1. Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite by Suki Kim
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Books read in October 2023
Monday, October 30, 2023
How to respond to recipe requests when you don't use recipes
Dear Miss Manners: Cooking is one of my passions, and I love to share my food with others. And while I love positive feedback, I am sometimes taken aback by the automatic request for a recipe as soon as someone compliments something I’ve made. Unfortunately, I do not use recipes. I am an intuitive cook, who many times throws things together. I have explained several times to these people that I do not use recipes, but continue to get asked.I am not a curmudgeon, and not trying to keep my creations’ ingredients secret; I just don’t have the time, energy or memory to remember everything that went into a dish. What would be a good response to the constant, “This is delicious. Recipe, please!”?
Thursday, October 19, 2023
How to get a wax cork out of a winged corkscrew
Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Crucial questions to answer in your Zoom meeting invitation
Monday, October 02, 2023
"And also" is the key to appreciating the little things in life
Saturday, September 30, 2023
Books read in September 2023
New:
1. Bride of New France by Suzanne Desrochers
Reread:
1. Dark in Death
Monday, September 25, 2023
Where I'm at on social media (literally and philosophically)
Saturday, September 09, 2023
The perfect closet organizing business model
Then, when they're done, you have more closet space and 100% of the clothes in your closet fit your body.
You don't have to see which of your favourite clothes are too small for you, or go through the upsetting experience of trying on favourite clothes that ended up being too small.
They can take away the box of too-small clothes and donate them appropriately, or they can leave it with you, closed and sealed, for you to either revisit when you can cope with it or completely disregard.
Updated with a bonus round:
The closet organizer is paired up with a personal shopper, to whom they provide your measurements and the quantity and characteristics of the clothing that was removed from your closet, and the personal shopper finds suitable replacements that fit your current body.
Those lovely blouses in jewel tones that you bought years ago are now too small? Here's a selection of flattering blouses in jewel tones!
You have to give up your twirly sundress? Here are a few twirly sundress options!
Thursday, August 31, 2023
Books read in August 2023
Saturday, August 19, 2023
Translating Good Omens subtitles: "Bildad the Shuhite! Need any shoes?"
This post contains exactly one (1) line from Good Omens Season 2, which technically makes it a spoiler that should be tagged under the fandom's robust spoiler tagging policy.
At one point in Episode 2, Crowley introduces himself as "Bildad the Shuhite," then adds "Need any shoes?"
A pun, with half the pun unchangeable! (Bildad the Shuhite being the name of a specific biblical character who would already have an established name in the target language.) How do you translate this?
I've recorded the content of the subtitles here but haven't drilled down into them yet. Additions, analysis, commentary, and transcriptions of the languages I can't do myself are more than welcome!
Languages I know:
French (both Canada and France): souliers. This is a direct translation and doesn't really work as a pun.
German: Schuhe (direct translation, works as a pun)
Spain Spanish: suéteres (sweaters, works as a pun)
Latin American Spanish: jesuita (Jesuit. Works as a pun with "el suhita")
Polish: buty (direct translation, doesn't work as a pun)
Languages I don't know: (I'm just transcribing them from now, might dabble in looking them up later)
Bahasa Melayu: "Perlukan kasut?"
Catalan: xulla
Dansk: sko
Euskara: "Surik nahi?"
Filipino: Sapatos
Indonesia: Bildad, orag Suah. Butah Sepatu?
Italian: Servano scarpe?
Nederlands: schoenen
Norsk Bokmal (Norwegian): sko
Brazil Portuguese: suar
Portugual Portuguese: suínos
Romanian: cizme
Suomi (Finnish): "Onko kengän tarve?"
Swedish: Schack
Turkish: "Ayakkabi lazim mi?"
Cestina (Czech): Buty
Russian (my transliteration): "Savany sh'yu"
Ukrainian (my transliteration): shurupi
Greek, Arabic and Hebrew are also available, but I'm not able to translate or transliterate them.
Monday, July 31, 2023
Books read in July 2023
New:
1. The Body under the Piano by Marthe Jocelyn
Reread:
1. Apprentice in Death
Good Omens subtitle translations: "They are toast: T-O-S-T...E!"
At one point in the second season of Good Omens, the demon Shax, who is already established as a poor speller, says "They are TOAST! T-O-S-T-...E!"
Naturally, I started thinking about how you might translate that.
Fortunately, there are subtitles in 29 different languages, so I decided to write them down.
(I originally braindumped this on Twitter, but given that it's no longer reliable or googleable, I'm also putting it here.)
Additions, analysis, commentary, and transcriptions of the languages I can't do myself are more than welcome!
Canadian French: "fichus: F-I-S-H-U"
France French: "cuits: C-U-I-S"
German: "töte: T-Ö-H-T-E"
Latin American Spanish: "fritos: F-R-I-T-O-S" (no error )
Spain Spanish: "muertos: M-U-R-T-O...S"
Polish: "po nich: P-O N-I-C-H" (no error)
Bahasa Melayu (Malay): "mati: M-A-T-E" (I think - I'm not certain about the morphology)
Catalan: "Fregits: F-R-E-J-I-T-S"
Dansk (Danish): "kaput: K-A-P-U-D"
Euskara (Basque)): "akabatu: A-Q-A-B-A-T-U"
Filipino has her spell out "P-A-T-A...I", but I don't see that combination of letters in the preceding sentences. I don't know enough about the language to provide more info.
Indonesia: "celaka: C-E-L-A-G-A"
Italian: "fritti: F-R-I-T-T..I:
Magyar (Hungarian): "kampec: K-A-N-P-E-C...Z"
Nederlands (Dutch): "klos: C-L-O-S"
Norsk Bokmal (Norwegian): "ferdige: F-R-E-D-I-G...E"
Brazilian Portuguese: "fritos: F-R-I-T-O...Z"
Portugal Portuguese: "ares: A-R-E-S...E" (the whole segment is "vão todos pelos ares" - I have a hunch "ares" might not contain all the meaning)
Romanian: "praf: F-R-A-P"
Suomi (Finnish): "mennyttä: M-E-N-Y-T-A"
Swedish: "döda: D-Ö-D-D-A"
Turkish: "kizartirium: K-I-Z-A-T-T" (the letters I've transcribed as "i" are actually the dotless Turkish I, but I don't know how to type that)
Cestina (Czech): "napadrt: N-A-P-A-T-R-T" (There's a diacritic on the T that I don't know how to make)
Greek is available, but I don't know how to transcribe or transliterate it.
Russian (my transliteration): "kayuk: K-O-YU-G"
Ukrainian: the word is (my transliteration) "kinets" with a soft sign at the end, and she spells it out as (my transliteration "K-I-N-E-TS" without the soft sign at the end.
There are also Hebrew and Arabic subtitles, but I can't read, transcribe or transliterate them.
Friday, June 30, 2023
Books read in June 2023
New:
1. Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
Reread:
1. Brotherhood in Death
Thursday, June 01, 2023
New Twitter personal best
NBD, NBD, just Neil Gaiman taking a moment out of his busy day to personally reply to my tweet so I can make safe and informed media consumption decisions
Only in the Title credits.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) June 2, 2023
And, on further reflection, for a little bit in Episode 4. Avert your eyes when Furfur uses the clicker.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) June 2, 2023
Tuesday, May 02, 2023
Things I Don't Understand: people who value health labour but don't value COVID protections
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Books read in April 2023
Saturday, April 15, 2023
Advice for the Ask A Manager letter writer who found scales in the break room
Friday, March 31, 2023
Saturday, March 18, 2023
Saving for a down payment is not the only barrier to housing affordability
Toronto in 2021Time to save for down payment: 20+ years
What is Toronto’s starter home of this decade? In short, it’s further from the core, harder to attain and requires decades’ worth of savings.
Looking at properties that fell around 20 per cent below the average cost in 2021, there were still some bungalows in the mix, such as a raised bungalow that hit the market in the Scarborough neighbourhood of Birchcliffe-Cliffside. A property listing describes the house’s interiors as “well maintained but dated.”
It was offered in as-is, where-is condition, meaning the seller wouldn’t be making any repairs for the new buyer. “Buy to renovate or rebuild,” it suggested.
Like so many properties across Toronto last year, it sold for well above its listing price. Four days after records show it was listed for $699,900, it went for nearly $200,000 more, with a sale price of $875,000.
To reach a 20 per cent down payment, an individual or family would be tasked with tucking away a whopping $175,000. The median household income across the city last year was $84,000 — meaning this “starter” home would take more than 20 years of savings.
This is all true, but let's also look at the mortgage situation.
Median household income last year was $84,000.
Using Tangerine's "How much can I borrow?" calculator (because that's the one I find most user-friendly), with an income of $84,000, the $175,000 down payment calculated above, and all the other settings left to default, we get a total mortgage of $432,946.