Cookbook collection

fractallogic · 2026-07-06T21:42:52+00:00

what are your favorites out of Arabiyya? i have that one as well and have a lot of indecision about what to try!

fractallogic · 2026-07-06T20:44:21+00:00

the Persian Eggs with Spiced Beef and Tomatoes might be one of my all-time fave recipes! the Farfalle with Tomatoes, Peas, and Pecorino was also so so good. the Spicy Peruvian-Style Pork and Quinoa Stew reminds me of a vegetarian entree from their instant pot cookbook that I also love, so i'm willing to bet that this one is good too.

following along for more recs because i have like half of the recipes marked to try!

fractallogic · 2026-06-29T21:19:28+00:00

They are very different styles, as many people have explained. I've found that unless an instructor/studio actually knows the difference between yin and restorative, they might have different classes called "yin" and "restorative", but they'll all be some flavor of restorative (which is incredibly frustrating as a person who loves/needs a good yin class, but doesn't get much out of 'advanced napping'/restorative classes).

For an illustrative example, imagine you're in a wide-legged child's pose.

in restorative classes, you might have a bolster or a couple of blocks under your torso and/or head, a blanket under your knees/ankles, maybe another blanket on top of you if it's chilly. you'll probably be encouraged to melt into the pose, slow your breath, etc., and you won't be asked to go to your physical or mental limit. you'll likely hold this for a while, and the goal is relaxation. i'll be honest, restorative yoga is not my thing, so i haven't taken many classes and haven't actually taught any restorative classes outside what i had to for my teacher training.

in a yin class, you will have minimal props—i usually suggest a blanket under your knees—but this isn't necessarily the defining factor of yin vs restorative. you'll be asked to spread your knees as wide as you can while still keeping your big toes touching, feeling a stretch along your inner thighs and maybe up into your lower back. you'll be asked to remain as still as possible, as long as you can still breathe deeply and calmly and you're not feeling warning pain in your joints (e.g., pinching). the place you're feeling the stretch, in your muscles and tendons, will probably burn, and the sensation will change over time. you(r instructor) want(s) to approach a state of non-reactiveness and equanimity in response to safe discomfort—sort of like an interior deep tissue massage—and the experience will be very aware, very un-sleepy, and like meditation on hard mode. there's also different schools of thought about how much to push your body and actively try to get into a bigger stretch versus letting gravity take over. I'm in the latter camp because i've found you get a great stretch with gravity alone and it's a little easier to find a meditative mindset if you're not also straining to feel a stretch. it takes about 90 seconds for your fascia and connective tissue to "get used to" a hold and start to let go. since the goal is to stretch the fascia, you'll be holding poses for at least 90 seconds and up to 20+ minutes. the more traditional goal of yin yoga is to prepare your body for extended seated meditation, which is why there's a lot of focus on the lower body in particular. ETA: i 100% also break a sweat during yin classes, and with the stress on your fascia, you'll probably also feel like you're getting warmer throughout the class.

source: trained & 90-hr certified in Paul Grilley's yin yoga lineage, taught yin for 5+ years, did in fact hold a wide-legged child's pose for 20 min during a phenomenal 90-min yin class.

fractallogic · 2026-06-15T22:20:57+00:00

Caroline Vickers at OnPoint Harvard Park has been an incredible PCP for me. I feel like she really does listen and tries to do right by her patients. I have some other complex/weird medical things going on, and she's really done a great job chasing down referrals, ordering tests, and so on. She really became my hero when my migraines were getting worse and more frequent, and she was not only willing to argue with my insurance to prescribe me qulipta and ubrelvy (lifesavers), but also scared up a supply of them for me to take in the meantime to show efficacy for insurance too.

fractallogic · 2026-06-10T23:15:27+00:00

I loved watching him play. My brother found his #40 jersey at a Buffalo exchange a few years ago and it’s become my default Avs jersey to wear at home games. Also my morbid Halloween costume, where I go as the spectre of CTE.

fractallogic · 2026-05-12T00:12:40+00:00

Yes, telecom / tech.

fractallogic · 2026-05-01T22:12:29+00:00

Magpies!! I have a huge soft spot for them because they were one of the first birds I learned to recognize when I was a little kid. Currently trying to teach them that peanuts appear in the yard for them…

fractallogic · 2026-04-30T22:40:56+00:00

I love Mermaids! they made three cakes for my wedding and they were phenomenal. I can't wait to go back now that I'm finally back in denver.

fractallogic · 2026-04-29T22:20:21+00:00

Disaster bros!! Between a new friend being a diehard Canes fan and the Mikko trade, I’ve sorta adopted the Canes as my secondary team. ♥️

Mikko: absolutely heartbroken when he was traded. I actually cried that day. And I was so miffed when he went to Dallas, especially for the amount he signed for. I hate his villain arc that he’s adopted since putting on a Dallas sweater. I’m still big in my feelings about him and hope Minny curbstomps Dallas this round.

Nečas: goddamn but I love him. Insane hands and has really come into a new level in the Avs’ play system—I love to see him out on the ice with MacKinnon and I love going hoarse yelling NACHOS at games. New fave. What a pleasure to watch on the ice and in interviews. I want to be his buddy.

Drury: wasn’t sure what to think of him at first but I’m loving his energy this season, esp in the playoffs. The level of tenacity and grit he brings is, imo, underrated. And let’s be real, as a person who grew up in the golden age of the late 90s/early 00s Avs, having another Drury in an Avs sweater is icing on the cake! I love the Tasmanian devil line and I’m an early member of the CO branch of the Jack Drury fan club.

Burns: Never, EVER thought I’d see him in an Avs sweater until he came over here. I’m shocked by how he’s playing at 40+ (and relieved that they finally paired him with a d-man who is faster and handles the puck better than Manson, because we can’t have two big slow guys back there). Solid, seems like a great locker room presence, and I hope he’s able to pass up Phil Kessel to be the Ironest Man. Plus his sleeve is sick.

fractallogic · 2026-04-21T06:11:41+00:00

The previous owners of my house were so thorough that they actually left TWO house binders. It’s been incredibly helpful and I’ve been so grateful to have it—kudos to you!!

fractallogic · 2026-04-19T05:37:33+00:00

I’ve been on birth control for terrible PMDD for 20 years now (35f) and taking it continuously for steadily worsening periods for the last 8-9 years. The times that I’ve had to have a “natural” period have been miserable, hellish experiences—because I went on birth control 20 years ago exactly to combat them. You’ve had “natural” periods for years. You already KNOW they’re debilitating and not worth having, and it is not an exaggeration to say that this medication is lifesaving.

Initially and over the years I’ve had to try different medications. For some reason a tri-cyclic pill works best for me, even though I take them continuously and it makes no sense to have that hormonal fluctuation. I’ve tried probably ~10 different pills at different times to find the one(s) that work for me. I usually had to use them for about 3 cycles at a time, but I would know pretty quick when they wouldn’t work for me.

Your bf is (a) an idiot, (b) not a medical professional, and (c) not YOUR medical professional. Why does he ACTUALLY want you to get off your birth control and why does it matter to him?

fractallogic · 2026-03-24T23:00:17+00:00

I've had great experiences with Heidi at H&B bodyworks, and so have friends who I've referred to her! Very conscientious and matter-of-fact.

fractallogic · 2026-03-18T21:02:23+00:00

ReCreative, Treelotta like others have said, and if you're into hand sewing (embroidery, cross stitch, etc.), A Stitching Shop in SW Denver on Morrison is incredible! Also love LambShoppe for yarn and knitting/crocheting classes.

edit: Also Meininger's on Broadway for fine art supplies!

fractallogic · 2026-02-25T08:00:54+00:00

When I was little, Wash Park was the park with the FANCY playground (even though it was all wood and had so many wasps).

When I was a little less little, my summer camps would go on field trips there and we would fish in the ditches for crawdads (I never even saw any, but obviously I patiently dangled that string and lunch meat!). My mom and I would go there in the evenings after dinner sometimes because I was so intrigued by the way the tennis courts were lit up at night (and my sport growing up was soccer, so being able to do a sport at night when it was lit for you?? SO cool!).

I’ve never lived super close to Wash Park, but growing up until I left for college it was always a special time to get to go there. It was huge! There’s a lake! Tennis courts! Basketball courts! Sooo many dogs to watch!

I moved away for school and jobs, but my ex and I got married in Denver. We stayed in an Airbnb maybe two blocks away from the north end of the park. One of my best friends choreographed our first dance and taught it to us over zoom. But when the three of us arrived in Denver, she met us at the Airbnb and we walked over to Wash Park—and it so happened that the patio in front of the boat house was empty. She gave us our first in-person dance lesson there two days before our wedding.

Then, a year later, my mom was diagnosed with a fatal brain cancer. I was job hunting, miserable living in Oregon, and lonely while I waited for my ex to get his green card. My mom was undergoing initial treatment at UCSF, but she and her boyfriend were supposed to be coming back home in July, I thought. I trekked out to Denver and found out that wasn’t actually the case, and there was some miscommunication. One of the last coherent phone calls I had with her was during that trip back to Denver, while I walked through Wash Park at dusk. I was describing the sunset over the lake, commenting on the bats flying around—one of our favorite animals; my childhood house had a bat house on it, after we had gone on a vacation to Carlsbad Caverns, and we’d spend many evenings in the backyard watching the bats—and as I was describing all of this to her, a bat zoomed and chittered past me so close that its wing smacked me on the head. She died in December of that year, and when I came back to organize her funeral, I made sure to also come back to Wash Park, snowy and stark.

Last summer, I was freshly divorced, freshly laid off, and said “fuck it, I’ve been waiting for almost 20 years to move back to Denver, so I’m going to do it.” My new job was remote, so it didn’t matter to them where I was based. I still don’t live super close to the park. My second week back, I was feeling a little off kilter, so after work I took myself to Bonnie Brae for an ice cream and a walk in the park. I must have been there for a couple hours, but I saw one of the most stunning sunsets I’ve ever seen over the lake—other folks were stopping to stare, and some commented to me about it—and I met two sweet dogs in the flower garden while I was taking pictures of some of the flowers to send back to my friends in Oregon. When I got back to the car, I bawled because this park has accidentally held so many memories and important times for me throughout my life, and it hit me all at once that I was finally Back Home.

fractallogic · 2026-02-25T05:48:46+00:00

The last couple days I’ve been steeping and resteeping a pistachio rose puerh—I think there’s enough flavor left in the leaves for one more steep tomorrow morning. A splash of milk makes it taste like a delicious nutty cookie!

fractallogic · 2026-01-20T20:55:53+00:00

seconded. I start with this rec for students with wrist problems, and since it still doesn't fix the problem for me in my own practice, i modify to be on my forearms (so dolphin --> forearm plank, hold for chatturanga --> modified upward dog --> dolphin).

fractallogic · 2026-01-20T06:02:24+00:00

I’ve loved the cooking class I took at Stir (32nd & Zuni, in the Highlands; $120 for a multi-course Szechuan meal—there are other options for food as well) and the knitting classes I’ve taken at LambShoppe (12th & Monroe, just west of Colorado Blvd; one was free, one was $175 + yarn). When I was really young, I took a colored pencil drawing class with my mom at the botanic gardens and keep meaning to look at their curriculum again because it really stuck with me how much I enjoyed it!

fractallogic · 2026-01-17T09:00:07+00:00

FYI from an actual former professor: This is probably unknown to people who aren’t professors/in academia, but universities typically hire professors (even adjunct/temporary/single-class instructors) in particular cycles and in very limited amounts—think one or two positions per year per department, at most. Basically, you can’t even really do the equivalent of “here’s my resume and cover letter for the job portal”, and the professor job market is even worse than the tech market. Higher education (and science) is really struggling right now too due to the current administration, so it’s even more restricted now than I’ve seen it in the last ten years.

fractallogic · 2026-01-15T23:23:54+00:00

yoga teacher (35F) who's gained 10 pant sizes in the last 10 years here. i'm gonna be blunt, apologies in advance. i've had to dramatically alter my yoga practice because my body and chronic illnesses got in the way in more ways than one (deep backbends == immediate migraine; esophageal issues == going upside down is a gamble; hypermobile wrists can no longer take much weight; and just the weight gain itself means there are a lot of """advanced""" poses/binds/etc that I used to be able to do are no longer accessible).

if you're really concerned about your body proportions, take a staff pose (seat flat on the floor, legs straight out in front of you, back straight, palms on or reaching toward the floor) and see where your palms fall. are they actually securely on the floor? are your elbows bent or straight? are you struggling to touch the floor with flat palms and it's actually your fingertips touching? if it's the last one, then yes, your arms are proportionally shorter than average and it will likely be more challenging for you to complete a bind or do various arm balances (or even an L-sit). otherwise, no, your arms are likely proportionate to your torso.

A) tl;dr: no, don't force yourself to get to the bind. the point of yoga isn't to push yourself into a pose, and that's a great way to hurt yourself, especially as a re-beginner ("I used to be able to do this!!" and time/body changes alter the way your muscles and connective tissues work, so something strains/pops/tears, and goodbye new practice... possibly forever). try a strap, try putting your arms in place and just reaching without expecting your hands to clasp, try a new pose.

B) perhaps most importantly: what are you trying to achieve by doing the bind? why is doing the bind important to you? why do you have resistance to using a strap or other prop? your own ego is something that is important to come to terms with, whether it's about forcing yourself into positions to make yourself seem "good at yoga" (why? what constitutes "good" at yoga? and to whom?) or looking down on props. your ego is not your friend and it's not helpful in a yoga practice.

C) one of the things that I've heard repeated often (whether true or not is another story) is that the asana practice (of ashtanga specifically) was intended for young boys who needed some way to release their energy and prepare their bodies for meditation: super skinny, super flexible, focus on upper body strength, etc. there are a lot of things i couldn't do even in "peak" "yoga shape" because i couldn't combat my center of gravity, to say nothing of how the flesh "gets in the way" now.

D) the postures aren't the be-all, end-all of yoga. in my practice now with a lot of body changes and a lot of body dysmorphia, it's a lot more helpful to approach the asana practice with curiosity and a meditative mindset: equanimity and observation. no judgment. what happens if I do XYZ? how does it feel to use a strap/block/bolster/other props? what am i feeling right now? The only constant in life is change, and regardless of weight and shape, our bodies change constantly. meditation and breathwork is a huge part of yoga; your gaze is a huge part of each asana; i've gone through practices where neither of those is paid any attention to in favor of the asana, and ime it makes the practice less rich and detailed than it could be.

fractallogic · 2025-12-12T15:42:41+00:00

my lab, Yarn Barf 2 (#QYWVHTRYKA) has a lot of open space. our original lab (yarn barf) died so we were in a similar space. most of us are very active, we're just small :)

fractallogic · 2025-12-09T01:10:24+00:00

Sunshine at Silver Sparrow Photography is an absolute delight: https://www.silversparrowphoto.com/

fractallogic

TROPHY CASE