Lynn Flewelling's Blog, page 58
November 30, 2010
Humor: The "TSA Pinup Calendar"
This is not real. This is just something funny created by someone good at computer generation. Check out the TSA pinup calendar.
http://bigpicture.posterous.com/miss-tsa-2011-pinup-calendar
Here's Miss April:
http://bigpicture.posterous.com/miss-tsa-2011-pinup-calendar
Here's Miss April:
November 29, 2010
Tamir Triad
Consider yourself a Nightrunner fan, but haven't read the Tamir Triad (Bone Doll's Twin, etc) yet? It all connects! And if I had to pick my personal favorite of all my books it would be the Bone Doll's Twin. I think that's some of the best writing I've ever done. Gender identity. Ghosts. Curses. Murder. What more could you ask for in a holiday read?
November 28, 2010
Today's Buddhist Thought
One day Ananda, who had been thinking deeply about things for a while, turned to the Buddha and exclaimed: "Lord, I've been thinking- spiritual friendship is at least half of the spiritual life!"
The Buddha replied: "Say not so, Ananda, say not so. Spiritual friendship is the whole of the spiritual life!"
—Samyutta Nikaya, Verse 2
The Buddha replied: "Say not so, Ananda, say not so. Spiritual friendship is the whole of the spiritual life!"
—Samyutta Nikaya, Verse 2
Oklahoma Principal Refuses to Let LGBTQ Students Attend School
Let's speak some truth to misused power. Public education is the right of all. I'm betting those kids' parents paid their school tax. Please read and consider signing the petition.
"Two 17-year-olds in Oklahoma are currently being denied the ability to earn a high school diploma because of their sexuality, they told a local news station recently. The principal of the school has blatantly denied their enrollment citing their sexuality as his reason, they say, and this isn't the first time this principal has done this."
Read more: http://education.change.org/blog/view/in_oklahoma_principal_refuses_to_let_lgbtq_students_attend_school
"Two 17-year-olds in Oklahoma are currently being denied the ability to earn a high school diploma because of their sexuality, they told a local news station recently. The principal of the school has blatantly denied their enrollment citing their sexuality as his reason, they say, and this isn't the first time this principal has done this."
Read more: http://education.change.org/blog/view/in_oklahoma_principal_refuses_to_let_lgbtq_students_attend_school
November 27, 2010
Worth a thousand words
Circa 1979, my then-to-be future brother-in-law's high school graduation. From left to right: Me in Charley's Angels phase; Andy looking like a budding Unabomber; and Dr. Doug, glowering porn star.
November 25, 2010
The calm before the cooking and a remembrance
The pumpkin pie is made (there's only three of us this year), the turkey is brined and dried and ready to stuff. I don't care how many articles I read on the "stuff or not stuff" controversy. I stuff and it turns out just fine. We're very serious about our stuffing here at Casa Flewelling. It only counts if it's properly and directly infused with the juices of the bird. I am going to put some herbed butter on the breast under the skin this year, just to see what it does.
The sweet potatoes were dealt with last night. White potatoes await their fate as a gravy delivery system. Tim is doing his famous wine braised brussels sprouts and carrots medley. And no homemade cranberry sauce here. We've tried lots of different recipes and always return to the canned jelly of our youth. Small sweet pickles and olives for small children (absent this year) to adorn fingertips await in the fridge. And gravy. There will be gravy. And if you haven't had the gravy from a brined free range turkey, you are missing one of the season's great gastronomic delights.
For my non-US friends who aren't quite sure of the background of Thanksgiving-- it is the remembrance of a fleeting moment of peace and cooperation between the first Plymouth, Massachusetts colonists and the Native Americans who saved them from starvation after their first disastrous winter in North America.
From History.com:
Throughout that first brutal winter, most of the colonists remained on board the ship, where they suffered from exposure, scurvy and outbreaks of contagious disease. Only half of the Mayflower's original passengers and crew lived to see their first New England spring. In March, the remaining settlers moved ashore, where they received an astonishing visit from an Abenaki Indian who greeted them in English. Several days later, he returned with another Native American, Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe who had been kidnapped by an English sea captain and sold into slavery before escaping to London and returning to his homeland on an exploratory expedition. Squanto taught the Pilgrims, weakened by malnutrition and illness, how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish in the rivers and avoid poisonous plants. He also helped the settlers forge an alliance with the Wampanoag, a local tribe, which would endure for more than 50 years and tragically remains one of the sole examples of harmony between European colonists and Native Americans.
As a footnote: if all those colonists had died that winter, Doug wouldn't be here, or my sons, and who knows? Maybe I wouldn't be writing what I am, without his support and input. So, a double thanks to Squanto and that nameless Abenaki from me. I'm sorry things eventually turned out as they did.
The sweet potatoes were dealt with last night. White potatoes await their fate as a gravy delivery system. Tim is doing his famous wine braised brussels sprouts and carrots medley. And no homemade cranberry sauce here. We've tried lots of different recipes and always return to the canned jelly of our youth. Small sweet pickles and olives for small children (absent this year) to adorn fingertips await in the fridge. And gravy. There will be gravy. And if you haven't had the gravy from a brined free range turkey, you are missing one of the season's great gastronomic delights.
For my non-US friends who aren't quite sure of the background of Thanksgiving-- it is the remembrance of a fleeting moment of peace and cooperation between the first Plymouth, Massachusetts colonists and the Native Americans who saved them from starvation after their first disastrous winter in North America.
From History.com:
Throughout that first brutal winter, most of the colonists remained on board the ship, where they suffered from exposure, scurvy and outbreaks of contagious disease. Only half of the Mayflower's original passengers and crew lived to see their first New England spring. In March, the remaining settlers moved ashore, where they received an astonishing visit from an Abenaki Indian who greeted them in English. Several days later, he returned with another Native American, Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe who had been kidnapped by an English sea captain and sold into slavery before escaping to London and returning to his homeland on an exploratory expedition. Squanto taught the Pilgrims, weakened by malnutrition and illness, how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish in the rivers and avoid poisonous plants. He also helped the settlers forge an alliance with the Wampanoag, a local tribe, which would endure for more than 50 years and tragically remains one of the sole examples of harmony between European colonists and Native Americans.
As a footnote: if all those colonists had died that winter, Doug wouldn't be here, or my sons, and who knows? Maybe I wouldn't be writing what I am, without his support and input. So, a double thanks to Squanto and that nameless Abenaki from me. I'm sorry things eventually turned out as they did.
November 23, 2010
Babies!
Apparently one of my koi had babies at some point, because there are two small fish out there I don't recognize. Unless they're falling from the sky, but I doubt that. Not two. One is a nondescript yellow white with a black spot on its side. The other has an orange head and tail, and dark silver in the middle. He could be a keeper.
Emma takes a head count. Actually, she'd like to eat their heads. They're crunchy!
Fall Foliage, SoCal style
Emma takes a head count. Actually, she'd like to eat their heads. They're crunchy!
Fall Foliage, SoCal style
Thoughts for the Season
I love this time of year-- the traditions, the family gathering around, the ritual meals and games. It really makes you think, doesn't it? Like "I hope I don't end my days with my giblets stuffed up my ass."
Turkey now brining.
Turkey now brining.
November 22, 2010
Award Nomination!
I've been nominated for a Romantic Times Career Achievement award. :-)
http://www.rtbookreviews.com/rt-awards/nominees-and-winners?award_type=author#Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Does this mean my career is complete?
http://www.rtbookreviews.com/rt-awards/nominees-and-winners?award_type=author#Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Does this mean my career is complete?
