{"id":34596,"date":"2019-10-27T09:00:04","date_gmt":"2019-10-27T16:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=34596"},"modified":"2019-11-04T17:50:44","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T00:50:44","slug":"chinese-sci-fiwriting-advicediy-aromatic-shower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/chinese-sci-fiwriting-advicediy-aromatic-shower\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Sci-Fi\/Writing advice\/DIY aromatic shower"},"content":{"rendered":"

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More Chinese science fiction<\/strong>
\nA red-hot area in science fiction these days is China. Like many fans who enjoyed\u00a0The Three Body Problem<\/em>, I wanted more. So the translator of that mega hit, Ken Liu, has translated two volumes of Chinese short stories with a sci-fi\/fantasy focus. The first anthology,\u00a0Invisible Planets<\/a>, is a sampler offering lots of magical realism, fantasy and a few hard-science pieces. The second,\u00a0Broken Stars<\/a>, has more speculative fiction, and feels more Chinese. As in any anthology, the quality is uneven, but a few stories are standouts and I got a solid feel for this embryonic movement. \u2014 KK<\/p>\n

Cut out everything that\u2019s not surprising<\/strong>
\nDerek Sivers was the founder of CD Baby and maintains an interesting\u00a0essay blog<\/a>. One of his recent posts offered\u00a0good advice for writers and speakers<\/a>: \u201cPeople only really learn when they\u2019re surprised. If they\u2019re not surprised, then what you told them just fits in with what they already know. No minds were changed. No new perspective. Just more information. So my main advice to anyone preparing to give a talk on stage is to cut out everything from your talk that\u2019s not surprising.\u201d \u2014 MF<\/p>\n

Shower with fresh Eucalyptus<\/strong>
\nI\u2019ve been hanging fresh Eucalyptus in our shower because it\u2019s said to reduce sinus inflammation, which I struggle with, but mostly because it makes showering feel like a spa experience with it\u2019s soothing scent and how it looks so pretty. I\u2019ve tried both the Silver Dollar Eucalyptus, which Whole Foods often has in stock, and the more aromatic Baby Blue Eucalyptus, which I order on\u00a0Good Eggs<\/a>. Here is a good\u00a0how-to article<\/a>. You\u2019ll need some natural jute twine to hang it up. This is\u00a0what I ordered<\/a>. \u2014 CD<\/p>\n

Super easy paint touchup<\/strong>
\nAfter you finish painting a room, pour a little of the left-over paint into one of these\u00a0small BIBR touch up bottles<\/a>. One for each color. The plastic bottles contain a small applicator brush inside (plus a marble to shake\/stir the paint) which makes it super easy to break it out to touch-up as things happen. Gareth Branwyn suggests keeping the touchup bottle in a drawer in the room itself, making it a no-brainer to grab when needed. Touch up will never happen when the paint is at the bottom of a can in the basement.\u00a0 \u2014 KK<\/p>\n

A better multicooker than the Instant Pot<\/strong>
\nThe Instant Pot multicooker has become an internet sensation, with recipe books and YouTube videos devoted to it. I also was a fan of my Instant Pot until it died last month and I switched to a\u00a0Zavor Lux 6-Quart Multicooker<\/a>\u00a0($160). It\u2019s superior to the Instant Pot on at least three counts. First, the top lid doesn\u2019t get so hot that it will burn you if you touch it. Second, it heats much faster, which makes a huge time difference when pressure cooking a meal. Third, the silicone gasket on the lid is braced so it doesn\u2019t sag like it does on the Instant Pot, which is a common issue and prevents the Instant Pot from achieving a high enough pressure. The Zavor costs a bit more than the Instant Pot, but it\u2019s worth it. \u2013 MF<\/p>\n

Visual guide to portion sizes<\/strong>
\nAll the time spent in the kitchen with my mother or grandmother I never once saw them measuring anything, and maybe it\u2019s a Hispanic culture thing, but I learned even less about appropriate food portions. So now I\u2019m working on getting better at eyeballing portion sizes so that I don\u2019t over serve myself.\u00a0This chart helps<\/a>. \u2014 CD<\/p>\n

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Recomendo: issue no. 170<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13684,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[2323],"tags":[2324],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34596"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34596"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34677,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34596\/revisions\/34677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}