Natterings From Nepantla

I'd been doing fairly well on the diary substitutes front recently. A couple weeks ago, I finally encountered a faux cream cheese that doesn't taste like it's full of salt. And I've started noticing that there's now sweetened condensed coconut milk in the baking aisles, so I'm definitely going to be getting out the old family recipe for seven-layer bars at some point.

But what I really wanted to do last weekend was make brownies. Then I discovered I needed to get more unsalted sticks of margarine (or "plant butter" as it has been rebranded at some point). I looked for it on my next trip to the local Albertson's and they didn't have any. Or even an empty space on the shelf where it should be. They still carry the salted version of the same brand, but it's like the unsalted version never existed.

It was the same at the local Safeway, and the Fred Meyer. I finally even tried the nearest Wal-Mart and no luck.

Today I had an errand near a New Seasons, and there I finally found some unsalted margarine from a different brand. (They also had the usual brand I get, but also just the salted kind.)

So at least I still have one possible, albeit inconvenient and more expensive, source. But for my trouble, I also discovered that they carry evaporated coconut milk, which none of the more mainstream grocery stores have started carrying yet. So this year I can return to making myself a pumpkin pie in the manner in which I am accustomed (which is getting canned pumpkin and following the standard recipe on the label).

I finished 8 shows this season, which is a new record for me.

( And there was some very good stuff! )

Next season is, um, less stacked. In fact it looks like a good time to catch up on a few things. The only premieres I'm currently planning to check out are Tetsuryō!, because trains, and The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom, because it's one of those rare cases of a medieval-ish fantasy world not looking like like a total visual mishmash.

Featuring the revelation of a belatedly discovered numbering error. Plus, an index to volume 5.

You've heard of the light rail coyote? Now we have goats on a bus.

Yesterday I made it to the last-day party at Lloyd Center mall.

Lloyd Center opened in 1960 and was the first mall to feature an ice skating rink. Most of my memories of it come from when OryCon and GameStorm spent some years at the Doubletree next door and the food court had some good options for lunch and dinner. It was a bit awkward getting in, though. One had to walk in through a parking garage entrance, dodge possible traffic, duck in through a side door, and navigate through the Macy's housewares department to reach the interior of the mall.

And that gives an idea of why Lloyd Center was in decline: it was a shopping palace built for the peak automobile era, already losing tenants by the time the pandemic hit and really hollowed malls out. While there were attempts to adjust (like finally adding a proper pedestrian entrance facing the hotel and the MAX station after the section with the Macy's was demolished) it would never regain its former glory.

It did have a final burst of energy, becoming a home to a number of experimental spaces, community groups, and geek stores in the last few years, but the plan for some time has been that it would be demolished and affordable housing built in its place.

Yesterday was its last day of operation, and it was turned into a big party. It was packed with crowds like I haven't seen in any mall in a long time. There was a craft fair all over the food court, a collectible card show in one wing, and ice skating performances in progress. The local paper was running a live blog. The couple of places still serving food where overwhelmed. I was thinking about getting something from Joe Brown's Carmel Corn one last time but the line was an hour long.

I did pick up a couple of books from someone who was selling used sf and fantasy books at the craft fair. I played pinball at the pinball museum. I looked at all the art exhibits, the best one being a mixed-media project from an artist who had accompanied some scientists to Puerto Rico where they were studying anoles. As I left, the rink had switched to open skate, with people circulating to the Macarena and attempting to do the dance moves with varying degrees of success.

There was a lot of love for what Lloyd Center has lately become. Even a graffiti artist had left their own tribute, a big "VIVA LA LLOYD" up on the second floor, easy to see from the south entrance.

It's unclear what happens next; a specific plan for the housing development hasn't been approved by the city yet. A lot of people hope the skating rink will be salvaged in some form, but we'll see.