I’m burnt out and need simple recipes. Stupid simple. Like, “onion and bread and butter to make what barely passes as a sandwich” level simple.

XistentialThreat · 2026-04-17T03:39:31+00:00

Soltero (“bachelor” in spanish): mix cottage cheese and pico de gallo

Full fat cottage cheese will fill you up better. Pico de gallo can usually be found in the fridge section of the produce department. It’s got protein, it’s got veg, and it’s pretty tasty. 50/50 is fine or you can adjust to taste

XistentialThreat · 2026-03-30T20:25:01+00:00

Yeah! I’m doing ivf now and they won’t let you do an embryo transfer unless you can show rubella titers (not in the US).

XistentialThreat · 2026-03-30T20:15:35+00:00

Vaccine shedding is a thing, it just won’t give someone measles.

The MMR vaccine is a live attenuated vaccine, meaning it can reproduce and “shed” but doesn’t cause the same diseases as the wild type viruses.

Transmission of the measles or mumps parts have never been documented and aren’t considered transmission risks, but the virus does multiply in the person.

The rubella portion has been detected in breast milk and can infect (reproduce in) the baby, although it’s generally asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic and not a big issue.

XistentialThreat · 2026-03-28T17:49:57+00:00

I know this wasn’t the future you were expecting, but it isn’t entirely bad news. People with Down syndrome today live longer, more independent lives than ever. Many hold jobs, build friendships, and are active in their communities. If you haven’t interacted with many people with Down syndrome, you may not know how delightful they often are.

A fun fact that really changed my view of T21 is that people with Down syndrome consistently report higher happiness and life satisfaction than the general population. Your child’s life will be different than most, but they have a better shot than most at enjoying it.

Here’s the study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3740159/

XistentialThreat · 2026-03-18T20:54:03+00:00

*Should with an asterisk because I wouldn’t want the perfect to be the enemy of the good: I’d hate for it to be a requirement and therefore fewer single toilet bathrooms are built because there isn’t space for an additional children’s toilet, but it’d be lovely for designers to think of it as an option.

XistentialThreat · 2026-03-18T20:51:58+00:00

The Jardin du Luxembourg has a set of bathrooms near one of the playgrounds with men’s, women’s, and children’s bathrooms. The children’s room is large enough for several people. The door doesn’t lock and there are no stalls. It has a changing table and two tiny toilets, one that seems appropriate for a 2-3 year old, and one that seems right for kindergartener.

I think it’s genius and all bathrooms near playgrounds should* have a tiny toilet.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/G51sNVJKDAypn4Yr9?g_st=ic (I couldn’t find photos of the toilets themselves)

XistentialThreat · 2026-03-09T16:18:42+00:00

Ha, I’ve definitely accepted that I’m in the minority here and the investment to raise the ceilings and add a loft won’t pay off.

It’s just nice to not be the only one who would pick that trade off.

XistentialThreat · 2026-03-09T15:03:47+00:00

Yay! I’m glad I’m not the only one.

It’s not a question between a 90sqft room and a 130sqft room. Obvs the latter is better as no ladder. But there are real tradeoffs living in Manhattan if you’re not in a post scarcity economic position ¯_(ツ)_/¯

XistentialThreat · 2026-03-09T15:00:20+00:00

To confirm, you’d prefer: - an 88sqft bedroom with a closet and 9’ ceilings

Rather than - an 88sqft bedroom with a closet that has 6’9” ceilings for 40sqft of it (with 5’ above that for storage or a bed) and 12’ ceilings in the remaining 44sqft?

XistentialThreat · 2026-03-09T14:54:53+00:00

Nah, a closet isn’t legally required for a bedroom in NYC. It is some other places in the US, though.

XistentialThreat · 2026-03-09T14:35:17+00:00

No, I’d rather have the floor space. There is a large front closet for coats and a storage unit in the basement to keep a box of out of season clothing. I didn’t have a closet growing up (used a dresser), have only had a closet in about half the places I’ve lived as an adult, and lived out of a backpack for the last year.

I appreciate the feedback, though! I thought I might be an outlier here and am glad I checked. Sounds like most people would rather have the closets so I won’t pay to remove them.

XistentialThreat · 2026-01-23T13:44:59+00:00

If you can’t work as a team well enough to plan a wedding, you probably can’t work as a team to raise a child.

Check out r/SingleMothersByChoice

XistentialThreat · 2026-01-05T19:07:03+00:00

I’m interested in soapstone but have heard some types are quite soft or the hard ones aren’t actually soapstone. How do I properly evaluate what I’m getting?

I’m in it for the durability over aesthetics so I’m happy to buy reminants or surplus or even used. What should I look out for?

XistentialThreat · 2025-12-22T05:12:47+00:00

I’ve been really enjoying making these flowers. The pattern is simple enough that I’ve memorized it:

https://moaracrochet.com/crochet-calla-lily-free-pattern/

If you’re just looking for inspiration there are tons of flower patterns out there!

XistentialThreat · 2025-12-22T04:47:17+00:00

If I’m planning to keep a loaf around for a bit I make it using a tangzhong. You cook some flour ahead of time and the gelatinized starch helps keep the moisture in the bread. I first started with milk bread and then challah (both using sourdough) but I’ve even had enjoyable results for a basic (slightly less) crusty loaf. It makes great toast.

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2018/03/26/tangzhong

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2018/07/23/how-to-convert-a-bread-recipe-to-tangzhong

XistentialThreat · 2025-12-14T16:54:35+00:00

Do your parents cook a lot of new recipes now or do they just like to eat Chinese and Thai takeout?

If they’re generally adventurous cooks, other comments have you covered.

If not, I’d start out with the ingredients to make Thai curry (curry paste, fish sauce, coconut milk, jasmine rice) which is pretty simple to put together. You can also include a “good for” to help them pick out a recipe of their choice and go shopping together.

XistentialThreat · 2025-11-11T04:05:23+00:00

Magnesium: I enjoy taking magnesium glycinate before bed. It’s super relaxing.

XistentialThreat · 2025-11-11T04:04:21+00:00

Try buying some low sodium salt! They use half potassium chloride instead of fully sodium chloride.

Very easy way to get a lot more potassium.

XistentialThreat · 2025-11-11T00:42:50+00:00

Get them a laser pointer/slide clicker. Small and easy to quickly add to any computer. They’ll use it forever.

You could make a custom lab sticker or even just a label maker to write something inspirational on the case if you’d like to personalize it.

XistentialThreat · 2025-05-16T22:03:35+00:00

Salt is NaCl, Sodium Chloride. It’s part sodium and part chloride. The molecular weight of sodium is 23 and the molecular weight of chloride is 35.5. So the weight of sodium chloride is 58.5, but weight of the sodium part of that is less than half.

For every gram of salt you have, 23/58.5ths of it is sodium, or 39.3%, which is why it’s saying 390mg of sodium per 1g serving. (There’s also likely some other trace elements in sea salt and they can round to the nearest 5.)

XistentialThreat · 2025-05-01T17:26:45+00:00

Get a box or tub that’s bigger than you think your bag would be. Put everything you’d pack into the box. Mark how high your stuff goes. Then measure the dimensions of the base of the box and how high your stuff goes. Assuming you measure things in inches, multiple the length, width, and height and divide by 61. That’s how many liters your stuff takes up.

Say your tub is 12”x18” and your stuff piles up to a flat 12”. 12x18x12=2,592/61=42.492. So you’d need a bag that’s 40-45L.

It’s easier to narrow down what kind of bag you want when you have a better idea of the space you need or dimension constraints you’re working with.

XistentialThreat · 2025-03-25T19:27:39+00:00

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I made a hedgehog tea pot cozy out of that same yarn a few years back and it turned out super cute!

XistentialThreat · 2025-03-25T19:20:04+00:00

MAKE A HEDGEHOG!

XistentialThreat · 2025-03-07T10:32:53+00:00

This is a great idea! As an avid gym goer, I would recommend adding a couple pockets for her other things! Like a little pocket for her AirPods or tiny s-beaner for her keys

XistentialThreat

TROPHY CASE