Lyda Morehouse's Blog, page 14
November 2, 2015
Pain in the Neck
I'm killing a little time before I head off to my first ever chiropractic appointment. I'm kind of doing this backwards since I actually have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, but OMG the pain in my neck! I had actually been hoping to get to see someone over the weekend, but, alas, today was the earliest.
I don't even know how to explain this pain (though I bet I'm going to have to in 45 minutes, anyway, so here goes...). Right, so, kind of like a pinched nerve, maybe? Shooting, but also constant... though the sharpness of it varies by position. It also seems to improve with exercise/movement and get worse when I sleep. Three ibuprofen mostly makes it manageable, but, frankly, WTF do I know about pain. I mean, really. I'm built horse-tough. I hardly ever get sick or injured, and, when I am, I get back up to full speed really fairly quickly. So, this is super-werid for me. Pain that lasts more than four days is a brand-new experience for me. I know that a lot of my friends live with chronic pain, and I will tell you I have a new appreciation for you all. This sucks. I can't even and it's only been five days.
I'm kind of hoping that the chiropractor will be magic. That, he'll take one look at me, twist my back in some way, there'll be this tremendous crack, and this strange pain will disappear.
Because I seemed to have done this to myself just as magically. I woke up with it. Seriously, went to bed, woke up OMG OW WHAT HOW HELP
My weird neck/shoulder pain, however, didn't stop my family and I from having a lovely Halloween. We did our usual Sargent Avenue trek. It doesn't mean much candy, but the houses are amazing. This year, my favorite was the house of Memes. They had basically put up a fence and came up/found a bunch of Halloween themed memes. They also had a spot where you could pose to take a selfie of your own meme (with that meme background, you know the one--with the pie-shaped pattern thingie?) Anyway, they were cool. Many of the other houses have been the same for a long time, but it's always worth it to see the Morris Dancers and all the thousands of other costumed folks. There were some inventive costumes out there! My favorites were these two youngsters dressed as bioluminescent jellyfish. They had umbrella hats with streamers and white Christmas lights dangling from them. Hard to describe, but a magical effect. I was impressed and told them so.
Anyway, I'm off. Will update with how everything went.
I don't even know how to explain this pain (though I bet I'm going to have to in 45 minutes, anyway, so here goes...). Right, so, kind of like a pinched nerve, maybe? Shooting, but also constant... though the sharpness of it varies by position. It also seems to improve with exercise/movement and get worse when I sleep. Three ibuprofen mostly makes it manageable, but, frankly, WTF do I know about pain. I mean, really. I'm built horse-tough. I hardly ever get sick or injured, and, when I am, I get back up to full speed really fairly quickly. So, this is super-werid for me. Pain that lasts more than four days is a brand-new experience for me. I know that a lot of my friends live with chronic pain, and I will tell you I have a new appreciation for you all. This sucks. I can't even and it's only been five days.
I'm kind of hoping that the chiropractor will be magic. That, he'll take one look at me, twist my back in some way, there'll be this tremendous crack, and this strange pain will disappear.
Because I seemed to have done this to myself just as magically. I woke up with it. Seriously, went to bed, woke up OMG OW WHAT HOW HELP
My weird neck/shoulder pain, however, didn't stop my family and I from having a lovely Halloween. We did our usual Sargent Avenue trek. It doesn't mean much candy, but the houses are amazing. This year, my favorite was the house of Memes. They had basically put up a fence and came up/found a bunch of Halloween themed memes. They also had a spot where you could pose to take a selfie of your own meme (with that meme background, you know the one--with the pie-shaped pattern thingie?) Anyway, they were cool. Many of the other houses have been the same for a long time, but it's always worth it to see the Morris Dancers and all the thousands of other costumed folks. There were some inventive costumes out there! My favorites were these two youngsters dressed as bioluminescent jellyfish. They had umbrella hats with streamers and white Christmas lights dangling from them. Hard to describe, but a magical effect. I was impressed and told them so.
Anyway, I'm off. Will update with how everything went.
October 28, 2015
Anime Hair and Randomness
I don't know why this happens, but sometimes my hair thinks it's in an anime and decides that gravity is entirely optional. Yesterday I woke up with some SERIOUS volume, after having gone to bed directly after a bath with still wet hair. With my current "undercut," (in quotes because the hairstylist did NOT make me look like David Beckham, like I asked,) I was pretty sure my hair was attempting to cosplay this guy (we'll see if the pictures work this time):
\
Maybe that doesn't look like much, but that lift is entirely product-less. Here's a slightly better sense of volume:
The haircut was kind of it's own story. I actually got this cut about two weeks ago. When I went into Great Clips, I got a guy named Arthur, who I got a sense might be 'family,' if you know what I mean. So, I told him that I wanted that cute haircut all the boys are sporting, the undercut. Okay, so what I really wanted was the undercut and some non-blended thing, but I couldn't remember what the cute boy at Breadsmiths had told me to ask for. Because, seriously, I looked at this guy who was slicing my bread for me and I thought, "OH! That's IT!" so I said, "Hey, I love your hair. Can you tell me what that cut is called EXACTLY so I know how to ask for it?"
Sadly, I did not write it down.
Like, I said, I remembered the undercut bit, and nothing else. At any rate, you remember my hair before, right? It was nearly down to my shoulders, it was so long. So, Arthur looks at me in that 'are-you-sure-soccer-mom' way and says, "RE-ally?" So, after giving him a serious stink eye, I say, "REALLY. I want the cute lesbian cut. Because I am a cute lesbian." And he suddenly breaks into a smile, and says, "Oh, honey, I am an EXPERT on cute lesbian haircuts."
Which is why I got this extremely cute lesbian cut.
And do not look like David Beckham. I'd really, really wanted enough hair to pull back into what the kids are calling a "man bun." But, as you can (hopefully) see, nope. I got the blended cut, so instead of Beckham I have a TinTin tuft on my head. Shawn and I were joking that would be one of the titles of my auto/biographies, "Less Beckham, More TinTin."
*sigh*
BTW, my family has come up with several titles for the books about my life. The first one is: WEIRD, BUT COMPELLING, which was how my first agent used to describe my writing to potential buyers. Mason has decreed that the second volume needs to be titled, WE'RE NOT LOST, I JUST DON'T KNOW WHERE WE ARE EXACTLY, because I say that so often and he thinks it's a pretty accurate description of life, in general. And now we have, THE STORY OF HER LIFE: LESS BECKHAM, MORE TINTIN.
Once I find out if the picture function is working properly, I will update this journal with pictures of the heirloom loom that we epically moved from my parent's house in LaCrosse to our basement. This is one of the reasons, I've not been posting much here. I've been working my butt off to prepare the finished half of our basement to house this ridiculously huge floor loom. I've patched concrete, filled holes in the walls and ceiling, and painted the heck out of everything. Just Monday, we finally cleared out the coal room (one of those forgotten spaces in our house, where you think you'll probably NEVER clear out) and made space for the kitty litters to go in there. Shawn was a trooper and got ride of a [bleep]-ton of crap she'd accumulated in the basement under the 'we might need it some day' aegis.
Mason is super-looking forward to getting some comfy chairs down in the basement, because we're also devoting a large part of the space to his LEGO collection which is currently cluttering up most of our dinning room and part of the living room. I've never minded having all his toys around, but w've now amassed so much that I think we're in danger of looking like LEGO hoarders. I hope I will forever find Bionicles guarding weird things around the house (like the guy who appeared to protect my coffee bowl,) but it would be nice to have one space where everything is stored.
\
Maybe that doesn't look like much, but that lift is entirely product-less. Here's a slightly better sense of volume:
The haircut was kind of it's own story. I actually got this cut about two weeks ago. When I went into Great Clips, I got a guy named Arthur, who I got a sense might be 'family,' if you know what I mean. So, I told him that I wanted that cute haircut all the boys are sporting, the undercut. Okay, so what I really wanted was the undercut and some non-blended thing, but I couldn't remember what the cute boy at Breadsmiths had told me to ask for. Because, seriously, I looked at this guy who was slicing my bread for me and I thought, "OH! That's IT!" so I said, "Hey, I love your hair. Can you tell me what that cut is called EXACTLY so I know how to ask for it?"
Sadly, I did not write it down.
Like, I said, I remembered the undercut bit, and nothing else. At any rate, you remember my hair before, right? It was nearly down to my shoulders, it was so long. So, Arthur looks at me in that 'are-you-sure-soccer-mom' way and says, "RE-ally?" So, after giving him a serious stink eye, I say, "REALLY. I want the cute lesbian cut. Because I am a cute lesbian." And he suddenly breaks into a smile, and says, "Oh, honey, I am an EXPERT on cute lesbian haircuts."
Which is why I got this extremely cute lesbian cut.
And do not look like David Beckham. I'd really, really wanted enough hair to pull back into what the kids are calling a "man bun." But, as you can (hopefully) see, nope. I got the blended cut, so instead of Beckham I have a TinTin tuft on my head. Shawn and I were joking that would be one of the titles of my auto/biographies, "Less Beckham, More TinTin."
*sigh*
BTW, my family has come up with several titles for the books about my life. The first one is: WEIRD, BUT COMPELLING, which was how my first agent used to describe my writing to potential buyers. Mason has decreed that the second volume needs to be titled, WE'RE NOT LOST, I JUST DON'T KNOW WHERE WE ARE EXACTLY, because I say that so often and he thinks it's a pretty accurate description of life, in general. And now we have, THE STORY OF HER LIFE: LESS BECKHAM, MORE TINTIN.
Once I find out if the picture function is working properly, I will update this journal with pictures of the heirloom loom that we epically moved from my parent's house in LaCrosse to our basement. This is one of the reasons, I've not been posting much here. I've been working my butt off to prepare the finished half of our basement to house this ridiculously huge floor loom. I've patched concrete, filled holes in the walls and ceiling, and painted the heck out of everything. Just Monday, we finally cleared out the coal room (one of those forgotten spaces in our house, where you think you'll probably NEVER clear out) and made space for the kitty litters to go in there. Shawn was a trooper and got ride of a [bleep]-ton of crap she'd accumulated in the basement under the 'we might need it some day' aegis.
Mason is super-looking forward to getting some comfy chairs down in the basement, because we're also devoting a large part of the space to his LEGO collection which is currently cluttering up most of our dinning room and part of the living room. I've never minded having all his toys around, but w've now amassed so much that I think we're in danger of looking like LEGO hoarders. I hope I will forever find Bionicles guarding weird things around the house (like the guy who appeared to protect my coffee bowl,) but it would be nice to have one space where everything is stored.
October 11, 2015
Shawarma and the Avengers
Shawn rarely likes to go to movie theaters any more. Mostly, because of the crowds, but also because the convenience of the small screen. You have have bathroom breaks without missing anything. Sit on your own couch and only be interrupted by the annoying comments of the people you love. I ended up seeing Avengers, Age of Ultron in the theater with my Marvel friends, but it recently was released to DVD, which means: time to watch it again with the family.
If you're going to watch Avengers, it seems only right that you serve shawarma.
Now, I've never had shawarma before, so I have no idea how this recipe Shawn found actually compares, but my family LOVED it. The original his here: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spicy-chicken-shawarma, but I made a few changes so I thought I'll write them out here.
We've been on a budget lately, so the first big change was that I what I had for chicken was some skin-on, bone-in breasts that had been on sale. I cooked them up ahead of time in a pot with some onions and garlic and kosher salt until tender enough to pull apart with a fork.
Then I mostly followed the recipe, except where I didn't have what was called for.
---
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons, finely chopped fresh parsley (check, got some from the garden)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon of cumin
1/8 teaspoon of ground coriander (nope, didn't have, so I substituted a dash of Penzey's Balti Seasoning, because the first ingredient listed was coriander.)
5 tablespoons of low-fat Greek-style yogurt
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
3 garlic cloves minced
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (see above)
1 tablespoon tahini (believe it or not, we usually have this around because we've been known to make our own hummus from scratch. But, since I didn't have it, I ended up skipping making the sauce entirely.)
4 (6-inch) pita's halved
1/2 cup chopped cucumber (Mason isn't fond, so I stuffed his pita with lettuce)
1/2 cup chopped plum tomato (skipped because everyone in our house hates tomatoes)
1/4 cup pre chopped red onion (used white, because we had it to hand)
Preparation:
Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in 1 tablespoon of yogurt, 1 tablespoon of juice, and two garlic cloves. Add chicken; toss to coat. Heat oil on a large non-stick skillet (I just always use our cast iron) over medium-high heat (which I actually adjusted down to low to compensate for cast iron and also, I hate the taste of burnt garlic and since the chicken was pre-cooked all I needed was to have things at sauté temperature.) Add chicken mixture to pan, cook until browned and done.
As noted we skipped the sauce. If you want it, you can go to the original recipe and follow the directions there.
Divide chicken evenly among pita halves. Fill each pita half with cucumber/lettuce/onion.
Serve.
....And feel very Avenger like while watching Avengers.
If you're going to watch Avengers, it seems only right that you serve shawarma.
Now, I've never had shawarma before, so I have no idea how this recipe Shawn found actually compares, but my family LOVED it. The original his here: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spicy-chicken-shawarma, but I made a few changes so I thought I'll write them out here.
We've been on a budget lately, so the first big change was that I what I had for chicken was some skin-on, bone-in breasts that had been on sale. I cooked them up ahead of time in a pot with some onions and garlic and kosher salt until tender enough to pull apart with a fork.
Then I mostly followed the recipe, except where I didn't have what was called for.
---
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons, finely chopped fresh parsley (check, got some from the garden)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon of cumin
1/8 teaspoon of ground coriander (nope, didn't have, so I substituted a dash of Penzey's Balti Seasoning, because the first ingredient listed was coriander.)
5 tablespoons of low-fat Greek-style yogurt
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
3 garlic cloves minced
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (see above)
1 tablespoon tahini (believe it or not, we usually have this around because we've been known to make our own hummus from scratch. But, since I didn't have it, I ended up skipping making the sauce entirely.)
4 (6-inch) pita's halved
1/2 cup chopped cucumber (Mason isn't fond, so I stuffed his pita with lettuce)
1/2 cup chopped plum tomato (skipped because everyone in our house hates tomatoes)
1/4 cup pre chopped red onion (used white, because we had it to hand)
Preparation:
Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in 1 tablespoon of yogurt, 1 tablespoon of juice, and two garlic cloves. Add chicken; toss to coat. Heat oil on a large non-stick skillet (I just always use our cast iron) over medium-high heat (which I actually adjusted down to low to compensate for cast iron and also, I hate the taste of burnt garlic and since the chicken was pre-cooked all I needed was to have things at sauté temperature.) Add chicken mixture to pan, cook until browned and done.
As noted we skipped the sauce. If you want it, you can go to the original recipe and follow the directions there.
Divide chicken evenly among pita halves. Fill each pita half with cucumber/lettuce/onion.
Serve.
....And feel very Avenger like while watching Avengers.
October 6, 2015
Waiting for the Cable Person
Several months ago, we got the news that our little Clear Wifi Hotspot isn't going to be supported any more. Not just tech support, but like, 'pull the plug' not supported.
Shawn immediately started shopping around for internet options and, I'm fairly certain, sunk into a sea of despondency because our local choices kind of suck. But, CenturyLink sent some poor young woman named, (quite awesomely,) Panda to our door, and since our choices are Scylla and Charybdis, anyway--we went with the closest rock to dash ourselves upon.
So, today in that lovely range of 9 am to 1 pm, a cable person will be showing up to connect, install, and set-up all the things.
Whee.
On the other hand, we've had lots of small inconveniences with our previous hotspot thingie, which we're hoping will go away.
I have some things I need to be working on to get our basement snazzed up for the arrival of the floor loom. I have a lot of painting to do, actually. We picked a lovely lemony color for the walls, which will hopefully brighten the place up. Mason is actually looking forward to making the whole place his 'man cave.' Which, we mostly support, since goodness knows we'd love a chance to finally get all the LEGOs out of the dinning room. There is talk of a mini fridge, which might cool, honestly, so we'll see.
But with all this house-related work going on, I haven't had my usual huge amount of time to write. And I finally have a novel project that I'm excited about. Yes, I will talk about it, but I don't want to right now because if I'm going to talk about it, I want to be working on it.
I'm thinking that I'll do bits of basement work interspersed with writing today, since I'm kind of stuck waiting, anyway.
Wish me luck.
Shawn immediately started shopping around for internet options and, I'm fairly certain, sunk into a sea of despondency because our local choices kind of suck. But, CenturyLink sent some poor young woman named, (quite awesomely,) Panda to our door, and since our choices are Scylla and Charybdis, anyway--we went with the closest rock to dash ourselves upon.
So, today in that lovely range of 9 am to 1 pm, a cable person will be showing up to connect, install, and set-up all the things.
Whee.
On the other hand, we've had lots of small inconveniences with our previous hotspot thingie, which we're hoping will go away.
I have some things I need to be working on to get our basement snazzed up for the arrival of the floor loom. I have a lot of painting to do, actually. We picked a lovely lemony color for the walls, which will hopefully brighten the place up. Mason is actually looking forward to making the whole place his 'man cave.' Which, we mostly support, since goodness knows we'd love a chance to finally get all the LEGOs out of the dinning room. There is talk of a mini fridge, which might cool, honestly, so we'll see.
But with all this house-related work going on, I haven't had my usual huge amount of time to write. And I finally have a novel project that I'm excited about. Yes, I will talk about it, but I don't want to right now because if I'm going to talk about it, I want to be working on it.
I'm thinking that I'll do bits of basement work interspersed with writing today, since I'm kind of stuck waiting, anyway.
Wish me luck.
September 15, 2015
Little Free Library
Little Free Libraries are all the rage around St. Paul and my family has wanted one for years. Our biggest hold-up is that, frankly, no one in my household is terribly handy. I don't want to cast any aspersions on any of us, but... well, nerds, okay? Books, yes! Hammers... less so.
Shawn, who loves to research and hunt around Pinerest, found us a guy on Etsy who makes little free libraries. The cost could have been prohibitive, but since I started doing the reviewing gig for Bitter Empire, I have had a bit of extra dosh. I decided that nothing would be more poetic than to spend the money I make reviewing books to buy a book-related thing! So, we ordered it, painted it up and... tried to figure out how to mount the stupid thing on a pole in front of our yard. Also, we had to contact the city of St. Paul because you know, it's kind of a structure and, more importantly, we had to dig a hole and I didn't want to puncture any gas mains while setting up a little free library.
Eventually they came out and marked all the pertinent lines and we made a decision. Last weekend, went to Menards with the bracket the Etsy guy sent along for mounting and found someone who would answer my: "What even...? How does?" questions. Thank you, Universe, for providing me with "Alex" who helped answer our biggest question, "How is 7 inches a standard size?" I'd asked a previous guy who was all *shrug*, "Should be 8, right? Hey, Alex..." and Alex just said, "Oh, well, that's because 4 by 4s aren't actually 4 by 4, they 4 by 3 and a half. And two three and a halves make seven."
Then I said, "Okay, Alex, while I have you, riddle me this: I don't want to buy two six foot posts because this is for a little free library and we specifically want the kids in the neighborhood to be able to reach it. Plus, we're putting it on a hill... so you know, slope."
Alex said, "Well, buy one 8 foot 4 by 4, and have our cutter cut it in half."
I LOVE YOU MENARDS GUY ALEX SO MUCH.
Of course, this meant going into the lumber yard of Menards which is something I actually dread. And because Mason and I were worried we were under a "get lost curse" after our mis-adventure with the star party the night before, we.. uh, got lost. Look, it's not that easy to figure that place out okay? Sure, there are giant signs that say "Cedar Posts" but... uh... okay, I don't know know what happened, but luckily there were lots of "Alexs" out there because a guy in a forklift just rolled his eyes at me and pointed to the giant sign that said "Cedar Posts."
Also finding the cutting station? It took longer than it should have, too.
On the other hand I thought for sure I'd f*ck up posthole digging and end up with uneven posts, but we kind of got it in one, which is nothing short of miraculous.
If I can crack the code, I will post pictures when we finally get everything in place (I've been chronicling work so far, but there's currently nothing to look at beyond a post in the ground.)
Shawn, who loves to research and hunt around Pinerest, found us a guy on Etsy who makes little free libraries. The cost could have been prohibitive, but since I started doing the reviewing gig for Bitter Empire, I have had a bit of extra dosh. I decided that nothing would be more poetic than to spend the money I make reviewing books to buy a book-related thing! So, we ordered it, painted it up and... tried to figure out how to mount the stupid thing on a pole in front of our yard. Also, we had to contact the city of St. Paul because you know, it's kind of a structure and, more importantly, we had to dig a hole and I didn't want to puncture any gas mains while setting up a little free library.
Eventually they came out and marked all the pertinent lines and we made a decision. Last weekend, went to Menards with the bracket the Etsy guy sent along for mounting and found someone who would answer my: "What even...? How does?" questions. Thank you, Universe, for providing me with "Alex" who helped answer our biggest question, "How is 7 inches a standard size?" I'd asked a previous guy who was all *shrug*, "Should be 8, right? Hey, Alex..." and Alex just said, "Oh, well, that's because 4 by 4s aren't actually 4 by 4, they 4 by 3 and a half. And two three and a halves make seven."
Then I said, "Okay, Alex, while I have you, riddle me this: I don't want to buy two six foot posts because this is for a little free library and we specifically want the kids in the neighborhood to be able to reach it. Plus, we're putting it on a hill... so you know, slope."
Alex said, "Well, buy one 8 foot 4 by 4, and have our cutter cut it in half."
I LOVE YOU MENARDS GUY ALEX SO MUCH.
Of course, this meant going into the lumber yard of Menards which is something I actually dread. And because Mason and I were worried we were under a "get lost curse" after our mis-adventure with the star party the night before, we.. uh, got lost. Look, it's not that easy to figure that place out okay? Sure, there are giant signs that say "Cedar Posts" but... uh... okay, I don't know know what happened, but luckily there were lots of "Alexs" out there because a guy in a forklift just rolled his eyes at me and pointed to the giant sign that said "Cedar Posts."
Also finding the cutting station? It took longer than it should have, too.
On the other hand I thought for sure I'd f*ck up posthole digging and end up with uneven posts, but we kind of got it in one, which is nothing short of miraculous.
If I can crack the code, I will post pictures when we finally get everything in place (I've been chronicling work so far, but there's currently nothing to look at beyond a post in the ground.)
September 13, 2015
A Starry Adventure....
A friend of mine who has a fairly powerful telescope put out the call last night for a star party. She usually goes down to a place in rural Minnesota run by the Minnesota Astronomical Society that's known as Grove Observatory. Last night was a new moon, clear skies, so the conditions were PERFECT.
Mason and I set off at 10:30 pm.... and never made it.
The worst part? We were following the directions perfectly. Only... I stopped trusting my instincts, as happens sometimes. We'd gotten to Goodhue County Highway 1 when the trouble started. The directions said go south, but our options were to take Goodhue Cty. Hwy 1 East or Goodhue Cty. Hway West. I had a vague memory that there's some highway rule about west being south, so I chose that option. (I was right.) However, because it wasn't on the directions that way, I started to worry if we'd made the right choice. Mason, who hates getting lost, REALLY started to worry.
This is one of those times when my Morehouse 'talk it through' trait works against me. Because, of course, I was vocalizing all my thoughts. "Do you think we've gone to far?", "Does 'T' intersection mean ANY 'T'?", etc.
I pretty much sent Mason over the edge with worry.
Trying to call our friend didn't help much because cell phone reception was spotty (AND my phone had run out battery, so Mason and I were struggling with an unfamiliar phone, Shawn's.) We ended up exchanging back and firths, basically talking over each other, and by the time we got good directions, we were already headed back to the city and Mason did NOT want to turn around again (we'd turned around at least four times.) We apologized to our friend a bunch, cried a little, yelled a lot, but, in the end, kind of decided it was a little hilariously awful.
However, it wasn't entirely a wash. I was determined that Mason at least take breath and notice the stars. So, at a stop sign on Goodhue Cty Hwy 1, I stopped the car so we could look up. It was BREATHTAKING. You could see the Milky Way. Mason had never seen that with such clarity.
Space is big. I mean, really big.
Mason and I set off at 10:30 pm.... and never made it.
The worst part? We were following the directions perfectly. Only... I stopped trusting my instincts, as happens sometimes. We'd gotten to Goodhue County Highway 1 when the trouble started. The directions said go south, but our options were to take Goodhue Cty. Hwy 1 East or Goodhue Cty. Hway West. I had a vague memory that there's some highway rule about west being south, so I chose that option. (I was right.) However, because it wasn't on the directions that way, I started to worry if we'd made the right choice. Mason, who hates getting lost, REALLY started to worry.
This is one of those times when my Morehouse 'talk it through' trait works against me. Because, of course, I was vocalizing all my thoughts. "Do you think we've gone to far?", "Does 'T' intersection mean ANY 'T'?", etc.
I pretty much sent Mason over the edge with worry.
Trying to call our friend didn't help much because cell phone reception was spotty (AND my phone had run out battery, so Mason and I were struggling with an unfamiliar phone, Shawn's.) We ended up exchanging back and firths, basically talking over each other, and by the time we got good directions, we were already headed back to the city and Mason did NOT want to turn around again (we'd turned around at least four times.) We apologized to our friend a bunch, cried a little, yelled a lot, but, in the end, kind of decided it was a little hilariously awful.
However, it wasn't entirely a wash. I was determined that Mason at least take breath and notice the stars. So, at a stop sign on Goodhue Cty Hwy 1, I stopped the car so we could look up. It was BREATHTAKING. You could see the Milky Way. Mason had never seen that with such clarity.
Space is big. I mean, really big.
September 10, 2015
First Day of School and Roasting Garllic
Mason's first day as a 7th Grader was Tuesday, September 8th. He's still very much enjoying Washington Technical, even though, this year he's separated from his usual cadre of buddies for many of his classes. Part of Mason's enjoyment I think is the fact that the people who put together schedules are really considerate of each student's individual needs. For Mason, that means he's in advanced.. everything, but particularly in math, so he's actually challenged.
Meanwhile, I'm getting re-used to getting up at OMG-It's-Still-Dark o'clock. Though, as I was telling Shawn, it's actually kind of invigorating to me because I'm a morning person, generally. I find I get a lot more done around the house now that I'm up and already there and back again by 7:30-7:45 am.
So, garlic.... the other part of the title of this post. When we were in LaCrosse, my mom and I went to one of the local farmer's markets on Sunday. It was a lot of fun and I wrote down the names of several veggies that I'm going to try to find locally to try to make. (I'm currently a little obsessed with trying to find Thai eggplant. I'm sure I'll see it at a farmer's market, but I haven't found one to go to yet. Though I'm thinking about hitting Hmongtown Market today.) At any rate, one of the things I bought was garlic from a vender who only sold various kinds of garlic. I picked Siberian, which is a "hard neck type, marbled purple stripe sub-species." Which is supposed to be particularly good for roasting. So, we tried it last night. I bought a loaf of French Bread and we roasted up the garlic. I was... good, but surprisingly mild when roasted. I mean, you could basically use it as a spread on the bread and there was only a hint of garlic. So, maybe that's the point of roasting garlic...? I wasn't sure, but it was a fun experiment nonetheless.
Meanwhile, I'm getting re-used to getting up at OMG-It's-Still-Dark o'clock. Though, as I was telling Shawn, it's actually kind of invigorating to me because I'm a morning person, generally. I find I get a lot more done around the house now that I'm up and already there and back again by 7:30-7:45 am.
So, garlic.... the other part of the title of this post. When we were in LaCrosse, my mom and I went to one of the local farmer's markets on Sunday. It was a lot of fun and I wrote down the names of several veggies that I'm going to try to find locally to try to make. (I'm currently a little obsessed with trying to find Thai eggplant. I'm sure I'll see it at a farmer's market, but I haven't found one to go to yet. Though I'm thinking about hitting Hmongtown Market today.) At any rate, one of the things I bought was garlic from a vender who only sold various kinds of garlic. I picked Siberian, which is a "hard neck type, marbled purple stripe sub-species." Which is supposed to be particularly good for roasting. So, we tried it last night. I bought a loaf of French Bread and we roasted up the garlic. I was... good, but surprisingly mild when roasted. I mean, you could basically use it as a spread on the bread and there was only a hint of garlic. So, maybe that's the point of roasting garlic...? I wasn't sure, but it was a fun experiment nonetheless.
September 8, 2015
My Summer Vacation
Yesterday was Labor Day as we spent Labor Day as we traditionally do, cheering on labor unions at the north side LaCrosse, WI, Labor Day parade. It's a really wonderful parade, the kind that's very 'small town' in a non-degrogatory way, in that there are floats that consist of heavy machinery, a city bus, and fire trucks. It's simple and awesome.
This is also know to many as "the candy" parade, because the marchers usually fling candy at the people watching. So a lot of families with small children show up. The Maid-Rite Cafe also gives away free popcorn.
It looked like it was going to literally rain on the parade but it never did.
Then we started the drive home and decided to stop for an end of summer mini golf game at Lark Toys. Mason and I have been playing a lot of mini golf this summer for reason, so it seemed like a very fitting last hurrah:
This is also know to many as "the candy" parade, because the marchers usually fling candy at the people watching. So a lot of families with small children show up. The Maid-Rite Cafe also gives away free popcorn.
It looked like it was going to literally rain on the parade but it never did.
Then we started the drive home and decided to stop for an end of summer mini golf game at Lark Toys. Mason and I have been playing a lot of mini golf this summer for reason, so it seemed like a very fitting last hurrah:
August 18, 2015
One Step Forward....Twice Shy
As I announced on Facebook sometime ago, I signed with a new literary agency: Sterling Lord Literistic.
I still have the same, wonderful agent, Martha Millard, but she's joined with bigger forces, with the hope to do bigger and better things.
When I first heard the news that Martha was leaving her private practice to join an established agency, I have to admit I had two thoughts at first: 1) Literistic isn't a word, and 2) OMG she's going to dump me like hot potato lead balloon.
Literistic is still a very hard thing for me to write without cringing, but Martha hasn't dumped me. In fact, when I called her office, we had a nice talk about what I need to do to get my career back on track. In a surprise to no one, the answer is: write something sellable.
I've known this, of course. My trouble is 'once bitten, twice shy.' In particular, one thing that always ends up happening when I chat with my agent is that she enthuses about Tate and the sort of fun, kicky things Tate has written. I can hardly blame Martha for that. Tate is by far the best selling stuff I've ever written. Tate is still making us both money.
I had an epiphany after hitting this same Tate wall with Martha....
I've figured out that the problem with Tate is that I've never quite understood what it was about those books that made them so popular. I'll be honest, it was desperate times. I was facing an early retirement when my then agent, John Morgan, suggested I try writing a vampire book. We'd met at a WorldCON and I'd confessed that vampires were my guilty pleasure. He told me that vampire books were super-hot at the moment (and they were), and later called me up and said, that if I were serious about writing a vampire book, he'd be willing to re-jigger the contract so that I could. This is when I hired Martha and the rest, as they say is history.
So, although the idea for the Garnet Lacey books were all mine, the impetus and direction of them was not.
Similarly, my later editor, Anne Sowards, really wanted me to try my hand at a YA vampire book (do I need to say that Twilight was popular at this time, too.) I wrote the proposal and all that, but, once again, the PUSH to write this particular stuff came from outside--specifically from my publisher/editor.
Precinct 13 on the other hand was something _I_ thought would be fun. Well-recieved or not, it ended my career.
Thus, I think, subconsciously, I've been afraid that my impulses are crap. Or, rather, weird and fun (and possibly award-winning, ala my science fiction), but decidedly NOT best selling.
This has been a really huge part of my inability to write original fiction. Or, perhaps, one of the MANY reasons I've been struggling. Naming it seems like a good first step to curing it. One of the other things I've decided to do is to just go ahead and NOT trust my instincts. For the next few weeks, I've decided that every couple of days, I'm going to go to one of those plot generator things and press the button. Whatever comes out, I'll try to write.
Why not?
I figure that my brain will resist a simplistic plot, anyway, and anything is better than nothing. And, it's sort of guaranteed to be stupid, right? So, I don't have to worry that the plot is stupid. It already is. I just need to write it.
I still have the same, wonderful agent, Martha Millard, but she's joined with bigger forces, with the hope to do bigger and better things.
When I first heard the news that Martha was leaving her private practice to join an established agency, I have to admit I had two thoughts at first: 1) Literistic isn't a word, and 2) OMG she's going to dump me like hot potato lead balloon.
Literistic is still a very hard thing for me to write without cringing, but Martha hasn't dumped me. In fact, when I called her office, we had a nice talk about what I need to do to get my career back on track. In a surprise to no one, the answer is: write something sellable.
I've known this, of course. My trouble is 'once bitten, twice shy.' In particular, one thing that always ends up happening when I chat with my agent is that she enthuses about Tate and the sort of fun, kicky things Tate has written. I can hardly blame Martha for that. Tate is by far the best selling stuff I've ever written. Tate is still making us both money.
I had an epiphany after hitting this same Tate wall with Martha....
I've figured out that the problem with Tate is that I've never quite understood what it was about those books that made them so popular. I'll be honest, it was desperate times. I was facing an early retirement when my then agent, John Morgan, suggested I try writing a vampire book. We'd met at a WorldCON and I'd confessed that vampires were my guilty pleasure. He told me that vampire books were super-hot at the moment (and they were), and later called me up and said, that if I were serious about writing a vampire book, he'd be willing to re-jigger the contract so that I could. This is when I hired Martha and the rest, as they say is history.
So, although the idea for the Garnet Lacey books were all mine, the impetus and direction of them was not.
Similarly, my later editor, Anne Sowards, really wanted me to try my hand at a YA vampire book (do I need to say that Twilight was popular at this time, too.) I wrote the proposal and all that, but, once again, the PUSH to write this particular stuff came from outside--specifically from my publisher/editor.
Precinct 13 on the other hand was something _I_ thought would be fun. Well-recieved or not, it ended my career.
Thus, I think, subconsciously, I've been afraid that my impulses are crap. Or, rather, weird and fun (and possibly award-winning, ala my science fiction), but decidedly NOT best selling.
This has been a really huge part of my inability to write original fiction. Or, perhaps, one of the MANY reasons I've been struggling. Naming it seems like a good first step to curing it. One of the other things I've decided to do is to just go ahead and NOT trust my instincts. For the next few weeks, I've decided that every couple of days, I'm going to go to one of those plot generator things and press the button. Whatever comes out, I'll try to write.
Why not?
I figure that my brain will resist a simplistic plot, anyway, and anything is better than nothing. And, it's sort of guaranteed to be stupid, right? So, I don't have to worry that the plot is stupid. It already is. I just need to write it.
July 29, 2015
Ant Man, My Take
Mild SPOILERS not under cut
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Last night, I saw Ant Man with my usual MCU crew (Eleanor Arnason and Sean M. Murphy). I have to admit to some trepidation going into this film. For one, I was never a huge Henry Pym/Ant Man fan when I read him in the Avenger comic books in the mid-1970s/early-1980s when he was, ironically, mostly Yellowjacket (and sometimes Giant Man). Also, having heard that the Ant Man of the MCU would be Scott Lang, I was a bit worried that was like having a Captain America movie with John Walker wearing the cowl.
Generally, I have to say the movie was fun. It was a good heist film, with a hilarious "crew" (which, let's be fair, included ants.) I was particularly fond of Luis, whose only superpower, apparently, is his mean upper cut, with which he reputably remains the only inmate to have successfully knocked out the meanest thug in San Quentin. And, of course, his amazing storytelling style. I think we should all start petitioning now for Luis to have his own comic book title. (Unless already does, in which case someone please point me to them STAT!)
Unlike other films in the MCU, however, I didn't have a single nerdgasm at any particular moment. Again, this is probably very much due to my not reading much of Ant Man, and him not being as iconic a character as, say, Tony Stark/Iron Man. (Because I think I own exactly ONE Iron Man, but he's a feature in so many titles I've read, including, of course, the Civil War mega-arc, that I knew a lot about him and his villains, sidekicks, etc., going in.) Yes, I say 'not iconic' knowing FULL WELL Ant Man was a founding Avenger along with the Wasp. Thing is, you ask your average, on the street fan and they will laugh and say, "ANT... man? Really? Ant??" (Well, not any more, but they did.) Also, I slide in and out of comic readership, and so I didn't recognize female/future Hawkeye, in the child, which I bet was squee worthy to a lot of comic book fans. Alas, not me..
In fact, I am starting to be slightly irritated by the seemingly 'one woman per film' rule Marvel has going on. Yes, we get a five second cameo of another one and that person's story was critical to the plot, but... COME ON. As much as I adored the 'heist crew,' I fail to see why ONE of them couldn't have been a lady. The get-away driver, maybe?
Yes, Hope Pym was fairly bassass--which was possibly another squee/red herring for those of you (which didn't include me, to be honest,) who knew that Hope is also the Red Queen.
I'm a huge Marvel fan. I had fun at Ant Man. This isn't a huge 'boo.' I just think it's one of those thing that I'm putting on my 'watch this' list.
.
.
.
.
Last night, I saw Ant Man with my usual MCU crew (Eleanor Arnason and Sean M. Murphy). I have to admit to some trepidation going into this film. For one, I was never a huge Henry Pym/Ant Man fan when I read him in the Avenger comic books in the mid-1970s/early-1980s when he was, ironically, mostly Yellowjacket (and sometimes Giant Man). Also, having heard that the Ant Man of the MCU would be Scott Lang, I was a bit worried that was like having a Captain America movie with John Walker wearing the cowl.
Generally, I have to say the movie was fun. It was a good heist film, with a hilarious "crew" (which, let's be fair, included ants.) I was particularly fond of Luis, whose only superpower, apparently, is his mean upper cut, with which he reputably remains the only inmate to have successfully knocked out the meanest thug in San Quentin. And, of course, his amazing storytelling style. I think we should all start petitioning now for Luis to have his own comic book title. (Unless already does, in which case someone please point me to them STAT!)
Unlike other films in the MCU, however, I didn't have a single nerdgasm at any particular moment. Again, this is probably very much due to my not reading much of Ant Man, and him not being as iconic a character as, say, Tony Stark/Iron Man. (Because I think I own exactly ONE Iron Man, but he's a feature in so many titles I've read, including, of course, the Civil War mega-arc, that I knew a lot about him and his villains, sidekicks, etc., going in.) Yes, I say 'not iconic' knowing FULL WELL Ant Man was a founding Avenger along with the Wasp. Thing is, you ask your average, on the street fan and they will laugh and say, "ANT... man? Really? Ant??" (Well, not any more, but they did.) Also, I slide in and out of comic readership, and so I didn't recognize female/future Hawkeye, in the child, which I bet was squee worthy to a lot of comic book fans. Alas, not me..
In fact, I am starting to be slightly irritated by the seemingly 'one woman per film' rule Marvel has going on. Yes, we get a five second cameo of another one and that person's story was critical to the plot, but... COME ON. As much as I adored the 'heist crew,' I fail to see why ONE of them couldn't have been a lady. The get-away driver, maybe?
Yes, Hope Pym was fairly bassass--which was possibly another squee/red herring for those of you (which didn't include me, to be honest,) who knew that Hope is also the Red Queen.
I'm a huge Marvel fan. I had fun at Ant Man. This isn't a huge 'boo.' I just think it's one of those thing that I'm putting on my 'watch this' list.
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