I started learning a little about music theory. I’ve been interested for a while, but always thought I wouldn’t be able to understand it. But it’s doable, a little at a time.

And I’ve been going outside more. I spend too much time in front of the computer. It’s nice to have fresh air and read, listen to music, or just take in the surroundings.

Maybe it depends on what you watch. I use Youtube for music (only things that I search for) and sometimes live streams of an owl nest or something like that.

If I stick to that, the recommendations are sort of OK. Usually stuff I watched before. Little to no clickbait or random topics.

I clicked on one reaction video to a song I listened to just to see what would happen. The recommendations turned into like 90% reaction videos, plus a bunch of topics I’ve never shown any interest in. U.S. politics, the death penalty in Japan, gaming, Brexit, some Christian hymns, and brand new videos on random topics.

The ones that interest you the most will be easiest to stick with. I find things just through my general interests and poking around.

Favorite music genre? Listen to bands from different countries and see how they sound. TV shows, movies, and documentaries from other countries are another big one. Listen to the original language, see if it sounds interesting, maybe read a little about it.

Or maybe you know someone who you’d like to be able to talk with in their language. It could be anything. Pick one or two things to try and you’ll get a feel for what you like.

Oh yeah, the yellow European style butter was a revelation when I found out about it. It tastes way better and is less watery than the pale American butter.

I never heard of filtered milk. Milk is milk for the most part, but once I made the mistake of buying it on clearance. Grabbed it without looking because the price for a normal gallon freaked me out. It wasn’t spoiled, but it was super watery and had a weird color.

Some people do, yeah. I’ve always used stainless steel cause it’s what I had. Takes a little practice to get it to not stick, but after that it’s fine. I heat the empty pan on medium, medium high until it’s pretty hot. If you add a drop of water, it should bead up and roll. Then add the oil, wait until it shimmers, and add the eggs.

Enameled cast iron is nice too. It’s non-stick and not as heavy as a regular cast iron.

All your basic staples: salt, flour, oil, sugar, pasta, pasta, milk, eggs

It depends. Cheap salt is just fine. And flour, unless you’re into baking. But some things can make a difference and you don’t necessarily have to pay a lot more for it.

Pasta, for example. Bronze cut pasta absorbs sauce a lot better than “normal” pasta. It looks dull, rough, and pale as opposed to shiny and smooth. It usually only costs a buck or two more. I find it’s a big step up taste and texture-wise.

Or butter. The ones without natural flavor taste better. Sometimes it’s the store brand that doesn’t have added flavor.

And eggs. Orange yolks are way better than the pale yellow ones. But those you do have to shell out for.

It’s colloquial and you’ll hear it when people talk about making food. Like if you’re making a sandwich. You put mayo on the bread, then you put the cheese, then you add meat and lettuce or whatever.

It’s kind of like “on” is implied and you don’t bother to say it. I just mentioned it, so I don’t need to say it again. That’s how it feels to me anyway.

I could see myself saying “First you put mayo, then you put cheese.” That would be like if someone was standing next to me, watching me make the sandwich. They can see exactly where I’m putting things. But normally you do want to specify where you’re putting something.

Browsing Lemmy and kbin. There’s lots of interesting stuff when you sort by new. Today’s unexpected find was banjo music with duck sounds.

Once in a while, I try my hand at translating.

Thanks!

Any favorites that you would recommend off the top of your head? I’m open to any kind of food.

I look for good food and things to see and do that are unique to the area.

New Orleans, for example. The French Quarter is interesting. I like the food, art, and street music. But it’s also nice to see the bayous. Lake Pontchartrain. Plantations and oak trees. Trucks full of sugar cane driving down the road. People fishing in lawn chairs at the side of the road.

Or taking a tour of a destroyer in July. Sunny, 95 degrees, and like 115% humidity. Those nice thick metal walls absorb it all. AC in only one corner of the ship. That sweet-ass Southern iced tea feels just right after that. Gator meat isn’t bad either.

Now, more than a decade after Sylvia’s death, their efforts have landed the Wildensteins before France’s highest court. The evidence she and Dumont Beghi brought forth has persuaded prosecutors that the Wildensteins are a criminal enterprise, responsible for operating, as a prosecutor for the state once put it, “the longest and the most sophisticated tax fraud” in modern French history.

A trial this September will determine if the family and their associates owe a gargantuan tax bill. The last time prosecutors went after the Wildensteins, several years ago, they sought €866 million — €616 million in back taxes and a €250 million fine, as well as jail time for Guy. The consequences could do more than topple the family’s art empire. The case has provided an unusual view of how the ultrawealthy use the art market to evade taxes, and sometimes worse. Agents raiding Wildenstein vaults have turned up artworks long reported as missing, which fueled speculation that the family may have owned Nazi-looted or otherwise stolen art, and spurred a number of other lawsuits against the family in recent years. Financial distortions have saved the family hundreds of millions of dollars, prosecutors allege, but their treatment of Sylvia could cost them far more — and perhaps lead to the unraveling of their dynasty.

What a story. It’s a long read, but fascinating.

I looked through the Laws of LT and didn’t see any mention of a license or restrictions on how people can use the translations that are posted. They don’t allow posting other people’s translations without credit. That’s the closest thing I saw. I checked the FAQ too.

If you do a search for “creative commons” site:lyricstranslate.com, you’ll see some people who add a note that their translation is licensed under Creative Commons. Not everyone does that.

I have to say, LyricsTranslate is the best site I’ve found for song translations. It actually HAS translations, unlike a lot of other sites that show up in the Google results but don’t actually have anything. The quality is usually good, plus it lets you read both versions side by side. I always get happy to find translations there, especially from Romanian to English. Those are pretty rare. So if you’ve posted there already…thank you!

Honestly, probably not too much. Eat some of my favorite foods, write letters to people I care about, listen to my favorite music. Hopefully be able to enjoy nature one last time. And maybe ingest some mind-altering substances.

I use an exfoliating washcloth like this. It lathers really well. Scrubs off the dead skin and it’s long so you can scratch your back. It air dries fast.