I finished making the corncob broth.  \o/  It tastes delicious -- delicate, slightly sweet, summery, sunny, with notes of corn and grass.  This is sooo much better than regular vegetable broth!  If you dislike vegetable broth, this is well worth a try.  I now regret every corncob that I tossed straight onto the compost pile.  Also I'm annoyed that I only discovered this at the end of the season.

I started with this recipe for inspiration.  This time I used the 6 corncobs that I had, some dried onion chips, about 1/4 teaspoon white peppercorns, and three large sprigs of flat-leaf parsley.

Anyhow, I filled a tray of large ice cubes because I want to try this in stir-fry sauce to add volume.  I got three cartons that are about 1 1/2 cup each, plus a big one that is probably about 4 cups and suited for crockpot use.  I expect it will work anywhere I would normally use regular vegetable broth, possibly also chicken broth.

Next time I make this, and there will be  a next time, I will make it in a large crockpot as usual.  I'll use a quartered onion, and I might throw in something else.  I suspect that lemongrass would work great, and celery or celery leaves might.  Broths are flexible; you can toss in whatever you have or like.  With a large crockpot I can get a great deal of broth with minimal effort.

Today I made Three Sisters Succotash.  I want to write up my version because it's a bit different than the Iroquois-inspired one that I started with.

Then it occurred to me that I had half a dozen fresh corncobs, so I am making corncob broth to see if that's any good. 

Today is mostly sunny and hot.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 9/18/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/18/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/18/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 9/18/25 -- I watered the patio plants.








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Consider Hope-Scrolling

Today’s goal is to boost your mood, inspire positivity, and restore some bits of faith in humanity. Now is the time to acknowledge the importance of regularly searching for hope and applying the benefits. The hip new slogan for this process is known as hope-scrolling.


I aim to do this as a counterbalance to the often dark things I post regarding climate change, activism, etc. It's challenging because there aren't as many positive news sites as mixed or gloomy ones, and they don't update as often. Sometimes I can find good science news. I used to pull fun educational things or amusing animal videos from YouTube, but I don't really want to support a site that's mistreating its users. :/ Still, I'm always keeping my eye out for sources of upbeat news.

The violent collisions that made Earth habitable

The violent final 1% of planetary formation may decide which worlds could host life.

Late-stage planetary collisions reshaped Earth and its neighboring planets, delivering water, altering their atmospheres, and influencing their tectonics. New findings suggest these violent impacts were central to both planetary diversity and the origins of habitability.

Today is mostly sunny and hot.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/17/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/17/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 9/17/25 -- I did a bit of work around the yard.

EDIT 9/17/25 -- I did more work around the yard.

I watered the new picnic table, old picnic table, telephone pole garden, and a few savanna plants.

Cicadas and crickets are singing.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.

QOTD: Walter Benjamin on the relationship between photoraphs and captions

Every field has certain works that everyone working the field is expected to be familiar with. In art history, one of those is Walter Benjamin's 1935 essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction."


This seems like a useful topic to discuss in today's context.

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We went shopping in Champaign today.

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Six “Weak” Fantasy Powers That Are Incredibly Strong

These are powers that are considered minor, some interesting flavor at best, but actually provide a huge advantage. The only question is whether storytellers realize it.


It's not the amount of power in an ability, but rather your creativity in using it that matters.

Someone overheard that I'm working with terraria and gave me this fairy garden lantern so I could turn it into a terrarium. :D So today I deconstructed it and cleaned the container.

The lantern part has an open top with a hanging loop and a solid base. It has a hexagonal shape with a narrow top, widest part below the middle, and slightly narrower base. The panes appear to be rigid plastic. The frame seems to be metal. There's a bit of heft to the base, even when empty.

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