china_shop | Oct. 17th, 2026

Days just zip past.
I made blueberry and orange bran muffins yesterday, and they came out fluffy and moist and just what I wanted. We took some round to Andrew's parents' place for afternoon tea, where they were gratifyingly well-received. (I've since bought another orange, for lo, I am weak.)
The further in I get, the more of my Chinese-learning time is spent on revision. I guess that's inevitable.
I accidentally started listening to a BDSM m/m novel, which is helpfully confirming for me that even when it's done in a way most calculated to work for me, it doesn't. (I've always been slightly unsure if my DNWing it was just a sour-grapes hang-over from people leaning into the power-imbalance in White Collar in a way that didn't work for me.)
I'm ~~desperately~~ seeking good Detective L subs, if anyone happens to know where I can find some. The ones in my downloads are sufficiently hard to parse that they're an impediment to watching more. ETA: The Youtube subs are much better than the ones bundled with my downloads. \o/
ETA: At the suggestion of my Taiwanese language exchange partner, I'm having a crack at learning Bopomofo (aka Zhuyin), an alternate transcription system. Because what I needed was another app. ;-) (She suggested it would help with my pronunciation, and after some resistance and consideration, I think she's probably right.)

the carnival of you and me