demented clockwork hummingbird

I love you Safety Wizard.

This is the world capitalists want to return to.

Katara from ATLA

things fall apart and there’s anarchy everywhere; falcons fly freely and can’t be compelled.

Dimming the tide there is blood in the water and everywhere customs of innocence drowned.

Held by the worst is a fervent intensity; lacking conviction the best run aground.

Surely there must be some kind of apocalypse; surely epiphany must be at hand!

Visions unbidden from Spiritus Mundi of something awakening out on the sand:

Head of a man with a leonine frame and a pitiless gaze that’s as blank as the sun;

sleep became nightmare by passage of centuries long before eons of slumber were done.

Higgledy piggledy, beast of antiquity, imminent, just as the prophecies warn,

Farm Journal's Best-Ever Recipes

Sugar-Top Coffee Cake-so good with a cup of freshly brewed cofiee. (Montana) My favorite method of entertaining is a late morning brunch-my favorite cake to serve at these affairs is your Sugar-Top Coffee Cake along with a cheese souffle. (Idaho) When I served this coffee cake to several friends, one thought it was a yeast coffee cake and the other said she hadn't tasted anything so good for many a year and promptly wrote down the recipe. (Florida)

SUGAR-TOP COFFEE CAKE

1 egg

¾ c. sugar

1 tblsp. melted butter or regular margarine

1 c. dairy sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1½ c. sifted flour

2 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp. salt

½ c. brown sugar, firmly packed 2 tbisp. flour

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

2 tbisp. softened butter or regular margarine

Beat egg in bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until frothy. Add sugar and 1 tblsp. butter, beating until light and flufly. Add sour cream and vanilla; blend well.

Sift together 1½ c. flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Stir into sour cream mixture; blend well. Pour into greased 8-inch square baking pan.

Combine brown sugar, 2 tblsp. flour, cinnamon and 2 tblsp. butter into bowl; mix until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter.

"Iroh lied about killing the last dragon before Zuko was born because he wanted to protect them! They actually deemed him pure of heart and worthy to learn the truest form of firebending🥰" .......... even though he continued to be a violent general in an evil genocidal empire long after that...? I'm questioning the dragons' wisdom now.

Which is all to say I think it would be perfect if we got to the season three end game and realized Iroh was actually still an errand boy initiate in the White Lotus. And Piandao pulls aside the main tent flap to reveal our Supreme Grand Lotus:

Gran-Gran

Canonically traveled the world without Committing A War, thus reasonably having met and networked with most of these other people in a positive way? Check

Saw the Avatar and told her only grandkids to go help that kid ASAP, don't worry Gran-Gran's just going to stay riiiiiight here while you're gone and definitely not relive the excitements of her youth? Check

Would recontextualize Pakku's constant sour grapes face (and his reaction to seeing Katara's necklace) to "my ex left me and now she's my superior, if I don't train her grandkid she will mobilize a global movement to Kick My Ass"? CHECK

The heat’s been brutal this summer but we still gotta eat! If you’re like me, heat might suppress your appetite, and the last thing any of us want is to sweat over a hot stove and oven when it’s already boiling outside. Here are some of my favorite hot-weather recipes to keep hydrated and fed with when the weather is unbearable! (All recipes should be un-paywalled).

NYT’s best gazpacho (lives up to its name!!)

Persian cold cucumber soup (if you like tzatziki you will like this!)

Eric Kim’s cold noodles with tomato (infinitely riffable Korean flavor profile — for a creamier and less brothy take, try these cold sesame noodles too)

Vietnamese chicken and herb salad (this is an excellent time to get a rotisserie chicken so you don’t have to turn the oven on)

Radish sandwiches with butter and salt (and in a similar vein, if you dig this flavor combo you should try this Polish cottage cheese dip on some good rye bread or even crackers)

It’s still a little early in the season, but you can never go wrong with a BLT (or, if you don’t eat bacon, try this tomato furikake sandwich in its place)

Infinite iterations of pasta salad! You can use anything you got but here is a template I like.

Assorted dense bean salads. This back pocket canned salad is a weird combo of jarred ingredients but it slaps, this hoagie-inspired one is super satisfying, and cowboy caviar is a classic for a reason.

Poke bowls! Canned tuna mixed with some kewpie mayo and sriracha is a budget-friendly riff on the usual ahi and makes everything taste like a spicy tuna roll, but use whatever proteins you like, this is more of a loose template.

It's old-fashioned. It's modern. It's butch. It's femme. It's snazzy. It's practical.

Wikipedia talks about the bloomers and the leg-o-mutton sleeves, but I'm also noticing a lot of these outfits have absolute supervillain lapels, which I also like a lot.