On other topics

I'm sick of how much mental space the departure of Donald Trump, and the problem of how to de-program his "base", is taking up with me, but also 95% of the people I follow on Twitter.   It's the car crash that you just can't stop looking at, and keeps distracting you as you try to do other things.

So, on a more trivial note:

*  Last weekend, I made a pretty nice prawn and chorizo gumbo.  This is one of those dishes with lots of variations in the recipes on the net, so it's worth my future reference to note here that I basically followed this one.  

One thing about gumbo recipes:  those that include making a roux to thicken it (and I think genuine gumbo always does) invariably give wildly unrealistic times to cook the roux.  Like 20 minutes or something.  (Even in the recipe I followed it said 15 minutes.)   I did once (years ago) try cooking the roux over the lowest heat possible for the recommended 20 - 25 minutes, and it just turned into a dark brown/black mess.   I don't understand this - maybe I even posted about it here at the time? - the timing just seems impossibly long.   I think this time I got it to 10 minutes, and just followed the suggestion that it starts turning a light caramel colour.   

*  Finished watching the second series of The Alienist on Netflix.   I thought it was very good - a bit of a clearer narrative than the first series, which I really liked but the resolution in the last episode was handled terribly.   It became a bit more soapy, I suppose, and a strong emphasis on the women in the series making the men look a bit weak and indecisive.   But really, it's a terrific looking show, quite well acted, and I like the formal and somewhat arch manner of the dialogue.   I have probably observed before, but the famous Ken Burns Civil War documentary series, with so many extracts from letters from men of all social status,  made me think that everyone in the 19th century must have spoken in more elegant English (and lengthier sentences - just like in their novels) than is typically used today. 

*  Brisbane has had a short period of heightened COVID restrictions due to that one case of the English variety being found in the city.   

Although it's a bit painful, especially if you wear glasses, to have to wear a mask when outside the house, I have been observing that there was a high degree of compliance in the suburbs I frequent, and it actually makes me grateful that I live in a country (or city?) where the nutcase proportion is low, and people see the value in collective action.   Especially compared to America (or even England, it seems), I like the sense of social cohesion around me that widespread mask wearing indicated.