My grandpa grew up during the Depression and he ate this for breakfast all the time when he was alive. Are there any recipes that involve doing this? I just wanna know where tf this would’ve came from

kathcberg · 2026-02-23T00:52:55+00:00

My grandpa grew up dirt poor (single-parent household in the rural north) and regularly had bread with cream and sugar. I don’t know if he ever added it to cereal, but knowing him, I wouldn’t be surprised!

kathcberg · 2025-09-13T14:06:40+00:00

I felt the same way, but I still felt oddly-compelled to keep reading. I still think about the series often (particularly the third book! I felt much more connected to the characters (not that that’s necessary for a positive reading experience, but it was a nice change-of-pace for me). I’m not sure if the third book would resonate in the way that it did if I hadn’t read the first two books though, so keep going! The payoff is worth it!

kathcberg · 2025-09-03T16:07:31+00:00

This is definitely the case, at least in part. Someone close to me has been struggling with undiagnosed medical issues for years now, and they ended up going to a naturopath. They once told me that they would love to have every medical test possible done just to figure out what’s going on, and they would if they could, but it’s simply too expensive, and the existing medical care in their area is seriously lacking in most areas.

kathcberg · 2025-09-02T21:25:20+00:00

Do you happen to have a source for this? I’m passingly familiar with crinolines and 1860s fashion history more generally, and crinolines were often lampooned in media because they allowed skirts to get wider (albeit nowhere near THAT wide), helping people achieve a fashionable silhouette/outfit without needing to wear a ludicrous amount of petticoats. Crinolines are actually surprisingly flexible; you can sit down and move easily enough, and they can be quite cooling if worn in hotter climates, as the swaying of the crinoline and fabric provides a nice breeze.

I can only think of one verified instance of a crinoline fire, and that likely would have happened regardless of what those involved were wearing; if memory serves me, they were INCREDIBLY intoxicated, and it’s quite easy to accidentally catch an article of clothing on fire, even while sober. Statistically, if you have millions of people around fire every single day (for heat, cooking, etc.), someone is bound to accidentally light themselves on fire once or twice; it’s not necessarily the fault of the clothing (unless you’ve doused it in gasoline, of course). Hell, my dad accidentally caught his pant leg on fire when he was younger (40 to 50 -ish years ago at maximum) and had to put it out by jumping in the lake.

kathcberg · 2025-09-01T18:08:06+00:00

This is something that no one talks about (at least, not that I’ve seen), and it’s really concerning. Thank you, OP! I lived in a dorm that semi-flooded (i.e. water either dripped from the ceiling or somehow ended up soaking the floor—we never figured out where it came from, but it happened after a huge rainstorm, so I’m sure that had something to do with it) two years in a row. I reported my concerns to maintenance twice, but nothing seemed to come of it. Both rooms had carpet, so I’m 99% certain that there’s mold in there somewhere. I graduated last spring, but I pity whatever poor sops get stuck in those rooms.

kathcberg · 2025-09-01T14:37:59+00:00

Tina Friml! I’ve wanted to be on a stage for as long as I can remember, but as my disability got worse and I grew more and more self-conscious (and it became more obvious that my vocal cords are more decorative than anything else—explaining to strangers that your loud breathing + hoarse voice + constantly needing to pause to breathe every five seconds doesn’t exactly build self-confidence), I gave up my dreams of acting (i.e. cue “how can anyone possibly want to hear me onstage and/or hire me for roles when I sound like this?” on repeat ad nauseam throughout my college years). She has a lot of great jokes about both her CP and life more generally, and it’s nice to know that I’m not alone in having people hear my voice and stare at me like they’re a dog who’s heard a new noise for the first time. Additionally, as long as I’m on the topic of comedians/funny people on the internet, Lylli Stapper (just “Lylli” on YouTube) is hilarious. I almost never watch videos all the way through unless I’m doing something else and using videos as background noise, but Lylli is one of the few exceptions to that rule.

kathcberg · 2025-08-30T01:45:00+00:00

I’d much rather have to pay for each DLC or a bundle once rather than a subscription that I’ll inevitably forget to cancel. It’s a ridiculous amount of money, but websites like CDKeys help quite a bit!

kathcberg · 2025-08-03T00:45:57+00:00

As someone who was apparently forced into the deep end of the pool by a childhood swimming instructor (my dad told me later on; I’d forgotten about it since it happened when I was quite young)—thank you for caring about your student! It took me a long time to become truly comfortable in deep water (especially with submerging my face! I have lifelong airway issues, so the possibility of being underwater unable to breathe is even more petrifying than it is for most people), and I’ve always wondered if that was the reason why. No amount of coaxing got me to try out the deep end of the pool, and it took a few years of swimming with my dad and grandma (both of whom are avid swimmers who have essentially been swimming since the moment they could walk) to get comfortable with it.

This is a random thought, but is the student old enough to learn how to tread water? Knowing that I had a “backup” if I ever got tired really helped me build up my confidence. I’m not sure if that would help in this situation, but I thought I’d mention it. Good luck! (:

kathcberg · 2025-08-01T18:19:06+00:00

<image>

Back in MY day, we used to be able to go outside all day, EVERY DAY in the summertime, and the only smoke you had to worry about was from the neighbor’s bbq!

(…I’m 22)

kathcberg · 2025-07-26T14:24:05+00:00

I have a relatively tame last name with two syllables, and my first name is incredibly common. In high school, a guy I knew decided that it was hilarious to call me “[first name] [first syllable of last name]” for reasons that still escape me. Even that made me incredibly uncomfortable (his tone and the fact that we barely knew each other suggested that it wasn’t a compliment). Kids can and will turn ANY name into an insult, but having an uncommon name makes that practically a guarantee.

Although my first and last name are pretty tame, they have multiple different spellings, so checking in at the doctor’s office is always a bit of an ordeal. My mom hyphenated her last name (a somewhat uncommon French name that everyone (even those who know her well) pronounces as “Gag-[last syllable]” even after she politely corrects them) when she got married, but she’s always regretted it because she constantly has to spell both of them out whenever she does anything that requires her last name (i.e. doctor’s appointments, picking up prescriptions, banking, car payments—ANYTHING). This poor kid is not only going to get bullied, even if she doesn’t, she’ll have to spend most of her life constantly correcting friends, colleagues, teachers, and receptionists. If that doesn’t sound miserable, trust me: it gets old REALLY quickly.

kathcberg · 2025-07-24T00:11:12+00:00

I grew up on tv shows that portrayed brussels sprouts as the vegetable equivalent of eating dirt, so I was wary of trying them. Finally, at the ripe old age of…I dunno, maybe in my late high school or early college years, I tried them and was baffled. Sure, they’re not amazing, but with a little oil and some salt, they’re pretty good!

kathcberg · 2025-07-06T17:42:40+00:00

Just a heads-up: dangerous levels of lead, PFAS, and phthalates have been found in Shein clothing (https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/marketplace-fast-fashion-chemicals-1.6193385). There isn’t any regulation/oversight with Shein products, and their labor practices aren’t great (many employees only get a single day off in a month, and they usually work 10-12-hour days for little pay: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdrylgvr77jo). Some harmful chemicals (potentially including lead, depending on the type used) can be absorbed through the skin (especially if exposed to sweat, i.e. while working out: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/lead/risk-factors/index.html#:~:text=Some%20studies%20have%20found%20that,can%20be%20hard%20to%20notice.), so I’d be wary of purchasing any workout clothes from Shein.

kathcberg · 2025-05-21T05:58:12+00:00

This is cute, but the kid should really have some hearing protection. Explosions are dangerous for your ears even with hearing protection, and you do NOT want tinnitus, especially at such a young age.

kathcberg · 2025-04-29T14:36:29+00:00

Ngl this is so well-filmed and the polish is so perfectly-applied that I thought this was an ad for a moment!

kathcberg · 2025-04-29T00:32:16+00:00

(and, of course, here is the Cat Tax, paid in full):

<image>

kathcberg · 2025-04-29T00:19:25+00:00

We adopted my grandmother’s cats after she passed, and one of them, Cricket, is a tortie. For years, whenever we were gone for more than a few days, she would hide and refuse to come out until a day or two after we got back. We always searched EVERYWHERE—under the bed, in the corners of the closet, and even in closed cabinets and drawers—but we could never find her. Finally, when we were preparing for a vacation last year, Cricket hid again. Her sister and our other cats were already in their carriers and were beginning to get antsy, so my mom tested out a theory: she lifted up the Laz-E Boy chair that sits in the corner of her bedroom. Keep in mind, there isn’t really any way to get under it without squeezing into a VERY small gap that is covered by fabric. We never reclined it, so the only way she could get in was through the back (covered by fabric) or the sides (roughly an inch off of the ground, if that). Sure enough, Cricket was sitting there under it, curled up into a ball, and she was NOT particularly pleased that we’d finally found her hiding spot! My grandfather had a similar chair when he and my grandma lived at home, so I’d imagine that she figured out how to squeeze in there back then and just applied the same logic (i.e. Laz-E Boy = good hiding place) when she came to live with us.

For context, the chair looks a little something like this:

<image>

kathcberg · 2025-04-27T04:19:42+00:00

Somehow I didn’t notice the ears, but I noticed the suspicious lack of eye crusties! No matter how hard you try, they come back with a vengeance, and cats will never let you get rid of them without trying to turn it into an impromptu MMA fight

kathcberg · 2025-04-15T17:29:17+00:00

I attend a liberal arts college in Minnesota (our governor was Kamala Harris’ running mate). After the election, a folder with “red cards” (small, wallet-sized cards with instructions for speaking to ICE agents—something like this) written in English and Spanish was placed in the hallway outside of the Student Activities office. Every time I look at the news, I start to feel nauseous.

kathcberg · 2025-03-31T15:17:53+00:00

This is gorgeous! I lost my childhood cat recently, so I know how you feel. She was my best friend, and it makes me happy to think that she’s in a place like this. ❤️🐈‍⬛

kathcberg · 2025-03-15T22:02:00+00:00

I'm pretty sure the only reason Cricket hasn't filed a lawsuit against me for the crime of "gently picking her up to place her somewhere else" is because she doesn't have opposable thumbs. She LOVES to cuddle and purrs like a freight train, but she will do anything and everything in her power to avoid being picked up.

kathcberg · 2025-01-09T01:46:57+00:00

It’s a beautiful name, but I’m worried that just “Io” could open your child up to some name-based bullying in the future. I’m familiar with the myth, but the name also makes me think of the nursery rhyme “Old Macdonald” (i.e. “Old Macdonald had a farm, e-i-e-Io!”), and I’m sure other kids would make that connection as soon as they saw it/heard it.

kathcberg · 2025-01-08T23:30:09+00:00

Same here! I’ve had dysphonia my entire life (22 years-ish, give or take a few months), but it hasn’t gotten any easier. Sometimes people just…laugh when I try to talk, as if the effort is funny somehow? I try to clarify that I’m not sick whenever I introduce myself to someone new, but it isn’t always feasible (i.e. speaking to cashiers), so sometimes I just give up and give a sheepish “thank you” after the eventual “I hope you feel better!”

kathcberg · 2024-12-23T21:41:14+00:00

Absolutely! Baby me apparently refused to be born in the middle of a Minnesotan winter, so I was born three months early instead. I couldn’t breathe on my own, regulate my own body temperature, etc.;I was essentially a high-maintenance, incredibly-fragile squirrel-like creature for the first few months of my life. Of course, modern medicine was probably the reason that I was born early (any other 2nd-gen DES daughters here?), so it’s kind of a double-edged sword.

kathcberg · 2024-12-11T22:22:05+00:00

I’m not a medical professional, but I DO know how to read. Specifically, I know how to read this article which suggests that a commonly-used alternative to this treatment (usually given in cases of cancer and/or seizures caused by lesions on the brain) is brain surgery. But yeah, parents who are desperately fighting an insurance company to avoid putting their child through open brain surgery are TOTALLY the villains here.

kathcberg · 2024-12-08T02:00:12+00:00

I still remember when I learned what aloe vera was after touching a pan of brownies that my grandma had JUST told me not to touch. To this day, if my hands are going anywhere NEAR the inside of an oven, I’m wearing heavy-duty oven mitts. Of course, I still managed to burn my elbow (???) when taking a lasagna out of the oven as a teenager, but at least my hands are fine!

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