According to @SeriousEats, certain foods are better at room temperature. Here's the science of why, and which foods you should be leaving to cool down or warm up before serving, from coconut cake to guacamole.
6,000 homes were destroyed in Altadena, L.A. County, by the recent wildfires. In many cases, all that remains standing is the chimney and fireplace — often covered in tiles designed by artist Ernest Batchelder. @Dwell writes about a grassroots movement to salvage some of those tiles — and the history of the storied neighborhood. "Whether you’re grieving a person or, in this case, a house filled with memories, it helps to have something that you can physically hang on to," says Brenda Davidge. "Having the tile helps us with moving forward because while we know the house and everything that was in it is gone, the tiles are a physical reminder that the fire didn’t take everything, that these things have lasted a hundred-plus years and made it through that crazy fire so they can keep going beyond that too."
Today, Hindus around the world celebrate Holi, the festival of colors, and nowhere is it more raucous than in India. Kids and grownups filled their water balloons and water guns yesterday, and have packets of colored powder ready to ambush friends, neighbors and strangers. "If you're spotlessly clean, you're a target," write Mithil Aggarwal and Max Butterworth for NBC. Here's their story about the meaning of the festival and how it is celebrated — complete with some absolutely stunning photography.
Five years from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, @Eater's Jaya Saxena takes a look at how things have changed for food and dining, and how they haven't. "Everywhere — including in this retrospective of those pandemic-era pivots that stuck around, for better or worse — there are signs and scars of what the last five years have wrought. And sometimes, hints of a better future," she writes. "If only we stop thinking of COVID in the past tense."
Tokyo's vinyl stores are a new tourist hotspot — and local owners say it's all part of musical exchange: “The culture is a cycle, you know? We are just a piece of the whole history of music.” https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2025/03/08/lifestyle/vinyl-records-japan-overseas-buyers/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #life #lifestyle #vinyl #music #shopping
Last of all, given the fraught situation between the U.S. and Canadian governments, our @CultureDesk shared an explanation of the term “elbows up” by MP Charlie Angus. For an extra treat, here’s a video to inspire Canadians through the weekend and beyond: Joe Canada/Jeff Douglas’s updated “I am Canadian” ad, but this time it’s not for beer.
'Granny hobbies' like crochet, haiku and gardening are all the rage with Japanese youth looking for new (old) ways to relax. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2025/03/04/lifestyle/granny-hobbies-japan-knitting/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #life #lifestyle #hobbies #crochet #knitting #gardening #haiku #shogi
The economic blackout on Feb. 28 doesn't appear to have had much impact — on Amazon, at least, where transactions were 1% higher than a typical Friday, though the buying pattern through the day was different from normal. Here's @forbes's story.
"Er hat unsere Sünden mit seinem eigenen Leib auf das Holz des Kreuzes getragen, damit wir tot sind für die Sünden und leben für die Gerechtigkeit. Durch seine Wunden seid ihr geheilt.
1. Petrus 2,24 (EÜ)
https://www.bibeltv.de/bibelthek/E%C3%9C/1-petr-2-24
#bibeltv #bibelthek #bibel #bibelvers #gotteswort #glaube #gott #jesus #hoffnung #liebe #instadaily #motivation #lifestyle #inspiration #bible #god"
@broadwaybabyto ..further in the spirit of inclusion, some of us literally have no other choices and live like this on the regular... a #marginalized #blackout #lifestyle means we have always lived under the belly of this grotesquely obese monster, while being taught about the 'hierarchy of needs' that they built on top of us, and punished for even attempting to build tunnels to let the sunlight in..
and
Last of all, ahead of this weekend's Oscars ceremony, our @CultureDesk shared some inspiration for winners giving speeches: Jane Fonda’s absolutely barnstormer from the SAG Awards, where she received a lifetime achievement award. “We are in our documentary moment. This is it, and it’s not a rehearsal. And we mustn’t for a moment kid ourselves about what is happening,” she told the audience.
A California legislator is seeking to bar the state's minors from buying "anti-aging" skin care products — items that contain active ingredients like retinol, vitamin C and alpha hydroxy acids. There are a number of issues with the bill and it would be hard to enforce, but @Allure's April Daniels Hussar says it does serve to prove a point. "There is real emotional danger when it comes to anti-aging marketing and the psyche of children and teenagers," she writes, citing examples of a 14-year-old with a comprehensive routing to "slow down the aging process" and an 18-year-old showing off her Botox. Here's the full story.
The fact that humans have unquenchable thirst and insatiable appetites is not new wisdom. Anything in excess becomes miserable — even the good things in life. If you’ve experienced the regret of eating one too many slices of pizza, a late-night shot that left the room spinning or anything that made you say “that was too much,” the Swedish philosophy of "lagom" may put you on the path to “just the right amount.” Read more at BigThink.com:
Last of all, our @CultureDesk shared some good news from Canada: Its federal government has, for the first time, recognized Aboriginal title through negotiations. The Haida nation now has inherent rights to the archipelago of Haida Gwaii in British Columbia. @cbcnews reports that outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed the document on behalf of the Canadian government, saying that it: "recognizes that the Haida people have lived here since time immemorial. That the Haida people have an inalienable right to use, manage and enjoy the lands of Haida Gwaii as they see fit. That self-determination is the only path toward true reconciliation."
A Chicago environmental nonprofit, Urban Rivers, is asking for help in naming a "remarkably rotund" beaver that lives on the bank of the Chicago River. The "extra spherical" rodent is believed to be pregnant, and the group's volunteer coordinator Stephen Meyer says that his team hasn't been able to weigh her, but she can be heard on camera waddling across the dock and cracking ice beneath her paws, according to @BlockClubCh. Here are some of the names suggested by people on Reddit. Which gets your vote? Tell us in the comments if you have a better idea, and submit it to Urban Rivers at the second link.
Die Webseite meiner Frau Simone mit leckeren peganen Rezepten und kreativen Ideen.
Mein peganes Leben
https://meinpeganesleben.de/
Nara's deer are arguably as big a tourist draw as the city's ancient temples, but a lack of trash cans means harmful litter the critters then eat. Can a new street patrol clean up the animals' diet? https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2025/02/15/lifestyle/nara-deer-trash/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #life #lifestyle #tourism #nara #environment
Lastly, nobody reacted to this when our @CultureDesk shared the story but we thought it was fascinating. Back in the early 2000s, American elementary school students used to stack cups in gym class, and it was all down to a clown-turned-teacher named Bob.
https://defector.com/if-you-ever-stacked-cups-in-gym-class-blame-my-dad
Are you marking Valentine’s Day this year? @TheConversationUS looks at how Victorian London went gaga for greeting cards. Back then, you were expected to send a Valentine in return regardless of your feelings, which meant you could buy cards with messages that proclaimed mutual admiration, encouraged patience, or politely discouraged future attention.
#History @histodons #ValentinesDay #GreetingCards #Lifestyle #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday
Loneliness around Valentine's Day is nothing new for those without a partner. But Meta says it's becoming a time of peak opportunity for scammers looking to capitalize on forlornness. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2025/02/14/lifestyle/afp-life-dating-ai-scams/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #life #lifestyle #romancescams #dating
