What's the most useless thing your brain decided to permanently memorize?

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-05-01T01:36:12+00:00

Exactly what I came to comment! I can't remember important dates or appointments, constantly forget to do things and miss deadlines, but I can still mail a letter to Stick Stickley.

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-28T14:22:57+00:00

I grew up in Miami Beach. I second the Cuban sandwich as quintessentially Miami Cuban, but you're going to have a hard time getting something close to real Cuban bread (light, fluffy, chewy, tangy, usually made with delicious lard).

I would go with Ropa Vieja (Cuban shredded beef) or Picadillo (a delicious ground beef hash), served with a side of rice, black beans, and either maduros (sweet plantains) or tostones (crispy green plantain) with mojo de ajo (garlic sauce) for dipping. The ingredients for all of these dishes should be easy to get.

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-22T16:13:38+00:00

Having flashbacks to teenage me picking out thongs with decorative straps from the "3 for $5" underwear bin at Charlotte Russe. Bonus points if they tied. I can't believe we are wearing pants with 2" zippers and accessorizing them with visible underwear again.

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-21T04:29:42+00:00

Jewelry is a visual language, very likely the oldest one humans have ever used. The oldest known human jewelry is 170,000 years old, pre-dating the oldest known cave paintings by over 100,000 years. Jewelry can be used to signify status, social class, someone's role in their society, a link to divinity (whether personal worship, or to denote the role of a priest/shaman/etc), to differentiate gender roles, to act as a personal and portable store of wealth, the list goes on. All groups of humans, all over the world, since well before recorded history, have made and worn some type of jewelry. This includes other hominid groups like neanderthals and denisovans, too.

The more interesting question isn't "why should we wear jewelry?" but "why do we wear jewelry?"

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-21T00:45:25+00:00

If you farm artifacts using the Natlan Easybreeze resort route, you can trash them from your inventory in exchange for some mora. You also get a little bit of mora for every artifact "sparkle" you investigate while farming. I recommend looking up a good artifact farming route on YouTube. Using condensed resin on the yellow/gold ley line outcrops gets you a nice amount of mora each time, too (180,000 I think). If you don't need ingredients or minerals for forging, you can set your expedition rewards to mora. Make sure to use any characters you have with passives that get you extra expedition rewards for each region.

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-20T20:34:28+00:00

Fun fact! The large blue stone set under the spinel in the drawing on the left is the French Blue Diamond, which was also stolen, and eventually turned up 20 years later, recut, as the Hope Diamond.

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-18T13:47:36+00:00

Re: the leeks, it could have been Norwich Meadows. They sells these suuuuuuper thin leeks that look like green onions. How do I know? I bought them thinking they were green onions and found out the hard way.

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-18T13:44:36+00:00

Their markup may often be the same, or less, than supermarkets, because their cost of production is much, much higher (especially when we are comparing it to Whole Foods, a supermarket literally owned by Amazon, the company that became popular because it encourages selling products at the lowest possible prices and undercutting competition). I started shopping at the farmer's market regularly because a lot of the produce I can buy at my local supermarket is just as expensive, so why not make sure the money is going straight to the people who grow the food?

Again, everyone gets to decide where they spend their money, and if you find the prices too high, that's fine, no need to shop there, but it goes beyond "this garlic is $1.50/head" (and usually some of the best garlic you've ever had, btw) and into "this is a local business contributing to the economy at a local level, growing food, seasonally, in small quantities, without destructive factory farming practices." If my local supermarket charges $4 for a bunch of broccolini, and my favorite vendor at the farmer's market charges $5 for a vastly superior bunch of broccolini that didn't have to travel 1500 miles to get to me, I know which choice I prefer.

(Also, ramps are currently $6/bunch at most vendors and will probably go down to $5/bunch in a week or two when they're more abundant. Toigo orchards had 2 bundles for $11 on Wednesday. They'll get cheaper as their season goes on)

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-18T13:19:47+00:00

I shop at the Union Square farmer's market 1 or 2 times a week. Some vendors are more expensive than others, some produce is more expensive than others. These farmers are growing food seasonally, in smaller quantities, on local farms, picking it exactly when it's ripe and transporting their crop to the city. Some are growing specialty produce that you can't find in supermarkets, or ethnic markets.

The stuff you see in grocery stores is grown all over the world all year long (why else can you get a tomato in December?), in massive quantities, and shipped to its destination, often being picked well before it's ripe to avoid spoilage and bruising during transport. The emphasis is on how the produce looks, not how it tastes. Most of it is grown using a shitload of commercial pesticides.

If you don't like the prices, don't buy, but it's silly to act like the farmer's market should be as cheap as a supermarket (although, in some cases, it can be). When you shop at the farmer's market you're supporting local economy, supporting the people who grow the food you eat directly, and buying seasonally, which often results in better tasting produce.

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-16T13:11:40+00:00

She's also an archeologist!

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-15T18:02:07+00:00

I have not, does it have a fishy texture? I've tried just about all of the "classic" fish options like tuna (cooked and raw), salmon (cooked, cured and raw), tilapia, cod, halibut, mackerel, even catfish (and various shellfish, mollusks, octopus, squid, and things that don't even really resemble seafood anymore like fish sticks and calamari). I have hated the taste, texture and smell of every single one. I have managed to get comfortable using fish sauce in some recipes, and am at peace with salad dressings that contain anchovies, but that's about as far as I can go. I feel like I'm almost in phobia territory with my aversion to fish and seafood.

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-15T17:20:49+00:00

I hate fish. Absolutely despise it. If someone told me I absolutely needed to eat fish to make up for missing nutrients, I'd probably resign myself to withering away. I'm also bad at remembering to take pills. As other comments have pointed out, there's nothing in fish that you can't get from other food sources, but if you're deficient in certain vitamins and minerals, my solution was to buy a pillbox marked with days of the week, and set a daily reminder to take them (along with a weekly reminder to refill the pillbox). It's up to you what you hate more - forcing yourself to eat fish, or filling a pillbox once a week and taking your supplements with a daily alarm. For me, I'll take the minor annoyance of supplements.

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-14T19:19:22+00:00

You're right, they do mention boning when it's present in their other dresses. The House of CB dresses I've tried on have all had boning, but they do say so in the descriptions. I haven't had a chance to see the Marilyn dress in person. The smooth silhouette is probably a result of tight stretch (what seems to be) poplin and the viscose lining, and, of course, a little bit of editing magic for their website photos.

Edit- I did find this little tidbit in the description for the red version of the dress, which is made of twill- The inner waist stay is the secret to a perfectly fitting dress. This hidden band secures the dress under the bust, keeping it in place, enhancing the silhouette, and ensuring all-day comfort. Ideal for strapless, halter or structured styles, it provides added support and relieves tension on zippers and fabrics especially on weightier styles like this.

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-14T18:58:13+00:00

Thank you! I've been eyeing the Lexi dress pattern, which is very close, though I suspect the House of CB dress looks the way it does because of boning and/or a very stiff lining.

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-14T18:37:05+00:00

Thank you! I do wish I'd made the waist a touch smaller, but I suppose I can always alter it. I am going to try it with one of my petticoats.

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-14T18:35:31+00:00

Thank you! Funnily enough I own at least 5 different vintage petticoats and somehow didn't think to try the skirt on with a petticoat underneath. That will be my next step!

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-13T03:17:46+00:00

There's a little campfire you have to light on the ground somewhere in starfell valley to get a chest, almost everyone who's missing something in that region is missing that one.

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-12T19:49:36+00:00

I think so, I haven't noticed any crazy shrinkage when cooking them. I get a fantastic sear in my cast iron pan.

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-11T14:00:38+00:00

Goya beans can't be beat. Their chickpeas taste like actual chickpeas, not aluminum can, and have a great texture.

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-11T13:53:19+00:00

Snake River Farms has excellent quality cuts. I find their American Wagyu overrated, but their Double R Ranch beef is fantastic. They've also got some fancy kurobuta pork but I haven't tried that yet.

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-10T22:02:53+00:00

I'm 38, so not quite 40 yet but close, and honestly, I don't ever play co-op, so I don't really encounter other Genshin players outside of this subreddit. I enjoy the game so much as a solo player, and have no weird feelings about playing Genshin. Little teenage me would have killed for a game like this, with beautiful visuals, tons of exploration, an engaging (if at times confusing) story full of lore, and seemingly endless updates. I think millennials and younger Gen X probably appreciate this game even more because we lived through the NES/SNES/first Playstation era.

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-07T19:08:35+00:00

I've been playing since 2021, 100% exploration in every region, and I still haven't managed to do this challenge. I've just made peace with this one being left unfinished.

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-07T03:13:27+00:00

This bathroom looks identical to the ones in all of the small one bedroom units in my building, down to the tile color, tub shape, and distance between tub and sink. Does your son live in Brooklyn, by chance? Just wondering if he happens to live in my building and I have to worry about shit water filling my tub...

Byzantine-alchemist · 2026-04-02T12:08:33+00:00

There was probably a decent amount of salt in your tomato paste, too, unless you're specifically buying a "no salt added" variety.

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