What's In Karen's Tabs?

[karenhealey]

Yo! Internet! Sorry about the no talky, been writing Secret Secret Shush Shush*. And playing a lot of Civ V. Goddamn I love the Islands map except I can never find enough iron.

Also, it is Saturday! What's in Karen's Tabs?

Cooking:

Triple-Chocolate Cookies

I was going to make these tonight, and then my mother said that my honorary aunt and uncle were coming over for dinner, would I like to make dessert? I love cookies, but I do not feel they are dessert, so instead I made chocolate mayonnaise cake and bourbon caramel sauce.

Speaking of...

How to Make Mayonnaise

I have made mayonnaise in a holiday home in a chipped mug, using a fork, with nothing other than the power of my mighty arm (and a couple of glasses of wine as fuel, it must be admitted).

But today, sober, in a well-stocked kitchen, with a food-processor, I managed to fail. Twice.

So I bought mayonnaise for the cake. (I had to check ingredients. There were a lot with mustard in them! That's weird to me.)

Salted Caramel Sauce/Bourbon Caramel Sauce

Fortunately, this went way better. I've made this sauce twice now, and I'm convinced that it's really hard to screw up - you could probably burn the boiling sugar if you forgot what you were doing, and of course you've got to be splatter careful because sugar syrup burns are extremely nasty - but the colour change is slow enough from pale yellow to dark amber that you don't really have to make split second decisions. And then it just tastes rich and smooth and sweet.


Laughing:

Northern-Most Capital. From a "make up fake facts" thread... somewhere. I dunno. Cracked? Anyway, the detail! The capital of Denmark!

Greenhouse Gases. Another example, simpler, but possibly even more hilarious, if darkly so.


Agreeing with Firm Nodding And Occasional "YES, Exactly!"-ing:


Let Me Tell You About The Birds and Bees: Gender and the Fallout Over Christopher Priest.

Author Catherynne Valente explains that men being crotchety online get a much kinder reception than women doing the same. And much fewer rape threats. Warning: People in the comments who still Don't Get It. (star comment: "If you're just venting to your friends on LJ, I apologize. [John] Scalzi elevated your post to the level of social commentary when he linked to it.")

Some thoughts about gender and literature.

Author Seanan McGuire, with some thoughts on "finally, books for BOYS that GIRLS will like!"

And yet somehow, the fact that ["girl books"] have girls on the cover makes them not worth reading. The fact that the main characters have to squat when they pee makes them untenable to half the population. The fact that their authors grew up being told that real science fiction, fantasy, horror, and adventure starred men doing manly things in a manly way, and yet grew up to write books about women doing the same things, does not prove that literature can be a gender neutral experience where story matters more than anything else; it proves that we need more books for BOYS that GIRLS will enjoy, too. It means that the girls keep on coming second, that we keep being the deviation, and not the norm.

The Problem is Not The Books

Author Saundra Mitchell, some time ago, on "OMG WHAT ABOUT BOYS WHO DON'T HAVE BOOKS TO READ???"

The problem that needs to be fixed is not kick all the girls out of YA, it’s teach boys that stories featuring female protagonists or written by female authors also apply to them. Boys fall in love. Boys want to be important. Boys have hopes and fears and dreams and ambitions. What boys also have is a sexist society in which they are belittled for “liking girl stuff.” Male is neutral, female is specific.

Watching:

"Come Together" from Across The Universe:

Research:

Air Vent Passageway (WARNING: TV TROPES)

Secret Secret Shush Shush has plot-important air vents, but because I am aware of this trope**, they are specifically ones that you can't crawl through.

"Hm," thought I. "I wonder if TV Tropes has a page on- oh damn, there goes the next hour."

Hey, you're welcome.



* Not its real name.

**I mean, I love it! But there's enough reality-handwaving in Secret Secret Shush Shush already; I don't need to compound the problem.

Comments

[zeborah]

I'm loving the city of Bokmal and both sets of Faroe Islands.

Also, I'm womanfully resisting the TV Tropes link. I swear I won't click. Will not be taken in again. I've got to be somewhere this evening....

[trouble]

If you're just venting to your friends on LJ, I apologize. [John] Scalzi elevated your post to the level of social commentary when he linked to it.

.... WOW. WOW. That comment deserves to be framed.