patience_limited's recent activity
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Comment on Weekly thread for casual chat and photos of pets in ~life.pets
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Comment on Weekly thread for casual chat and photos of pets in ~life.pets
patience_limited Link ParentSome cats (more often male, though I've had a female cat with the problem) are just genetically prone to getting the urinary crystals that cause hematuria. Wet food, plenty of fresh water, and...Some cats (more often male, though I've had a female cat with the problem) are just genetically prone to getting the urinary crystals that cause hematuria. Wet food, plenty of fresh water, and available litter box space to allow frequent urination can help.
Feifel is a fantastic name for a cat who looks like he's got ample dude-itude.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - April 2026 - The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See in ~books
patience_limited (edited )Link ParentSo I've dug into "Miao" (the ethnic category that the CCP dumped most of the Chinese hill tribes into) traditional handicrafts before, looking for decorative motifs to use in jewelry making. The...So I've dug into "Miao" (the ethnic category that the CCP dumped most of the Chinese hill tribes into) traditional handicrafts before, looking for decorative motifs to use in jewelry making.
The silversmithing is a men's traditional craft, and the textile making, batik dyeing, and embroidery are traditionally women's crafts. Both are designated as "intangible cultural heritage" by the U.N. and the Chinese government. It's often struck me that most indigenous crafts have "masters" (i.e. men) because they produce durable metal and other goods. Textile crafts have far less longevity and don't get into museums, so women's contributions to the technologies of daily life are deprecated.
And yet the "illiterate" Miao who "don't have a written language" encode their folklore, history, religious traditions, and other critical survival information in embroidery motifs and dyed patterns. Women are the custodians of culture through this medium.
Again, I don't profess any particular scholarship in anthropology or ethnography. The book Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches made a deep impression on me when it came to understanding how rigid gender roles, taboos, and traditions arose in aboriginal and nomadic cultures. The traditions of the Akha make sense in the context of people fleeing constant warfare and banditry, who can't maintain fixed boundaries for agriculture or stationary housing, who have to fight for hunting territory, who travel in small, closely-related bands, and don't have lowland grass areas for keeping grazing animals. There are a thousand cruelties built into mere survival. Male children can bring in desperately needed protein from hunting; too many girls risks overconsumption of the land's carrying capacity in the absence of contraception. Incest is a real genetic risk given the relative isolation from other tribes. Twins are taboo because they're so brutally taxing to bear, often killing their mothers and being smaller and weaker than singleton births. Written text is too fragile in the tropical climate, so all knowledge has to be borne on the backs and in the heads of tribespeople. Li-yan's mother is a repository of centuries of medical knowledge that's enough to keep most people alive, while the stronger men handle law and justice.
In the broader Han Chinese tradition, fostered further by the One Child Policy, male children make more economic sense. They're more productive per head in farming, don't require dowries, and remain to serve their birth families. I don't know why the CCP exempted the non-Han ethnicities from the One Child Policy, and this is a critical detail in the book.
All of these statements are sort of "just-so" stories about how cultures evolve, but at an empirical level, they seem to explain the stories Li-Yan tells about herself and her people.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - April 2026 - The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See in ~books
patience_limited (edited )Link ParentI didn't want to get into personal specifics on this thread, but serendipity struck again and I just had this conversation with my spouse on a long car trip. I too had the "grateful and angry"...I didn't want to get into personal specifics on this thread, but serendipity struck again and I just had this conversation with my spouse on a long car trip. I too had the "grateful and angry" experience growing up with one immigrant parent who aggressively alienated us kids from our cultural heritage, one ASD parent who wasn't really in tune with what that meant, and neither having a clue what to do with an other-gendered, probably neurodivergent child. They weren't conventionally "good" parents, and I'll leave it at that.
But for the most part, I was materially provided for, at least one of them was unconditionally loving, and they both saw to it that I had a breadth of experience and knowledge that prepared me for adulthood better than most people. The place therapy got me to was, "they did the best they knew how to do", which I explained to my spouse is actually the end of judging them and feeling guilty and bad for it. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane doesn't spend much time on the aftermath of Haley and Li-Yan's meeting, or the impact on her relationship with her adoptive parents, but I suspect "the best they knew how to do" covers a multitude of sins all around.
And I also got to joke with my spouse that anger at the dead (they passed some years ago) is the leading cause of self-inflicted brain damage.
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Comment on What is your favorite dinosaur? in ~talk
patience_limited Link ParentOcculudentavis khangraae is the prehistoric example I was thinking of. TBH, as a kid, I wasn't a fan of the cold-blooded, scaly, all green-gray colored model for reptilian dinosaurs then current -...Occuludentavis khangraae is the prehistoric example I was thinking of.
TBH, as a kid, I wasn't a fan of the cold-blooded, scaly, all green-gray colored model for reptilian dinosaurs then current - Team Mammal all the way. Mongo would be appalled.
Now, we think of dinosaurs as feathered, fuzzy, colorful... and hummingbirds are so darn cute. And vicious for their size - have you ever been dive-bombed by those things?
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Comment on Why do the top American sushi restaurants leave us so bored and so broke? (gifted link) in ~food
patience_limited LinkBack in the long ago, I had omakase at a restaurant which catered to Japanese manufacturing executives and workers living in the US. The meal wasn't tailored for American tastes at all. From what...Back in the long ago, I had omakase at a restaurant which catered to Japanese manufacturing executives and workers living in the US. The meal wasn't tailored for American tastes at all. From what the article describes, it sounds like what we had was much the better for it.
The chef-curated experience was aimed at providing diners with the best, freshest fish available, presented so that the flavor of the mainly uncooked, unaugmented morsels was as close to nature as possible. The plating emphasized simplicity and elegance, exactly what was needed to present each piece with the appropriate condiment, and no more. The only miss for my tastes was uni, which had a slimy texture and tasted the way Elmer's Glue smells (it may not have been totally fresh). It's considered a delicacy and I was game to try it, but that experience was unpleasant enough that I haven't had it again.
I won't say that meal was cheap relative to restaurant meals at the time, probably the equivalent of $75 USD/person now. Considering that the fish selections were flown into the midwestern U.S. daily, before carbon pollution was a widely known thing, it was a bargain. These days, wild ocean fish is a precious rarity and best avoided due to overfishing, the carbon cost of rapid transport, supply chains that include slave labor, and the price escalation from vanity consumption.
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Comment on What is your favorite dinosaur? in ~talk
patience_limited LinkThe bee hummingbird and others of its ilk. I think it's incredibly cool that creatures evolve to fill every survivable ecological niche, and scale is one of the easiest ways to fit. When you think...The bee hummingbird and others of its ilk.
I think it's incredibly cool that creatures evolve to fill every survivable ecological niche, and scale is one of the easiest ways to fit. When you think about how quickly humans selected wolves for sizes from Chihuahua to Great Dane, it's believable that hundreds of millions of years of natural selection resulted in everything from 70 metric ton Titanosaurs to 10 g hummingbirds.
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Comment on Pharmacogenetics personalised medicine: new frontier or nonsense? in ~health
patience_limited Link ParentThere's a great deal of variation by ethnicity. That's been entered into prescribing considerations for a while, especially in oncology and for high-risk drugs like anticoagulants. If you're a...There's a great deal of variation by ethnicity. That's been entered into prescribing considerations for a while, especially in oncology and for high-risk drugs like anticoagulants. If you're a member of a population that's generally got a 25% chance of not responding at all to warfarin and you might die from a blood clot, that drug probably wouldn't be prescribed, even though there's a 75% chance you'd be fine. It's a critical enough treatment that they're not going to wait for individual genetic testing. [Recent experience with a family member...]
It's only in the last few years that individual genetic testing has gotten cheap, rapid, and specific enough to be cost-effective and meaningful. I totally get where you're coming from - I apparently don't metabolize antihistamines, related antidepressants, antinausea drugs, or benzodiazepines very well, and have had some scary side effects from standard doses.
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Comment on I love bioparks in ~travel
patience_limited Link ParentI'm a fan of outdoor installations of Dale Chihuly's work. The Fairchild gardens I mentioned above have some nice permanent emplacements that don't encroach too badly on the natural environment....I'm a fan of outdoor installations of Dale Chihuly's work. The Fairchild gardens I mentioned above have some nice permanent emplacements that don't encroach too badly on the natural environment. There's an exhibition starting at the Meijer gardens this weekend, though I may not pay the extra $10 to see the indoor display.
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Comment on Pharmacogenetics personalised medicine: new frontier or nonsense? in ~health
patience_limited (edited )Link ParentThanks - I'm not working in the field, but studied biochem and tox back in the long ago, and continue to follow the literature. As I mentioned above, I also have a personal reason for interest in...Thanks - I'm not working in the field, but studied biochem and tox back in the long ago, and continue to follow the literature. As I mentioned above, I also have a personal reason for interest in pharmacogenomics for mental health. Both I and my insurer would be delighted to discover something cheaper that works as well for me as relatively exotic and expensive (still under patent in the US) vortioxetine...
US law around genetic data is fairly strict in the context of the HIPAA laws, but giving PHI to third parties that aren't covered entities is fraught with peril (today's example). In the U.S., a health insurer or genetics lab is a covered entity which can't share your information for any purpose other than providing care, but I have no idea what Canadian health privacy laws permit.
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Comment on Pharmacogenetics personalised medicine: new frontier or nonsense? in ~health
patience_limited LinkGenetic testing for predicting response to various pharmaceutical interventions is mostly about gene variants that impact drug metabolism, not necessarily drug response or likelihood of all...- Exemplary
Genetic testing for predicting response to various pharmaceutical interventions is mostly about gene variants that impact drug metabolism, not necessarily drug response or likelihood of all serious side effects (e.g. drug allergies).
There's evidence that up to 80% of the population carries gene variants that impact drug metabolism, either slowing or accelerating breakdown and elimination of specific kinds of chemicals. Knowing which families of chemicals can result in potential under- or over-dosing is important, but it doesn't necessarily tell you which of the tolerable drugs will be most effective for your particular condition.
There's mixed evidence on whether pharmacogenomics actually helps people with various mental health conditions recover faster or better. The best evidence is that it does help achieve faster improvement in major depressive disorder. This could be because there are so many antidepressants with different mechanisms of action, and skipping trials of the ones with unfavorable metabolic profiles would save a great deal of time. [Personal experience, I've been prescribed most of them at one time or another, with varying results from totally ineffective to debilitating to emergency room visits. I would have a different life if the right one was found on the first or second try.]
For ADHD, the review I referenced didn't seem to show a substantial improvement from pharmacogenomic testing across multiple studies. The available mechanisms of action rely on a handful of drugs that are chemically similar to each other, so there's less scope for eliminating whole drug families that you might respond to unfavorably.
As far as how the insurance company benefits, fewer ineffective or harmful drug trials means fewer doctor visits. Earlier improvement generally means better long-term medical outcomes, especially for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, where delayed treatment increases the likelihood of recurrent hospitalization. Un- or under-treated ADHD substantially increases risks for all-cause mortality and morbidity, including auto accidents, missed medical diagnoses, violence, etc. It's a good risk mitigation strategy for insurers if it works as advertised.
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Comment on I love bioparks in ~travel
patience_limited (edited )LinkAs it happens, I'll be visiting the Fredrick Meijer Gardens and Sculptural Park this coming weekend. I haven't been to this one yet, and I'm quite looking forward to it since it's the real...As it happens, I'll be visiting the Fredrick Meijer Gardens and Sculptural Park this coming weekend. I haven't been to this one yet, and I'm quite looking forward to it since it's the real beginning of spring here. Sadly, it's one of those privately funded vanity projects of the morbidly wealthy, which also means substantial admission charges ($25+ USD for entry).
If you haven't seen the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables (near Miami), Florida, it's a great day trip. There's a broad selection of specimens across multiple tropical biomes (aquatic, desert, etc.), including cycads, orchids, and spectacular rarities like the Jade Vine. The vistas are well designed for viewing at distance, as ecological vignettes, and in close view of individual plants. If you've got kids, the butterfly garden will enchant them, and there's a reasonably priced restaurant on the grounds. At various times of the year, local exotic tropical fruits are available for sale, there's a Mango Festival with hundreds of varieties. Even the gift shop has some extraordinary finds. There's always something in bloom, the placement of specimens is elegant, there are permanent and rotating sculpture installations. Even in the hottest months, shady jungle grottoes make it tolerable.
If you're visiting Nashville, Tennessee, Cheekwood Estate and Gardens has lovely landscape architecture with well-chosen sculpture installations, both classical and modern. The last time I was there, the museum and art gallery on the grounds was a perfect respite from a rainy day.
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of April 27 in ~society
patience_limited LinkThe EPA Tells States to Test the Water for Birth Control and Abortion Pills Every impulse I have to think things can't get more ridiculous gets tromped on by this insane reality.The EPA Tells States to Test the Water for Birth Control and Abortion Pills
Every impulse I have to think things can't get more ridiculous gets tromped on by this insane reality.
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Comment on What are your go-to meals that you cook? in ~food
patience_limited LinkI've got some standbys that are similar to those already posted, but Oyakodon is an easy, quick, high-protein comfort meal that I make about every other week, especially in the winter. I use...I've got some standbys that are similar to those already posted, but Oyakodon is an easy, quick, high-protein comfort meal that I make about every other week, especially in the winter. I use instant dashi, and for my taste, cut back the sugar to about a teaspoon (5 g). It scales and reheats reasonably well, so I usually make a double recipe to have a couple of days of meals.
Oyakodon (Japanese Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl)
Asian, Entree, Japanese, Poultry, Quick Dinner
Cook Time: 20 mins | Servings: 2 servingsIngredients:
1 cup (240ml) homemade or instant dashi (see notes)
2 tablespoons (30ml) dry sake
1 tablespoon (15ml) soy sauce, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon (15g) sugar, plus more to taste
1 large onion (about 6 ounces; 170g), thinly sliced
12 ounces (340g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breast, thinly sliced
3 scallions, ends trimmed and thinly sliced, divided
2 stems mitsuba (optional; see note)
3 to 4 large eggs (see note)
To Serve:
2 cups cooked white rice
Togarashi (see note)Directions:
Combine dashi, sake, soy sauce, and sugar in a 10-inch skillet and bring to a simmer over high heat. Adjust heat to maintain a strong simmer. Stir in onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is half tender, about 5 minutes. Add chicken pieces and cook, stirring and turning chicken occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and broth has reduced by about half, 5 to 7 minutes for chicken thighs or 3 to 4 minutes for chicken breast. Stir in half of scallions and all of mitsuba (if using), then season broth to taste with more soy sauce or sugar as desired. The sauce should have a balanced sweet-and-salty flavor.
Reduce heat to a bare simmer. Pour beaten eggs into skillet in a thin, steady stream, holding chopsticks over edge of bowl to help distribute eggs evenly (see video above). Cover and cook until eggs are cooked to desired doneness, about 1 minute for runny eggs or 3 minutes for medium-firm.To Serve: Transfer hot rice to a single large bowl or 2 individual serving bowls. Top with egg and chicken mixture, pouring out any excess broth from saucepan over rice. Add an extra egg yolk to center of each bowl, if desired (see note). Garnish with remaining sliced scallions and togarashi. Serve immediately.
Nutrition:
(per serving)
635 Calories 19g Fat 63g Carbs 50g Protein
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2
Amount per serving
Calories 635
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 19g 24%
Saturated Fat 6g 29%
Cholesterol 436mg 145%
Sodium 960mg 42%
Total Carbohydrate 63g 23%
Dietary Fiber 3g 9%
Total Sugars 11g
Protein 50g
Vitamin C 9mg 45%
Calcium 114mg 9%
Iron 5mg 29%
Potassium 916mg 19%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. -
Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - April 2026 - The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See in ~books
patience_limited Link ParentI'm not much of a tea drinker, but I appreciate the parallels to wine tasting traditions, which I do have some familiarity with. I went poking at the Bana Tea Company site linked in the book's...I'm not much of a tea drinker, but I appreciate the parallels to wine tasting traditions, which I do have some familiarity with. I went poking at the Bana Tea Company site linked in the book's Afterword. I'm looking forward to trying the teas recommended to go with the story.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - April 2026 - The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See in ~books
patience_limited (edited )Link ParentAgain with me and the serendipity - as I was reading the book, this article popped up in my mailbox. It discusses the emergence of the "kill line", the point where impoverishment by market forces...Again with me and the serendipity - as I was reading the book, this article popped up in my mailbox. It discusses the emergence of the "kill line", the point where impoverishment by market forces and social control forces people into inescapable dire poverty, in both the U.S. and China. Part of the focus is rural displacement. China has historically avoided entrenched pockets of urban poverty by circulating undereducated rural people between temporary urban jobs and farmland. However dire the rural poverty, they could mostly survive there by their own labor. Now, the consolidation of farming under mechanized agriculture is eliminating that fallback, and long-term urban employment requires skills that rural workers aren't trained for.
The book touches on this transition, and implies that artisanal production skills are their own wealth that should be preserved.
Capricious governance is a through-line in Chinese history. From Mao's collectivization of the land to the Cultural Revolution to Deng's "It's good to be rich", the stresses on a people with deep land ties and a thousand year-old survival tradition, Teacher Zheng, and Mrs. Cheng are the emotional basis for the events in the story. When Jin talks about American citizenship as a fallback if "a dog becomes a cat", it's emblematic of how immigration and nomadism are lines of defense against intolerable levels of antagonistic change.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - April 2026 - The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See in ~books
patience_limited Link ParentI'm an unwilling believer in serendipity, the tendency for unseen attractors to pull people and events together from seemingly unlikely paths. The creative use of rare Pu'erh tea as a common...I'm an unwilling believer in serendipity, the tendency for unseen attractors to pull people and events together from seemingly unlikely paths. The creative use of rare Pu'erh tea as a common thread to bind wildly disparate cultures, distant but powerful historical forces, individual lives, and the just-so stories about magical healing properties which shrouded undiscovered science made for a very rich emotional tapestry as people discovered who they could become and where they fit in that complicated world. I enjoyed it a great deal.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - April 2026 - The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See in ~books
patience_limited Link ParentI'm no anthropologist, but "shibboleth" has a specific meaning arising from my birth culture (Ashkenazi Jewish) that seems apropos here. A nomadic people needs signifiers to help join scattered...I'm no anthropologist, but "shibboleth" has a specific meaning arising from my birth culture (Ashkenazi Jewish) that seems apropos here. A nomadic people needs signifiers to help join scattered individuals back into a community, wherever they find themselves.
The "coincidences" are manufactured in the culture. A hundred signifiers - how you don't cross your legs around adults, the very specific ways men and women define their roles, what you do and don't eat and when, traditions around the tea harvest... They define membership in a very specific community even among other similar communities in Yunnan. This heritage serves as a bright signal and binding even across continents. The cultural story comes before the coincidences and helps create them.
What I found less compelling and believable were the recurring "love at first sight" interactions. I know they're part of a mythic tradition that's as old and widespread as humanity, that transcends cultures. It happens, but multiple times in the same book was a little repetitive and off-putting to me. I appreciated Li-Yan's consideration and distance her second time around with romance, even though Jin was smitten. It made her character much more believable and independent, and the book less of a fairy-tale.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #1: How old are you? (Results) in ~talk
patience_limited Link ParentI'm practically in the mummy dust brigade myself.I'm practically in the mummy dust brigade myself.
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Comment on “Dungeon Crawler Carl” now available to libraries exclusively on Libby in ~books
patience_limited Link ParentI'm thinking a Sam Raimi "Evil Dead"-esque vibe would be perfect.I'm thinking a Sam Raimi "Evil Dead"-esque vibe would be perfect.
Yulin is a beauty, and clearly knows it. Plus she's got tortie-tude.