What's Your Age Based On Your Comfort Food Choices?

I found a new quiz site. Quizly. It's way more user friendly than the one I had been using before. I picked the first quiz they had at random... 

What's Your Age Based On Your Comfort Food Choices? 

So, go ahead and try it. I'll wait... 

I'm really not shocked at my result: 

You got: Kid at Heart!

You still have a taste for the simple things in life, and that's not a bad thing! Your comfort foods reflect a youthful spirit and an unpretentious palate.

Yeah, that's the nice way of saying I eat like a kid. And, considering my meal choices sometimes, yeah, I agree. 

13 Video Animations

My uncle has a YouTube channel. He creates animations. (I have mentioned this on the blog before.) For today's Thursday 13. I'm linking to some. (His YouTube channel is here. His blog is here.) Enjoy.

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Adding a Video to Blogger

Like many of you, I've been blogging a long time. Occasionally, I'll run across a post where someone is having a difficulty, and I think that perhaps explaining a fix would make for a good blog post. Or, Blogger changes something, and it takes a while for us all to catch on and catch up. So, I decided to make space on my blog for those kinds of posts. 

I'm definitely not an expert, just a blogger who kind of knows her way around. Feel free to correct me in the comments if I missed a better way to do any of this. 

When I mentioned my plan to write these kinds of posts, I got a request to do a post on how to post a video to Blogger. There are probably a couple ways to do this, but the easiest way (currently) is to use the "Insert Video" icon. 

Step 1: Click "New Post" or open the post where you want to embed the video.

Step 2: Get to the point in the post where you wish to embed the video. 

Step 3: In the bar under the title with all the icons, click on the "Insert Video" icon.

It looks like one of those clapboards from old time movie making.

Step 3 continued: When you click the icon, it gives you two choices: "Upload from computer" or "Youtube". 

"Upload from computer" is for any video that you have on your own computer. The problem most people encounter is there is a limit to how big that file can be. (I can't find a definite answer, but some say it's 10 MB.) Plus, it takes a while to upload, and sometimes that upload fails, so you have to go back and redo. 

It's way easier to choose "Youtube". If you have a video you want to share that's yours, I would highly recommend uploading it to YouTube first. You can always make it so that it's not searchable there. 

Most of the time, we're sharing videos we found on YouTube. So...

Step 4: From "Youtube", copy/paste the video's URL or search for a video in the spyglass bar. Once you've found the video you want, click on it, and then click on "Insert". 

And the video will appear on your blog. It'll look different on your edit screen than it will on the published post, so as long as you selected the right video, it should be just fine. 

But what if the video you want to embed isn't on YouTube?

Unfortunately, there's not an easy way to do that. I imagine there's a way using HTML, but it's not something I'm going to figure out for this blog post. The best thing to do then would be to create a link to the video. It's not as neat, but it'll get the job done. 

Did I miss anything? Is there an easier way to do this? If you have anything to add, please feel free to add it to the comments. 

Also, is there a question you have about Blogger? Something you don't know how to do? Let me know and I may use that for a future blog post. 

Be Safe, a Wish

Just when we thought things were bad, the regime decided now would be a good time to bomb Iran. Because, things weren't bad enough, apparently. 

I mean, now I understand why people didn't flee when fascist governments took over. It's hard to leave behind everything, especially when you have no marketable skills to take elsewhere. I'm learning all sorts of things that I really didn't want to know about living under this sort of government. Sigh. 

In case you weren't aware, Los Angeles has been invaded by ICE, and they're kidnapping people off the streets. On Bluesky, Totoro in a Dodgers Bucket Hat explained how ICE has adapted their tactics due to community pushback. (And here's that same thread formatted like an article.) Pay attention, because they're just starting in LA. They'd like to do this nationwide. 

You know who Stephen Miller is, right? If you're unfamiliar, it's time to learn who he is. Because, he's the one behind the ICE kidnapping raids. The best thing in these times is to bring into public awareness all the stuff various people behind the scenes are trying to do without attracting attention. Let's give them attention. I don't think things will go so well once the public is largely aware of what they are doing. 

Keep calling your MOC and your senators. Even if they're on the side of the regime. Even if they're supposedly not. Remind them that they work for us. Remind them that there's more they can do to resist. They're not acting like we're living in a fascist regime. We need to wake them up to the fact that we are. 

(Reminder: 5 Calls gives you phone numbers and scripts to help.)

Articles of interest:

• How Trump Makes Tragedies Worse, A History
• How ICE is becoming a secret police force under the Trump regime
• He Was Born in Philly and They Tried to Deport Him to Jamaica
• Controversial senator trying to sell millions of acres near Yosemite, Tahoe
• Climate Change Will Bankrupt the Country

Zombie Body

Last week I showed the progress I made on the amigurumi Minecraft Zombie. I got a bit further this week:

This isn't too bad considering I had to rip out and redo a couple days' worth of work. I had used the wrong color for the shirt (a darker turquoise), and then I ran out of yarn. 

But, ripping out wasn't so easy as I had wound in some ends on the inside (from attaching the legs at the crotch) up into where I had to rip out. It wasn't too terrible once I got into it, but it was more work than I expected, especially as I'm on a deadline. Oh well. 

The above is the front view. That's legs and body. It isn't stuffed yet. Then I'll sew up that top flap. A head will go on top. Arms will be attached to the sides. 

Here's the back view: 

I'm not too worried about my deadline as of yet. We'll see how things go this week. 

And here's a link to the pattern I'm using. 

Left Behind

So, um, yeah. Summer school... 

I was not expecting to work, but when a gig popped up in the app, I jumped on it. The adult transition center. That's the school I spent pretty much the 2021-22 school year at. So, while I did not recognize the name of the teacher, I still knew the drill. 

(The reason I spent that school year at the adult transition center was due to retirements, so of course they have new teachers now. And I had a whole week off with no work whatsoever when this popped up.)

Right at the start of the day the instructional assistants (IAs) informed me it was CBI day. That is, it was the day the students left campus to shop in the community (read: buy lunch at a restaurant). But, they were supposed to go grocery shopping as well. 

After a bunch of back and forth, they determined that one of the other teachers had the school credit card (they were buying food for the class with the school's money), and she would be around to do that. And, every single class was going out on CBI this day. 

But, a couple of my students couldn't go. Domingo doesn't go out. And June had forgotten her permission slip, so she couldn't attend. That meant that a teacher had to stay behind at the school to supervise. 

Well, it's not like I was really in the mood to go galivanting around town, anyway. 

(I've been on a bunch of CBIs. While I was a little disappointed not to go, I was also a little relieved.)

What does one do with one student left behind? Movie day. (June wasn't talking, so Domingo's one-to-one and I decided on the older Lilo & Stitch.) 

It was a quiet day with all the students gone. And it was a short day, only four hours. But I got a day of subbing this summer, which is more than I did last summer. 

(Will I sub more this summer? We'll see. If something pops up, and I don't have anything else planned, I will take it.)

13 to Follow on Bluesky

Are you on Bluesky? There's something about scrolling short text posts that appeals to me, and so when Twitter went rancid, I needed a replacement. I've been there for about a year and a half now, and many of my favorite accounts have migrated. I've also found some new ones that I enjoy. 

So, for today's Thursday 13 I'm listing a few accounts that I'd recommend if you're looking to follow some new folks. This is by no means the full list, but it's a sampling. If you're on Bluesky, leave your username in the comments so I can follow you (if I'm not already). 

1. Micah (@rincewind.run‬): Once a day he posts a quote from one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. He posts other things, too, but I follow for the Prachett. 

2. maya kern (@mayakern.com): She designs clothing. Lately, she's been marketing her skirts (with pockets!). 

3. Katie Mack (@astrokatie.com): Astronomer. I follow for the cool science stuff. 

4. Michael Whelan (@michaelwhelan.bsky.social‬): He's an artist, and you've probably seen his work. He did a lot of SFF covers. Lately he's been posting his work and talking about what went into creating some of the iconic book covers that you likely remember. 

5. Courtney Milan (@courtneymilan.com‬): Author. She writes historical romance with an interesting twist. (The obvious thing that she hints at about the main character at the beginning of the story? Nope, it's not what you think. I promise.) But mostly it's fun when someone tries to dunk on her when she talks law. Because, she used to be a lawyer, but people see "romance author" and think stupid. She's far, far from stupid. 

6. Randall Munroe (‪@xkcd.com): For the XKCD comic. If you know, you know.

7. Micro SF/F by O. Westin (@microsff.com‬): I originally found them on Twitter. They post micro fiction (SFF, specifically). They haven't posted as frequently since migrating to BlueSky, but those stories still occasionally pop up. 

8. knitty® | editor, Amy Sadler (@knitty.com‬): I may have mentioned that I'm a knitter. Knitty.com is an online knitting magazine. If you're a knitter, you need to be following her. 

9. Jorts (and Jean) (@jortsthecat.bsky.social‬): There was an AITA involving not bright ginger cats and butter. (You probably had to be there.) They parlayed that into a Twitter account that migrated to Bluesky. Jorts is a ginger cat. He relies on Jean (also a cat). And they're all about labor rights. 

10. Bree (‪@mostlybree.kitrocha.com‬): Half of a romance author pair (who write very erotic books--you've been warned). She has some good TV recommendations (and some not-so-good), and currently she acquired a 3D printer, and she's been making some interesting stuff. 

11. Brett "Solidarity 2025" Banditelli (@banditelli.org‬): I initially started following him because he was local to me. Now, I enjoy the bird pictures. 

12. John Bull (@garius.bsky.social‬): Every so often, he posts interesting history lessons. Fascinating stuff. 

13. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (@lastweektonight.com‬): I have posted clips from him before on the blog. Of course I follow the show on Bluesky.