Obscure Journey

Browsing Burda May 1996

Publié le 25 Avril 2021 par Charly C.

Catégories : #DIY, #advertising, #fashion, #sewing, #spring

Hello all!

This is a pretty short entry as I want to present to you all, the Burda magazine for May 1996!

I made a video browse-through of still pics with transitions and some notes, and even though it doesn't sound as interesting as it should, it did require some work on my part.

I think it took me some 2 hours to put it together, without the taking pictures part.

Why is this issue important? No particular reason, This is currently the oldest Burda issue I own and I already made a pair of pants twice, in 2 different sizes. You can read more about the process here.

If you're wondering why i didn't post this entry on my Being Obscure reviews site/blog, is because I don't review the magazine. i just make a browse through.

There's barely any commentary and all of it is written as captions. I think it fits more here.

I hope you like the issue, and it's just in time for the month of May of this year.

I have another browse through to prepare for June, but the year is 2013. Stay tuned for that!

That's not the next issue I own, chronologically, but the one that fits with the time of the year. I hope you're OK with my choice.

Voir les commentaires

An all time favorite for Romanians - Polenta

Publié le 20 Avril 2021 par Charly C.

Catégories : #Cooking, #food, #recipe, #romanian tradition, #traditions, #tips

Hello everyone!

I'm not sure I was supposed to post anything today, but I realized this recipe wasn't moved from my old cooking blog. I thought it might be time I moved it.

Quite honestly, I almost forgot I still had recipes on that old blog.

As you'll see, the pics are very bad, undated, but they're from at least 2015. That's why they're bad and I don't have a visual step-by-step of the process.

Ok, below you'll see the "original" post. Enjoy your reading!

Coming to Romania you'll want to try some traditional food, even though I don't believe there is any dish that is exclusively "traditional Romanian." What you'll eat instead is food almost every Romanian knows how to make, especially in the countryside. Sadly, eating this in the capital, might not taste the same as it would in some forsaken village, but this doesn't mean it won't be tasty.

Polenta seems to be every peasant's replacement for bread and therefore eaten mostly with other foods. However polenta is so popular it can be eaten by itself as well.. well sort of by itself. Mixing it with butter and some type of salty cheese will make it delicious and a dish that can be served as a stand-alone.

INGREDIENTS

1 liter of water (or less)
some cornflour, better known as polenta in some countries. [all i know its that it's dry, yellow, rough, and made of corn]
some salt
between 1 and 3 spoons of butter - margarine also works
some cheese - feta cheese is just an example. Make sure the cheese melts, you'll thank me later.
Optional:
- black pepper
- boiled egg
- bacon or sausages

METHOD

Place the water with salt on fire and bring it to a boil.
When it starts to boil, start slowly adding the polenta-corn flour. Make sure to mix in a circular motion with a wooden spoon. You're better off at mixing with its handle - it mixes better, trust me on this one. Make sure it boils well!
Cut the cheese into small cubes. Best size? about half your thumb finger.
Add the cornflour until the mixture thickens and sticks to your spoon. It is done when you have the impression you can form balls with it, without them falling apart. You'll want it rather thick and sticky than runny or soft.
Add the butter and mix well. The butter will soften the mixture - this is what you want.
Add the cheese and mix. The cheese will start melting - this is what you want to happen. ;)
Add some black pepper on top after you serve on a dish or in a bowl.

This dish is best served hot, especially in winter, but having it cold in summer is just fine too.

I like it warm regardless of the season, lol. You could say this is a type of comfort food for me.

Here I had it with some fried soy pieces and some bell pepper. You can have it with sauerkraut, sausages, fish, and almost any other food that has sauce.

Bon Apettit!

PS: yes, all these failed pics are mine -_-' I need to make polenta again and to take better pics of the process.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present.

Voir les commentaires

Many people struggle

Publié le 15 Avril 2021 par Charly C.

Catégories : #depression, #advice, #friends, #health, #life experience, #life lesson, #love, #people, #story, #self-love, #help

Hello everyone.

This is a rather sad entry. I'm not in a very good mental state right now.

I think I started battling depression a few years back. I haven't been to any therapists until this year. I will soon start some treatment for this. I just need to go wait until my next appointment in about 3 weeks.

I also suffer from anxiety and I'm pretty sure I have some BPD traits as well. Click here if you don't know anything about BPD. In any case, from a social point of view and as far as employment goes, it's not a very good thing to have a paper saying you have BPD or any other issues that could mean you're not emotionally or mentally stable. ok, moving on now.

Almost everyone struggles. And everyone who struggles makes an effort to hide it. of course, depending on the severity of the problem, some hide it better than others. Some simply can't hide it. Some lose battles with themselves.

For me, things went really bad in 2020, when the shit hit the fan with the virus and we were all confined in our homes, and businesses closed. When the martial law was implemented illegally, about a week in - I forgot how long it's been, maybe 2 weeks? a month? i considered jumping out the window.

i was very close to doing it. Living on the 5th floor, with granite tiles on the sidewalk downstairs. But also some metal things for shade for the shop space on the ground floor. I'm not sure what survival chanced i'd have. i probably would have been stuck in a wheelchair if I did survive.

Luckily for me, anna was here and I could call her and talk to her ... and she managed to at least calm me down. I'm crying again, now thinking of that evening. I'm truly blessed with her.

i don't want to hear "oh, but others...." fuck others! I'm not others, and others don't think of me either. I'm not others- I'm ME! I'm tired of these hurtful comparisons!

when you compare a child to other children, you ARE ONLY HURTING your own child and boosting the ego of the other kid.

when you tell your partner "oh, but the spouse of so-and-so...." you are HURTING AND INSULTING YOUR partner! you make them feel miserable! and they wonder why are you with them if you think the other person is better. and the thing is, you can't even know the real face of the other person who you think is better.

Sorry, I went off a tangent here. but people do that when they try to explain their feelings. i suppose. it makes it easier for them.

so, around Christmas, I started feeling a bit better, and it lasted for a while. Though PMSing started being too much like a rollercoaster. anna couldn't take my crap anymore and insisted I seek professional help. and so I did, and about a week or so ago I started taking Xanax, as the therapist prescribed. And my anxiety went down, which is great because it was almost crippling me.

the downside of taking Xanax was that while I was no longer anxious, but i started feeling the depression more. and it was maybe more intense? blank mind, foggy brain... Actually, the fog was almost there, all white and fluffy, around not only my head but my torso as well. i could almost see it with my eyes.

And then, this site i was playing, suddenly bans me for having multiple accounts! when they already knew there's 2 of us playing there, on 2 different accounts! they knew this for almost 11 years! it's just unbelievable! we apparently broke a rule about exchanging too many items...

I didn't even know there's such a rule.... well, ok, there is, we broke it indeed. but this is not the point. the point is that the ban-hammer was triggered at a bad time when i was feeling very low and foggy, and that site felt safe in the morning when i was drinking my coffee.

I've been talking to an admin, but i don't put my hopes too high for getting my account back. Now, i don't care so much anymore. I'll need another morning habit. or just use this as a reason to procrastinate less.

To be continued...

Voir les commentaires