Frivolous Friday

Frivolous Friday: Kale Salad That’s Actually Good

Greta Christina1 Comment

Dino kale in bunch

The trick is to massage the HELL out of it. You’re basically cooking it, only with citric acid instead of heat. Think of it as kale ceviche.

Kale salad is very trendy, or it was until ten minutes ago (Brussels sprouts seem to have taken its place). I’ve seen it on many a restaurant menu. And I’ve inevitably been disappointed when I order it — because nobody makes it as well as Ingrid.

Ingrid will tell you that I am not a fan of the dark leafy greens: I don’t like chard, mustard greens, collard greens, any of that (although I am fond of a spinach salad). But I not only eat kale salad — I enjoy it. I mean, yes, you have to put a bunch of crap in it, you have to fill it up with cheese and dried fruit and fresh fruit and nuts and seeds before I’ll say “Yes, that sounds delicious” — but do all that, and I will happily put it in my face.

There’s a trick to it, though. Here’s the recipe we’ve been using, given to us by our friend Lori. Serves two if it’s your dinner-in-one-bowl, more if it’s a side dish. Continue reading “Frivolous Friday: Kale Salad That’s Actually Good” →

Frivolous Friday: Kale Salad That’s Actually Good
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Frivolous Friday: Peter Pan, and Killing Fairies

Greta Christina5 Comments

Frivolous Fridays are the Orbit bloggers’ excuse to post about fun things we care about that may not have serious implications for atheism or social justice. Any day is a good day to write about whatever the heck we’re interested in (hey, we put “culture” in our tagline for a reason), but we sometimes have a hard time giving ourselves permission to do that. This is our way of encouraging each other to take a break from serious topics and have some fun. Enjoy!

Peter_Pan_and_Wendy_book_cover_1911 200
Okay, maybe this is a little macabre for Frivolous Friday, but it was on my mind and was making me chuckle, so I thought I’d share.

You know the bit in Peter Pan, where Peter explains that every time a child says, “I don’t believe in fairies,” somewhere a fairy falls down dead? I read this when I was a kid. And afterwards, I started to go around saying under my breath, “I don’t believe in fairies, I don’t believe in fairies, I don’t believe in fairies,” and imagining fairies dropping like flies, one by one, all over the world.

I’m not sure why I did this. I didn’t actually believe in fairies, and I certainly didn’t think I could murder them from a distance by saying words out loud. In retrospect, I think I was annoyed by how saccharine and manipulative it was. It was like, “You’re going to guilt-trip me into believing something I have no reason to believe, by telling me my non-belief will destroy it? Yeah, screw you.” But maybe I’m reading too much into this, and putting too much of my adult interpretation on it. Maybe I was just a contrarian little fuck with a thirst for power. Strike that. I know I was.

I was thinking about this because of Tony Thompson’s HI-FREAKING-LARIOUS piece about the Catholic cardinal, who apparently thinks that the acceptance of TBLG people is killing God. No, really. Tony is very excite about his newly-discovered superpower, as well he should be. And it occurred to me: This is totally like the Peter Pan thing. Every time a queer person is happy and accepted, a little bit of God dies.

Let’s all say it together: “TBLG people are awesome. TBLG people are awesome. TBLG people are awesome.” And we can imagine a little bit more of God dying, every time.

If you read Peter Pan, did you have any reaction to the “I don’t believe in fairies” bit? Or was that just me, being contrarian and power-hungry and weirdly macabre?

Frivolous Friday: Peter Pan, and Killing Fairies

Frivolous Friday: Slash

Greta Christina5 Comments

I am in love with this game. Anywhere games are being played, I want to play it. And whenever I introduce it to a new batch of people, some of them are almost guaranteed to say, “This is awesome! Where can I get my own set?”

slash game box with cards

Slash is a slash-fiction/’shipping game, in which you pair up characters from different fictional universes and explain why they’re destined for romantic or sexual bliss. The basic game mechanic is very similar to Cards Against Humanity or Apples to Apples; the vibe is somewhat reminiscent of Cards Against Humanity, but it’s not at all mean-spirited. (I’ve actually gotten to the point where I don’t want to play CAH unless it’s with people I know really well.) Slash has a wild, rollicking, “I can’t believe you went there!” quality, but the basic tone is actually sort of sweet. (You can buy it or download and print their free version.)

There’s one set of cards, with names and brief descriptions: mostly fictional pop-culture characters (James T. Kirk, Morticia Addams, Josie & the Pussycats, Count Chocula, Godzilla); some literary characters (Lady Macbeth, Mr. Darcy, Dracula); some mythological and fairy-tale figures (Snow White, Zeus); a handful of real people, alive or dead (Madonna, Thomas Edison, the Marquis de Sade). Each player takes turn being the judge: the judge picks a card from their hand (“Match up She-Hulk”!), and the other players pick a card from their hands to pair up with that character. When all the cards are in, the judge reads the pairings out loud, and everyone takes a turn explaining why their match-up is the best, or making up a story about it. You can pair people up for a wild one-night stand, a tempestuous and doomed romance, the great love of their lives — whatever you like. (If a lot of people are playing, the judge picks their favorite three or four match-ups, and just those players explain or storytell.)

Slash pairing Count Chocula with She Hulk
Slash game: winning hand pairing Count Chocula with She-Hulk

What story would you tell about Count Chocula and She-Hulk? Continue reading “Frivolous Friday: Slash” →

Frivolous Friday: Slash