1 comment on "A bit of a learning curve"

I ordered this manual potsticker maker machine–

Manual potsticker making machine

–and it really works.

I made my own wrappers and made chicken potstickers with it. And it went pretty good (until I tried to fry a panful and burnt them, but that wasn’t the fault of the machine).

With homemade wrappers, the dough is sticky enough that you should be able to lay them onto the paddles, fill them, and squeeze the potstickers after pushing down the plunger. When using store bought wrappers, you’re supposed to use a pastry brush and brush the edges with water so they’ll stick.

The first two I made, I don’t know if I was too excited and pushed too fast, but the potstickers dropped out the bottom like they’re supposed to but it was super fast and they bounced off the plate onto the floor. So there’s a bit of a learning curve. But it really is a revelatory machine.

I could have bought an automatic potsticker folder, but I didn’t want to have to worry about plugging it in… and what if I want to make potstickers during a power outage?

Here’s the amazon ADLINK: https://amzn.to/3TnTlAj. <= manual potsticker maker.

I’m thinking about rolling out some pie dough and making apple pie potstickers. I’m not sure how long to bake or fry them, but it seems like a fun experiment.

The machine takes 3-inch diameter discs of dough. So if that seems too small, maybe they have a larger empanada machine?

I just feel like the existence of potsticker making machines is proof that we’re currently living in the future.

An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good at Amazon
0 comments on "novel site boo"

I tried to send an email to the site that hosts the machine translated Chinese novels I’ve been enjoying, and I got a notice of failure to deliver because their settings are misconfigured.

I really wonder who is running the site and what’s going on in the background 🤔

I tried to make an account with them before, and it wouldn’t let me. And I’m not part of their Discord server. And I’ve noticed that other people post their complaints in reviews of various books.

So like, I have to side-eye the way they’re handling things on their end. Shady af.

I want to finish reading the novels I’ve chosen, so I’ve taken to switching off Javascript when I’m using their site. No more redirects and nonsense.

So I’m thinking someone jacked into the javascript running their advertisements (which I don’t see because I run blocker).

And now I’m second-guessing the use of javascript for my own projects.

I really like that people can play my games in their browser on itch.io (https://harperkingsley.itch.io). And I like that while some games are public, I can have some that are only accessible by chosen audiences. But for hosting on my own site? Or making my own app?

I focused more on "affordable hosting" then anything else, and I don’t have the money to pay for all the extra bells and whistles. So if someone came in from the side to hijack my javascript… I’m not ready to handle that level of risk.

It’s very stressful.

And I’m only chapter 210 out of 1290 of the current novel.

Kakushigoto 01 at Amazon
0 comments on "notes"

I know she’s a Big Name Author. I’ve read a lot of her books and have fanned her writings when I was heavy into the genre.

As a child, I was in the mall when the bookstore had her as a guest. It didn’t look like a big signing event… but I didn’t go in.

Anyways, I recognize that she’s a legend of the field.

But for the sake of the public good, why are you listening to her opinion on Real Life events? Like, real professional journalists are giving her article space!

The articles should exist. They simply shouldn’t be appearing in Main Line NEWS sources.

Whatever happened to "Letters to the Editor"? Weren’t people able to write back about previous letters?

I think I remember a "feelgood" story about two elderly gentlemen and part of their frenemy relationship is writing a Letter to the Editor and the other responding to it. They basically sent letters back and forth, affirming that even when they don’t see each other they can know they’re both still alive and kicking. Both are widowers.

As a child, my class was asked to write letters to the editor, and my letter was chosen.

It was a big deal to me. But at the same time it wasn’t an article that could be shown off at family events. Because I was an aggressively worded child.

I saw that newspaper and it made me feel good. And I’m glad there wasn’t also publicly available video.

I was an embarrassing child. Endearing at moments, but sometimes so bluntly…

I’m glad I was raised in a time when parents weren’t able to completely share their child’s life on the Internet. And by the time the technology appeared, my parents and grandparents were too old to share stuff without asking for my help to do it. So there’d be a chance to step in and change the focus.

I hate that much sense of loss-of-control. I can’t imagine my entire childhood being recorded and broadcast live to strangers. At the time, I likely would have thought it was great. Or my need to please and impress the adults in my life would have had me soft-selling myself on the idea that "It’s great!" while not realizing I was being taken advantage of.

Panoply at Amazon
1 comment on "notes"

I’m very much enjoying this Chinese novel I’m listening to.

I’m on like chapter 30.

But it’s like 1290 chapters all together.

So I’m not sure if the storyline is going to go to shit or not.

I won’t share the link to the site because they currently have a really big surprise-redirect problem. I now hover over the "NEXT" button and copy the link to the next chapter and paste-and-go.

My brain doesn’t sweat the machine translation.

I just picture a character-persona in my head–an archetype–and I plug it into the various stories and veg out. Just remember the main characters and the side characters and let the story read itself.

It’s probably why I like fandom so much. I just think of the main character as being some kind of amalgamation of various fandom characters.

And considering how many of the stories feature "livestream" content satisfies any need I have to watching YouTube "personality" videos, it’s almost catharsis.

Is that the word? Catharsis? That feeling when "your every prurient interest is satisfied and you don’t actually follow the lives of real people" translates to that same sense of satisfaction. And you don’t have to watch people ruin their lives in real time.

Like, everyone loves cute kid videos.

But there comes a point in sharing when it’s just TMI about people that aren’t capable of giving reasonable permission.

When a child’s real life becomes the center of "family monetization," there are always some rough–and terrible–spots.

I admire transparency while at the same time pointing out that a child has no ability to understand the realities of being a popular celebrity.

And there’s definitely a different vibe when a child has a contract and an agent and legal protections and when a child was the star of a short video that caught the interest of millions of people and now the parents have become "small local celebrities" with their easy acceptance of free stuff in the name of a child too young to create permanent memories.

Like, the ages of minor people really has to be taken into consideration when a "family channel" is exposing real lives under real names. So that even if the kid grows up to look completely different from their childhood selves… their childhood self is always the first result in searches.

And unless they’re a serious criminal that everyone should be wary around… You should not spend your whole adult life dealing with strangers coming up, knowing too much, and knowing the triggers to get you to either drop your guard or get you to react in preplanned ways.

Those children don’t have a sense of safety. And I don’t want to contribute to that "culture."

So I listen to Chinese novels. Because so many of them offer "livestream" scenarios.