cheese but not all. Usually I'm good about using up my food in time. It helps that I try to store things in the same place so I know where to look for things. But I fail sometimes.

* rice packet - 2. I'm trying to eat less rice since I found out that conventionally grown rice is as bad for the environment as eating chicken, so I'm getting this rice made from vegetables and flour. It comes in smallish plastic bags and is not available in bulk.

* old sheet - 2. We had two bottom sheets that were just so old and worn that patching no longer makes any sense because the fabric itself is just too fragile. It's not too fragile for hankies, so I cut some squares out of the edges for that and will sew them up during craft night, but the rest is finally gone.

I'm looking for ways to buy just bottom sheets instead of whole sets. I've already tried making top sheets into bottom sheets but that has turned out, shall we say, unsatisfactory. I've also tried just tucking in top sheets to use as bottom sheets like hotel maids have to, and that doesn't last very long. Of course top sheets are easier to find in thrift stores.

* book - 1. I acquired a paperback cookbook with severe water damage. I finally got all the recipes I wanted to try from it and tossed it.

* ant poison - 1 plastic bottle + many saturated pieces of cardboard. - I have tried many non-trash ways to beg the ants not to come into the house, but they just don't understand.

* ant trap pieces - 4. When that bottle ran out, I had to get a different kind of ant trap, and each one is a little plastic house. I cut the ends of 4 of them off to set out.

* bakery wrappers - small bag x 5, small metal tray x 4, paper tray x 1, cup x 2, box x 1 - My favorite Asian bakery (85 degrees) sells everything individually wrapped. It was already pretty bad before covid, but at least then you could ask them to put several things in one bag. Now we can get the egg tarts in a box of 2, but the rest is all individually wrapped. I will continue generating this waste. (Um, at least it all goes into a re-usable grocery bag I bring from home.)

* frozen food bag - 2. I buy vegetarian sausage patties in a plastic bag. Googling because of this badge, I found a recipe for easy vegan breakfast sausage patties that I might try (but without the maple syrup). I won't try it next month, though, because I still have another bag.

I've also started buying vegetarian fake fried fish that I love, I get it every time a restaurant worker insists on giving us ketchup we don't want. I do like ketchup on fried fish.

* glass jar label - at least 3. I like to try to get the labels off wide-mouth jars and bring them to our local craft re-sale shop (Creative Re-use).

* paper towel - 1. One of the labels came off a spice jar from a company where the label usually comes off cleanly, but this time I could never get the glue off, even with alcohol. I'll keep trying, but for these spice jars, if the glue doesn't come off again in the future, I won't waste a paper towel again.

* air filter - 1. I change the air conditioner filter every month during the hot months, even though we have 3-month filters. This is supposed to be good for the air conditioner. There are re-usable filters, but they look like a real pain to wash, especially the ones that are really good at filtering. Plus it's not like clean water is an infinite resource either. So I will continue generating these. At least I do recycle the paper and film it's wrapped in.

* wrapper, block cheese - 1. For cheddar, sometimes I get the 16-ounce block to minimize plastic. But sometimes I still get 8-ounce blocks for grass-fed or other fancy cheese or if it's on sale.

* yogurt tube - I was gifted a plastic tube of yogurt.

* cough drop wrapper - Um. Apparently you can make your own cough drops, but no, she's not convincing me.

I have heard that cough drops don't actually work, or maybe only as a placebo effect. I like to get the reward of cherry candy when I'm sick sometimes, though. So I suppose I could think of a trash-free treat for when I'm sick. I don't like tea, but I do like chicken broth, and even just plain hot water is good.

* plastic from bananas - 1 set - There's a strip around the bananas so cashiers know they're organic and another bit at the top for freshness. I'm just going to be fine with this. I have seen banana trees in my neighborhood, but I don't know if they actually make bananas.

* business card - 1. I found this in the yard and it was all dirty, so not recyclable, but also looked plastic-coated, so I assume also not compostable.

Well, I did manage to come with a few takeaways for the future, though they don't add up to much:
* Check out prices for ghee in glass jars.
* Refuse more receipts.
* Try making vegan sausage patties.
* Try rolling out pie crust between silicone mats.
* Make my own cream cheese for cheesecake.
* Be more consistent in refusing straws.
* Bring cup for juice when I donate blood.

As usual, suggestions are encouraged! In fact, another Rebel posted an idea I could make a huge improvement on which is deleting old emails I don't want. See Digital Cleanup Day for more information.

Decades ago I went to a conference in Albuquerque that was held on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. So I took the whole week off, flew in early, rented a car, and drove all around northwestern New Mexico, checking out the sites.

There was one place, advertised on many billboards (that should have been a sign, I mean a figurative sign), that sounded really interesting. It was called volcano and ice cave or something. Eh, it was mildly interesting. The volcano looked like a human-sized ant mound. The ice cave was a cave with a frozen pond in it.

Then there was another place I was going to stop at only because it was on my route, even though it sounded kind of boring: El Morro, a rock famous for its graffiti. But it was pretty cool. The land around the rock kept eroding, so the vertical dimension is like a timeline. The eye-level graffiti is kind of boring, but above that is a signature from one of the guys from the Army's camel experiment portrayed in the movie "Hawmps!" that my mom liked. Above that is fancy Spanish script from the 1600s. And above that are petroglyphs.

So it's hard to know ahead of time which things are going to be the most fun.

I just had a similar experience while decluttering books. I had thought re-reading Edgar Allen Poe's "Eight Tales of Terror" would be fun and bring me back to my early grad school years when, in certain situations, it was exciting for my friends to find excuses to use the word "putrescence" or the phrase "yellow ichor." Well, those words were not in this particular collection. And in fact, getting into the sixth story, I found myself thinking, "wow, what a drama queen!" I did used to like swimming in the creepiness. And I do like that he can do terror without gore. But this book is not my thing so I will not be keeping it.

I also pulled out a paperback called "The Mathematician's Delight" from 1943. Clearly I found this as a used book back when I thought I was going to be a math teacher some day. No longer relevant. But I opened it and started reading it anyway, just to make sure. And now I'm writing a book review of it!

This is the second book I have from the 1940s where they actually know how to teach. He talked about how many people hate and fear math, and mostly that's due to bad teaching. He opposes "parrot learning," comparing it to teaching a deaf person to play the piano. Maybe they can learn, but they'll get no fun out of it at all.

He said there were "imitation courses" in all kinds of subjects, not just math (where people may be taught to memorize formulas without understanding them). 'One can learn imitation history--kings and dates, but not the slightest idea of the motives behind it all; imitation literature--stacks of notes on Shakespeare's phrases, and a complete destruction of the power to enjoy Shakespeare.' Sounds all-too-familiar! The poor guy actually thought we would get better at teaching.

I kept the book mostly for his ideas on how people should go about learning in general. One strategy he recommends is having specific goals for your learning. "Two students of law once provided a good illustration: one learnt by heart long lists of clauses; the other imagined himself to be a farmer, with wife and children, and he related everything to this farm. If he had to draw up a will, he would say, 'I must not forget to provide for Minnie's education, and something will have to be arranged about that mortgage.' One moved in a world of half-meaningless words; the other lived in the world of real things.'

Even better: 'If you want to remember a subject and enjoy it, you must somehow find a way of linking it up with something in which you are really interested. It is very unlikely that you will find much entertainment in text-books. If you read only the text-books, you will find the subject dull. Text-books are written for people who already possess a strong desire to study mathematics: they are not written to create such a desire. Do not begin by reading the subject: begin by reading round the subject--books about real life, which somehow bring in the subject, which show how the subject came to be needed.' He even thinks reading about the history of mathematics, including biographies of the discoverers, will give you good insights into what's going on.

Strangely, he admits that it's possible for calculus that you might have no interest in any of the topics for which calculus is helpful, in which case you shouldn't worry about learning it. (He does not admit any such thing for any other normal math topic, including logarithms and trigonometry, though.)

I remember deciding something similar about college courses versus high school courses--they no longer try to be interesting. But my conclusion was that you were supposed to be able to just be mature and suck it up! (Wrong answer! Thank you for playing!) Although I did start looking at the recommended reading at the ends of chapters, and now during my books-from-other-countries project, I will usually follow up with some online research of some aspect of the book that interested me.

Another strategy he recommends is just messing around with things, trying to see patterns yourself. And he gives lots of exercises to help you do this efficiently for math topics.

But first, "It is essential, if you are trying to overcome your dread of a subject, to realize what is your first objective. Your first job is not to learn any particular result. It is to get rid of fear. You must go back a certain way, and start with work which you are absolutely sure you can do. In learning a foreign language, for instance, it is helpful to get a book written in that language for children just learning to read. However badly you have been taught, you will amost certainly be able to read it. This is your first victory--you have read a book genuinely written for the use of someone speaking a foreign language.'

Okay, last time I checked, I couldn't actually read kids' books because of the imperative, etc. but I get his point. He continues that every time you come to something you don't understand, go back to the prerequisite skills.

I'm not going to say I learned a lot of math reading the book. I already knew most of it, and my eyes glazed at most of the parts I didn't know. He did get me with a math puzzle, though. Awesome!

Then, terrifyingly, he says there are some subjects 'on which everybody disagrees. These are the subjects which do not depend on evidence at all--what you like, what you think ought to be done, the kind of person you admire, the political party you vote for; these are things for which you yourself take responsibility, they show what sort of person you are. You may be ready to fight to secure the type of world you think best; indeed, you should be. But you do not change your basic ideas of what is desirable as the result of argument and evidence.'

No! I don't want politics to not be based on rationality! But research supports him in general. (It's about emotion; when people hear things that disprove their beliefs, they discount them somehow and even end up even more entrenched in their beliefs.) Which makes me even angrier when people politicize things, because it pulls those things into the land of emotion.

(I'm still processing that idea. I don't like it. It's definitely not true for me. Or at least not totally true. I've changed several of my political opinions after learning more fects. [For example I changed from pro-life to pro-choice and, in the other direction, I became pro-concealed-carry (in the US, anyway).])

Finally, I even enjoyed the mini-biography of author, W.W. Sawyer, on the back of the book. In college he specialized in quantum theory and relativity. Then he swerved into researching applications of math to industry and strategies for teaching math to "industrial students." Then he taught college math in the Gold Coast (now called Ghana) to help Africans in their quest "master modern knowledge and achieve self government." Several years before Ghana gained independence! Then he moved to New Zealand to help them reduce their shortage of math teachers by organizing student groups sort of like Dead Poets Societies but about math. And during all this, he managed to get a wife and a kid. And he looks like a total dork. (He's in a respectable suit and tie, with respectably short hair--that will not do what it's told.)

In other silliness, apparently children do not have gender. They are referred to as "it/its."

So it turns out I'll be keeping that book.

I've been wanting postcards to help me speak out rather than stand idly by. But it's been trouble. Should this be a learning-new-tricks post? Are postcards not a thing anymore? I think they are still sold for tourists, but I guess I don't know anymore, and I was hoping for a cheaper bulk option. I do know there are currently postcard-writing campaigns to get out the vote, but is that just a fluke?

So the obvious place to go was Austin Creative Reuse. All they have are "vintage" postcards. Sometimes. A bit pricier than I'd hoped for.

I tried various other places to no avail.

Finally I went to my local post office. The post office sells plain white postcards with the postage already printed on them for just the price of the postage. But you have to drive there and wait in line. It was time to exercise my car, so this was my excuse.

They did not have any. They said the central post office "might" have some. This is like how my local credit union does not have any cash (except from the ATM, which doesn't understand that sometimes I want a bunch of $5 bills for tips or a bunch of $1 bills for bus fare).

So I looked online. I don't want to buy from Amazon for reasons. Etsy was weird. But supposedly drug stores and Target have postcards. So I looked again today.

Walgreens - I looked with the greeting cards and with the office supplies/envelopes. Nope.

Dollar Tree - Same.

Target - Same. So then I asked someone at the service desk, and he said they have only one kind and told me the aisle, which I'd already been to. (This was the aisle with boxed sets of note cards, FYI.) I checked very thoroughly, and no.

Staples - Surely. Went to the aisle with envelopes where an employee offered to help, and he took me to the other corner of the store with the computer stuff and showed me packages of postcards, four to a page with perforations, for your printer. I took one. Victory!

I never would have thought to look there.

These postcards are completely blank. I could decorate them! But I decided instead to use one side just like an envelope and then use the whole other side to write my concerns. That's probably going to work, right?

I've been thinking about vaccination passports throughout the pandemic and I still don't know what I think.

Pro

Economy

If we re-open businesses for vaccinated people only, then we can re-open them earlier than we could otherwise, which seems like a safe way to improve the economy.

(Sadly, we're just re-opening things anyway, before it's safe.)

Con

New Privilege

Vaccine passports would exacerbate a new category of haves and have-nots. People with vaccines would not only be safer from the virus but would then also get rights and privileges that other people don't have. So it would be doubly unfair.

Unfairness

In addition, existing privilege is correlated with this new privilege. For example, it helps to have good internet access, the ability to get vaccinated during business hours, and perhaps the ability to a few hours away to get there.some people's health conditions mean they cannot get the vaccine.

And some people can't safely get vaccines due to other health conditions.

And I've heard that some Black people are afraid to get the vaccine because of a history of evil treatment such as the Tuskegee experiment. Part of me wants to tell them, no, it's okay, everyone's getting it. But another part of me would not be at all surprised to hear a news story about, say, a batch of vaccine that accidentally got thawed too long, and instead of throwing it out, the company decided to divert it to a low-income or minority neighborhood.

And I've heard that instead of a cute booklet, which you might stamp with cute stamps for all your different vaccines, it's going to be some kind of electronic thing, which would require a smart phone, which not everyone has.

Black Market

Poor people would be incentivized to sell their passports to rich people who don't deserve them. This would mean those places aren't safe.

Except it's modern times so some people will be good at creating fake passports without even giving poor people any money (or, admittedly, taking their passports).

Inefficiency/Bureaucratic Red Tape

We're already getting vaccine cards. (Admittedly, they don't always fill in your name--you could put anyone's name in there.) You could use those, perhaps in conjunction with a photo ID, to achieve the same purpose.

Weird Politics

In the olden days, I would have thought that Republicans would be pro-passport or at least pro-differential treatment based on vaccination status (to improve the economy and to reward people taking responsibility for getting themselves vaccinated). And I would have thought that Democrats would be anti-passport (because of the unfairness issues).

But no. Because Trumpists are anti-reality, they have been making up stories about the evils of the vaccine and pretending the virus is no big deal to anyone who's not practically dead anyway, and they've decided that it's very important that they have the right to not get vaccinated. But of course, they don't want to self-isolate either. So they're actually anti-passport.

And now it's the Democrats who are willing to overlook the temporary inequalities (since there we have the policy of providing vaccines to everyone for free, and soon there will even be enough for everyone).

2020 resolutions

Heh heh, let's not talk about my failures. And, sure, let's blame it on the pandemic. Because that's totally why.

However, I did accomplish quite a few things I never would have thought to make a resolution:
* made face masks
* got in the habit of wearing face masks when appropriate (I hope to continue wearing them in the future when I go out in public while I'm sick)
* started a coronavirus journal, which also turned into a regular journal (off-line)
* helped out at elections
* maxed out my contribution to my Roth IRA (only allowable when you--or a spouse--have earned income, which I did not expect to have)

2021 resolutions

I still want to make resolutions for this year.

1) Stay strong in the fight against covid-19 - I feel quite confident that I won't get distracted from this one!

2) Actually do stuff - I spend a lot of time acquiring fun ideas of things to do, but not enough time actually doing them. I want to actually try more of these kinds of things. For example, I already got apples so I can try a friend's recipe for apple oatmeal breakfast cake.

Vlog of the Day - The vlogbrother's Looking Back at My 2020 Goals - John Green's goals were very different from mine and super amazing and he did great, but I enjoy his amusement at how different things turned from how he imagined. Talking to his former self, for example: "Ha ha, no! No! ... You adorable little child, I want to pinch your cute little cheeks!"

Okay, I am the opposite of an expert on this topic, but I'll share what I've figured and you can do the same. Because wouldn't enjoying things we have to do be good?

Obviously it's nice to have housework done. But I'm talking about the actual process. I'm hoping to learn to improve my intrinsic enjoyment.

But first, you can minimize the work you have to do. Don't have tchotchkes you don't even like when you have to dust them all the time. Keep things behind doors instead of just on shelves to protect from dust. (Yes, I like kitchen cabinets that go all the way up to the ceiling and I don't like open shelving in the kitchen.) Clean up right away when things are still wet. Have doormats and a shoe-free house for less sweeping and mopping. And when you are buying things, don't forget to consider the care requirements.

Intrinsic enjoyment

Embrace your inner control freak

Obviously, if you have any inner control freakishness, any enjoyment of making things neat and orderly, you can focus on that to make housework more fun. I have some inner control freak; it mostly works for vacuuming and lawn mowing where it feels satisfying to watch the messiness magically disappear. (We won't be talking about how vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers can be super fussy with, respectively, long hair and tough weeds.)

Enjoy instant results

A lot of things we do are long-term projects; you don't see results for a long time, if at all. But some housework gives you instant gratification. Specifically, I'm thinking of dusting.

Rebel

My old friend Jamie told me he used think he hated doing dishes, but then realized he actually enjoyed doing them, even though all of society's messages say that's crazy.

Focus on the good bits

After Jamie told me enjoyed doing dishes, I realized that when it's cold, I enjoy the excuse to stick my hands in hot water for a while, so I also can enjoy doing dishes.

Make things way easier than you're used to

I learned to make a bed with hospital corners. It's very neat and pretty. But my boyfriend doesn't like the sheet tucked in at all. At first I found this disturbing. But actually it's lovely to just spread out the sheet and comforter and fluff the pillows. So quick!

I used to hate unloading the dishwasher, especially the silverware. Sorry, Mom! I have no idea why. But now most of my dishes are either in stacks of all like items, so you just put the clean ones on top, or in decent-sized nests that are easy to deal with. And my kitchen is small, so putting things away is quick. Also, with no dishwasher, we just have a dish rack, which holds a lot fewer dishes than a dishwasher, so maybe that's part of the thrill.

Rinsing dishes (hello, oatmeal) if you're not doing them right away makes it much easier to deal with later. And for a lot of things, doing it often makes it much easier and more fun than waiting too long. (But then waiting too long makes the results more drastically satisfying, so there's that.)

Getting rid of clutter and finding a place for everything makes things much easier to clean.

Store things near where you use them. If you use some things in several places, maybe have duplicates.

Admire your work

Marie Kondo enjoys folding her clothes into tiny packages she can stand on end and "file" in drawers in rainbow color order. So pretty! I now sort of do this (in a lazier way) for shirts, socks, and undies. Wait, does this belong in the control-freak section? :-)

Use great tools and supplies

Great tools actually are a pleasure to work with. It's so much nicer to grate cheese with a cheese grater than with a dull knife. (Um, I learned to cook at camp.)

Enjoy mindfulness

And just when I've gotten tired of working on this post, I found Miser Mom's "Cleaning As Meditation," with another idea, this one for dealing with cleaning up cluttered spaces. "For each thing, I ask myself something along the lines of when would I use this? where would I look for it? What would trigger me wanting to use this? And then I try to put the object where it will serve me best." See her post for details, examples, and counterexamples.

Extrinsic enjoyment

Then if none of that works, maybe you can settle for extrinsic enjoyment.

Distract yourself

If you find something mindless, you can blast some music and sing and/or dance to that. I really enjoyed watching an ex-boyfriend mop while singing along to tunes such as "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik." Or this may be the one time of day when you have some time to yourself to think.

Get out your aggressions

I really hate weeding. So much. Murdering hundreds of thousands of life forms is not what I wanted to do when I grew up. Also, the soil around here is dense clay, so it can be difficult or even impossible to get plants out. Also, the weed plants often have nasty thorns, spikes, or burs, or are just asbestos-like. But I've heard it helps to pretend the weeds are specific bad guys that you don't have the power to fight in real life. Like when people put a picture of their evil boss on the bullseye for target practice. Doesn't work for me--I don't generally enjoy taking out aggressions, although once when I was really angry, I did jog faster than usual, so it's clearly a thing that could work for me.

Limit yourself

Tell yourself you only have to do the thing for a ridiculously short amount of time, and then when that time is up, you only keep going if you're in the groove. Otherwise, hey, 5 minutes is infinitely better than zero.

Get sociable

Make an appointment with your housemates to do housework at the same time. If you live alone, maybe do a barn-storming type thing where you take turns helping a friend and having the friend help you (when there's no pandemic, of course, unless it's the household you're double-bubbling with like in Canada).

Use deadlines and peer pressure

Have a lot of parties! Schedule a housewarming for two weeks after you move! Okay, this doesn't make it fun, it just makes it happen. Hopefully.

Reward yourself

Save something you want to do as a reward for finishing something you don't want to do. (I am way too spoiled to use this strategy much. Well, except for cooking--I get to eat something delicious, but not until I am done cooking it.)

Escape

And then there's the strategy of getting out of at least some of your housework. If you have extra money, you can hire some of it out. (If it seems like a terrible way to spend your money, it might make more sense to think of it as a stress-relief expense or some other nice-sounding category.)

If you have housemates, you can try to trade your least favorite activities with their least favorite, if you don't match, in which case at least rotating could help. If the housemates are kids, remember it's very important to train them in these valuable life skills! Of course it will take time and be more frustrating at first.

I already knew that some people follow recipes, some use recipes as a guideline, and some just go by feel. I also knew that some people can really cook, and some people just warm things up or do minor assembly. But recently I discovered just how very alien I am, ahem, how different people can be.

I don't love cooking, but I do it anyway for the following reasons (and maybe more I'm forgetting):
* save money
* improve healthiness
* customize flavor
* reduce reliance on companies

And I also try to find quick and simple ways to make things. I don't want to store a million ingredients and tools in my small kitchen, and I don't want to spend a lot of time cooking when there are so many other activities I want to do.

I recently attended an event which I don't want to describe in too much detail because I want to make sure the attendees (besides Robin and me) stay anonymous. But we were to bring a dish and its recipe and the theme was vegetarian food. I went because I could try things without making a whole batch myself, and then if I liked anything I would have the recipe. Plus the dishes would be better for fighting climate change than meat-based dishes.

My Kind of Cooking: Baked Ziti

I brought baked ziti which, once I found a recipe, I always make when I'm in the mood for lasagna. It still bakes for an hour, but the assembly is much quicker, especially if you have a big enough bowl. You just mix spaghetti sauce, cheeses, water, and pasta, plus any flavoring ingredients like spinach, mushrooms, or meat. I did grate my own mozzarella, but I chopped up the mushrooms with a few zips on my manual food processor.

Not Clear on Vegetarianism: Artichoke Rice Salad

One participant was thrilled about this theme because it gave her an excuse to make a dish that she loves but that her family doesn't like. First ingredient: chicken Rice-A-Roni.

I always knew that vegetarians (and especially vegans) had trouble explaining their diets to people, but I've never seen this level of cluelessness in person. There were no actual pieces of meat in it (and to be fair, I'm not even sure that the chicken wasn't just a chicken-free flavoring made mostly of salt), so in her mind, it was vegetarian. And I think it still is.

I did not love her dish, mostly because I don't like olives, but otherwise it was just the kind of thing I was hoping for. She gave the original recipe and her changes and why she made those changes.

Not Clear on Cooking and Recipes: Lemon Cake and Kale Salad

One person was very pleased to have brought the dessert, a store-bought cake.

Another person explained that she normally didn't like kale, but she did like this kale salad you buy in a bag and put together. This is still cheaper (and quicker!) than restaurants and healthier than most foods that you throw together, but didn't quite live up to my hopes. It was good enough for me to eat both bites I put on my plate, but I have other bagged salads I much prefer. I guess I did learn that raw kale in a salad is okay with me; I have been kind of afraid of it.

So Much Fat: Spinach Quiche

One person brought a crustless spinach quiche that was actually pretty tasty for something so spinach-heavy, mostly because there was also a lot of cheese. I thought it might taste even a bit better if you sub some basil for some of the spinach.

The recipe, for a 9 x 9" baking pan, calls for an entire pound of jack cheese. Also, an entire stick of butter. No, I am not making this.

I love the way this person brought two pages--one had the original recipe, and the other had his modifications. Unfortunately, these brought it from 8 ingredients to 14, one of which I don't own and couldn't taste.

Special Requirements: Split Pea and Lentil Soup

One person brought her dish in a crock pot, which she had to locate near an outlet, away from all the other dishes. It tasted okay, but I wouldn't want to eat a whole serving of it, let alone a whole batch. It was obviously a fabulous and healthy dish, but I have stupid taste buds.

Her recipe showed both instant pot and slow cooker instructions, which was super polite of her. But a bunch of the ingredients were things where you would have to buy way more than you used. Not just spices, but things like 1/4 cup chopped parsley, 4 large handfuls of fresh baby spinach, and 3/4 cup each of red lentils and split peas.

Not the Real Recipe: Southwestern Bean Salad

Our hostess fortunately asked everyone to describe what they brought and to tell us any changes they had made to the recipe. The person who brought this said he'd followed the recipe exactly, but then it came out that he'd used soy sauce instead of salt because he never uses salt. (The person above with the soup also admitted that she couldn't find red lentils, so she used green, and then I think added something red for color.)

I'd heard of people who deliberately leave out an ingredient to sabotage your efforts when they give you a recipe. But it never occurred to me that people would give you the original recipe without telling you what they did differently. So always ask! Even more interesting, people forget that they routinely change certain ingredients, so it feels to them like they haven't changed anything. So if you try out a recipe and it doesn't work for you, maybe go back to the person and ask them about each ingredient separately, maybe saying what you used to jog their minds.

Conclusion

I often enjoy things I eat at parties, and sometimes I'll ask for the recipe. Often what I get is just way more trouble than I'm willing to do myself or has way too many empty or nearly empty calories for me to give myself permission to make a whole batch. But in those wondrous cases where the recipe looks acceptable and actually works out, it's so wonderful!

Also, it has become very clear to me that just because someone says something is vegetarian or vegan or gluten-free or free of some allergen, that doesn't mean they are correct, even when they really think they are. (Fish sauce and honey are not vegan, walnut oil comes from nuts, spelt is not gluten-free, etc.) So when I make this sort of claim to someone, I am going to give them a list of all ingredients so that they can see, hopefully, that I know what I'm talking about, or so they can tell me where I am mistaken.

I still have all the recipes, so let me know if you would like any of them.