Today is Friday, the 13th... I am generally not a terribly superstitious person, but I do have a touch of paraskevidekatriaphobia which is a fear of Friday, the 13th.
Today, in general, went allright. I was likely more cautious than usual because of my paraskevidekatriaphobia which, you know, why borrow trouble? And the morning commute went ok. Well, except that I REALLY needed to use a restroom when I got to the train station and there was someone ENCAMPED in said restroom. So, I toughed it out.
I was reading on Twitter that people were getting their signed bookplate for The Bloggess's book (which I pre-ordered back in November... the book, that is, the bookplate pre-order was a while later). I checked the mail after work and sure enough, there was my envelope from Penguin (the publishers of the book) which I eagerly opened and IT WAS EMPTY. No bookplate. To say I was sad would be a gross understatement. And, even though I am no one of influence, I did Tweet about it...but, because I am no one of influence, it did little but made me feel marginaly better. And so, I came home and wrote a carefully worded e-mail to the publisher asking if, by chance, they could provide me with a bookplate (and I KNOW that there were only a limited number and I am likely shit outta luck).
And so... Friday the 13th did, indeed, get it's little dig in. I am trying to be grateful that it wasn't something worse.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Delicious Dishes
Tonight's dinner was "Crockpot Lasagne" as seen over at 'Dinosaurs Can't Eat Pizza'.
The Crockpot Lasagne is very tasty and easy to make. There are a number of recipes on the site that I want to try and when you surf on over there, make sure to take a look in the archives.
Robyn and Nance do one recipe each week that they both try and then post their thoughts on it and they individually post recipes, too. None of it is weird "who in the real world would ever eat that" stuff, either. You know how recipe sites can be... and, for instance, the crockpot lasagne recipe lists ground turkey as the meat but you could certainly use sausage or ground beef.
There will probably be few (if any) vegetarian recipes on 'Dinosaurs Can't Eat Pizza' simply because neither Robyn or Nance are vegetarians. I don't have a problem with that, but I don't want anyone surfing over there and being disappointed that there are no vegetarian or vegan options.
When I've tried some of their other recipes, I'll follow up with a post here. Go check them out and let me know if you end up trying any recipes you find there!
The Crockpot Lasagne is very tasty and easy to make. There are a number of recipes on the site that I want to try and when you surf on over there, make sure to take a look in the archives.
Robyn and Nance do one recipe each week that they both try and then post their thoughts on it and they individually post recipes, too. None of it is weird "who in the real world would ever eat that" stuff, either. You know how recipe sites can be... and, for instance, the crockpot lasagne recipe lists ground turkey as the meat but you could certainly use sausage or ground beef.
There will probably be few (if any) vegetarian recipes on 'Dinosaurs Can't Eat Pizza' simply because neither Robyn or Nance are vegetarians. I don't have a problem with that, but I don't want anyone surfing over there and being disappointed that there are no vegetarian or vegan options.
When I've tried some of their other recipes, I'll follow up with a post here. Go check them out and let me know if you end up trying any recipes you find there!
Friday, April 6, 2012
Catching Up (again)
I'm not sure why I get overwhelmed by the day-to-day things that need to be done. I cannot fathom, sometimes, how people with kids and a spouse on top of a job get anything done, ever. But perhaps they do not have a clingy, needy feline who they feel guilty about neglecting like I do.
I had today (Friday) off work and I meant it to be a productive day and it was not so productive. I did get a few little things done but for the majority of the day I was a catbed which meant I sat in front of my computer doing whatever can be done with one's mouse-hand free because my other hand is supporting aforementioned cat lest I be torn to bits by her rear feet's pointy bits. Having a scratched up chest is a) not attractive b) draws some unwanted attention.
A week or so ago, I had acquired part of an iSi Beverage Carbonating System... it is similar in theory to a SodaStream (which I want very much but cannot justify dropping $100 on) except that it can be used to "sparkle" all sorts of things (I am thinking of making my own Sparkling Moscato, which will be approximately $10 cheaper than buying moscato sparkled by someone else) and I received the rest of what I needed via UPS yesterday (I am on a first-name basis with the UPS guy at work, we get a LOT of packages). I am dying to sparkle something BUT whatever is to be sparkled must be chilled SO I have some watermelon lemonade chilling in the fridge as I type this and tomorrow I will try this thing out and see if it makes watermelon lemonade into sparkling awesomeness!
But back to the catching up thing. I feel like all I do is scoop kitty boxes and gather more trash to go out and I don't know where all the trash is coming from (other than the scoopings from the kitty boxes) but there are about 12 bags of trash that need to go out right now which is making me a little bit stabbity... BUT, here's the thing. Trash bags are heavy and unwieldy. I live at the top of 15 very steep stairs which necessitates me holding the rail when I descend, which makes carrying heavy, unwieldy trashbags very NOT fun. Plus, I can only carry about 2 at a time. Which is a huge problem if there are TWELVE bags of trash because that involves navigating the stairs 6 times and after the first couple of trips up and down the stairs I feel like I want to die and I know there are some of you out there who are probably thinking that what that means is that I NEED that workout and I DO.. but honestly, I don't want my epitaph to read "She died taking out trash" and what a sad, sad obituary notice that would make. I would hope, though, that if I died taking out the trash I would get a FANCY burial in one of those flexi bags (preferably one with OdorGuard, thank you) Ok, yes, I KNOW that they don't (legally) let you bury someone in a trash bag but they DO let you bury people in burlap sacks and corrugated cardboard so I am guessing that the barrier to trash bag burials is that they take FOREVER to biodegrade and so if you were buried in a trash bag it would probably have a negative environmental impact. So, I guess I wouldn't want to be buried in fancy trashbag... but burlap would be itchy so just duct tape some Amazon.com boxes together, stuff me in and call it a day....
(Ant that last sentence is why I should not blog when it's way past bedtime...)
I had today (Friday) off work and I meant it to be a productive day and it was not so productive. I did get a few little things done but for the majority of the day I was a catbed which meant I sat in front of my computer doing whatever can be done with one's mouse-hand free because my other hand is supporting aforementioned cat lest I be torn to bits by her rear feet's pointy bits. Having a scratched up chest is a) not attractive b) draws some unwanted attention.
A week or so ago, I had acquired part of an iSi Beverage Carbonating System... it is similar in theory to a SodaStream (which I want very much but cannot justify dropping $100 on) except that it can be used to "sparkle" all sorts of things (I am thinking of making my own Sparkling Moscato, which will be approximately $10 cheaper than buying moscato sparkled by someone else) and I received the rest of what I needed via UPS yesterday (I am on a first-name basis with the UPS guy at work, we get a LOT of packages). I am dying to sparkle something BUT whatever is to be sparkled must be chilled SO I have some watermelon lemonade chilling in the fridge as I type this and tomorrow I will try this thing out and see if it makes watermelon lemonade into sparkling awesomeness!
But back to the catching up thing. I feel like all I do is scoop kitty boxes and gather more trash to go out and I don't know where all the trash is coming from (other than the scoopings from the kitty boxes) but there are about 12 bags of trash that need to go out right now which is making me a little bit stabbity... BUT, here's the thing. Trash bags are heavy and unwieldy. I live at the top of 15 very steep stairs which necessitates me holding the rail when I descend, which makes carrying heavy, unwieldy trashbags very NOT fun. Plus, I can only carry about 2 at a time. Which is a huge problem if there are TWELVE bags of trash because that involves navigating the stairs 6 times and after the first couple of trips up and down the stairs I feel like I want to die and I know there are some of you out there who are probably thinking that what that means is that I NEED that workout and I DO.. but honestly, I don't want my epitaph to read "She died taking out trash" and what a sad, sad obituary notice that would make. I would hope, though, that if I died taking out the trash I would get a FANCY burial in one of those flexi bags (preferably one with OdorGuard, thank you) Ok, yes, I KNOW that they don't (legally) let you bury someone in a trash bag but they DO let you bury people in burlap sacks and corrugated cardboard so I am guessing that the barrier to trash bag burials is that they take FOREVER to biodegrade and so if you were buried in a trash bag it would probably have a negative environmental impact. So, I guess I wouldn't want to be buried in fancy trashbag... but burlap would be itchy so just duct tape some Amazon.com boxes together, stuff me in and call it a day....
(Ant that last sentence is why I should not blog when it's way past bedtime...)
Monday, April 2, 2012
Moving Right Along
In the end, I decided that growing as a writer is more important than my personal feelings about having things change and not being sure if the change was a change for the better. March actually ended up being a month that carried a great deal of change for me. It doesn't seem to be bad change, just things that needed to happen/be dealt with.
April will be (hopefully) about growth. Not in a physical way (again, hopefully) but I got things done that will allow me to focus/refocus on other things I have wanted/needed to do. I have a long weekend coming up, which I hope will allow me to finish up some last little bits of old projects and move along new projects. I've tried in the past to come up with a blog posting schedule and have found that it just doesn't really work for me. I haven't been able to harness my muse and discipline myself to blog on any given day. That being said, I do write every day at 750Words.com but it is seldom anything I would post in any of my blogs and more an exercise on being disciplined to get SOMETHING written every day, even if it is only a "brain dump". I've found it very useful.
So, I'm going to be focusing on posting more and better content, improving my writing and creating new bath fizzies. Right now, though, there's work to be done and I'd best start doing it. Have a fabulous week!
April will be (hopefully) about growth. Not in a physical way (again, hopefully) but I got things done that will allow me to focus/refocus on other things I have wanted/needed to do. I have a long weekend coming up, which I hope will allow me to finish up some last little bits of old projects and move along new projects. I've tried in the past to come up with a blog posting schedule and have found that it just doesn't really work for me. I haven't been able to harness my muse and discipline myself to blog on any given day. That being said, I do write every day at 750Words.com but it is seldom anything I would post in any of my blogs and more an exercise on being disciplined to get SOMETHING written every day, even if it is only a "brain dump". I've found it very useful.
So, I'm going to be focusing on posting more and better content, improving my writing and creating new bath fizzies. Right now, though, there's work to be done and I'd best start doing it. Have a fabulous week!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Change... know when to hold 'em... when to fold 'em
My last post was about a piece of writing submitted to an online community that was rejected. Further changes are happening in that community and I am questioning whether I will remain a part of it or let it go.
My first thought is that if the people who run the community knew I was contemplating leaving they would probably say "Don't let the door hit you in the @$$ on the way out!" Maybe I am wrong, but I am really not part of the "core" crowd in that community so I would likely not be a big loss. Additionally, there is only so much fresh content one person can come up with, so not belonging to that community would give me one less place I need to wrack my brain for "what to write" ideas.
The flip side of this is that I feel more and more that the only way I am going to grow stronger as a writer is to belong to writing communities where I don't have to be on the hunt for good writing, I can just log in and there will be a plethora of writers whose prose I can read and maybe I can start to pick out what elements are getting comments and which writers seem to have a large, strong following. Although, for the life of me, I cannot fathom why some bloggers have huge audiences and others have 2 or 3 (it seems) readers. I've read some incredibly wonderful blogs that have very, very few comments... so maybe I just know what *I* like and not what appeals to the masses.
So, I am still pondering the correct course of action. Any thoughts?
My first thought is that if the people who run the community knew I was contemplating leaving they would probably say "Don't let the door hit you in the @$$ on the way out!" Maybe I am wrong, but I am really not part of the "core" crowd in that community so I would likely not be a big loss. Additionally, there is only so much fresh content one person can come up with, so not belonging to that community would give me one less place I need to wrack my brain for "what to write" ideas.
The flip side of this is that I feel more and more that the only way I am going to grow stronger as a writer is to belong to writing communities where I don't have to be on the hunt for good writing, I can just log in and there will be a plethora of writers whose prose I can read and maybe I can start to pick out what elements are getting comments and which writers seem to have a large, strong following. Although, for the life of me, I cannot fathom why some bloggers have huge audiences and others have 2 or 3 (it seems) readers. I've read some incredibly wonderful blogs that have very, very few comments... so maybe I just know what *I* like and not what appeals to the masses.
So, I am still pondering the correct course of action. Any thoughts?
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Rejected
One of the things I like about blogging is that I can come here to my blog and write anything I want to and people may comment on it but no one will tell me "your writing isn't good enough" and refuse to publish what I've written.
Every now and then, though, I go to one of the writing communities I belong to and submit something. Up until now, I've never had a problem and everything I have submitted has been accepted. I wrote something last night (Ironically, about how I struggle to hit "publish" sometimes, due to a fear of rejection) and this morning, in my email box, was a note rejecting my submission.
And I understand the reason and everything but have to admit that it still kindve stung and I am now going to be very hesitant to submit anything in that community again. Oh, I'll still write in the blog I have there, I just won't ever submit anything for publication there. And yes, I know that part of being a writer is that you have things you submit for publication rejected ALL THE TIME but I guess that's why I prefer blogging... sure, people can comment that what I wrote was awful and that I should give up writing, but it's my blog, my forum and I can (within reason) publish anything I like here.
On a positive (non-writing relate) note...I spent most of yesterday working on the Closet From H3LL and it's now downgraded to the Closet From H3ck. It needs more work, but at least it can be used as a place to hang clothes again. So... yay for that!
Have a wonderful Sunday and a great week!
Every now and then, though, I go to one of the writing communities I belong to and submit something. Up until now, I've never had a problem and everything I have submitted has been accepted. I wrote something last night (Ironically, about how I struggle to hit "publish" sometimes, due to a fear of rejection) and this morning, in my email box, was a note rejecting my submission.
And I understand the reason and everything but have to admit that it still kindve stung and I am now going to be very hesitant to submit anything in that community again. Oh, I'll still write in the blog I have there, I just won't ever submit anything for publication there. And yes, I know that part of being a writer is that you have things you submit for publication rejected ALL THE TIME but I guess that's why I prefer blogging... sure, people can comment that what I wrote was awful and that I should give up writing, but it's my blog, my forum and I can (within reason) publish anything I like here.
On a positive (non-writing relate) note...I spent most of yesterday working on the Closet From H3LL and it's now downgraded to the Closet From H3ck. It needs more work, but at least it can be used as a place to hang clothes again. So... yay for that!
Have a wonderful Sunday and a great week!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Hand me a paper bag....
I read this morning that The Bloggess is doing a book tour and she's going to be in the city I live in and I am pretty sure that I made some unnatural sounding happy noise because meeting The Bloggess is pretty much the number one thing on my list of "Things That Will Probably Never Happen But I Might Die Of Excitement If They Do And It Would Be Totally Worth It"....
I've already let my boss know that I will be taking that day off of work. I am looking online for a sleeping bag so I can camp out wherever she will be so I can be first in line. I am contemplating just spending from now until the date she's here camping at random bookstores on the off chance I will pick the right one.
And yes, I realize that she's probably drafting the restraining order right now... because I know I sound completely insane but if you had asked me a few years ago who my hero was, I would have drawn a blank and now I can, without hesitation, tell you that my hero(ine) is Jenny Lawson, The Bloggess. And I don't even say that in a 'fangirl' way. She does so many things to help people and she is hysterically funny but more than all of that she is so very REAL.
So, even if the restraining order says I have to stay 500 feet away, I'll still be happy to have gotten that close. And I have a whole month to try to train myself to not burst into tears of sheer joy at the mere thought of being in the same zip code as The Bloggess. I think this will make my postal carrier happy, too, as I am pretty sure that she's tired of me asking every day if my book has come yet (yes, I know it isn't being released until next month but I am just making sure that there wasn't an early release or something...) I'm a little afraid my postal carrier will smack me upside the head with the book when it DOES come... or spray me with her pepper spray (usually reserved for unruly dogs) just on general principle for being such a pain in the posterior about this.
I suppose I'd best get to work, though... on the theory that much like Christmas, The Bloggess Book Tour will get here faster if I distract myself from counting the seconds... ummm, not that I would do something like that... (1 month, 4 days, and approximately 22 hours... not that I'm counting...)
So, yes, I'm excited. Have a stellar day!
I've already let my boss know that I will be taking that day off of work. I am looking online for a sleeping bag so I can camp out wherever she will be so I can be first in line. I am contemplating just spending from now until the date she's here camping at random bookstores on the off chance I will pick the right one.
And yes, I realize that she's probably drafting the restraining order right now... because I know I sound completely insane but if you had asked me a few years ago who my hero was, I would have drawn a blank and now I can, without hesitation, tell you that my hero(ine) is Jenny Lawson, The Bloggess. And I don't even say that in a 'fangirl' way. She does so many things to help people and she is hysterically funny but more than all of that she is so very REAL.
So, even if the restraining order says I have to stay 500 feet away, I'll still be happy to have gotten that close. And I have a whole month to try to train myself to not burst into tears of sheer joy at the mere thought of being in the same zip code as The Bloggess. I think this will make my postal carrier happy, too, as I am pretty sure that she's tired of me asking every day if my book has come yet (yes, I know it isn't being released until next month but I am just making sure that there wasn't an early release or something...) I'm a little afraid my postal carrier will smack me upside the head with the book when it DOES come... or spray me with her pepper spray (usually reserved for unruly dogs) just on general principle for being such a pain in the posterior about this.
I suppose I'd best get to work, though... on the theory that much like Christmas, The Bloggess Book Tour will get here faster if I distract myself from counting the seconds... ummm, not that I would do something like that... (1 month, 4 days, and approximately 22 hours... not that I'm counting...)
So, yes, I'm excited. Have a stellar day!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)