January 31st 2004
I sometimes despair of ever being a good fiction writer. Because the real world comes up with something far stranger all the damn time.
Witness the following logic:
‘Okay, so because it’s Georgia, and because some fundamentalist religious groups object to the teaching of evolution in schools, we’ll still teach it, but we’ll just call it something else.‘
“Biological changes over time”????
Can I get a better definition for the monosyllabic?
January 30th 2004
It’s amazing what punching your inner critic directly in the jaw can do for your self-esteem.
I gave Arrogant Dork a good swift one this morning (oh, but he deserved it) and proceeded to print off some stories for submission to various publications.
I’m absolutely giddy. The envelopes are addressed. All I have to do is write two cover letters (easy, when I have no publishing credits. That eliminates a whole paragraph) and stamp them and wave goodbye.
I had to re-read one of the stories I’m sending out, because I’d done some edits I hadn’t double checked. Know what? I kind of liked it. Not the most brilliant story ever written, there are some phrases I think I could do better, but overall I’m pleased with it.
No, better than that. I’m proud of it. It’s good. Whether it gets a rejection slip this time or not, it’s a good story and it will find a home.
I’m tempted to write very conversational cover letters, though I know in the end I won’t. I still almost wish I’d sent the one to the editor who requested another story saying “I have foregone sleep for the past week, and thrown sand in the face of common sense. All to send you this story. So you’d better accept it, bub.” But common sense prevailed, so I didn’t, and he rejected the story.
Opportunities lost.
January 27th 2004
We return to Ceri’s Culinary Creativity. I’ve been craving this for a week now. I don’t know why. I just had to have pork roast.
Slow Cooker pork roast like Nanny used to make
4 large potatoes
5 carrots
1 1/2 lb pork roast (I got one of the center cut ones)
1 stalk celery
1 medium onion
2 cups water
3 tbsp beef bouillon*
1 tbsp flour
celery salt (or regular salt if you don’t have celery salt)
celery pepper (or regular pepper if you don’t have celery pepper)
*(I use the bovril liquid beef bouillon, but if you use cubes, three cubes mixed with the water ought to do it)
1. Peel potatoes and carrots and onions and cut into large chunks. Slice celery thin.
2. Line the bottom of the slow cooker with the vegetables you just cut.
3. Pour water and beef bouillon over the vegetables. Shake in celery salt and celery pepper.
4. Place pork roast on top of the vegetables.
5. Cover and cook on low heat setting for 8 hours.
6. When the roast is ready, there will be liquid left in the bottom of the slow cooker. Transfer that to a pot (I removed the meat and vegetables, then just poured it out). Skim the fat off the top and whisk in the flour. Simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Serve over the meat.
Notes: This was so easy to make and exactly what I wanted. I tossed it together first thing in the morning and it was done by suppertime. The meat was tender, the vegetables were well-cooked and the gravy was incredibly flavourful. It’s a bit on the fatty side, so I wouldn’t make it every week, but the next time I want pot roast, I’m definitely doing this.
January 27th 2004
Okay, I haven’t whined about the temperatures all winter, so I’m entitled to this one rant. Skip it if you’re sick of hearing about it.
So it’s supposed to go up to -12 Celcius today. Which compared to the weather we’ve been having would probably feel like a warm summer’s day. Except that it’s still -20 outside according to my trusty thermometer. Stupid weather. And later on in the week it’s supposed to rise to -8 degrees. I’m sure you will share my joy if that happens. Note that I say ‘if’.
It has become so cold in my apartment that the bedroom no longer gets warm. Not only does it not get warm, if I turn the heater up on maximum and close the room off from the rest of the house the temperature inside will actually drop. This is after we shrink-wrapped the window and put putty around the frame to keep out the draft. I have called the handyman and told him the situation is dire. He’s going to stop by this afternoon. Heck, the cat won’t even sleep in there anymore and he sleeps in there all day and may I point out that he is wearing fur.
The computer room, the one room in the house that I could always count on to be warm (when the heaters work, that is, and right now they do), is cold. It is so cold, in fact, that our wooden doors, the ones which normally shut tight, will not close in some places.
At least I have hot chicken soup for lunch, and hot tea.
Otherwise, BRR! BRR, I say!
January 26th 2004
Yesterday was Gaming Sunday, so I spent the evening with friends, battling the forces of Evil.
One of the things I’ve noticed about gaming, is that my artistic friends like to draw their characters. I really admire this, because they come up with some beautiful characters. Unfortunately, they also make me feel woefully untalented, because drawing is not really a skill I posess.
I’m always tempted to give a description of my character to one of the artists of the group, to have them come up with a picture for me that I can use to show people what my character looks like. I don’t like doing this for two reasons. One is because I feel like I’m imposing on their time (which I may or may not be doing) and the other is that I feel like I should be able to do this on my own. It is, after all, my character.
So last night, I set my jaw, and while the game was going on, I picked up a pencil and started to sketch. I made a lot of rough marks and circles before adding details, and made a lot of erasings, but by the end of the evening I had something that I thought pretty well resembled the body shape of my character. I also had an even rougher sketch that I thought looked sort of, but not quite exactly like her face. It definitely needs work.
So next time I’m taking my sketchbook and pencils when I go gaming. And while combat, or bookeeping stuff I’m not involved in is going on, I’ll be making the pencil-skritching noises I’ve always envied in others. And at the end of it maybe I’ll have a drawing that I’m pretty proud of.
Actually, I’m kinda proud of the drawings I did last night. They aren’t great, but they’re great for me and that’s what counts.
January 25th 2004
I could be wrong on this, but it seems that my current situation, coming out of a long bout of writer’s block as I am, has led to some interesting side effects. Not only did I start costuming again, but I’m finding that I have this desire to create different foods. I’m taking recipes I’ve used before, or reading up online about a recipe, then going off and making it myself with lots of modifications and mostly no peeks at the original recipes. So they’re basically turning out entirely different.
I thought I’d post some of my recipes up here so people other than me can use them. Also so that I have a record of things that I’ve tried.
Friday night was simple chicken soup, which tasted good, but didn’t turn out quite like I expected and was too salty and oddly sweet at the same time. Suggestions as to what could have gone wrong are welcome. Also, some of the measures are approximate, so if you’re using these you have to add, taste, and try again.
Easy and Quick Chicken Soup
Serves: 3
Ingredients:
5 cups of water
2 chicken breasts (I used thawed frozen ones)
4 tbsp chicken soup mix
4 large carrots, sliced
1 large onion, chopped up small
2 celery stalks sliced small
2 cloves garlic pressed or minced
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp tarragon
1/3-1/2 cups barley (I just poured it in until it looked right)
celery pepper
fresh ground pepper
1. Add chicken soup mix to water and bring to a boil.
2. Add celery, carrot, onion, tarragon, garlic and barley. Boil for about 3 minutes.
3. Add the raw chicken breasts. Cover and boil for at least 20 minutes.
4. Remove the chicken breasts from the pot. Trim fat, chop and return them to the soup.
5. Add parsley. Continue boiling the soup until the barley is tender. (Probably another 10 minutes)
6. Grind fresh pepper on top before serving.
Notes: I had to add potatoes to soak up some of the salt so I know I used too much soup mix in this. Next time I’ll try with chicken stock rather than the soup mix. What I can’t figure out is what gave the soup a sweet flavour. Did I use too many carrots? Was it the barley? I really have no idea. Oh, and the soup was quite filling.
Meanwhile…
Yesterday morning my creative recipe o’ the moment was apple cinnamon pancakes. I used to use pancake mix until I looked at recipes online and realized that it’s stupidly easy and cheap to make your own batter.
Basic Pancake Batter
(Makes enough batter for 2-3 people)
1 cup flour
1 cup milk (this is approximate)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
Put flour, salt and backing powder in a bowl. Add the egg. Mix while slowly adding the milk until the mixture will pour well. Depending on the day, you may need a little more or less than 1 cup milk.
Fry pancakes at medium heat.
Variations
For blueberry pancakes, add 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen) to the basic batter.
For apple cinnamon pancakes add 3/4 tsp of cinnamon to the basic batter. Peel, core and chop one large apple into small pieces and add that to the batter.
Notes: I’d use more cinnamon next time for the apple-cinnamon variation, possibly as much as 2 tsp. And possibly also some nutmeg. I also have an idea for blueberry-lemon pancakes using a little lemon juice and zest, but I haven’t tried that yet.
January 22nd 2004
I went out for lunch with the Husbandat a Chinese restaurant earlier in the week, and instead of getting my usual wonton soup, I ordered the hot and sour soup.
I seem to remember ordering this at the same restaurant some time ago and finding it rather spicy. But this time it was just good. I wouldn’t say it was mild, but I have trouble judging whether it was really hot or not (it’s all relative, right?). In any case I absolutely loved the taste. Great for cold days (and we’ve been having a few).
So now I’m off hunting up hot and sour soup recipes so I can make it at home. Anyone out there have a good one?
Also, I’m a tofu dummy. Can anyone suggest a good brand, or offer advice on what I should be looking for?
January 20th 2004
Well, I finished the dress I’ve been working on. It has 46 individually sewn buttons. I made the button loops myself. I made the seam binding myself.
It’s probably the nicest dress I’ve ever made. With the least amount of hassles so far, too! I didn’t even cry over the sleeves, and I hate sewing sleeves (the words “ease in fullness” strike fear into the very core of my soul.) I’m currently calling it “chaser of dustbunnies” because the skirts trail on the floor and pick up all that dust we thought the vacuum got. This will be fixed sometime later this week when I get someone who can help me cut off the excess fabric.
Once the hemming is done, I have to dye the dress black.
Why dye it, you ask? Well, because buying black fabric to begin with was just too damn expensive. I bought cheap fabric with the intent of dying it in the end.
Of course, the dress is so nice that I’m afraid of putting it in the dye now for fear of ruining it. So I’ll just revel in it for a little while longer — probably a couple of more days — until I get the courage to drop it in a vat of cold, black water. It’s not so much the black I’m worried about. If the dress doesn’t turn out, I can dye it again. I just don’t want it to shrink or warp.
If I ever get the money to make this dress again, though, I’m definitely splurging on the more expensive fabric. In fact, when I win oodles of cash in the lottery, I might make it in 3 or 4 different colours, just ’cause.
And now, I’m off to sweep the floor with my new clothing. Ta!
January 19th 2004
(Or, “What words mean for those who just use words with one beat”)
So I was speaking with two friends on Friday about the general level of discourse on the internet. Actually, we were talking about the lack of intelligent discourse and how to do something about it.
It wasn’t me, but I can’t remember who suggested trying to increase the vocabulary of people on the internet by creating the simplest possible definitions. That is, definitions with only one syllable in them.
We had some great fun with this, so I’ve decided to bring it to my little blog community. I’ve gone through some recent posts and come up with words I’d like to see you guys give definitions for…
Accomplished
Sculpture
Tolerate
Costume
Information
Coherent
I think that’ll do for now. Remember, the rules are this: You can use as many words as you like, but they can only have one syllable each.
Go. Define.
January 18th 2004
Thanks to the generous time commitment of t! during a nice long phone conversation yesterday evening, two things have happened.
(1) My internal critic, that voice that tells me I can’t write, or shouldn’t write, or that I’m delusional or flaky, or any one of a number of self-deprecating things, now has a name. And the name is Arrogrant Dork.
Yes. He is, in fact, A. Dork.
Now that I know his name, I can tell him to shut up. The feeling of power this brings probably cannot be grasped by those that have never done it. It is sweet. Because in the way of magic, naming him means I own him.
Imagine my catlike grin of smugness.
2. Partly linked to (1) I feel an incredible weight lifted from my shoulders. Things are bad. But that doesn’t mean they won’t get better. And now I think I see a way out.
I’ve been sewing. Okay, so it’s not writing, but it’s a start. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve done anything creative? Something that I didn’t feel that I absolutely had to do? Something that I genuinely enjoyed doing?
Let’s just say: it’s been a while.
I feel light as a feather.