A few years ago, when I was living in the housing co-op and looking for a quick cookie recipe, I came across a blog post for something called “Norwegian Christmas butter squares.” I’d never found anything like it before: it created rich, buttery and chewy cookies, like a vastly superior version of the holiday sugar cookies I’d eaten growing up. About a year ago I went looking for the recipe again, and failed to find it. The blog had been taken down, and it sent me into momentary panic.
Luckily, I remembered enough to find it on the Wayback Machine, and quickly copied it into a file that I’ve saved ever since. I probably make these cookies about once a month, and they last about five days around my voracious husband - they’re fantastic with a cup of bitter coffee or tea. I’m skeptical that there is something distinctively Norwegian about these cookies, but they do seem like the perfect thing to eat on a cold day.
Norwegian Christmas Butter Squares
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 egg 1 cup sugar 2 cups flour 1 tsp vanilla ½ tsp salt Turbinado/ Raw Sugar for dusting
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Chill a 9x13″ baking pan in the freezer. Do not grease the pan.
Using a mixer, blend the butter, egg, sugar, and salt together until it is creamy. Add the flour and vanilla and mix using your hands until the mixture holds together in large clumps. If it seems overly soft, add a little extra flour.
Using your hands, press the dough out onto the chilled and ungreased baking sheet until it is even and ¼ inch thick. Dust the top of the cookies evenly with raw sugar.
Bake at 400 degrees until the edges turn a golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let cool for about five minutes before cutting the cooked dough into squares. Remove the squares from the warm pan using a spatula.
tumblr: on languages
*sigh* Reminding all of you once again...
If you're pro-AI art, you're harming human artists. Full stop.
At this point, I don't care if it's "real art" or not because that's not even what the real issue is, it's that it's already hard enough to succeed as an artist without having our work stolen, thrown into a digital blender, and spat back out in our faces, so we can be replaced because the value of our creativity and skill has been reduced to "content" and dollar signs. Do we mean nothing to you? Is your convenience worth telling us we don't matter?
These programs and everyone who uses them no matter how many times we've told you this can get fucked. I'm done being nice about it.
Sincerely, your salty neighborhood artist.
This post doesn’t contain links to many professional resources - it’s a list of coping tips from people who are mentally ill/disabled themselves and who all decided to share what has worked for them here on tumblr. In the last 7 months I have been sharing content created for and by mentally ill/disabled people on this blog - and to celebrate reaching 5000 followers, I have decided to collect all the best coping tips I’ve come across in one easily accessible place. Enjoy!
Managing emotions:
Letting go of emotional suffering via mindfulness.
DBT strengthening statements
Handling negative emotions
The “emotions are signals” method
The “mindfully recognizing emotions” method
Healthy perspectives on emotions
The “emotions are like hiccups” method
The “healthy outlets” method
Managing anxiety:
Coping statements for anxiety.
Breathing exercise gif
Breathing exercise gif 2
Things to remember when having an anxiety attack
The “just show up” method
The “panicky friend” method
Grounding techniques
The “I can survive the next 10 seconds” method
The “distract your brain” method
The “you will be able to cope” method
Managing depression:
7 depression tips and why they work
Depression tips
21 tips to keeping your shit together when you’re depressed
Managing executive dysfunction:
The “might as well” method.
The “one step access” method.
Why self-discipline isn’t always the answer.
The “use whatever works” method.
The “taking care of someone else” method.
The “june-bugging” method.
Tricks for pushing through executive dysfunction
The “do several things at once” method
The “accept your limits” methods
The “turn it into a game” method
The “anything worth doing is worth doing poorly” method
The “tricking your brain” method
The “untangling the spaghetti” method.
The “smaller steps” method
The “emergency cleaning” method
The “letting go of should” method.
The “my body is an animal I need to care about” method
The “fork theory” method
The “remove the barriers” method
The “half-ass things” method
Managing negative thinking:
Challenging cognitive distortions.
Finding alternative thoughts.
Challenging negative thoughts
How to get over past mistakes
Toxic positivity vs hope and validation
How to improve your self-esteem
Negative and positive cognitions
The “self neutrality” method
The “separate your negative qualities from your identity” method
Self talk to help end obsessions
Ten forms of twisted thinking + ten ways to untwist your thinking
Managing self care:
How to practice balanced self care.
Why hands-on hobbies are important
Ways to self-soothe
A list of mental illness workbooks
Ways to start feeling again
How to get back on track after a breakdown
How to self-soothe and treat yourself
Types of healthy coping skills
The “parenting yourself” method
An interactive self care guide
The “don’t ignore your needs” method
Online self care
Making the most of therapy
Free worksheets for people who can’t access therapy
The “add good things to your life” method
Showering for spoonies
The “do what you can” method
The “it isn’t a waste of time just because it won’t cure you” method.
Self care cheat sheet
The “create something” method
Managing school:
Studying with anxiety and depression
Studying with mental illness
Coping with dissociation in school
Managing exam periods when you’re mentally ill
The “done is better than none” method
How to survive college
Managing urges to harm yourself:
What to do to when you’re suicidal
Questions to ask before giving up
Alternatives to self harm
Coping with suicidal thoughts
sea butterflies, Limacina helicina (Gastropoda: Limacinidae)
source
My counselor once told me to make sure I wasn’t doing things to distract myself from the boredom rather than try to sate it. I feel its one of the most important things he ever said to me.
When I’m distracting myself from the boredom, I read or game excessively so I don’t feel the emptiness of boredom. It’s a short term thing, and it only staves the boredom as long as I’m doing the thing.
When I’m sating myself from the boredom, I pursue things I am genuinely interested in and so find myself feeling fulfilled and happier for a longer period of time. Even if I stop doing it temporarily, I don’t immediately fall apart as I would with the distraction.
Spangle-cheeked Tanager
javier.chaves.photography
Happy New Year!