Just a strong suspicion that somebody was hiding in my tiny, open closet.
Are you still watching TNG? How is it?

Yeah, we're getting a lot of melt in preparation for the snow and subsequent re-freeze. It'll be great.
Yes, unless it snows too much before I leave for trivia. Then it's on its own.

Find a can labelled "Food" and "Cook" it. Good. Yes.
No, he cradled it. It was sad to see.

Like farm work. Taking care of the home-type work. One long, uninterrupted week of work.

Following them helps me see more tattoos so I have a better idea of what is good and what kinds of things I like. It's easier to see the flaws in a tattoo when you've seen many like it.

Yes, still watching TNG. There is a lot of it. I've made it to season 3 and the quality has gone up, I think? There are still a lot of moments where WHY is the only reasonable response, but they're becoming less egregious, maybe. 'Tis a silly show. The lack of clear character arcs is a little aggravating, though.

Did it snow too much before trivia? Was my orchid left to fend for itself?
Our snow dump isn't supposed to be until tomorrow. Fingers crossed for much. It's way too warm right now.

I'm going to "cook" more "food" tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. I need to figure out what I can do besides potatoes and chicken, though. Potatoes are all right, but chicken is expensive.

Is there a large job you would need me for? I feel awkward skipping out on my work here when there is so little direct oversight and so much potential for vague judgment from those around me.

Ah. You're developing a critical eye. I understand. Have you figured out any tip-offs to quality beside straight lines?

You should ask Rosemary which episodes she usually skips and then skip them. I think not skipping them is her new year's resolution.

Nope, it just misted aggressively in preparation for the freeze that occurred around midnight. Orchid was watered. Snow happened earlier today and more now. Plus it's cold again, but not as cold as over Christmas.

Have you tried the weirder things like cheesecake or yogurt? Those sound fun.

It's pretty normal to take a week off at the end of Spring semester. Academics are lazy by nature (most of them [is fact]). I guess two people is nearly as good as three.

Exactly. I don't want to be bamboozled. For the most part it's the kind of thing they pick on for Inkmaster, like consistent line width and lines and colors meeting where they're supposed to, strength of black and depth of color, or drawings not being wonky. Pretty straightforward.

I got the impression from her status that she skips episodes based on which characters were the focus, not on quality. I don't think I share her biases.
How is the Project Runway progress? You done with season 8?

It's raining so hard today. It's horrible. It's supposed to freeze tonight, too, so I'm going to be living in a soggy ice world.

You need a cheesecake pan to make cheesecake, which I don't have. I want to try making yogurt, but it has a lot of intimidating steps, and only seems to be done in very large batches. Where would I store a half gallon of yogurt?

I might take a week off, then. Maybe. There's a strong possibility I'll be doing some field work this summer, so I have to leave my schedule open for that.

How long does it take to scope out a particular artist's quality, if you already know what you're looking for? Weeks? Years?

Well, fine. Don't share her biases.
Good. Yes.

That sounds delightful. Don't slip and die. Is it supposed to turn into snow at all?

You could make modified cheesecake in a non-cheesecake pan. Maybe. And the yogurt steps are not that bad - are you working from the guide book, or from an online recipe? Yogurt gurus prefer online yogurt instructions for the Pot. There are also tips for making less than a year's supply at once.

Field work as in working in our field. Good. That's exactly what we need. But what kind of field work, and where, actually?

About a year. Then I need to wait for it to get less cold, because when it's really dry is not the best time to get a fresh open wound that you need to keep moist at all times.

Okay, the third season of TNG seriously stepped up its game. One of the episodes brought me to real, actual tears, which is a distinction held by probably less than five pieces of media, ever. Consider me justly chastised for making fun of it. It's still a very silly show, though.

It turned into snow. It turned into a lot of snow. There's about an inch of solid ice underneath it from the rain all freezing, too. Is it cold back home?

I made ricotta cheese. It went well, I think, except for the fact that ricotta cheese is inherently flavorless. Now I have a lot of flavorless ricotta and nothing to do with it. I also have another quarter of a gallon of whole milk that I have no plans for. Maybe it is destined to be yogurt?

One of the other paleontologists at OSU is scoping out a location in North Dakota for possible future work, and I might go along with him to assist in the assessment. It would probably be very short, just for a week or so, to see if there are enough fossils to make a larger dig worthwhile.

So summer 2019? Still same underground flower thing?

Being deeply moved doesn't mean much on its own. I'm almost always deeply moved by the play-within-a-play in A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's not even supposed to be good.

Cold today, gone tomorrow. It's supposed to get up above freezing. So all the snow that dumped on us will be gone.

You're supposed to make lasagna with ricotta cheese. That's what it's for. Can you make lasagna in the Pot? The whole milk is definitely meant to be yogurt. Can't you hear it whispering to you? Yogurt.

You could stop over in MN on the way up. At our house. I hope he likes cats.

No, the countdown started last January. The end is nigh. Nigh doesn't look at all like how it sounds. Same flower.

I suppose you're right. The things that have brought me to tears include maybe five pieces of intentionally dramatic media, every whale I've ever seen, and a number of youtube videos featuring cats. I maintain that the episode did a good job, though.

We've been delightfully cold for the past weekend, and it's supposed to stay for a while. I am well pleased.

I don't have any lasagna pasta. Are the pastas themselves called lasagna, or only the finished product? Do you think ricotta would be good as space filler in breakfast burritos?
It will be yogurt, then. A small amount of yogurt.
The problem I've been having so far with the instant pot is that it compels me to eat too well. I spend money on nice ingredients, then I cook nice things, which compels me to eat too much. Before the instant pot, eating was annoying because I frequently had to eat things that were not very tasty or were very inconvenient to make. Now I have tasty food all the time. This is not a sustainable situation.

Tattoo this summer then?

I went to see The Shape of Water this weekend. It was very good and very beautiful. Although it had less of some things than I hoped. You see it yet?

Which episode was it?

Enjoy being cold. I am looking forward to going outside and not killing the top layer of skin on my legs.

Buy some. I think the pasta is called lasagna, but I don't know. I suspect ricotta would be repulsive in a breakfast burrito, but do what you want.
Tell me how it goes.
I'm so sorry you have to have nice food all the time. That must be terrible. Do you know what I had for dinner last night? Expired mac & cheese. I had to add a bunch of garlic and red pepper to mask the rancid cheese. How about the night before? Cashews, a clementine, and two biscuits. I'm thinking about going back to Soylent. How's that for sustainable?

Spring, maybe.

I have not. Should I?

Season 3 episode 16, "The Offspring". Data makes himself an android child.
Accidentally typed "Tsar Trek" in the google bar. Image results were less hilarious than I had hoped.

Why do you feed yourself so poorly? I thought you ate pasta all the time! Or have you given up on taking care of yourself now that I'm not around to eat at the same time?
On a not-instant-pot-related note, I was craving ice cream yesterday but didn't have any, so I ended up turning all the (store bought) yogurt in my fridge into frozen yogurt. I didn't add as much sugar as I should have, so it turned out very tart. Nice texture, though, and very good once I added nutella. Maybe when I start making my own yogurt, I'll continue turning some into froyo, and have my own dairy production line from milk to dessert.

Spring is very soon! Have you finalized your choice of artist?

Yes. Watch it. It would probably be okay if you waited until it's out on bluray, though. Nothing about it particularly demanded the big screen, unless you love seeing Del Toro-style gore in extreme detail. Not that I can tell you if there's gore in it or not. That would be spoilers.

Have you ordered Dirk Gently season 2 yet? You have to have it by the time you come visit.
On that note, I think we need to negotiate some sort of shared Amazon Prime situation. There's no sense in us both paying for it once our student accounts run out, and mine is about to run out. One of us could use the saved money elsewhere, like on some sort of other shared service. I'm not saying it would have to be netflix.