Welcome to another week, and welcome back to our daily open thread.
I had a funny weekend. On the plus side, I made a really good rhubarb galette, including finally succeeding at creating a flaky crust instead of the crumbly, tasteless mess I usually come up with. (You food processor pie dough people had the right idea all along.) On the downside, I tried to change the strings on my guitar for the first time, a seemingly simple undertaking that somehow devolved into me snapping several strings. I probably should have taken a break to get a better handle on the task before proceeding (why are there so many ways to wind a guitar string??), but I got frustrated and just kept forcing things until I made a total mess of the task and ended up lying on the floor next to my guitar groaning. This wouldn’t be as big a deal if the music shops in my town were open, but as soon as new strings arrive, I guess I can try again. I really didn’t think it would be as tricky as it is!
Both these tasks made me aware of my very childish tendency to get overwhelmed when I get frustrated and just sort of ruin whatever I’m failing at. I definitely broke a couple strings I didn’t need to not quite on purpose, but sort of to just totally cement my failure and make myself feel worse. I almost did the same with the pie dough—“This doesn’t seem right, let’s toss it!”—before managing to take a step back and a deep breath, recheck the recipe, and keep going. It seems like a silly skill to learn in my late 30s, but with my world narrowed down to Twitter and my apartment, these little failures feel like really big deals.
How was your weekend? How’s it going?