Allyson

I posted this 8 years ago. Deserves being posted again. I may not agree with the current reasons for protests happening, but I absolutely support your right to peaceably assemble, and while it isn’t a “guaranteed in the Constitution” right, your right to protest.

But I also agree that leaving school during school hours is not cool. Having stuff organized by teachers is beyond not cool. When we had to sign 8 forms just to let our kids go to the local library, no teacher should be able to just take kids out of the classroom and off campus without parental consent and all those same forms used for any other outing. There *cannot* be “rules for thee but not for me.”

And to finish… protests are dangerous. Even peaceable ones. A protest can quickly turn into a mob, and mobs are not people, mobs are a monster all on their own, and they are easily moved and abused by people outside the mob. I have both watched that happen from outside, and been trapped inside a mob and experienced it. Before you go to protest (at any age!!), be sure that you know the realities of what protesting can and does mean.

You could get hurt. You could get arrested. You could get shot with “less than lethal” things like rubber bullets, tasers, chemicals, and water. You could get expelled, if you’re in school, or fired if you’re working. You could get caught up in things you do NOT agree with, a lot more easily than you can imagine, even if you agree with the rest of the protest. You could get yelled at, spit on, and even assaulted.

All but the assault (by a non-LEO) are perfectly legal, by the way. If you’re ordered by LEOs to move, and you don’t, they can and will use “less than lethal” weapons on you. Those “less than lethal” things can cause REAL damage, and they can even cause death sometimes. Assaults during a protest (or worse, during a riot and/or mob situation) are very difficult to prove in court.

All of this is offered from NEITHER political side. It doesn’t matter to me what side you’re on; these are the realities of standing up for your rights, real or perceived. Freedom is not free, and it is NOT SAFE. Being free has never been safe. The fact that we are safer in our country than people in most (if not all) other countries is saying something… but it doesn’t mean “we are safe.” SAFER is not SAFE. Standing up for your rights, again perceived or real, is dangerous, and always will be.

I posted the above to Facebook today, because it came up in my memories. I don’t recall the reason I posted it, but I do remember telling my kids about it. At the time, they were 12 or 13, so right at the rebellious “I’m a real teen” stage. I thought it was horrible at the time, but there are days I miss that… At least I was able to do something about it when they were wrong. Today, I have to grit my teeth and let them make their mistakes. Oy. Anyhow…

The image was what was posted 8 years ago, and the text I just posted today. Though I have no comments yet, I’m sure I’ll get a couple, at least, and maybe ferret out a couple more idiots from my friends’ list. I expect that more than one person will claim to not understand how I can support someone without supporting their cause. That’s the usual response to things like this. My friends, at least, don’t seem to get the idea of “hate the sin, love the sinner” (for lack of a better phrase).

One way I use to describe it a lot, lately, is that here in America, we absolutely have the right to be an idiot, to be wrong, and to keep talking long after we should have (morally speaking) shut our traps. That is our RIGHT. Doesn’t mean it *is* right (as in correct).

But yes, I will absolutely go and protect people I love who feel the need to peaceably demonstrate, even if I disagree with what they’re demonstrating about. Why? Because this is America, and PEACEABLE demonstration is allowed. If they stop being peaceable, I will not support them, and they all know that. But if they’re just holding a sign on the sidewalk and talking to people? Absolutely I will. And if they get arrested while demonstrating peaceably, I’ll record it, and I’ll testify on their behalf later. Because it’s the right thing to do. What I won’t do is interfere with LEOs, because even if I think they’re wrong, that’s how riots and mobs start. I’ll ask questions politely, stay out of the way, and take video. The rest can get argued at the courthouse. Peaceably.

This is my red hat. It is based on historical finds and considerations about those finds in places like Hedeby and Birka. I don’t wear it very often, because I only play at being a Viking (Scandinavian Völva from 10th century Unst) a couple of times a year, and at least one of those times it’s much to warm to wear a naalbound hat designed to get you through a night 100 miles into the Arctic Circle. This hat is incredibly thick. It doesn’t get wet, as it’s made of hand spun sheep wool. It smells a bit of lanolin, and it’s warm. In 10th century Unst, this would have been THE hat to wear at the winter holy days, because it was bright, warm, and naalbound (sort of a Viking form of knitting with one needle and a thumb). While we don’t know whether hats were popular or not (because most of what we know about the Vikings is gathered from pot scrapings, weathered carvings, grave finds, and stories written many years after the Vikings we’re talking about ceased to exist), the few writings from medieval times and the carvings we have do seem to indicate that this would have been worn. It’s definitely something that’s come down in German and Scandinavian heritage (hence the garden gnomes and the Tomten, who are sort of like garden gnomes but more demi-god and tricksy).

I wore my red hat this past weekend. It’s one of the two events I wear my Viking garb at, and it was cold at night (down in the low 20s). I was all dressed in wool, cooking happily over a fire, making meals from a Norse cookbook called Vikingars Gästabud, which is a modern book based on archaeological finds. I made green soup, and a beef stew, and a chicken stew, and barley porridge (called grot). It was a delicious weekend, though a bit smokey.

I enjoy wearing the hat. It makes me look like a garden gnome, I’ll be honest. I’m good with that. It’s fun, and it’s historical, and it starts conversations that I love having.

This year it did something else, as well. I’m a lot less happy about it.

Apparently, there are folks in Minnesota who are now wearing head gear very similar to mine, and using it as a “victory hat” of sorts. They’re protesting ICE while wearing these hats. I’m guessing it hearkens back to the red hats worn by the French during their revolution, but I really don’t know. During the course of the weekend, I had five or six people (separately) come up to me and give me a thumb’s up and call out anti ICE slogans of various types. One lady went so far as to trap me in the bathroom line and explain to me that it was AWESOME I was wearing a hat to show that I was rebelling. I explained to her about ten times that I was wearing a historically accurate Scandinavian hat, but she persisted. Like they do.

All that led to this morning’s conversation with Chris, wherein I lost my shit entirely. I found myself saying, quite loudly and irately, “My culture is not your costume!” I know that’s a leftist screed, but it’s true in this case. I love seeing kids dressing up as stuff at Halloween, or to cosplay, but being TOLD the reason for wearing what I was wearing was extremely offensive. Yes, both sides of my ancestry go back to Scandinavian “Vikings” and it’s something I’m proud of. I don’t want to give up my hat!

But I also don’t want to be mistaken for someone rioting or causing problems. Is my hat going to get leftists riled up and assuming I’m one of them? Worse, is it going to get conservatives upset, thinking I’m with the Left? Why the hell can’t I just wear my hat in peace?

I want the anti-ICE people to stop wearing my hat. I want them to stop using my symbols for their hatred and rancor. It’s not right!

But of course… they have a right to do what they want. So I have to decide whether to stop wearing it, at least until this trend is over. Because I do not want to be associated with those rioters at all. Not for one second. I was horrified this weekend. 🙁

On a nicer side, I made it into the Gardner news again:

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1Dn4BktgU9/

https://www.thegardnernews.com/picture-gallery/lifestyle/things-to-do/2026/02/16/northfolk-night-market-is-an-annual-winter-festival-that-features/88684515007/

So one of the prepper groups I belong to on Facebook has been posting these. I thought I’d pass some along. I believe these are meant for law enforcement, hence the “pursuit” comment.

As a prepper, I would not be worried about some of the things LEOs would be concerned about. I look at this scenario and the only “weight” that I would bother to attempt pulling up a steep embankment is a living person. The vehicle and the dead can stay at the bottom of the ravine, if we’re in a SHTF event.

Pulleys make lifting things easier. There’s a system called a 4-in-1 that would work in this case, though we’d be doing a 3-in-1 as we only have 4 pulleys. Rather than spend 20 minutes typing it up, I’m going to share a video that shows you the details clearly.

Today’s stupid comes from the public, non-political sector. I participate in a variety of prepper and off-grid living groups on Facebook and elsewhere. Yesterday, one of the groups highlighted a set of stairs basically like the ones Chris made for our shed. They fold up against the wall. I liked the post, and was going to move on, but stupidly decided to check the comments. I ran into a guy, Todd, who said, and I quote, “Don’t weigh more than 150 lbs max for those stairs.” (I cleaned it up. His grammar was so atrocious I couldn’t do a direct quote.)

I patiently explained that it’s entirely possible to make stairs that will hold heavier weights, and that I know it’s so because a) math and b) hubby actually built some and he weights quite a bit more than 150 lbs (as do I) and he goes up and down the stairs just fine.

The response? “How ’bout a picture? I don’t believe you.” I kind of stared at it for a while, but then I responded to him. I basically said, well, I had facts on my side, but he was welcome to not believe those facts… however they were still facts. *shrug* Chris then responded by asking if the dude knew the type of wood, the type of hinges, the ratings for the screws, etc etc, and if not, then you couldn’t judge how much weight could go on the stairs. Basically, what I’d said… *math*.

There’s stupid on all sides of me these days.

I had someone from the “new poor” group who woefully explained that a single person cannot eat healthily on $30 a week. I sat down and made a delicious week’s menu for two people, two whole grown-ass people, for $30 a week. Well, $32 actually. But for TWO people, not one. I got told I was unrealistic for expecting people to… *gasp* cook. Because people on welfare don’t have time to cook, because now they’re burdened with “working” for 20 hours a week.

I didn’t bother explaining how I’d been working 40+ hour weeks for most of my life, and still managed to cook meals from scratch every night. Sometimes it meant careful planning and cooking on the weekend, then judicial use of the crockpot or microwave during the week, but I had food on the table, hot, delicious, healthy, and as far from processed as I could manage. Every. Single. Day. For years, folks.

There is a subset of people who are actively choosing to be willfully ignorant. They go out of their way to complain about things, especially online but occasionally in person, and then will not even glance at a fix for their problem. If you try to spoon feed it to them, the result is a tantrum that would look poor on a 2 year old, never mind a grown-ass adult. And while I do agree that the majority of them do appear to be on the Left, there are some doozies on the Right as well, and it bothers me.

I can’t help someone who actively WANTS to be poor, ignorant, hurt, or damaged. There’s this wonderful trend right now where people are claiming to be “triggered” over pretty much anything. That is, and I say this with no remorse whatsoever, weaponizing trauma, and it’s a VILE habit.

Some of us lived through real trauma. You can tell, because we’re the ones helping the OTHER ones with trauma, while telling people “what I went through wasn’t that bad, not as bad as Ms. X here.” We’re not using our trauma as an excuse. We might occasionally have to ask for grace, but we don’t use it as an excuse. And we never stop trying to get over it, to fix it, to repair it, to patch it, to soothe it.

“Ohh… but I’m triggered!” Yeah honey? So am I, but I’m still out here helping others, taking care of myself and my family, doing my best to earn a living and get shit done. Your trauma can be real but that doesn’t mean it’s a reason to not work, or do whatever you need to be doing. Get off your ass and go get shit done.

So I occasionally watch YouTube videos, and sometimes Facebook reels. I like TikTok. I don’t spend a LOT of time watching them, but once in a while it’s nice to just watch some short clips and call it a night. TikTok in particular has become highly amusing to me, since I managed to FINALLY get it to send me conservative humor (see my post from Feb. 5).

See, my feed is blue. It’s REALLY blue. Some of this is because I still read/listen to/watch Left leaning stuff because I report on it to you guys. Frankly, most of it is because I’m poly, pagan, kinky, and pansexual. There’s this assumption that if you’re any ONE of those, you must be Liberal. To be all four? The algorithm thinks I’m so deep Left it’s impossible to think. So it sends me Leftist crap constantly.

It’s not just one place. I get it in my news, because I actively seek out Left news for education’s sake. I get it in my Facebook because I get it in my news, and because some of my friends and acquaintances are Left. I get it in YouTube because it’s a Leftist hell hole. I get it in TikTok because that seems to be the initial basic setting, and you have to work to get out of it.

The main problem I have is that it isn’t just that “they” think I should be Left; it’s that certain facts about my person, physical things, seem to doom me to be “mistaken” for Left when I am not. As an example, we’ve all mentioned septum ring theory: the idea that if a person has a septum ring, they’re almost invariably likely to be Leftist. The same thing with blue hair. If you have both, you’re definitely a Leftist.

I don’t understand how hair color dictates politics. I’m offended by it. I have very far Right friends with septum rings and green hair. No one on our side cares. Any time someone with wildly colored hair or big tattoos or facial piercings “comes out” as Republican or Right leaning, the Left goes into complete melt down mode. I cannot even begin to tell you the number of times I was told that I couldn’t possibly exist on the Right because y’all would hate me and kick me out for being pan, poly, pagan, or kinky. Instead, I found there’s a vibrant LGB community here on the Right. A lot of poly people are conservative. Pagans are all over the damn place. Kinky is… yeah, well anyhow. LOL… You get what I’m saying. The Right doesn’t care.

The Left wraps up their politics in their entire belief system, their personality, and their reality. Therein lies the biggest problem, really. It’s why you can’t talk logic with a lot of leftists. If you start to dig into any aspect of what they believe, they immediately take it as a personal attack. They believe, 110%, that you are attacking them, the person. They cannot comprehend the concept that one can attack the ideal or the fact (or lack thereof) and not be the least bit upset about the person behind it.

The amount of time it takes to dismantle even one small part of the leftist’s worldview enough to show them that it’s faulty causes them to break. I don’t mean that figuratively, for most of them, either. It may seem stupid to you, but I want you to think about how you’d feel if you found incontrovertible truth, actual facts and photographs, proving Trump diddled little girls. You’d be shocked to your core, because the man you’ve known and loved doesn’t seem anything like that. It would mess with your world view and rock your core, because we’ve just KNOWN he’s not the bad person the Left paints him as. That’s how they feel, that depth of despair, every single time you pick at a bit of the Left’s beliefs. If you do manage to break it down into small enough pieces that they can understand it, and they accept it, it doesn’t break down the other parts of their worldview, because to do so would cause them irreparable harm.

When I watch videos of people on the Left being questioned by good speakers (Charlie, for instance, but also many others who are new journalist types), I see the answers get more and more vague as they go along. If you push too hard, they will actually change the conversation entirely, sometimes attacking in a random direction, just to make the questioning stop.

I don’t believe most of them do this out of spite. I believe it’s the response to the trauma they’re living. Having known people who’ve survived serious trauma, it’s a mental tactic most victims don’t even realize they’re doing. I see people on the Left acting much like the victims of domestic abuse and sexual abuse that I’ve known. They’ve been lied to for so long, and it’s just… it’s a lot more comfortable and less painful if you just acquiesce. Standing your ground hurts. And frankly, the human brain is not meant to endure long-standing pain. We’re built to avoid it.

Yes, there are agitators out there. We all know it. Sometimes we can pick them out, and other times, we have to wait for law enforcement to do it at a later date using videos and written statements from witnesses. There only need to be a tiny number of agitators, though. Two or three seeded through a large crowd can turn it into that mob in seconds. They create a flashpoint.

But “most people” are just that… they’re average, they’re the bulk of the people out there. When you press them, they cannot articulate why they’re protesting, or give you different methods to fix the problem. They just chant their slogans. It’s easier than losing their friends, family, and community. Or jobs. I know; I’ve been there. The big difference is, I’m an abuse survivor, and so I recognized (eventually) what was happening to me and how I was responding. I saw it was unhealthy, and I got out. Most people don’t have that experience (nor would I wish it on them). This is just “normal” to them. And since “everyone” is saying the same thing, it must be true.

And that takes me back to that statement I’ve made several times: Not every news station can be lying to me, all at the same time. From a logical standpoint, that is simply absurd. Except we know it isn’t. We know that they ARE lying to us, all of them. It’s tough.

I don’t have the answers. I wish I did. The only way to fix this stuff is to have people on the Left have an epiphany. That only comes when they’re challenged, and they’re avoiding those challenges because it’s hard. So they have no reason and no impetus to change.

One of my FB prepper groups posted this a week or so ago, and I’ve been watching what people talk about. Lots of stuff about toilet paper. Medications. Food, of course. Pretty much everything mentioned was STUFF, though. And I don’t think that the top 3 “unobvious” things are … well, things.

My first thing that I think people haven’t bothered to think about is garbage. By garbage, I mean both waste from our homes (food packages, moldy leftovers, clothing beyond repair, etc.) and waste from we humans. I don’t think most people give a second thought to garbage. Either they’re like me, and they’re used to taking their garbage to the dump, or they’re like my neighbor, and the magic truck just arrives once a week and takes it all away. In a real SHTF scenario, neither of those things are going to happen.

If the SHTF, you won’t get me within a mile of the public dump. Either everything there will be hella unsanitary (because public dumps require attendants to keep them clean and tidy, and a lot of the recyclables and such are removed each day, as is much of the actual garbage. If the social contract dissolves, there will be no attendants, and nowhere for the garbage to go. It’ll become rat infested, and frankly, human infested.

Human waste is an issue I don’t think the average citizen thinks over long about. I think about it all the time. What do you do with your piss and shit? I like that I flush and it goes away. That’s nice. But I also spend quite a bit of time every summer in places where that’s not the case, and I have to be careful. Port-a-potties are okay, but they fill up (quickly, more quickly than you think they will), and are not a long term solution. Trust me when I say, if the SHTF you want to turn off your toilet and block your access to the street once you’ve assured yourself it’s truly SHTF. You do not want that stuff backing up into your bathroom. Toilets can continue to be used until sewage overflows its bounds at whatever downhill facility it’s going to, at which point it’ll start coming up the tube to meet you.

What DO we do with human waste then? I’m a firm proponent of the “lovey loo” as one company decided to call it. The composting toilet, which need not be expensive or complex if building codes are no longer an issue, is the perfect answer to human waste. If you have even an acre of land, you can put it to use. There’s an fantastic book called The Humanure Handbook that explains the whole process, what to do with waste, and what not to do.

Basically, #1 should go into a bucket with a tight sealing lid, and when full, disposed of either in a hole that goes deeper than 10 inches, or poured out over an area that is not near any running water. Digging a hole is the best way to deal with it, and if you’re ONLY using it for urine, you can dig it and leave it dug, with just a cover over it to avoid anyone falling in. The urine will work its way through the soil and return to the water table safely. Remember that, for the most part, pee is sterile. You want to keep it separate from solid waste.

#2 can be collected in a homer bucket (lined with a garbage bag if you’re squeamish) with a layer of fresh wood shavings over each (ahem) movement. If you’re diligent about keeping urine separate and using your wood shavings, there usually isn’t any smell. You keep using the bucket until it’s full, and then you add in a handful of worm casings and bang the lid on tightly. Carefully label the exterior of the bucket ALL OVER, and set it neatly in the brush at the back of your property. After one year, it’s probably soil that’s fine to use. After two years, even the most delicate of scientists will tell you that all that’s left is dirt. Go use it in your garden. It’s compost, and it’ll be very rich. You work it right and you’ll have enough compost to keep your garden going basically forever.

Please note, all of the above is very short-handed. Go read the book. They explain everything in great detail. I have only given you the highlights here.

The second thing that I don’t think people are the least bit prepared for is the general idea that, if you have a disease or health issue, you’re going to die a lot faster than everyone else. If the SHTF, even if you have stored medication, it’s limited. When it runs out, your risk of dying skyrockets. Now if you’re lucky and the problem is Type II Diabetes, you might manage to work yourself into a safe zone and survive. Working your ass off will do that. But if the problem is cancer or Type I Diabetes, or PCOS or any number of other diseases, you have to be prepared to die. I hate to say it, and it’s uncomfortable to think about, but it’s the truth. It’s important to come to terms with the idea that you or others could die of stuff that was “easy to fix/control” just months earlier.

I deal with this stuff all the time, because I talk to people at historical events. They always ask, “Well, what would have happened to my dad in the 15th century, what with his diabetes?” Well, hon, he’d die. People with gluten intolerance or dairy intolerance? Dead. Allergic to bees? Dead (though not quite as easily as some other deaths). Allergic to a food that’s needed for survival (bread, peanut butter, cheese)? Dead. Have asthma? Dead. It’s a shitty reality that people need to be aware of long before the SHTF. It’s important to ask yourself NOW… am I more help to my family if I stockpile meds and try to make it through the worst days of the SHTF, or would my death be more useful (in which case, don’t store meds and accept what’s coming much more quickly)?

And number three, simply the amount of work people will need to do in order to survive. I do not for a minute believe that most people in our country today will survive the process of making soap to clean their clothes, or the sheer amount of work it takes to make a hot bath, or clearing a driveway without a snow blower. I’ve got a SMALL taste of it, when I spend my 7 to 10 days up at the fort. I only have to cart my water a few yards instead of up from the river, and I have modern soap to clean my clothing with, but I do my best to live like they did. It’s a lot of work. I don’t have time to look at my phone, or read a book. If I have time during daylight hours, I use it to mend clothing or do something else that requires light. On an average stay at the Fort, I walk between 11 and 17 miles a day, and that’s just when I’m staying IN the fort and not going for walks or wandering down to the river. That’s 15 or so miles walking from table to hearth to wood pile, in a big circle, a bazillion times. And that’s me acting as a woman, with a lot of work but a lot LESS walking than my menfolk will be doing.

What are three things you think people are unprepared for? Not the obvious stuff. No toilet paper. What situations or things or thoughts have you contemplated, that you don’t believe others have put thought into?

I hit up TikTok in the evenings for ten minutes, mostly for the comedy, but sometimes from “news on the ground.” Last night was comedy. So good, I need to share it!

@drewdunncomedy it would be funny… ON TOUR: 1/29-31 GRAND RAPIDS, MI 2/6-7 DENVER, CO 2/25 OONTARIO, CA 2/26 OXNARD, CA 2/27 LOS ANGELES, CA 2/29 IRVINE, CA 3/13-14 TYLER, TX 3/26-28 SAN DIEGO, CA 3/30-4/5 LAS VEGAS 4/9-11 MOHEGAN SUN, CT 4/30-5/2 LAWRENCE, KS More dates coming! #standup #jokes #trump #impression ♬ original sound – Drew Dunn

@zxcbbm696 #comedy #comedian #standup #standupcomedy #standupcomedian ♬ original sound – zxcbbm696

There are too many stupid things going on in this country right now. Finding one of them to write about is kind of like shooting fish in a barrel. Way too easy, if you ask me. And it’s a shame.

The one that’s sticking out in my mind right now is the person who decided to pick up a flash-bang that was thrown at them, known right now as Luna von Woke. According to a few sources, the video is fake, but it certainly passed my muster. Others have said the video is real, but the GoFundMe for help to get prosthetics is fake (MEAWW). Regardless, it isn’t the first time someone on the Left has picked up a flash bang, so I’m going to assume this is real.

Now, picking it up at all was stupid, and I could leave it at that. If someone tosses a flash-bang my way, I’m going THATAWAY… any way that’s away from where it is, quick as I can. While they don’t explode in the same way a grenade explodes, they do go boom.

This woman, in the video, looks at the flash bang, then goes running with it in her hand. She doesn’t throw it back. She doesn’t drop it. She doesn’t toss it in a safe direction. She just holds it in her hand until it goes bang. At that point, she hits the deck, writhing and screaming as one would assume would happen when one’s fingers went in two different directions at high speed. Frankly, the fact that it WAS a flash bang might have saved the rest of her hand, as the intense heat of the magnesium probably cauterized the wounds. Still, I’m sure it hurt.

I’m finding it difficult to scavenge up any real sympathy for Ms von Woke. Her ability to think critically isn’t likely to get better, so while I feel bad when anyone gets hurt, that’s about the extent of it. The ouch she’s feeling isn’t likely to teach her not to do it again.

This is literally what happens when we don’t let our children play outside, burn themselves in controlled ways on “warm but not terminally hot” stoves, and use knives early in life. They don’t learn that actions have consequences. It’s just… well, stupid.

And as the title suggests, you can’t cure this kind of stupid. Anyone who actually has the power to think this stuff through is already in the process of doing so. They’re already not going to pick up an exploding thing and run with it, anymore than they’re going to run with scissors or not pay their mortgage. They know there are consequences.

The scary part is, there are more and more people every year who simply do not “get” why bad things happen to them. They don’t know why they get sick (after not washing dishes appropriately), don’t know why people don’t want to be around them (after not showering for days on end and/or not washing their clothing effectively), don’t understand why they aren’t getting hired for jobs (when they show up with facial tattoos and piercings, or show up late and act in a disrespectful manner). They truly seem to expect things to just be handed to them on a silver platter. When you try to help them understand, they get barely into it and give up. They just don’t care. They KNOW that if they just keep doing what they’re doing, someone will take care of them. They know that because it’s what has always happened. And they’re right.

When I was on the dole, it was embarrassing.  I was ashamed, and I hated it, but I did it because I needed to feed my kid and that was more important than my pride. No one “made me” feel that way… it was a natural reaction to being on welfare and having to get food at the food bank. Today, we seem to be expected to worry about how a parent is going to feel while getting food for their kid at a food bank or from SNAP. Frankly, I don’t really care. I don’t want them insulted, of course, because there’s no reason to do so and it’s just morally wrong. But I see no reason to go out of my way to make it less embarrassing. Why? Because that feeling of shame was highly motivating. I wanted to get a job (or at one point, a BETTER job) so that I didn’t have to do the embarrassing thing anymore. And I did.

I wasn’t harmed by being ashamed. My child and I had food. We had shelter. We had heat, and water. Our needs were adequately met, and then some. After I got off the dole, a number of years later, I went back and helped out. Even today, some 30 years past that horrible time, I still do volunteer work every year. Why? Because people helped me, and so I help others. Even in the face of the disgraceful unrepentant asses that come thru the door today. There might be one “me” in the mix, and that’s enough to motivate me to keep helping.

But I’m not interested in making it easier. Easier leads to unemployed people taking to the street to protest FOR fascism, rapists, and criminals. I don’t want it to be easier. I want it to be a slap in the face, to wake people up and get them moving.

If we can end the various waste caused by the people who are terminally stupid (be those people in the citizenry or the government), maybe we can start some programs that actually help people who are truly needy to get into a better place. When I read Hillbilly Elegy, I felt inspired. If our VP can lift himself up through hard work and determination, then so can anyone else. It ain’t easy. If it’s easy, you’re doing it wrong.

Ran into a song… got to thinking about a “reprise” I’d heard. Here is the original:

Dolly

Jolene’s side, because there’s always more than one side to a story:

I’m not as much into white bread as some people are, but once in a while it’s nice to have that soft, spongy white stuff. Grilled cheese, for instance, is fantastic in a good white bread. And French Bread is the ultimate white loaf. It’s also ridiculously easy to make, which I appreciate so very much. This is the recipe that I use, and it turns out some freakin’ awesome loaves (pics at the end of the post)!

Ingredients:

• 2 ¼ cups warm water, 110-115 degrees F
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon instant or active dry yeast (see note)
• 2 ¼ teaspoons salt (see note)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, canola oil, vegetable oil or avocado oil
• 5 ½ – 6 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour (see note)

You can make this in a stand mixer or by hand. It’s not a difficult dough to make even entirely by hand. I’m including directions for both methods.

Start by combining the water, sugar, and yeast. Let the mixture bubble and foam before moving on to the next step (this can take up to ten minutes if it’s really cold or your yeast is old, though usually you can see bubbles within a minute). Instant yeast doesn’t require you to activate it, but I find it’s always good to do this. If no bubbles happen, you know that your yeast is dead BEFORE you start investing time and flour into it.

Once the bubbles start, add in the salt, oil, and 3 cups of the flour, and mix. This can be done in a stand mixer with the dough hook on it, or with a wooden spoon in a large bowl. Continue to mix until the dough becomes a bit soupy, then slowly add in 2.5 to 3 cups more flour. I usually do this about a quarter to a half cup at a time so I don’t overload the dough with too much flour. When the dough is too “formed” to use the spoon anymore, when working by hand, turn it out onto the counter and begin the kneading process. In the stand mixer, continue adding flour until the dough clears off the sides of the bowl and makes a soft ball that might begin crawling up the dough hook. Turn it out on the counter and work the rest of this by hand.

French bread is a soft, sloppy dough in my opinion. You want to knead the dough for a few minutes, but not the 20 minutes a regular hearty bread requires. If it gets too tacky and starts to stick to your hands, add a couple of tablespoons of flour and knead that in. The goal is a ball of dough that is slightly tacky, very smooth, and soft enough that it starts to slump a little bit when left on the counter.

Put the dough into a bowl (I just use the mixing bowl I was using earlier) lightly coated with olive oil, and turn the dough to coat it LIGHTLY. Cover the bowl with a grocery bag or some plastic wrap, or cover it with a warm, moist towel. Set the bowl in a warm, relatively moist place. If you have a proofing box, use that. If you have nothing else, you can use your microwave to heat up 2 cups of water to almost boiling, then put the dough bowl in there WITH the hot water, and close the door. It’s usually a tight fit, but most modern microwaves will manage it. It becomes your proofing box.

Normally I would suggest several methods for rising bread dough, but French bread is a little finicky. It likes it very warm and moist. You want 85*F and almost steamy. My usual tricks won’t work (in a box with a heating mat, or in the oven with the light on but nothing else).

Let the dough rise for about an hour, until it’s doubled in size. If it isn’t doubled, wait longer. I sometimes snap a quick pic of my dough, so I can judge the size more accurately when I go back to check.

Once the dough is risen, turn it out onto your counter and cut it in half. Using the heel of your hand, pat each half out into a thick rectangle, about 9″ x 13″, though it doesn’t have to be exact. I usually put my baking sheet out where I can use it to judge size, and aim for a loaf about the length of the sheet. As you’re patting out the dough (NOT rolling it), use your palm to press out any air bubbles you find. Roll the dough up the long way (you want it 13″ long, not 9″ long), and then pinch the seam closed. I usually tuck the ends in as well, but that’s me. Just make sure they’re even and as sealed closed as possible. Place each of your French loaves onto a bit of parchment paper, onto a baking sheet. Some people use two different baking sheets, but I just pull up the parchment paper between the bread so it doesn’t accidentally grow into its neighbor.

Using a bread lame, razor blade, or VERY sharp knife, cut several gashes at an angle over the top of each loaf. While you can score the bread after it rises, that will sometimes deflate it. Doing it now ensures a nice, even rise that you don’t disturb. Spray some plastic wrap with no-stick spray, and cover each of the loaves gently, leaving a little room for growth. Try to avoid sealing it down, as you want it to have room to rise properly. Put the loaves back in your proofing box, or in the least drafty, warmest and moistest place, and allow them to rise again until they are about doubled in size. This will take another hour or so.

Preheat your oven to 375*F, and make sure your oven rack is centered. Put a small, heat-safe bowl in the bottom of your oven. Remove the plastic wrap from your dough, and slide it into your preheated oven. Toss 2 or 3 ice cubes into the small bowl that you put into the bottom of the oven. This gives you a nice, extra crisp crust! Bake the loaves for 25 to 30 minutes, checking ever 5 minutes after the 20 minute mark. You want golden, puffy loaves that sound hollow when knocked with your knuckles.

If you want a softer crust, slide a stick of butter over the top of the loaves the minute they come out of the oven. If you like it crispy, don’t butter it. Allow the loaves to cool entirely before cutting into them. Remember: bread continues baking for about 20 to 30 minutes after being removed from the oven, so cutting into it early will interfere with that.

Notes:

I use this bread for French Dip sandwiches. I use it for French toast. And most importantly, I use it to make garlic bread. It’s just generally yummy, though, whether you serve it as a sandwich or with soup or stew. Enjoy!