Fuzzy Thoughts

See How They Run by James Patterson

Michelle — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:57:57 +0000

I think I should note that I didn’t find this book confusing. The terrorists that are killing in See How They Run (The Jericho Experiment) by James Patterson are identified by job description code names. This is includes a character called the Führer who is not Hitler but is called so because he is in charge. Just don’t read the back text. It makes no sense.

Now that I got that out of the way, the idea of the lambs becoming the serial killers and this being okay (one of main characters doesn’t think so but he has as much impact on the plot as stage hand 431) I find horrifically wrong. Being chosen by god doesn’t make it better. Makes it worse IMO.

Patterson’s tendency to leak the plot in various “What They’d Say Later” episodes was tedious at best. It made the book over predictable.

Being as young as I was in ’80-’81, I remember if this was a popular topic. However suspense thrillers of time seem to think so a la The Body. Of course this book is going the way of The Body, back to the book store.

Cherry Blueberry Dump Cake

Michelle — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:50:08 +0000

A dump cake is a cobbler that uses cake instead of biscuit or crumble topping. You can make your own cake mix or use box mix.

You’ll Need:

1 box of cake mix
Milk
Eggs
1 stick of butter
Fruit

Preheat the oven to 350F.

You can use any fruit you want. I use canned fruit in combination with frozen because then I don’t have to stew the fruit myself. Of course you can if you want to or even leave the fruit be, just cut it up in pieces. The cooking time will be lower with fresh, un-stewed fruit. Today I used a 21oz can of pie cherries, 15oz can of pears drained and cut into chunks, and 21oz of frozen blueberries. I dumped the cherries and blueberries into a 9×13 stoneware dish sprayed with Pam. You can use glass or a baking pan if you like. I spread the fruit until it covered the bottom. I drained and chopped up the pears then sprinkled them on top of the rest of the fruit.

In a bowl prepare the cake mix but not according to the directions! On the back of the box, cake mix usually gives you how many eggs, water and oil to add. Add the number of eggs required (usually 2 to 3). Instead of water, use equal amounts milk. Skip the oil all together. I used moist yellow cake from Duncan Heines. This called for 3 eggs, 1 and third of water and oil. I mixed the eggs, 1 and a third of milk and the cake mix together.

Dump the cake batter over the fruit and spread it until it covers the fruit. Cut the butter up into pats and lay them on top of the cake batter. Stick it in the oven for 30 minutes to an hour. After 30 minutes check it by inserting a knife into the middle. If it comes out clean, it’s done. If not, just check it ever ten minutes until it’s done.

This is sweeter than biscuit cobblers but not as sweet as crisp or crumble cobblers.

CPGO: Step 4 – Setting Sketch

Michelle — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:56:01 +0000

At this point I’m diverging from BiaM and You Can Write a Novel. Both mention setting briefly. Smith goes as far to suggest treating settings like a character. Instead, I’m leaving these books at the wayside for now and concentrating on the setting sketch from FDi30D.

I know where BK will be set. I’m listing the settings in yWriter and in my notes software. This is the first part of this step. Once I have the settings down for further reference, I start the setting sketch.

What I used to do is start this in my notes program in a tree view. I really don’t like this, nor do I want to use the worksheets from the book. So this time I’m looking towards yWriter to get this down. One of the features of yWriter is the ability to assign locations to scenes. Combined with scene notes I think I can pull this off.

First I write down the names of the setting in the order I think they’ll go in the novel. This could be by country, city, places within the city or times of day.

I create a chapter and a scene, naming the scene “Setting Sketch”. I add the location for that chapter by dragging it over. In the notes tab, I do the setting sketch or what I think what will happen at that setting.

The actual setting sketch details the place, time, who’s there, a summary of what happens and how many chapters I think it’s gonna take to write it out.

There are two things going on here. I’m not just getting down the where and when, but I’m also getting down the basic plot at the same time. I’m not going to go back on this part. Once it’s down I’ll reference it only once more before deleting it.

Tips for Today:

WD: I am not an Exception: That is learn the rules and follow the guidelines. There are rules on writing, submitting and publishing.

NaNo: Study your favorite authors, their voice style and content. NaNo advises practicing to write like them for awhile. This is great practice but it doesn’t belong in a finished piece.

Lime Steak on a Bed of Olive Cream Cheese

Michelle — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:28:37 +0000

Our kitchen is a disaster area. One of the cabinets fell off the wall. The important one, with the dishes. We’ve been living off of fast food and cold food while we try to find a replacement. Today I finally had enough and cleared off the stove so I could do some cooking.

Before this catastrophe I purchased bruschetta topping and cream cheese with some idea of doing a chicken dish with coconut. However, I bought these nice flat iron steaks and thought this would be good. Oh I was right.

2 Flat Iron (small) steaks
4oz of cream cheese
4 tbsp Bruschetta topping*
Lime Juice
Coconut Oil
True Lime

Spoon out the bruschetta topping and allow the oil to drain off a little bit. In the middle of a plate, smoosh the bruschetta topping* and cream cheese together.

Melt some coconut oil on low heat in a frying pan then turn it up to medium. Sprinkle the oil with lime juice. Butterfly (that’s cut in half by not all the way through) the steaks. Rub them with True Lime. Fry the steaks until done and place on top of the cream cheese. Eat each delicious bite with some meat and some of the cream cheese.

*The bruschetta topping is just green and black olives, pimentos, red peppers and capers in white wine vinegar and olive oil. You can easily put this all together yourself beforehand. Eating it with a spoon is good too.

And I promise to take better pictures. Cross my heart.

Working on the Site: Child themes, Portfolio, Gallery

Michelle — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:28:33 +0000

So I’ve been working on the site. I know I said I was working on a new design. Well, then WordPress 3.0 came out and twenty-ten and well.

Okay I’m working on a child theme instead, expanding my horizons. So the site should change randomly piece by piece. Fun huh?

I’m also updating my portfolio and gallery. I’ve done some new paintings I like. So I should actually get this done this year, the update that is. So yeah. Things. So if things seem wonky, don’t worry. I’m working on it.

Kitchen Scratch Quesadilla

Michelle — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 19:15:20 +0000

So due to the broken cupboard, dishes litter our stove, freezer, and counter space. This also happens to be a week with little to no leftovers or easy heat ups. J. got us a rotisserie chicken earlier in the week, but I’m about chickened out.

So I feel hungry for something else. This is what I pulled out:

2 slices of sharp cheddar

2 slices of Dubliner cheese

Herdez Salsa Verde (the pantry shelf buckled too…but this managed to stay on the shelf.

Lemon Juice

Ms. Dash Fiesta Lime (chili powder and lime powder basically)

Whipping Cream

Tortillas, Flour

Chicken, precooked, in this case rotisserie

Shred chicken. Put cheese, chicken, a splash of lemon juice and salsa on a tortilla. Fry or nuke in the microwave. Hint: it’s better pan fried. Sprinkle Dash over the top and drizzle with whipping cream.

This Was Not the Hat I’m Looking For

Michelle — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:18:19 +0000

For the first time in my short knitting career, I’ve changed up a pattern. I was following a pattern from Knitting Rules by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee when I notice the hat was for a man with the head of a basketball instead of a 10 year-old normal sized girl.

The problem was the cast-on. She says enough stitches to cover the hand. Well that’s a lot of stitches. A lot…more than two hundred. So I go back, count stitches and decrease and bit and….brim hat pattern goodness!

I think I just created a pattern. Not sure yet. Once I finish the hat, I’ll know more. This is kind of fun, you know?

Dreamcicle Icecream

Michelle — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:57:06 +0000

2 cups whipping cream

1 cup milk

3/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp Vanilla extract

1/2 of a lid of Orange extract

Put milk and sugar in a mixer and mix it till dissolved. Add cream and whip it till soft and foamy, not stiff. Add vanilla and orange extracts and whip for about 30 more seconds. Dump in you ice cream machine.

It’s good with chocolate, chocolate cookies, chocolate cake, chocolate syrup, chocolate anything. But don’t add chocolate to recipe though…it’s way rich. You were warned.

My First Yarn

Michelle — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:21:34 +0000

So that spinning thing. I did get new spindles (pictures later!!). The gray alpaca I’m still working on. It’s stringing and rubbery and pretty. But that’s not what this picture is of.

At Hobby Lobby, I found this pack of vintage colored wool for needle felting. Six colors in two ounce balls. I figured this would make great practice wool and I started with green.

This is my thumb in the yarn. Two ounces is a small amount, obviously, but it did make for great practice. And I have a tiny center-pull ball of green wool-of-some-unknown-animal yarn. This is probably headed for a remnant blanket some day.

Guestblogging Today

Michelle — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 18:23:59 +0000

Hi all!

I have a guest blog up at http://www.ianthealy.com! Go have a look see!

The False Betrothal by Clarice Peters

Michelle — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 03:04:55 +0000

The False Betrothal is a somewhat confusing tale of falling in love because it’s convenient. Lady Alexa Eiseley gives shelter to to Leigh Winslow (who has taken his mother’s name for some reason) and nosy neighbors mistakes him for Earl Sebastian Winslow. So to save face they decide, both confirmed bachelor(ette)s, to pretend to be betrothed to each other.

Hi-jinx obviously ensue as breaking the engagement keeps getting pushed back to save the feelings of family members. Then, mainly to do something with the hinting about other characters, they have to figure out how to break a counterfeit ring.

Peters, AKA Laureen Kwock, hasn’t written a bad story. It was a fun read, all that you’d expect from a Regency Romance, except for the side plot whose solving ran to the silly side (no one could possibly be a fault because they are part of the higher classes).

So fun…if a little silly. I like stories of 19th century England and this book delivered.

Amethyst Diving

Michelle — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 21:17:08 +0000

Last week I was in Lake Havasu visiting the family, and swimming and other combinations of those two. Mostly I came back tired and burnt, but hey, it was fun.

The last day of swimming in the channel next to the London Bridge, I did some rock diving. One specific rock diving: Amethyst. I’ve found it all around the lack, channel and even up river during previous trips. Not to be disappointed this time, I managed to find some whole amethyst chunks as well as some mixed specimens.

These are not gem grade rocks. They are pretty, mostly when wet. I’m thinking about polishing them up a bit though. We’ll see. Oh? That picture is me and the kids riding behind Dad’s boat.

We’re silly that way.

Chocolate Cake in a Mug Experiment

Michelle — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 00:44:36 +0000

A few people have sent me links to Chocolate Cake in a Mug. I’ve also seen it featured in various blogs I lurk on. Being a fan of microwave cooking, I decided to try it. The recipe is simple and dry.

This is not something you eat without some soaking. Vanilla ice cream or sweet cream would be awesome. Milk is okay if you’re desperate. The cake is just too dry to eat alone.

I messed with recipe. Instead of 3 tbsp of milk I added 3 tbsp of pudding. This is my cake and cupcake deal too. Pudding gets the milk in but makes cake so moist it melts with each bite. Trust me, replace the milk in a cake recipe with pudding some time. I usually do vanilla but you can go nutty with other flavors. And no sugar free here girls and boys. Get the kind you have to cook. Instant just won’t cut it.

Any way the pudding helped but really this needs some cutting with some cream. Icing would just kill you with sugar over kill. The best way? Substitute the milk with pudding, after cooking drizzle with chocolate syrup, and serve with vanilla ice cream. It’ll be a bit more elegant than cake in a mug and taste really good.

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off – The Yarn Harlots’s Guide to the Land of Knitting

Michelle — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:26:50 +0000

The Yarn Harlot cast off in a pun filled book about the world of knitting. Set up like a travel book, Casts Off describes knitting as a place where knitters live, and knitting gets done. Pearl-McPhee describes the world of knitting in context, including notes on history, notable knitters, items associated with knitting and the problems one might encounter.

The book is fun look at knitting, probably only funny to knitters. This book reaches a high level of silly in this regard. It was fun to read about knitting for me…being that I’m a knitter. Oh be quiet you.

Sudden Mischief by Robert B. Parker

Michelle — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:08:12 +0000

Sudden Mischief by Robert B. Parker is a Spenser detective novel. Spenser is asked by his girlfriend to look into a sexual harassment case against her ex-husband. As he digs around things get complicated.

The mystery is set on the back drop of Spenser and Susan’s relationship going through a rough time. Hawk appears as always ready, able, willing and generally a few steps ahead. The book is fun with a serious undertone. Parker twists the story away from the predictable. I have I said how much I like Spenser novels. Well I do.

Sweet Valley Twins By Jamie Suzanne Created by Francine Pascal

Michelle — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:38:22 +0000

When I was a child some of the big series books were Sweet Valley High. Well off, beautiful, blond and blue eyed twins who biggest problem was that one of them was a bitch. For younger children there was Sweet Valley Twins, the same characters, just younger and brattier.

The books are the creation of Francine Pascal who used a stable of authors who wrote under her name or the name of Jamie Suzanne.

I had a few of these books left over. Not sure why I kept them now. My daughter has no interest in them. So I’ve been re-reading them. The predictable story lines were cute but other than that? Four books for donation I guess.

I never like Jessica, the bitchy one, and while I identified with Elizabeth as a pre-teen she always seemed weak willed and easily manipulated.

The books actually end a chapter or two before the words stop. The last chapter (or two) build up the next book in the series as a teaser.

Everyone is understanding, level headed to point that any freak out seems false. The characters lack depth. A pre-teen girl loves these things. They don’t want dynamic characters though they’ll remember those more fondly as they age. That’s how it is for me anyway.

Well the trip’s been fun but I think it’s time to close this chapter on memory lane.

Off to Arizona

Michelle — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:05:26 +0000

I’m leaving for Arizona tomorrow and I’m trying to get some blog posts done, and some articles finished. I’m almost packed.Internet will be spotty, and what I can through my phone…which is alot. So the only difference will be I won’t be available all day.

So sun, water, and more sun. See you in a week!

Happy Bookmark!

Michelle — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:24:24 +0000

I won a bookmark from Jennifer Tatroe. She’s an awesome collage artist, and writer. I met her through the local gaming conventions.

The bookmark is a mini-collage with pages of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and sheet music.

To see more of Jennifer’s work you can check out her web page at http://www.jennifertatroe.com/ or check out her Etsy store at http://www.etsy.com/shop/palimpsestic. I love seeing such creativity. Makes me want to squee!

Bread Pudding: Things to do with Stale Bread

Michelle — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:45:26 +0000

Stale Bread – I had about a half of a baguette

3 1/2 cups of Milk

1 cup Golden Raisins

2/3 cup brown sugar

Nutmeg

Cinnamon

3/4 stick of Butter

1 egg

Soak the bread in three cups of milk for about an hour or until mostly mushy. The bread should hold its shape but be spongy as well. Take the bread out and set it aside.

Preheat the oven to 350F

Add the egg and sugar to the milk. Beat the mixture until frothy. Combine remaining milk and butter in a glass measuring cup. Cook on high for one minute in the microwave. Stir the butter and milk until the butter finishes melting. Pour butter and milk into milk, egg and brown sugar mixture slowly while stirring. Add the raisins, and as much cinnamon and nutmeg as you like. Chop up the bread in to squares, then add it to the mixture. Stir the mixture to mix up the raisins and bread.

Cook for 50 minutes.

Weaving Update: This and Me? We’re Like Friends Who Cut Each Other for S & G

Michelle — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 17:19:53 +0000

I’m nearly halfway done with my first weaving project. It is not what you’d call pretty yet. The bulky yarn snags and fluffs in irritating ways. But I can now do five triangles an hour. Then I have to sew them together.

Making the pretty will require blocking. I’m not sure how well that will go. I’ve seen the before and after of blocking only in photos. I lightly spray the shawl, pin it down and stretch it out to dry. Then it should work. I am skeptical.

My five triangles an hour is not without mistakes. I tend to miss a nail, and have to unweave to fix the problem. The last pull through takes a lot of effort. I have to do it over and over again.

I finished Aia’s scarf. I’m going to try another simple hat and some more complicated stitch pattern. The pattern, a heart in a square, has defeated me before.