Outside of a Dog

maxi@wyrms.de quoted A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Hardcover, 2021, Tordotcom)

It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; …

“You don’t, if you believe that. You’re an animal, Sibling Dex. You are not separate or other. You’re an animal. And animals have no purpose. Nothing has a purpose. The world simply is. If you want to do things that are meaningful to others, fine! Good! So do I! But if I wanted to crawl into a cave and watch stalagmites with Frostfrog for the remainder of my days, that would also be both fine and good. You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live. That is all most animals do.”

— A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

agender person and robot discussing about the absence of a purpose of life

maxi@wyrms.de quoted Unmasking Autism by DeVon Price

Unmasking Autism (Hardcover, 2022, Harmony Books)

A deep dive into the spectrum of Autistic experience and the phenomenon of masked Autism, …

Autism Terminology / Common Dos and Don’ts

Use: Autistic person, Autist, Autistic, On the Autism spectrum Avoid: Person with Autism

Use: Is Autistic Avoid: Identifies as having autism

Use: Is disabled, Has a disability Avoid: “Special needs”, “Differently abled”, “Handi-capable”

Use: Neurotypical (NT), Allistic, Non-Autistic Avoid: Normal

Use: Has high support needs, Has low support needs Avoid: Low functioning, High functioning

Use: Masked Autism Avoid: Female Autism, Asperger’s, High-functioning Autism

Use: Nonverbal, Loses speech Avoid: Mute, Dumb

Use: Intellectually disabled, Developmentally disabled Avoid: R*tarded, Stupid, “Special”

Use: Direct language about what a person can or can’t do, and what kind of support they need Avoid: Euphemisms, language that minimizes challenges, language that belittles or condescends

— Unmasking Autism by DeVon Price

I wasn't aware of the negative connotation of "mute", and I even used it for myself a couple of times (when "non-verbal" would probably have been a better word choice)

maxi@wyrms.de reviewed Bread science by Emily Jane Buehler

No cover — Bread science (2006, Two Blue Books)

Nice introductory book on bread science and baking

4 stars

The book starts with an introduction to the chemical reactions in bread baking on the molecular level (chapters 1 & 2). The book also outlines the history of bread science, e.g. how models of the gluten structure have developed, and which studies and experiments contributed to the progress.

The second half of the book dedicates a chapter for each step of baking: pre-fermentation, mixing (kneading), fermentation, shaping, proofing, and baking. The chapters explain what (roughly) happens during these steps and makes references back to the first half of the book. Thus, the book explains not only how to bake, but also why to do certain things.

I think I -- a beginner at baking -- learned a lot from this book. As an introduction to the science of bread making (and to baking in general), it is really accessible and sometimes even a bit funny (e.g. due to some hand-drawn …

The book starts with an introduction to the chemical reactions in bread baking on the molecular level (chapters 1 & 2). The book also outlines the history of bread science, e.g. how models of the gluten structure have developed, and which studies and experiments contributed to the progress.

The second half of the book dedicates a chapter for each step of baking: pre-fermentation, mixing (kneading), fermentation, shaping, proofing, and baking. The chapters explain what (roughly) happens during these steps and makes references back to the first half of the book. Thus, the book explains not only how to bake, but also why to do certain things.

I think I -- a beginner at baking -- learned a lot from this book. As an introduction to the science of bread making (and to baking in general), it is really accessible and sometimes even a bit funny (e.g. due to some hand-drawn illustrations and bread comics!). The only negative thing that I notices was the writing style. However, a new edition has been published recently, which apparently improved the style (but without other improvements).

There's more to explore though! For example, there's an entire science/art around sourdough and wholegrain breads. Most of the advice given in the book target breads with (a little) yeast and refined (not wholegrain) flour. For wholegrain bread, for example, it is not advisable to punch the bread, since less gas is developed and you should thus treat the little gas preciously. I'm looking forward to reading a book about sourdough wholegrain bread with a similar focus on theory and praxis.