Category Archives: Crossposted

Crossposted, Essays, Food

MTHFR and Avocado Toast

I got my genes scanned, and we found cool things. For starters, we found that we could get my genes scanned by using FedEx to send a Q-tip to a laboratory. The 21st century has its problems, for sure, but it’s really, really cool, too.

MTHFR looks like an abbreviation for something impolite. It isn’t—not unless you think words like methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase are impolite. The salient point here is that the MTHFR gene, which codes for the production of that methylwhatsit folate stuff, is not working quite right for me. Most folks can get the vitamin B12 they need from folic acid supplements. I don’t do very well at turning folic acid into usable B12 folate, so I either need to go back to nature and eat lots of leafy greens, or I need some special folate supplements.

Did you know that avocados have lots of B12 in them? And I like them a lot more than I like kale.

We found other things, including a strong indication that my current antidepressant, bupropion (Wellbutrin), isn’t the best choice for me. Over the next few weeks we’ll be changing my meds, feeding me some methylfolate supplements, and putting more avocados in my diet.

Probably not on toast, though.

 

 

 

Announcements, Crossposted

Originals on eBay! Discounts in the Store!

First, the inciting incident:
We’ve had a few months of unexpected expenses, including one major appliance failure, two dental emergencies, and the urgent replacement of a video card and 32gb of RAM. Add to that the scheduled expenses of a kitchen remodel and two kids heading to college in the fall, and finances here at Chez Tayler are currently rather tight.
To the auction block! 
We’ve listed a few my originals on eBay. All of these are one-of-a-kind items, and some of them are unusual, like this  rare bit of fan art I did for Warmachine,  or the hand-painted ABS plastic Game Chief screens I did as prototypes.
We’re listing seven sheets of original card art for Munchkin: Starfinder, and four of those sheets are uncut (like the page to the left), so they have TWO originals on them. Each sheet comes with the card(s) that Steve Jackson Games made out of what I drew.
We also have several things discounted in our store. including XDM: X-Treme Dungeon Mastery (I illustrated it ) which is out of print, so if you want it, probably don’t wait.
Looking for Schlock Mercenary coinage?
All of our commemorative and challenge coins are back in stock, including the the Maxim 70 coin, and the new key fob version of that coin, which has a hole for a key ring.
Other Ways You Can Support Us

If you register with Schlock Mercenary via the right-hand sidebar, you can pledge monthly support via either Patreon or Stripe. Supporting members get access to high res versions of the strips, week-at-a-time browsing, and can even read Schlock Mercenary ad-free!

 

Crossposted, Reviews

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu

Take a pokéball and fill it with nostalgia. Then shout “I CHOOSE YOU” and throw it. Depending on whether you’ve given your Nostalgia the right kind of pokéberries, it will have evolved into PURE JOY.  That’s this movie in a nutshell  pokéball.

My eighteen-year-old loved Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, while I merely enjoyed it. My pokéberries aren’t the right kind. Many scenes which I could acknowledge as being impressively immersive were an absolute wish come true for her.

She grew up watching Pokémon, and I did not.

She also solved the mystery while we were in the car on the way to the movie. I rejected her hypothesis on the grounds that it seemed like a real stretch, and would make for a weird story, so chalk another one up for her. She enjoyed the movie more than I did, AND she solved the puzzle correctly.

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu does not clear my Threshold of Awesome, but I concede the point that I am only audience-adjacent for this film. If you like Pokémon, you’re the target audience, and you’ll probably love it. If you’re making it a group activity, though, you might want to check everybody’s pokéberries before heading out.

Crossposted, Reviews

Avengers: Endgame

As promised, here is my spoiler-free review.
1) I really liked it.
2) It clears my Threshold of Awesome
3) It retroactively boosted my enjoyment of Avengers: Infinity War. 

I’ll say more later. I do think you should make time to see this in theaters soon, because being part of the audience for this made it extra awesome for me. YMMV, but hey, you might like that too.