Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!
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Archive for the ‘Holidays’ Category
A Beautiful Symphony
Posted in Holidays, Likes, tagged #ThingsILike, awesome, history, inspiration, Kid President, Martin Luther King Jr., MLK, Motivation, persistence, quotes, Thoughts on January 16, 2017| Leave a Comment »
2016, The Cakening!
Posted in Food and..., Holidays, tagged #ThingsILike, birthday, cake, chocolate, creativity, food, fun, home, yay on October 12, 2016| 1 Comment »
Target: Caaaakkkkeeee!!!!!
Another year, another cake:) For this year’s birthday I wanted a little visual contrast, plus a way to use the last of summer’s fruit. Also, pretty. I went with that classic good time, chocolate, and a buttercreamcheese frosting.
Two layers, baked and cooled and torted to make four. To shake things up a bit, I added a thin coating of raspberry jam before frosting the first and third layers, to bring out a touch of fruit flavor. Crumb coat. Thick frosting top. Chocolate ganache trim, topped with blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and mint, with a buttercream flower to wrap it all up.
Cutting it was scary, but worth it.
So tasty!
Gone Fishing
Posted in Holidays, tagged fun, gone fishing, summer, Thoughts, work, yay on July 25, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Oh hello there! It’s been a while since I’ve posted, as apparently I have gone fishing. Not literally, at least not yet, but in the sense that my mind has decided that it’s time for a summer vacation. I’m still working, both on writing and other things, but it seems I needed a little break and I’m taking it here.
Remember what summer meant when the last school bell rang and the doors opened on whole months of freedom and possibility? I’m feeling a little of that right now, and dang it, I’m going to enjoy it. I hope you are too!
Brain on Holiday, Apparently
Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged creativity, funny, neil gaiman, quotes, Thoughts, work on May 25, 2016| 1 Comment »
Have been unavoidably detained by the world. Expect us when you see us.
― Neil Gaiman, Stardust
Always!
Posted in Entertainment, Holidays, tagged #Maythe4thBeWithYou, awesome, fun, star wars, Star Wars Day, yay on May 4, 2016| Leave a Comment »
thestarwarstrilogy.com
Nothing Yet… But I’m Working on It
Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged #2016, #eggnogrecovery, #NewYear, #noresolutions, creativity, finishing, home, Motivation, persistence, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing, yay on January 8, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Hello, hello, greetings and salutations from 2016! I’m back home and working but I’ll admit that I’m not quite ready for the new year. I know it’s usual to plan these sorts of things before the calendar turns, but I didn’t, so I’m planning now.
Also, note to self re: Holiday Recovery… pencil in time for this next year because it’s going to happen whether you like it or not;)
It’s a new year but the same old challenges, what to do do and how to do it. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not big on resolutions. I do, however, like to take the opportunity to step back a little and think about goals and targets.
I did a lot last year but no one ever finishes every single thing on their list unless they’re aiming too low. Fall also tends to be a bit odd for me, writing and otherwise. Most of my family and holiday-related traveling is compressed into a few short months, plus NaNoWriMo in November hijacks time I’d normally spend on other plans. Then December rolls around and it’s all NaNo recovery, long car rides and Christmas shopping. Hard to get much writing done, and while I’m ok with that it does leave me in a peculiar spot come January.
Let’s see… Eggnog recovery, check. Sleep deprivation recovery, check. Catch up on missed episodes of favorite shows, check. Despair of ever managing to finish anything ever again, then get over it and move on? Check and check.
So here I am, another January with the whole year spread out in front of me like a delicious holiday smorgasbord. What to do next?
First priority: put aside the previous year’s opportunities missed and goals not quite managed, and opt not to worry about the coming year. Then ask myself what I really want to do. Next, and this is the hardest part, listen to the answer.
Onward!
#nospoilers Please!
Posted in Entertainment, Holidays, Likes, tagged #nospoilers, #WhyIWrite, awesome, entertainment, family, J.R.R. Tolkien, science fiction, sff, star wars, Thoughts, yay on December 16, 2015| 2 Comments »
Star Wars: The Force Awakens has premiered and the hype it is a-ramping! I’m excited. Really excited, like Fanboys excited, but I can’t see the movie just yet. Why not? Why am I not suited up in a Han Solo outfit (complete with super cool hip holster) and posting this from the ticket line at my local theatre? Because Star Wars isn’t just my thing, it’s a family thing.
See, I grew up without a television. My father had a minor (read major) TV problem and realized that having one meant watching one. All the time. So no TV. What we did have was a black and white lab monitor and a tape of Star Wars. On Betamax:)
We watched that tape a lot. Until the video track died, actually, and for a while after that. Most nights after dinner, Dad would make giant bowls of popcorn spackled together with butter and salt and we’d settle on the couch for the movie.
The. Movie.
Yeah, I was that kid, the geeky one who could quote the whole thing. (Droid dialog included, of course. I can’t tell you what it means to have your mostly secret childhood obsession become the new cultural darling, but I may not have to. Maybe you were that geeky kid too. Awesome, right?)
The original Star Wars was a great movie but it was also an anchor in turbulent times. My parents split up around then, my mother had health issues, I moved to a new school. The usual kinds of transitions children go through, and need a foundation to weather well.
Star Wars, and the bond that formed with my brother and father around science fiction and fantasy, was a big part of that anchor. It’s also a big part of why I write speculative fiction. In the way only fiction can, the movie proved that the good guys can win, that wrongs can be righted, and that a scrappy band of rag-tag rebels can change the course of history. (Also that parsecs are a measure of time, support garments aren’t necessary in space, and that no matter what Obi-Wan says, stormtroopers can’t shoot worth a damn. Hey, nothing’s perfect;)
My father also read us Tolkien, and when the The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings movies came out we all went together. Now those movies are done but we have a new hope (see what I did there?;). This year I’m going home for Christmas, and for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
But, that means I won’t be able to see the movie for ten days. In the meantime? There’s time for a bit of fun:
- Darth Vader Roasting On An Open Fire Is A ‘Star Wars’ Yule Log
- Block potential Star Wars: The Force Awakens spoilers with this Chrome add-on
- Jimmy Fallon And ‘Force Awakens’ Cast Sing A Cappella ‘Star Wars’ Tribute
- Last but in no way least, we have a game that lets you Transform Your Smartphone Into A Lightsaber. Kiss your productivity goodbye.
So have a great time at the movie whenever you can get there, but #nospoilers please!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted in Food and..., Funny, Holidays, tagged #Terminator+Matrix=Nonsense, family, funny, gratitude, home, john scalzi, science fiction, Thanksgiving, Thoughts, yay on November 26, 2015| Leave a Comment »
For all those in or of the United States, Happy Thanksgiving:)
For the first time I can remember I’m not back at my familial homestead partaking in traditional Thanksgiving Day festivities. The decision not to travel makes sense but it’s still a little weird, not least because I’m in a country where they celebrated the holiday last month (now that’s weird;).
So I’m a little sad with the missing of the family (not too sad, though, as I’ll see them in a few weeks) but feeling thankful for all the wonderful people in my life. I hope you are too.
Let me leave you with a link to John Scalzi’s science fictional Thanksgiving Day grace, which he wrote as a handy guide for those who may be called on to lead their tables in thanks. This timeless classic includes such gems as:
We also thank you for once again not allowing our technology to gain sentience, to launch our own missiles at us, to send a robot back in time to kill the mother of the human resistance, to enslave us all, and finally to use our bodies as batteries. That doesn’t even make sense from an energy-management point of view, Lord, and you’d think the robots would know that. But in your wisdom, you haven’t made it an issue yet, so thank you.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Cake v.2015
Posted in Food and..., Holidays, tagged birthday, cake, chocolate, creativity, food, fun, home, yay, Yuengling on September 9, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Subject: Cake, variation birthday
Year: 2015
Mission: Simple, elegant, tasty (natch)
Goal: Achieved
This year’s cake was chocolate, four layers, with a chocolate-cream cheese frosting. Sure, my original plan involved crazy complicated construction, multiple colors, and improbable royal icing designs, but in the end I wanted a good old-fashioned birthday cake. Nothing stressful, nothing so complex that it would interfere with family time. This fit the bill to perfection.
I used raspberry jam alternated with frosting in the filling, plus raspberries and their leaves on top for decoration, served with Pennsylvania’s own Yuengling Black & Tan ice cream.
Damn fine cake, if I do say so myself:)
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