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	# 2025-07-09 - Five Questions by Christina

	I saw a new set of five questions from Christina!

	July 2025 Five Questions

	Here are my answers below each question.

	> 1. Has a self-help book ever helped you? If yes, would you share
	> the title and author?

	To paraphrase the original question, which self-help book resulted in
	lasting change after i read it? I'd probably go with the NVC book by
	Marshall Rosenberg because it presents a dirt-simple process for
	assuming responsibility for one's needs in a compassionate way. The
	attitude or the "spirit" it was written in has influenced me more
	than the technical details of the NVC process itself.

	NVC by Marshall Rosenberg

	> 2. How many times a month do you cook dinner at home? Do you plan
	> most of your meals, or do you start by looking in the refrigerator
	> to see what hasn't gone bad?

	I cook most of my meals. I prioritize based on ingredients. For
	example, does that cabbage look like it needs to be used soon? Then i
	will think of a cabbage dish. I like to cook big batches of food and
	then eat leftovers for several days, or perhaps stick some in the
	freezer to eat even later. Often i will stagger it, so day #1 i make
	a crockpot of soup, day #2 i make cornbread, day #3 i make a big
	batch of greens, and so forth. It's like surfing and riding the
	waves in the kitchen. I have a healthy appetite, so i have almost
	zero food waste. I eat it before it goes bad.

	> 3. Where do you get your recipes for #2? If you have multiple
	> cookbooks do you rotate them?

	Here is a chance to plug my gopher recipe site. Most of these
	recipes came from Fidonet, Usenet, and other freedom loving
	communities. I also digitize and post recipes from cookbooks. I
	tend to focus on the vegetarian recipes and what could be described
	as "hippy food."

	MOAR

	> 4. If you've gone antiquing or thrift store shopping, what is one
	> of your great finds?

	There are so many! Recently at the Senior Center Thrift Store in
	Cave Junction i bought two AlphaSmart 3000's in good condition for
	$6 each. I had no idea what they were when i bought them and took a
	gamble that they could be fun to tinker with. They have grown on me!
	I can use them like a typewriter and type in my notes, thoughts, etc.
	It interfaces with the PS/2 port of my SvarDOS PC, the USB-C port of
	my Android phone, and the USB port of my Linux laptop. The battery
	life is unparalleled. I wrote a post about translating its
	international characters to Unicode.

	AlphaSmart 3000 And Unicode

	> 5. What would make, or has made, you more patriotic?

	I recently saw a meme about the distinction between nationalism and
	patriotism. This kind of nuance helps "defend" patriotism from its
	darker connotations. Another word for nationalism is nativism.
	Ironically, many nativists are not exactly natives. These regions
	have seen multiple waves of invasion. As a friend put it,
	"Home skillet, YOU ARE an immigrant!"

	What would make me more patriotic is seeing inspiring, respectful
	leaders from well rooted traditions. In my part of the world,
	indigenous roots go back countless aeons according to archaeological
	evidence. That suggests remarkable balance and stability.

	One model would be Alaska. I have been told that people in Alaska
	have learned to live with each other in more mature and respectful
	ways, compared to Oregon, largely because of greater indigenous
	presence there.

	tags: bencollver,community

	# Tags

	bencollver
	community