Letters To The Editor

Been awhile since we did a good old Mailbag section. Uhhhhh unfortunately I couldn't come up with a good title OR a crappy pun, ala "Legion Outpost" (Legion of Super-Heroes), "Metropolis Mailbag," (Superman), "Letters to the Living Legend," (Captain America), "The Spider's Web" (The Amazing Spider-Man), and "X-Mail," (Uncanny X-Men). It really feels like asking for trouble but I guess I am taking suggestions here.

Anyway, thanks for writing in everyone, keep them coming. Getting letters is just about my only "stat" on "are people checking out my website". Literally every other website knows that you recently considered getting a Ninja BN701 Professional Blender FREE SHIPPING; my data, appropriately, is 100% anecdotal. Emails to jacob@fujichia.com, mail to Jacob B / PO Box 29081 / Providence RI / 02909. Fanart of the crypt keeper always welcome :)

🏰 📬 Mousecapades

Ay yi yiiiiiii so many of you wrote in recently about the mice, with your own mice advice and mouse platitudes. Some of you were so nice as to follow a mouse into its realm and really see what it's like in there. I wish I thought of that, I just got irritated right away and stopped my investigation at the threshhold. How often does that happen to me, I wonder...? Well, after all the nice messages on behalf of the mice I went in there and took a look around and, as many of you pointed out, it's actually quite nice, and it seems like they're at least trying to keep things tidy. I'm still a little miffed about them stealing my mail, but it seems like they just want the stamps for their gallery, so moving forward I'll just snip those out and set them aside. The noise of the TV is still a minor issue but you know what, so what. As long as they aren't chewing up the wiring I think it'll all work out. It's called a peaceable kingdom, look it up.

🏰 📬 Bread / Butter

Yaaaaa I hear ya Mike. I know that the world of baking opens up to a vast world of techniques and accoutrements but first I need to establish a base camp, then I can explore. New gadgets especially I'm trying to avoid if I can... I find that getting too much project-specific gear too soon can have a dampening effect on motivation for me. Like it makes it feel like I have already achieved the task-- I have procured the gear and so my job is done. See also synthesizer collectors, used book stackers (I'm guilty of this), and people who put all their chips into looking like Motörhead.

The butter thing seems weird and non-standard, but the recipe is originally via Julia Child so I can't argue. Also I feel like the butter adds an excellent sort of initiation aspect-- like when I made it the first time it was going ok and then I added the butter and I was like damn, I fucked up. EVEN THOUGH I knew in advance that that's how I'd feel. Getting beyond that felt meaningful. The trajectory is like, this is gross, this is starting to look good, OK it seems like this is going to work, oh shit what the Hell is this it's ruined, oh Hell yeah (it's better than before). This isn't always true of course but sometimes things really do need to get worse before they get better. It's easy for me to forget about that, so I enjoy the chance to practice it as a ritual in a low-stakes domain. And it tastes great.

Actually what am I talking about, I've now made my bread recipe 10 times and my base camp is solidly established-- of course I want your recipe for sourdough / pizza dough. I'm ready to grow and it is pizza season after all (early April through late March).

🏰 📬 Breadline News

Hahahaa oh yeah :) there was a great bread recipe poster in Mothers News (issue #37, January 2014) by the inimitable Ian Cozzens. Click for large:

Initially this was a piece of paper 17x22". Might be a little hard to read on a screen, but that's life baby. It's hard to read on a screen.

This entire issue, alongside all back issues of Mothers News, are readable online in the library. Go up the castle stairs and it's on the third floor. They're all in a milkcrate until I build a better shelf. [stairs]

🏰 📬 Live Space

Hahahahahaa I love it! I can really picture convincing myself that I'm hearing Patrick Stewart run the script anew for every broadcast ala Don Pardo on Saturday Night Live. I'm anticipating listening and finding slight differences in phrasing, or like "I think he has a cold this episode? / he is definitely stoned right now". OK I'm adding this subroutine to the ST:TNG bootloader now: Don Pardo Live Mic Picard. Thanks Ali!

🏰 📬 Friends of The Sound

So nice to hear that an old bell still rings :) And I love getting a little lexicon update. Can't find a good enough vid for this but our current "Priscilla..." is "Oh my PASTA..."

As it pertains to the Original Clapper Video, the video I talked about in that post went down since I wrote that so I re-edited it from the original source and uploaded it again on my account. Now I'm the guy answering every comment to boost the SEO. The torch has been passed-- Long Live The Original Sound!!!!

links / misc

• no one needs to write and say that I mentioned Motörhead and used a picture of Thin Lizzy, those things are unrelated. When I think "living in harmony" I feel like there's just an obvious band to use. Favorite album Black Rose.
• In other mail, I've been enjoying CF's new monthly zine CAUSEWAY, you can subscribe via Patreon here: [patreon]. Also love getting mail from Kevin Huizenga! [patreon]. Also got a big envelope of Cookie Hagendorf's LIFE HARVESTER, which I love. You can subscribe or maybe get back issues via her website: [cookiehagendorf.com]. There's also an email version here: [substack] One I got recently had a big list of dreams, which not everyone should be allowed to do but I loved it.

  Fantasy Juice

  - I meet a gorgeous older woman in a coffee shop and am astounded to learn just how much older than me she is, a fact she eagerly volunteers. I ask if she'd share the secret to her beauty and she says, "I drink Fantasy Juice. I tell my admirers to fantasize about me the day before a rain storm, then I collect and drink the water."

  I also got a great newsletter through Rose Lewis called SCORPIO MIND, but I think there's no subscription option, it's just like, For Those Who Know Rose. I'm not trying to tease the newsletter collectors out there, just want to say to any potential publishers that that's as fine a way to do it as any.

Archives of previous posts is here, in the coat room: [coatroom]

To sign up to get these posts in your email for free, click here: [substack]

To write me a nice message, use the contacts page: [link]

To leave a little donation to help in the maintance of this castle, OR to simply hear the sound of a large bell, which is good luck, visit the temple area: [link]

As always, if you're bugging out or need a respite from endlessly scrolling the feed, you are welcome to hang out in the castle as long as you want. :)

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