5 things make a post: Getting unstiuck from my time away

[capri0mni]

1. Something I've not even talked about on Tumblr, I don't think: I've started (obliquely) following the manga One Piece through watching review / discussion channels on YouTube. I totally avoided being intimidated by the length, by not giving a flying whatsit about starting at the beginning. I got into it when my one of my favorite sea shanty / folk bands did a cover of the English translation of Bink no Sake, and I wanted some context for the madness. So I just dove into the fan wiki, and, out of curiosity, looked to see what the current manga chapter/anime episode was at the time. And I've been following along from that point on ever since. I don't have to worry about missing necessary context or plot developments from the beginning, because for the fans who make the videos, drawing connections between almost 30 years of story details is their favorite hobby.
   
   
2. A deepening pet peeve: Foods being sold as "Healthy Substitutes for [X]," for whatever the health kick trend of the day is, instead of just being celebrated in their own right. It leads people to expect a different flavor / texture than what they get, which leads them to decide that a food tastes disgusting, but if it were in a different context, it would be delicious. And then, worst of all, when that particular trend is no longer trendy, that perfectly good food practically disappears from store shelves, and the price skyrockets.
   
   
3. A case in point: I've recently discovered nutritional yeast. It's sold and promoted as "A Parmesan Alternative for Vegans." It's good. But it's not Parmesan. I'd say, if I were to put in in a family tree of flavors, that it's a first cousin to Parmesan cheese (rather than its twin) on one side, and, on the other side, a cousin to those instant Raman noodle flavor packets (with a lot less sodium than either). It doesn't work at all as a binding agent the way the cheese does, though. I like to sprinkle it on salads already tossed in dressing (so that it will stick), to add some protein and umami.
   
   
4. Lately, I've been haunted by a Grimm's fairy tale that I've tried (three or four times) to rewrite / fix during my NaNoWriMo Days (which I have since disavowed completely, due to that organization's embrace of generative A.I.), and been thoroughly demoralized by each time, at the end. I don't know if I'm really drawn to try again, though, or if my mind is just retreating back to it as a distraction from other, real-world stressors I'd rather not think about.
   
   
5. At the end of last year, and the start of this one, I decided to get back to my love for the character, and murder mystery stories of, Lord Peter Wimsey. I'd watched the 1970 TV adaptations by the BBC on Masterpiece Theater as teen, and subsequently read a bunch of short stories. But there's a whole lot I never read. Back in January, I started reading the third novel, Unnatural Death, over at Project Gutenberg. But real life rudely interrupted me in the middle of Chapter Two. And I'm just now getting bak to it. Anyone want to join me in a read-along?