Teipeu

The Dodgers may have won the pennant, but the Mets have won my heart.

It’s only been a couple of weeks since I saw a clip of Ohtani’s HR/SB record and then the Polar Bear’s homer to claim the wild card spot in the NLDS but I feel like I’ve been a fan of this team for years.

In a way I think it’s poetic that the player that got me thinking about baseball in the first place was the player to knock out the team I immediately latched on to.

So, while it was a rollercoaster ride through the Phillies series into a 2-4 loss in the NLCS, I’m so proud of what the Mets achieved this year and where they got to considering where they started.

I may not even know when the baseball season starts up again, but I’m going to be there cheering for the Mets whenever it does.

anyone else notice inchworms are lowkey whimsical

I went to the small pizzeria in a nearby village last month and asked for a calzone, and when she brought it to me the owner had a look on her face I can only describe as bitter.

Naturally my first assumption was that she was judging me for my food order (maybe calzones are too easy compared to other pizzas and she felt under-challenged as a pizza chef?), but then I looked at my calzone and the more I looked at it, the more I felt like it might have been a failed attempt at a cat calzone.

(I didn't ask for a cat calzone, just a calzone.)

If I had immediately identified it as a cat calzone I would have of course said something about it, such as "Aww that's so cute! You made it in the shape of a cat!! Thank you!" — but it was too late. I hesitated too long, and it was just failed enough that I wasn't sure it was meant to be a cat.

I think this poor woman knew her cat calzone was a failure and I wouldn't be able to recognise her effort for what it was, hence the bitterness in her eyes when she brought it to me.

I asked my friend if my pizza looked like a cat to her, and she said "Are you saying this because of the olives? I think they were just placed randomly."

no, I think they were meant to be eyes, and a cat nose. And those are the ears. Wait, I'll turn it in your direction so you can see

Friend: "It's just a pointy calzone... Maybe you should ask the chef if she meant to make it a cat?"

If I tried to make a cat calzone and the recipient of this gift went like 'hey, sorry, is this weird-looking thing meant to be cat?' I would sell my pizza restaurant and drown myself in the river.

After considering this, my friend said we could brainstorm a better phrasing—but then we ended up agreeing that since the chef didn't go 'haha sorry I tried to make a cat and failed!!' when she brought my pizza, the options were a) she didn't try to make a cat; b) she feels humiliated by her failure, and either way it's better to say nothing.

But I felt deeply curious about this unresolved mystery, so this week when I went back to the pizzeria I asked for a calzone again.

The options were now: a) the chef brings me a better, recognisable cat calzone and I immediately remark upon it and she's happy and we erase the failed cat calzone from the historical record and never mention it ever;

or b) the chef brings me a normal calzone, which suggests that the vague cat shape from last time was accidental and just another instance of chronic cat pareidolia.

(I refused to consider option c) The chef brings me another failed, hardly-recognisable cat. She just doesn't seem like the kind of person who would let that happen to her twice.)

Here's the photo of the failed cat calzone from last time, which, according to my friend, just looks like a pointy calzone with randomly-placed olives and not a deliberate attempt to make a cat:

And here's what the chef brought me this time:

THAT'S A CAT.

I knew it!!!!

And it looks so sad!! This cat calzone looks like it will burst into olive oil tears if you once again fail to identify it as the cat that it is

But I didn't; I was so ready this time. I went "A cat!!!!! It's so cute!" and the chef went like yes!!! I tried to make one last time but it looked weird :(

I said I was pretty sure it was a cat last time and apologised for not bringing it up and she said no, it's my responsibility to make it a decent cat. She also said she was glad I'd come back and ordered another calzone because she was really bothered ("vraiment embêtée") by that first failed attempt, and wondering if I'd noticed an attempt was made (and failed)

That's so relatable. It's like when you make a really embarrassing spelling mistake in a text and you're not sure if the other person has seen it and is judging you for it. Should you bring it up? Can it go unnoticed if you don't? It's the cat calzone equivalent of that. I'm so glad we were able to clear the air.

blaming pbpsbffs for this but what’s new.

peter parker who has never been able to enjoy a hobby for more than a few days without pouring himself into it completely because he cannot afford to be anything but amazing at it, enjoying something while being mediocre at it is out of the question— it’s either beyond exceptional or nothing.

he pours himself into whatever hobby catches his interest and keeps it from the people around him until he’s confident in his abilities, may found out he loved knitting three months after peter had gotten into it, his love for photography was a well hidden secret for years and he still refuses to show anyone his work unless it’s perfect.

peter parker who is terrified of being seen as mediocre, who has panic attacks at the thought of failure and obsesses over perfection. he resented tony for discovering spider-man before peter had reached whatever level of perfection he had hoped for, peter who considers every injury a failure and takes any bit of criticism to heart !!

peter parker who disassociates after tony takes the suit away, his body on autopilot working on a thousand different ways to make things better to prove he’s not completely incompetent. getting home safe doesn’t matter anymore, no amount of pain could be considered too much if it meant being seen as perfect again— what’s a building or two if it meant tony wouldn’t think of him as a failure?

peter parker who has never fully enjoyed himself in his classes or during the internship, who is overcome with anxiety before he even approaches a potential interest— who looks over the syllabus and starts teaching it to himself before his classes even start, who refuses to be seen as a student or child.

apartment building of leaves

my apartment building sucks its not even the right size inside and the staircases dont even go anywhere. my closet door just opens to a space between the walls & also locked trapdoor in my bedroom. sometimes i think i should move

Homemade custard with fresh peaches and double cream by Izzy (youforgottheblueberries_ on instagram)

A guy in an entomology group I'm in got a confirmed brown recluse bite because he felt something tickle his neck and brushed it off, accidentally mashing the spider against his skin. This is how almost all recluse bites happen since they're very very unaggressive. Anyway the bite was just a small nasty spot that cleared up on its own, but his hands and feet swelled up really bad. Then when the swelling went back down, all his calluses were loose and just fell right off leaving his hands and feet like brand new???????????

House of Leaves is great, but taken as a book entire it really is an unparalleled source of exposure therapy for ‘should of’ instead of ‘should’ve’ (and the other variants thereof).

Source: beth_thefirstyear on Instagram

I have four muffin tips for making bakery style muffins at home.

Tip number one:

Rest your batter for 15 minutes in your mixing bowl after you make it. This is gonna allow the starch molecules to swell and absorb, creating the thicker batter and the thicker batter is known for doming!

Tip number two:

Fill your muffin holes with at least six to eight tablespoons of batter. That’s like a heaping half cup okay. You want them super full so they’re gonna create that dome.

Tip number three:

Kinda goes along with tip number two. You’re only gonna fill every other hole in your muffin pan. And why we do that - that’s so the muffins that are baking can spread and dome without running into their neighbors. Because when they run into their neighbors they get like square edges but we want perfect dome circles.

Tip number four:

You’re to bake your muffins at a high temperature initially. That’s gonna be 425*F for the first seven minutes. And then keep them in the oven and lower the temperature to 350*F for the remaining bake time. Starting the muffins off at a high temperature initially allows the muffins to rise rapidly and it sets the outer surface of the muffin, producing a dome shape.

There you have it. My four muffin tips for creating bakery style muffins.

tragedy that i haven't seen anyone post this clip from the latest make some noise