I’m a songwriter and because life has been iNtErEsTiNg for a while, I haven’t been able to record anything properly. That’s part of the frustration. I might be able to share some lyrics in a sort of poem form, though.

I had a Kafkaesque writing crisis recently. I was close to destroying 25 years of writing, because no one’s interested and what’s the point etc. I was so worn down that my writing just seemed like garbage. Maybe that’s why no one’s interested, I thought. As I tried to build the courage to destroy it all, I began to see it all in a sharper focus. It was good writing. So I’m satisfied with it on that level. I tend to write about life in the grey areas, where regular language doesn’t do it justice. I usually write every day, but I’m taking a break so as to break my ingrained writing habits, create new ones, keep things fresh. I would like for people to “find out about it”, but at this point, I’m also OK if no one does.

Update:

I cooked a batch of lentils, just to show myself I could, and experimented with adding spices etc. I ended up spraying them with mayonnaise and eating them semi-cold. Not great, not terrible.

So today I was a little bit more ambitious: I made rice (a little slooshy but it’s the best rice I’ve ever cooked!), cooked some lentils and used them as a meat substitute for spaghetti bolognaise (with rice being the substitute for pasta). To the lentils I added frozen vegetables with fried onion, garlic and a can of tomatoes. I need to fine-tune the recipe a bit, but it tastes pretty good! This bowl I’m eating now is filling me up very quickly, and I still have a lot for tomorrow.

Here’s a photo of what I’m eating now. It doesn’t look great, but I’m just happy it turned out edible!

Thanks for all the suggestions and well-wishes! 🙏

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Rice and flour (for fritters) are my default back-ups in case the poo REALLY hits the fan. I chose those because I really dislike cooking them, so I can resist the urge to use them up when other food is available.

Mayonnaise is very expensive here for some reason, but this week I managed to find a cheap(ish) one. Needless to say, I have been enjoying my mayo meals so far this week!

I just found a great cheap meal that’s tasty, healthy, easy to cook, and ridiculously cheap. I thought I’d share it as so many people have shared theirs.

I bought a bag of dried peas, added to cups of cold water, bring to boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. You now have a pan full of peas to use any way you wish. I decided to make a pea soup. So I added a bunch of stuff I had in my kitchen already: garlic, sugar, ginger powder, a dollop of margarine to make it taste not so watery, and cornflour to thicken it a tiny bit. It cost almost nothing to make, and I’ll get 3 small meals out of it (all accompanied with bread). I might try a similar thing with lentils, to build my confidence cooking with them.

I don’t have a microwave. Sounds good, though.

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That sounds amazing! And really simple, and even affordable. Some chunks of cheese would make it even better, if there’s cheap cheese to be had. Will definitely try this, maybe try adding some lentils as a meat substitute. Thanks for the suggestion!

I can cook rice OK, but it’s never really enjoyable to eat. Always too bland. Never tried cooking with dried beans and lentils so I’ll have to explore that. Cheers.

I’m growing potatoes, carrots, shallots, parsley and dill - and something called “mother of herbs” that I don’t really know how to cook with yet.

I’ll check those apps out, cheers.

Yeah I’ll have to get creative with pasta. I can’t just eat rice, dried beans and lentils forever haha. Cheers.

I had a similar (but much more primitive) dish:

I’d pour a can of tomatoes onto sausages as they cooked. It sort of braised them. Then I’d add basil for a European touch, or curry for something more exotic. Not sure how dried beans and lentils will go, but I’ll have to try it. Cheers.

Seems like I need to educate myself on lentils and dry beans. Any EASY recipes welcome!

There are always people like that in these threads. Lemmy, Reddit, same thing. “Dirt broke and need to eat? Buy some kitchenware! It’s quite cheap if you have the money for it!” Don’t let them get to you!

CONstructed LANGuages. Languages built/created by a person or team of people, as opposed to a language that evolves naturally. Some famous conlangs are Esperanto, Toki Pona and Klingon.

Music theory and conlangs. There are several conlang communities - but they’re all on life support (or worse).

I tried it at r*ddit briefly. Oh boy. Never again.

I find petty, superficial people intolerable.

Most of the time you don’t even have to do that. I choose stations with no banter at all. Just music and the occasional mention of the station’s name. It’s spoilt me - I can’t tolerate my local FM radio any more.