PicoBlog

Like so many millennials, my first kitchen role model was Kenji Lopez-Alt at Serious Eats. I interned with Serious Eats while I was in college, and I still remember how embarrassed I was when I didn’t put nearly enough Velveeta in the mac-and-cheese Kenji asked me to make—though he was cool about it, quietly dumping in another handful of “cheese” cubes while thanking me for the effort. The team at Serious Eats still sets the standard for thoughtful, rigorously tested recipes, alongside my friends at America’s Test Kitchen.

Russia reports that a Russian T-72B3 tank has destroyed an Abrams tank "on the first shot."  The clash took place near Avdiivka.  The type of round fired by the Russian tank was not disclosed in the Russian report.  Most probably it was an APFSDS-T projectile. APFSDS-T translates as an Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot plus Tracer.  This type of anti tank projectile features a long penetrating road that is superheated when the weapon strikes an object.

Hi Friends, Glad Advent! Here is the second installment of a conversation I enjoyed with my mentor and muse, Fleming Rutledge, a few years back. The transcript is below, but here is the prayer she prays at the end of our time together: Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility, that in the last day when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead we may rise to the life immortal.

There will be no airing of grievances from me. I considered going in on cowardice, integrity, naivety, the futile nature of “thoughts and prayers,” and reminding everyone that I NEVER WORKED at Sid’s Place, but I didn’t get to be where I’m at by dwelling on the past, and maybe it’s time I let the past die. I would rather reflect upon what I’m thankful for in 2023. I’m thankful for the friends I lost.

Talking about Israel’s long-standing apartheid state and oppression of Palestine is difficult; the pushback is intense, the repercussions astounding, and the loss of relationships painful. Many of you asked for a resource on how to have these difficult conversations, both with yourself and with others. So here you are. This intention behind this guide is to give you accurate information to employ in conversations with people in your community, at the dinner table with your family, or on social media.

Oh, where do I begin to heap tons of praise on Elizabeth Acevedo? At the beginning with the MMD Book Club, where most things in my recent reading life begin. The Poet X was our monthly book club book pick for September 2020. I googled it and saw that it was a novel-in-verse story, and my heart sank. That sounded too much like poetry to me; I can’t understand it. I had tried to read her newest book, Clap When You Land when it was published and, after a few pages, gave it back to the library as I just couldn’t understand what I was reading.

Hi readers, In January, I needed to choose a “fiction foodie” book for a postal book club (here’s info about PBC’s) I had recently joined. I googled “foodie” books and found lists with many books to choose from. One book appeared over and over again on multiple lists, and after reading the description and a few reviews, I decided to read it for the PBC. That book is The School of Essential Ingredients, and by year-end, I’ve read four of Erica Bauermeister’s six fiction and memoir books, and I have the other two on the top of my TBR so I can check the “completist” box with her books.

AT THE END OF 2020, Parts iD, the automotive aftermarket retailer, was having a moment. The global pandemic had fueled a rush in direct-to-consumer orders, revenue was up by 39.3-percent, and the company had just gone public on the New York Stock Exchange. Three years later, the company is in deep trouble. Parts iD filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this week after reporting assets of $18 million and liabilities over $55 million.

I've been building a Reddit-like platform as a side-project for the last two years, which I initially began as a service to run in my home country, Sri Lanka. Now, with Reddit going dark and seeing people looking for an alternative to migrate to, I thought of repuporsing all that work I've already done to create a general alternative to Reddit. It isn't just that Reddit makes inane management decisions in how they treat their users, but as a software platform, they've been stagnant for many years.