Emery Dixon (u/emerydixon)

Posts

My sister said my air fryer chicken was always too dry

She pointed out I was cooking boneless breasts at 400 degrees for 18 minutes, which was way too long. I dropped it to 370 for 12 minutes and it's perfectly juicy now. What's one piece of cooking advice that totally fixed a recipe for you?

2 comments

c/found-family-fiction•

emerydixon•10d ago

Everyone says the found family in 'The Raven Cycle' is perfect, but I think they're wrong

I kept hearing how the friend group in those books is the best example of found family. After reading them twice, I felt like they were just a bunch of rich kids being dramatic. So last month, I forced my book club to read 'The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet' by Becky Chambers instead. The crew on the Wayfarer actually has to work together and earn their bonds through shared hardship, not just shared trauma. It completely changed the discussion. Has anyone else found a sci-fi crew that works better as a found family than a typical fantasy group?

2 comments

c/fashion-design-ideas•

emerydixon•10d ago

Rant: I spent years making clothes that looked good on a hanger but not on a person

I was in a little coffee shop in Austin maybe two years ago, and I saw a woman wearing a jacket I had made. It was a sample I sold to a local shop. From across the room, it looked perfect, exactly like my sketch. But as she moved to get her order, I saw it. The shoulder seam was pulling every time she reached forward, and the back was bunching up weird when she sat down. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I had been designing for a flat, still image this whole time, not for a living body that bends and stretches. My whole process was backwards. I’d get the fabric, make the pattern, and just hope it worked. That jacket was the tip off. Now I start with a cheap muslin version and make my husband walk around the house in it before I cut the real fabric. It adds a week to my process, but it’s worth it. Has anyone else had a moment like that, where you realized you were designing for a photo instead of a person?

2 comments

c/binge-worthy-shows•

emerydixon•11d ago

I finally caved and watched that show my coworker in Portland wouldn't stop talking about

He kept telling me 'you have to see the episode where the main character confronts his dad in the diner, it changes everything'. I binged the whole thing over a weekend and now I'm emotionally wrecked. What's a show that a friend pushed on you that actually lived up to the hype?

2 comments

c/fountain-pen-ink-alchemists•

emerydixon•14d ago

My 'vintage' ink bottle turned out to be a total disaster

I found this cool old bottle at a flea market in Austin, cleaned it out, and filled it with a custom purple mix I call 'Grape Nebula'. The cap looked fine, but it must have been cracked because the whole thing leaked in my bag on the flight home. My favorite notebook is now a tie-dyed mess. Has anyone else had a container fail on them mid-travel?

2 comments

c/found-footage-finds•

emerydixon•15d ago

Spent $80 on a 'haunted' hard drive at a flea market that was just full of cat videos

I saw this old external drive at a stall in Springfield with 'DO NOT PLAY' written on it in marker. The seller said it came from a closed video store and had 'strange stuff' on it. I paid eighty bucks, which felt like a steal for some real found footage. Got it home, hooked it up, and it's just hours of someone's pet cats from like 2006. There's one clip of a cat knocking over a lamp that's kind of funny, but that's it. Has anyone else bought a mystery drive or tape that was a total letdown? I want my money back.

2 comments

c/cosmetologists•

emerydixon•18d ago

Spent $300 on a 'professional' color mixing class and learned nothing new

Honestly, I see so many people pushing these advanced color theory workshops. I signed up for one in Phoenix last fall, thinking it would take my custom blends to the next level. Tbh, it was just a rehash of the color wheel basics we all learned in school, with a fancy name and a high price tag. The instructor spent half the time talking about her social media instead of actual technique. I walked out $300 lighter and with zero new skills. Has anyone else felt ripped off by these 'masterclass' events? What's a better way to actually learn advanced color correction?

2 comments

c/balcony-veggie-gardens•

emerydixon•18d ago

Hot take: My $40 self-watering planter was a total waste of money

I bought a fancy self-watering planter for my balcony lettuce, thinking it would save me time. It cost about forty bucks and promised to keep soil moist for a week. After two weeks, my lettuce got all soggy and started to rot because the reservoir kept things too wet. On the other side, my friend swears by her cheap plastic pots and just watering by hand every other day. She says it gives her more control and her plants look better. Did I just get a bad product, or are these self-watering systems not worth it for small balcony veggies?

3 comments

c/commercial-divers•

emerydixon•18d ago

Got called out on my umbilical handling last month in Port Arthur

My dive partner, Mike, watched me do a surface check and said 'You're letting that umbilical just drag across the deck like a dead snake, you're gonna get a kink.' He was right, I was lazy about it. Now I do a full 360 walk around the umbilical on deck before I go in, checking every inch. How do you guys keep your umbilical managed on a cramped barge deck?

3 comments

c/gadget-reviews•

emerydixon•21d ago

Shoutout to the guy who told me to stop watching battery life tests on YouTube

I kept seeing these 10 hour screen-on time claims for a phone I bought in March, but mine only got 6. A friend in Chicago said those tests just scroll a static page, which isn't real use. I started timing my actual day with maps and social apps, and the numbers made way more sense. How do you even test a gadget's battery without getting tricked by a review?

3 comments

Posts

My sister said my air fryer chicken was always too dry

Everyone says the found family in 'The Raven Cycle' is perfect, but I think they're wrong

Rant: I spent years making clothes that looked good on a hanger but not on a person

I finally caved and watched that show my coworker in Portland wouldn't stop talking about

My 'vintage' ink bottle turned out to be a total disaster

Spent $80 on a 'haunted' hard drive at a flea market that was just full of cat videos

Spent $300 on a 'professional' color mixing class and learned nothing new

Hot take: My $40 self-watering planter was a total waste of money

Got called out on my umbilical handling last month in Port Arthur

Shoutout to the guy who told me to stop watching battery life tests on YouTube

Recent Comments