The Creamy Middles

QFI

2011-11-28T09:44:00.000+11:00

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If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.

— Milton Berle

QFI

2011-11-21T09:32:00.000+11:00

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True creativity often starts where language ends.

– Arthur Koestler

QFI

2011-11-14T09:25:00.000+11:00

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Creativity is the quality that you bring to the activity that you are doing.
It is an attitude, how you look at things...
Whatsoever you do - if your act of doing is not purely economical,
then it is creative.

— Osho

QFI

2011-11-07T09:30:00.002+11:00

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I can always be distracted by love, but eventually I get horny for my creativity.

– Gilda Radner

QFI

2011-10-31T09:23:00.004+11:00

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Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them,

and pretty soon you have a dozen.

— John Steinbeck

Interneteria - week ending 30 Oct '11

2011-10-28T22:14:00.021+11:00

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@ Just in time for Halloween: luxury chocolate skulls and how to make a cob of candy corn.

@ I really like this upbeat blog post from Almie Rose that asks, "What is your thing?"

@ The Creative Badass Manifesto (A Work In Progress), by Justine Musk.

@ A day in the life of patissier-about-town, Adriano Zumbo!

@ For those of you about to attempt to scale the month-high mountain that is NaNoWriMo: Five Tips To Hit 50K.

@ Is Candy Evil Or Just Misunderstood?, by Julie Moskin. Yes, this article is quite old, but still a really interesting read...

@ Do you have an infestation of Brain Hamsters?

@ From the Department Of That's Amaaaazing: gourmet chocolates that are designed so you can customise your own fillings and flavour combinations!

@ Beyond Thinking Different To Doing Different, by Bruce Mau.

@ As somebody who's lately been reading a lot about the concept of privilege, I really responded to this article about the ideology of meritocracy by Rod Dreher.

@ If you still can't tell the difference, take a look at this great, simple Macaron v. Macaroon cheat sheet.

@ The Sad Beautiful Fact That We're Going To Miss Almost Everything, by Linda Holmes. I've often pondered this, especially when I read about the famous creatives of yore who have now faded into obscurity...

QFI

2011-10-24T09:11:00.001+11:00

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Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.

— Pablo Picasso

On tinytoadstools In Sydney.

2011-05-02T20:21:00.013+10:00

Over a year ago, Shan Shan - the Japanese-based creator of the intricately-quirky artisan berets she calls "tinytoadstools" - put out the call on her blog for ladies all over the world to take part in her new project: the whimsically titled hello tinytoadstool!.

I was certainly tempted - I had always wanted to examine a tinytoadstool in all its woolly wonderfulness beyond my laptop screen. But doubt made me hesitate from sending Shan Shan an e-mail. Why would she want a non-fashion blogger participating in this distinctly stylish experiment?

But then, Shan Shan posted that she hadn't heard from any volunteers in Australia, and she was really hoping the country could be involved in her project - would anybody from Down Under like to play along?

You can't get a more clear-cut sign than that, my friends.

I signed up and thought nothing more of the project for a long while (except for reading the updates on Shan Shan's blog of the beret's progress as it travelled throughout Europe and America).

But then, in the week before Easter, I received a too-cute package from the US...

Wrapped up neatly and nest-like in polka-dot tissue paper, the tinytoadstool had finally arrived in Australia!

The first part of the project for me to tackle was found inside a nondescript brown envelope: each participant had to fill in a little cue-card for Shan Shan. I channelled my ten year-old self and (with my "good" coloured pencil set) sketched an opal. I didn't worry about drawing well, only about the joy derived from the activity - which is something else I haven't done since childhood.

Now onto the real purpose of my being temporarily bestowed this gorgeous beret - according the rules of the project, I was to photograph myself wearing the tinytoadstool in three ways:

One. A headshot (which I took in front of my colourful inspiration wall);

Two. At an icon of my city;

Three. However I liked!

One of attempts at the self-portrait is pictured above. It is actually a mistake - one of the odd occasions when my digital camera likes to spontaneously amp up the contrast as soon as I press the shutter button. I was also practice-posing to see where to best position myself in shot.

However, I love the accidental outcome and it's fast become one of my all-time favourite photos of myself. (As somebody who isn't particular photogenic, I think I look quite nice and natural beyond all that super-saturation.)

Shan Shan asked me for an explanation to as why I chose the spot for the second lot of my tinytoadstool photos, which nonplusses and amuses me - isn't the answer to this question is incredibly obvious?

I mean, there is only one place a Sydneysider could go to show off their hometown:

Very early on the Thursday before Good Friday, I picked out my most toadstoolian outfit to go with the beret, grabbed my camera, and caught a bus to Circular Quay.

The tourists that normally swarm Bennelong Point, obstructing the views, were still tucked in their hotel beds. Beyond the occasional jogger passing through to the Botanical Gardens and the curious-but-trying-not-to-show-it security guard on duty at the Opera House's stage door, I had the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House steps all to myself.

So I spent the next hour or so in play with my own image:

Sydney is extraordinarily lucky to have this beautiful example of modern architecture in our own front yard. I have spent my whole life in this city, and am still awed when I see those magnificent pearl arches shining in the sun.

For the third, free-choice photograph in my tinytoadstool series, I wanted to capture the beret in my inner-city neighbourhood of King's Cross. King's Cross is home to Sydney's red light district, and has a history of criminal activity. Nowadays, however, with the increasingly gentrification of the area, it is becoming quite a trendy (and expensive!) place to visit. People always express a little fear for me when hearing I live here, but I've never had a problem since moving in almost two years ago.

Several of the previous contributions to this project have opted for photos of the beret outdoors, in peaceful pastoral scenes; I am much more of an urban woman and wanted to express something different to softness and greenery - something more me.

The Coke sign is a lesser-known Sydney icon, but an icon nonetheless - it is heritage-listed and is considered a landmark, rather than an advertisement. It is also the largest billboard in the Southern Hemisphere. I decided to pose here because I liked how the sign's colours matched the beret's exactly.

At first, I was rather nervous about going out in public and taking photos of myself, by myself. But the task turned out to be hardly a task at all - on the contrary, it was fun. Because of my aforementioned belief in my ability to be photogenic, I seldom feel comfortable in front of the lens - but by the end of my photo sessions, I was a veritable pro at posing!

There was a freeing quality to doing something so obviously out of the norm in broad daylight - to being so flamboyantly creative. I am so proud about how all these photos turned out.

Thank you once again to Shan Shan for letting me participate in the hello tinytoadstool! project. I had a genuine blast getting to be in possession of your lovely wearable art for a week.

You can check out all the photos I took for this project here in my hello tinytoadstool! Flickr set :)

QFI

2011-01-24T17:22:00.003+11:00

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Do not pray for an easy life. Pray to be stronger.

Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle.

— Phillips Brooks

Adventures In Nom: Baroque Bistro and Patisserie

2011-01-21T22:21:00.029+11:00

The subtitle for this blog post could be: "Or, How All The Folks At The Job Found Out I Was A Foodie And A Big Ol' Sweet Tooth".

One of the perks of being back in the traditional machinations of employment are the lunch outings - and I am currently fortunate to work for a company who are rather generous with the corporate credit card. So I was stoked to find out that the office's three-course Christmas lunch for 2010 was decided for the usually unaffordable Baroque Bistro in The Rocks.

I knew that this occasion would have to be blogged, so I pre-warned my colleagues at The Job that my sweet tooth was so mighty, it also involved taking photos of any special confections I consumed. I then instructed them on the difference between a macaron and a macaroon, and which flavours of the former they should try whilst at Baroque.

They were quietly bemused, and thankfully understanding - in fact, few of them even pulled out cameras on their own meals after seeing me do so. (I still won't be telling them about this blog, though!)

Keeping in the Creamy style, this post will only be about the desserts I sampled that day. But rest assured, the entrée and main were magnificent predecessors of this lengthy lunch. I'd most definitely recommend Baroque for a full meal.

But enough gushing and guff. Let's get straight to the sweet stuff:

Vahlrona chocolate tart with peanut caramel, salted caramel and gilded peanuts

First off: Baroque's kitchen staff? Extremely fond of their high-tech, freeze-drying, food-combobulating doohickey. Every single plate I had was adorned with this powdery stuff (which can seen on either side of the tart in the photo above). Not too say that I disliked it or anything, but I was amused at how it appeared so abundantly in each course.

I was hesitant to order this dessert due to my general wariness of the popular chocolate/peanuts combination, but I was ultimately won over by the mention of Vahlrona. Fortunately for me, every instance of peanut and chocolate on the plate were separated, so it was only too easy to avoid mixing them. The only time that I tasted the two flavours together was with spoonfuls of the peanut caramel ice-cream, which was just sweet and salty enough to enjoy with the various versions of chocolate.

The tart itself, besides being so decadent it was almost coma-inducing, contained a wonderful, not-at-all-fancy-bistro surprise - littered in the thick chocolate filling was pieces of Pop Rocks! It was so unexpected in this upmarket French restaurant, I at first thought I was imagining the sensation of the tiny bursts on my tongue.

But I really appreciated the strange addition - I love it when a treat subverts my assumptions about what it will taste like.

Vanilla créme brulée with pistachio ice cream

This was the choice of the colleague sitting next to me. I was eyeing the dish off enviously as she cracked into its beautiful sugar-encrusted surface, and scooped out the maiden mouthful. Her sounds of approval echoed down the table, as several others who had ordered the same dessert expressed the same delight.

She was only able to eat about a third of the dish before declaring herself too full to continue. Barely able to contain myself, I asked her if it would be okay if I had a small taste - since everybody exclaimed how amazing it was?

"Of course," she said casually, pushing the dessert towards me.

Her next words to me, about ten minutes later, were an astonished: "Wow, did you finish off the rest of all that?"

It was not my intention (I was feeling quite full myself), but I have no regrets. It was goddamn delicious. Light and fluffy, but still deeply flavoursome - and that ice-cream! It's by far the best dessert I've ever stolen :p

As my one and a half desserts were digesting, I wandered back to the entrance area to peruse Baroque's patisserie display. As you can see, the cakes were so exquisitely sculptured it was almost like being in an art gallery.

In the end, I couldn't resist on my macaron mainstay and ordered four macarons to go - the usual salted caramel and pistachio/cherry, as well as dark chocolate and (an amazingly good) violet. As I was pondering my options, a colleague came up to the counter and followed my days-earlier advice, ordering a few macarons to try for the first time. Success!

Looking back at these photos one month on, I'm still sorta stunned that I was able to eat this spectacularly well without having to pay for practically anything. Man, I can't wait for this year's office Christmas outing...

On Super-fying My 2011.

2011-01-13T13:49:00.001+11:00

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On New Year's Day, I wrote a list of specific goals that I wanted work towards this year. I thought I would share it on here with you - and not just because one of the things on said list was to write more in this blog, but because I think that vocalizing your aspirations as much as you can helps hammer home in your subconscious that they are real and achievable.

I also considered if I should have another motivational Word Of The Year. Although I was not quite the embodiment of “discipline” in 2010 - and even though I ended up taking a completely different path than I anticipated for my life in that blog post - I did feel that the theme was a quiet but definite undercurrent to the year. So why not try it again?

But strangely enough, the first idea that I had for this year's Word was... superhero.

I'm still not entirely sure why this came to me - perhaps it was the cute Batman undies I'd bought in the end-of-year sales? - but the word really stuck with me. I'm still figuring out exactly what living this year with a “superhero” intention means for me, but when I have it suitably defined, I'll write up a post.

In the meantime, however, here are my goals and ambitions of kick-assitude in 2011:

☆ Write myself a daily affirmation, alongside my shift times and everyday organisation in my purty new Kikki K diary. Even though this exercise still feels kinda cheesy, it's necessary because I sometimes need a reminder to not be so hard on myself.

☆ Kick the small business into high gear. Keep researching all things that the Candy Man actually can and build my business savvy to wünderkind standards - in short, ensure that I have enough knowledge and moolah stored up so I could be ready to open a bricks-and-mortar lolly store this time next year. Yes, that is a scary-close date to settle on - which is exactly why I chose it. The pressure will maintain my focus!

☆ Re-connect with old friends and create some new friendships - be open to more social opportunities.

☆ Keep going with “Operation Healthiness Is Happiness” - continue eating those tasty greens and wholemeals, replace more of my beauty products with all-natural brands, walk more and set up an actual exercise routine (such as starting Bikram yoga again, and/or joining a gym).

☆ Don’t be afraid to pursue my creative impulses - write a little (or a lot!) each day; start singing beyond the confines of my shower; continue dressing in wild styles that confront my sister’s conservative sensibilities; seek out the art and inspiration of everyday life.

☆ Communicate more with my intuition and the Universe. Make my new mantra “listen, trust, respond, receive”.

What are your aspirations and resolutions for this year?

Adventures In Nom: Sugar Hitting, October 2010

2011-01-12T10:06:00.000+11:00

When Betty, back in September, asked me if I was interested in tagging along for a Sugar Hit, in my adorable foodie naïveté I first thought she meant a visit to the lolly store chain Sugar Fix. (Which - let's be honest - would've been a fun day out as well!) Fortunately, what she was talking about was a lot more of a sophisticated sugar experience.

For those of you not familiar with Sugar Hit, it is a late-night promotion run at selected venues by the Sydney International Food Festival. During the month of October, you can sample a one-off, only-during-SIFF dessert with a glass of wine for twenty dollars per person. I don't drink alcohol, so this was all about the sweets for me!

I ended up doing four individual Sugar Hits this time around - one solo and three with that food blogger possé I've fallen in with. And at long last, here are my reports on all of those Sugar Hits.

(Apologies in advance for the subpar photography; most of these places had mood lighting... read: none.)

So, in chronological order:

Azuma Patisserie for Kushiyaki Bar & Grill

First tray - chocolate mousse cake with raspberry coulis and freeze-dried raspberry flakes; vanilla panna cotta with strawberry coulis

Second tray - green tea ganache tart; orange macaron; petit almond financier; wasabi ganache tart

The presentation for this dessert was pretty impressive - the waitress brought out the two trays stacked on top of one another, then separated them on the table, revealing the various sweets sitting inside. Not to mention the super-kawaii smiley faces on our macarons!

The first tray was my favourite. The panna cotta was smooth, full and very flavoursome; the chocolate mousse filled with the surprise textures and tastes of the raspberries and sponge was oh-so-moreish. Both of these were so good that I would've been satisfied if the Sugar Hit had turned out to be just this tray alone.

The second tray was a Russian roulette of flavours. I gingerly took a bite of the green-coloured tart, expecting it to be hit with a burst of wasabi - but I instead tasted the wonderful combination of green tea and white chocolate. With my confidence buoyed, I took a larger bite of the sumptuous-looking chocolate-swirl tart and nearly choked on an unpleasant mouthful of burning wasabi. I live by Murphy's Law...

I definitely think this Sugar Hit had the best value for money. Due to its East-meets-West theme we got to try a wide variety of treats, without letting us fill up on anything either. This Sugar Hit gets the thumbs up from me.

Bacco Wine Bar Patisserie (Chifley Plaza)

Chocolate Tasting Plate - gianduja macaron; berry chocolate fudge with freeze-dried orange; glacé apricot and milk chocolate ganache tart

First things first: that chocolate ganache tart was amazing. As in a "oh my gods my bloodstream is filling with sugar and I'm paralysed with pleasure" kinda amazing. I don't think I can properly articulate how good it was, especially since it was literally just pieces of glacé apricot sitting in shortcrust and covered in a gooey milk chocolate ganache. But it was incredible - worth the twenty bucks alone.

The other treats on the tasting plate were quite nice as well. The macaron - whose mystery Italian flavour turned out to be a combination of chocolate and nut paste - was very tasty and fresh, and the freeze-dried orange fascinated all of us. However, the fudge was a lot more like cake, with a dry, crumbly consistency. Despite this, Bacco's offering was probably one of my favourites of the Sugar Hits I tried this year.

Shangri-La Hotel

Black Forest Cocktail - vanilla panna cotta; cherries in kirsch; chocolate bonbon; cocoa sponge; chocolate cream

I'm afraid to say that despite the spectacular design of this cocktail - we all oohed and aahed as our desserts arrived - it was actually quite bland to taste. In particular, the panna cotta was a disappointing custard that barely tasted like vanilla. Conversely, the cherries were so deeply soaked in alcohol that their flavour was way too strong - most of us ended up picking them out. My favourite thing in the cocktail was probably the bonbon nestled on top.

Despite this, it was amusing to try and break the chocolate netting and the thick chocolate base that encased the bulk of the dessert. I liked Julie's method - bashing at the chocolate with her tiny dessert spoon until the entire thing imploded!

The Grace Hotel

Chocolate fondant with self-saucing chocolate centre; chocolate fairy floss; chocolate macaron; Kahlua ice cream

This was the Sugar Hit that I was most interested to try - so, naturally, it was the one that was the most difficult to secure a booking for. I originally tried to book in for the night of my birthday (the 22nd), but even for only myself, I wasn't able to nab a table until Halloween.

Despite all the delays, this was a great dessert - my other favourite of this post. It was extremely rich, as you would imagine from a dessert whose description includes the word "chocolate" four times, but each separate element worked together to balance out any potential sugar overdose. Buried at the bottom of the glass, there was a much-appreciated strawberry to also cleanse the palate (see that strip of red underneath the waffle in my photo?). It was a well thought-out dessert, with a solid mix of contrasting tastes.

The only issue I had with this dessert - besides the fact that I couldn't finish the whole thing - was that The Grace Hotel gave me a fork to eat it with. I can understand how it helped when digging into the fondant, but have you ever tried eating ice-cream with a fork?

Even though I obviously had my favourite Sugar Hits, I really enjoyed sampling each of these specially-designed desserts. They were all unique and I felt that they represented their restaurants' dining style well. I can't wait until October 2011 - I think I can fit in more than four Sugar Hits next time! :p

QFI

2011-01-10T13:11:00.001+11:00

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Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible;

and suddenly, you are doing the impossible.

— St. Francis of Assisi

QFI

2010-12-06T02:33:00.001+11:00

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The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers,

but it takes a creative mind to spot the wrong questions.

— Anthony Jay

QFI

2010-11-29T11:27:00.001+11:00

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It’s not what the vision is, it’s what the vision does.

— Peter Senge

Interneteria - week ending 28th Nov 10

2010-11-26T11:30:00.007+11:00

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Because it wouldn't be my blog without my weekly link love-in...

@ Sophie Cunningham asks is writing evolving in this age of social media?

@ Elsie Flanningan's revamped Red Velvet store re-opened recently, and it's now complete with a cute lil' sweet shoppe. Do I even need to tell you how much I yearn looking at these photos?

@ The benefits of keeping a paper journal. Do you agree about showing some self-restraint when blogging?

@ How Frank Gehry Made The Leap, by Danielle LaPorte.

@ I know you've probably already seen this one, but I love it so much I must repeat it: Super Mamika.

@ A great lesson on the psychology of procrastination by David McRaney.

@ The God Of Cake. Just in case you weren't yet convinced that Allie Brosh is the high priestess of online hilarity.

@ A glorious reference: Portrait of Liz Lemon made of Nerds.

@ The James Frey Problem, by Maureen Johnson. Testify!

@ Meanwhile, in Armenia, a confectionery company has broken the record for the world's biggest chocolate bar!

Adventures In Nom: Marie Antoinette High Tea at The Westin

2010-11-25T09:18:00.003+11:00

Because I'm an unabashed egomaniac, I like to spread out my birthday celebrations as long as I'm humanly able to. This year, for example - I turned twenty-five on a Friday, but did not stop actually considering it my birthday until it was Monday and I was back behind my desk at The Job.

The day after my birthday (despite the downer stormy weather) thusly had to be spent in style. Luckily for me, a super-lovely group of blogger ladies and I organised to shelter at The Westin that afternoon for their Marie Antoinette themed high tea.

Food bloggers, busy at work :)

The exquisite tray of sweets, clockwise: chocolate cream with exotic fruit caramel and candied walnuts; lime curd meringue tart (with an edible Marie Antoinette!); blueberry macaron; beetroot and cherry cupcake.

Let them eat cake, indeed!

I'm pleased to report that all of them tasted as delectable as they photographed :)

There was also a scrumptious selection of savouries. I'm torn between declaring the roast beef sandwich with creme-cheese-stuffed bell peppers or the kiwi and orange croissant with mascarpone as the winner canape of the lower tier.

But - much more importantly - my favourite from the upper tier?

The macaron with a thick filling of fresh blueberries and chocolate ganache! It was truly marvellous. You really can't beat fresh, juicy fruit sandwiched in macaron...

Adventures In Nom: Birthday Fondant

2010-11-23T09:57:00.004+11:00

For my recent twenty-fifth birthday, I decided to dine at a lil' French bistro in Darlinghurst called Sel et Poivre for dinner. I'd always wanted to try its fare, and my mother, sister and The Boy all tagged along. The restaurant was great (really and truly, highly recommended!) and the cherry on the top of a lovely, relaxing day.

Although we were all thoroughly stuffed from the delectable French dishes, it wasn't until the question of dessert came up that I remembered that I hadn't had any kind of cake during the day - which, as we all well know, is mandatory when celebrating one's birthday. So I eenie-meenie-miney-moed between the creme brulee and chocolate fondant, and the latter won.

Supposedly, the hostess cornered my mother and sister on their way to the bathroom and asked whose birthday it was. Because when the fondant was brought out, respendent with a singular sparkler, it was also accompanied by half the waitstaff boisteriously singing Happy Birthday To You. Some of the patrons joined in as well, and my mother took a trillion photos of the whole thing. I must admit, it was all rather flattering :p

If I look a little nervous here, I was still recovering from the previous night's shock, where Blue and I was witness to our first Bombe Alaska. It was placed on the corner our table unannounced, not ten centimetres away from me in a very frilly and very flammable outfit. Then, as the waiter liberally poured the rum on and created a massive cake-ferno, the sparklers lost their stability and fell through the metled meringue - towards me. I nearly fell out of my chair leaning back, trying to escape the sparks and wayward tongues of flame.

I am genuinely sorry that I have no photos of that chaos to show you.

But I, as always, digress!

That chocolate fondant was perfect - so warm and gooey and rich and wonderful. I shouldn't be so impressed by this - what with it made at a French restaurant and all - but you'd be surprised how many subpar fondants there are out there!

(All photos courtesy of my mother. You know, I don't think she knows about my blog - let alone the whole food blogging phenomena - but with no precedent and for no real reason, she took some nice shots of all our meals this night. Perhaps this is where I've inherited the blogging gene?)

QFI

2010-11-22T08:59:00.000+11:00

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As you think, so you are. As you dream, so you become.

As you create your wishes, so they create you.

– Wendy Garrett

Adventures In Nom: Le Rennaisance Macarons

2010-11-16T15:04:00.006+11:00

Welcome to my newest blog feature - Adventures In Nom!

Perhaps it's because I've been hanging out more with proper food bloggers, but as of late I've had a growing inclination to photograph every sweet I eat. Desserts and confectioneries are delightful subjects for the lens - brightly-coloured, beautifully-constructed and just so goshdarned interesting to look at.

Without any exaggeration, I actually find so many of the confections I come across as inspirational. Which is probably why I'm getting into the candy biz!

So I thought I'd start sharing these delicious snaps with you. I hope you derive from them as much of a child-like sugar-high as I do :)

Here's something that I nommed ages ago: awesome macarons from La Rennaisance, a pâtisserie française located in the The Rocks. I personally think this place makes the best traditional French macarons in Sydney - in fact, they come very close to being as scrumptious as the ones I ate in Paris. Whenever I'm in the area, I always find myself browsing their day's display of macaron-y goodness.

These photos were taken to document La Rennaisance's stylish new packaging. The pretty patterned background here is the paper bag the macarons came in. Unfortunately, with the pâtisserie's re-branding, there came a cost... which was altering the price of the macarons from $10 per 100 grams to $2.50 each. When they were priced by weight, you could get five macarons for a tenner - now, alas, only four. Still, this is but a small quibble.

My quartet, from left: pistachio and cherry; jasmine with white chocolate ganache; salted caramel, and passionfruit with milk chocolate ganache.

Normally, my favourite-by-far macaron flavour from this pâtisserie is the salted caramel. (Which is heavenly.) But in this particular batch, the pistachio out-shone it - which is a flavour I'm generally kinda indifferent about.

So why was this macaron so wonderful?

A whole cherry was nestled in its centre. Incroyable!

What dessert-time treats have you been om-nomming lately?

QFI

2010-11-15T02:42:00.003+11:00

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You are alive, and that is the only place you need to be to start.

— Carrie Rainey

On Writer Warm Ups.

2010-11-03T18:59:00.002+11:00

My decision to attempt Nanowrimo again was very much an impulse one. It was less than a week until November when I was randomly reminded that it still existed, and I think it only was because I had an old account with the website that I decided, "What the hell; I'll do it!"

Which left me with very little time to actually organize that "what the hell" my Nano would be!

So here are some of the things I did in those final four days to help me start some serious Nanowrimo-ing:

One. Buy a special Nano-only notebook. Such as...

From Typo. The reason that this journal won over the one with the lovely faux-leather cover in Tiffany blue was because of this inscription, scrawled in the upper corner:

Suitably inspirational for somebody trying to get back in the writing game, don't you think?

I like keeping separate journals on individual projects for two reasons: any notebook filled with a gazillion different thoughts on a gazillion different things overwhelms and confuses me; and (for me, at least) having a specific idea contained in the singular binding makes that book - and, by association, that idea - extra-special. Obviously, this was going to be my first step for such a writerly undertaking as Nano.

Two. Start some research! Miraculously - because I am not the type of writer who could commit to just improvising thirty thousand words! - I was able to think up a wonderfully write-able concept about two days before Nanowrimo began. Although this idea sparked a lot of springboards from which I could leap into a story, I knew I would need a bit of solid ground to stand on as well. Therefore, I spread out writer-feelers to the far ends of the Internet. I even went to the library and hit some books, old-school!

I found further references about the stuff that I already had plans for, and I read up on related stuff in hopes that I would stumble onto something inspiring enough to be adapted into those aforementioned plans. I soaked a little bit of everything in (even the terribly sexist and hateful fundie sites) to see how it would bleed into my original idea.

And considering how minuscule this research period was in comparison to my usual process (which is a week, minimum), so far those two days of note-taking have really contributed to what I've written so far.

Three. Tie up any loose ends. That is, I made sure that my apartment was spick-and-span tidy, that my random piles of papers were attended to and filed, that my fridge was full, that my laptop was sent off to my father for repair, and that my blog was updated - all by October 31st. By getting all these seemingly meaningless tasks out of the way, my path was as clear and as distraction-free as possible for when My Month Of Endless Writing commenced.

How do you prepare and organize yourself for a big project?

On Having Some Voice.

2010-10-30T15:59:00.004+11:00

Scene: Blue's kitchen, several 7pms ago. The Boy and I are preparing dinner and discussing my latest outing as a blogger: yum cha sponsored by the ever-lovely Nuffnang peeps.

After describing to Blue the culinary delights of the luncheon (I finally got to sample some chicken's foot), I also mention, "Only one person mentioned that I haven't updated my blog in ages, and thankfully they weren't all guilt-trippy about it."

Blue replied, "You know, I miss reading your blog."

"Really?" I said, more flattered than expected. I then sighed.

"It's just... since starting the new job and all, I've got blogger's block. I don't know what direction I want to take the blog in. I've tried so many different writing styles and subjects on there, I think I've lost which one is my true voice. I don't feel like I have anything to say - I don't know what my voice is anymore."

"Yeah, but having some voice is probably better than having no voice at all."

. . .

So I take tentative steps back into this blog.

I have some decent ideas for future posts, but already a sorta big obstacle is stopping me from re-attempting daily updates: my laptop is all broke (a system upgrade gone wrong). Fortunately, I have access to a computer at The Job, but if any of you are still out there reading, please keep up your saint-like patience. Thank you.

I'm also going to attempt Nanowrimo for the second time. (My first attempt, in 2007, was thwarted just four days into November by a sudden but savage heartbreak. This time, I have a much more stable and loving support system in my life.) However, because writing novels and sizable chunks of literature is definitely not my style, I'll only be aiming for thrity thousand words - that's a reasonable 1k a day - and writing in a short-story format. (My subject? Stories based on womenfolk from the Bible.)

It's been so goddamn long since I wrote fiction, and for that exact reason I'm actually quite inspired to try it again.

At the very least, this mind-melting project will give me a regular reasons to update this blog - not only to talk about my progress, but for procrastination as well :p

But enough about me. What have you all been up to lately, lovelies?

QFI

2010-08-09T10:38:00.000+10:00

☆

Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich.

— Sarah Bernhardt

QFI

2010-07-11T10:07:00.002+10:00

☆

Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.

— Albert Einstein