Happy Hours, Bites of Life and Updates

It's been almost a year since I desperately needed a break from the four walls of my apartment and sought out the Culver City Farmers Market. It was a spur of the moment decision that has had enormous impact on our lives. I can say that most of our produce is not purchased at that farmers market or another. I've been serving a lot more fresh fruit and cooking a lot more veggies. I am certain that those changes are why I had dropped a nice bit of weight before my last visit to the oncologist. The weight loss was a delightful surprise, because I did not practice moderation of any sort during the holidays. Oh my, no. I was eating everything in sight that was bad. But the good food and the walking staved off a weight gain and helped me lose some. I've really enjoyed just getting out around people and watching the children at the market. The outings got even better when Marie began joining me. I had been missing my friends during my very long recovery. While I am very grateful to have networks like Facebook to keep in some contact with civilization, there is nothing like a face to face conversation. I'm certain that aside from strengthening a great friendship, the Farmers Market outings helped jump start Sybaritic Press. The martinis may have had a small role in that as well. We each have stressful lives. It is lovely to get together and shop and let our wonderful bartender and the staff at the Culver Hotel pamper us for a couple of hours. I really miss the uber cute porter who used to kneel to serve us, but what can you do. He may be on his way to being a movie star. Yes, he was that uber cute.

Life in a Bite – Part One

I was very excited to see two of my favorite food related celebs, Anthony Bourdain and Nigella Lawson, were in a new show together. The Taste  is a competition show in which the contestants must make the perfect single bite of a dish. I'd seen similar challenges in other competition shows like Chopped or the Next Iron Chef where it is asked that the chef demonstrate their cooking philosophy in a single bite of food. I will say right now that I am not interested in a food competition of any kind. I am wide eyed and hopeful or arrogant enough to believe that I can get to cook for those chefs I admire without the trauma and potential humiliation of a competition. Still, I became obsessed with my cooking philosophy (do I have one) and whether it could be expressed in a single bite. Jon had an eating philosophy of a bit of croissant with butter and honey on a spoon. I thought of something that would have a bit of complexity. It would be a recipe that I had mutated and fused with other cooking cultures I've explored. It should be something that means a lot to me personally.

I had an idea that would work reasonably well, but it seemed to be too simple. And then, I saw Bourdain on an episode of his newer travel show, The Layover. And there I found the missing elements. I figured out an original recipe that was very much from my roots while reflecting all of the methods of cooking I'd learned from other cultures. I even involved my father in its creation. He's been very much pro-cultural fusion in cooking since I gave him beef short ribs Boeuf Bourguignon style. And he helped me with that final element that really shows some creativity. I am mid-way through executing the recipe for the first time, so I can't reveal much more. I hate to be a tease, but I want to pull this off before I really start crowing about how clever I may be. What I wanted to talk about today is how absolutely giddy I felt figuring out an original recipe. There are many recipes that I've put a spin on, but this one is made of groupings of ingredients and procedures that are my own. It is writing of a sort. Chefs have said over an over that cooking can be storytelling. One element of this epic bite of food is collard greens. Each time I make them, I think about my grand uncle KC and how he taught me how to cut the leaves. Of course, thinking about him involves tomes of some highly entertaining Warner family history. Or I think about how my version of collards was a direct result of my Mother's stroke at age 46. In the aftermath, I took my immediate family through a tectonic shift in how the traditional foods were prepared. I started using olive oil, garlic and smoked turkey to flavor veg like collards or black eyed peas. This dish is definitely the story of a world traveler who has wandered mostly through foods of different places and peoples. This excitement is the same as that of writing a story when it's going very well. I wanted to share. The next blog will have full documentation of how I made the dish and how it turned out. There may even be a video. It's my plan to make sure that the chefs I kibitz with on Facebook and twitter have a read.

Updates

Jon and I begin our marathon journey this weekend. Remember, we take any donation. It's for the entire walk as a unit – not per mile. Donations go directly to the organization. https://www.justgiving.com/Deborah-Warner . I should have the interview with Sean Hepburn Ferrer done by next weekend. I'll also have a couple of cooking videos aside from the one bite up next weekend. And I am really, really hoping for the safety of everyone near me that I can find the time to write some fiction.

Stay tuned.

On Mom and Cooking and the Holiday Frenzy

Jon and I do a lot of prep for the baking season, including dry runs throughout the year. We like to keep our skills sharp. This kind of prep does not extend to actual Christmas shopping. I am just now compiling a list for Jon to choose from. I found myself very tickled when I finished as almost all of the items involved cooking in some fashion. What was so funny, you might ask. I was thinking about my Mother. I am a lot like her in many ways. I look like her. I certainly have her sense of humor. However, we vastly diverge where my interest in all things cooking. This was especially true where Christmas presents were concerned. It was made very clear, that any present related to household chores would be view with great disdain. There would be consequences for such a gift that could be very uncomfortable. I remember the one year that someone thought it would be a great idea to give Mom a new set of cookware for Christmas since the set we had was damaged. Things were extra frosty until February, and not because of Philly winters. If anyone had purchased the trio of imported sea salts that I adore for her, said gifter would have found themself sleeping on the patio. We didn't have an enclosed patio.

I am very different from Mom in that regard. Not that I don't enjoy girlie gifts. I love jewelry and clothes and all of that. But I really love anything related to cooking from cookbooks to the tiniest gadget. I use my crepe pan every week, because it is the perfect pan to make regular pancakes. I clean it carefully with oil and course salt after use before wrapping it in a special cloth before putting it away. I love that pan! Thus, I have a list of items that I have yet to acquire and really want. It's a very exciting list to me, but I am leaving one item off. I do want a chef's coat. No apron can protect me from getting covered in whatever I”m cooking. However, I want to wait on that item. It's a bit pricey. Mom still wouldn't be impressed. What am I getting for Jon? That's all taken care of. The last one was delivered today. I only chose them on Monday, so that's really impressive of these online shops. Still, I may have to venture into the mall for one or two things for very, very special people. I will choose a weekday and early in the day. That should keep the crazy to a minimum. We'll be doing the garland on the window with the lights again this year. The piney scent is really nice. Soon, the scents of baked goods will be in the air. That will be lovely. The only potential difficulty is our usual problem coming up with an idea for our official Christmas card. Every year I say we should think of something during the summer. Every year we're coming up with something mid-December. Will this be the year that we repeat a card? Who knows!

Updates

I am actually working on a book! I have taken up the latest Soldiers book where it left off. It's like coming home if home were filled with hot and frequently naked guys. I'd love to project all the fiction that I plan to do in the weeks that I am between manga assignments, but I will enjoy the moment. Everything else will happen in its own time. Meanwhile, there is a lot of baking and cooking to do.

Stay tuned.

Thankful Thoughts, Updates and Indie Promo

It's odd writing a blog today. Usually, I'm getting ready for Thanksgiving madness or recovering from the food coma. I wasn't sure I would have the time to write one, but there are large lulls in cooking. Having two shoots in the apartment in a short time left it fairly clean. Thus, I don't have to run around dusting and what not. Mind, we are going to a friend's for the dinner itself on Thursday. Why clean? I just never know who might turn up at my door that hasn't been following my comings and goings closely or who needs safe harbor despite my plans. They know that I roast one size turkey – huge. And the sides and desserts are plentiful. I'm used to cooking for the family back east who were healthy eaters and liked to have a plate and dessert to take home.

I wrote the paragraph at 9am on Wednesday when I believed everything was going well. I hit a wall not too long afterward struggling with the pie dough discs. I tired a new recipe that proved to be more delicate that the norm. That put me behind schedule. I also didn't have my sous chef, Jon, to do the dishes. I had far more to do by the time Jon got home that I would have normally, and my energy was fading. I never caught up to my original notions of a schedule, but everything got done by the time we left for dinner at Marie's. I was just left with zero time to write the blog. I'm sure that my US readers were busy getting ready for or travel to the holiday feast. The rest of my gentle readers are very patient and forgiving, right?

Being Thankful

It was on Thanksgiving in 2009 that I realized I was in real trouble physically. I was diagnosed with Appendix Cancer a little over a week later. Thus, this time of year has a solemn under tone for me. While this time of year begins a season filled with all manner of stress, it is also the time of year when my perspective on life is at its sharpest. Money could be tight. Finding what I need for the meal may be problematic. Costco could be full of the Walking Dead. I'm not sure that it isn't on a routine basis. None of that really matters when I remember what was happening in 2009. I'm not saying that I don't get peeved anymore, but I usually shake it off after I vent – and not to the person I'm peeved at. I have managed to learn to not sweat the small stuff. Actually, large stuff has to be pretty fricken' terrifying to vex me beyond the initial moment. I am still a world class worrier, but that is mainly about the next batch of test results.

I was extremely fortunate to be diagnosed when I was. Despite the previous misdiagnoses, I was incredibly fortunate. My type of Appendix Cancer is so rare that 99% of doctors go through their careers without seeing one case of it. There was a doc at a community clinic who happened to have trained with the one doc in LA who had treated a case. I was even more fortunate that it was a slow growing cancer. I liked the term lazy tumor. And having such a rare cancer gave me free care at a major teaching hospital, because I was a great teaching tool. All of that good fortune should not be squandered worrying or fuming about small stuff.

I am very thankful for all that good fortune and the chance I was given at life. I am very thankful for all of the wonderful people that are in my life. I have an extraordinary support system here and back east on online. I am finding great creative satisfaction since 2009. In fact, I have found more creative satisfaction than I have since my graduate school days. And my Hubs and I have better prospects creatively than ever before. I can't say that life is perfect. I'd love to be a size 10 again without being the skeleton I was in 2009. But what isn't perfect, can be improved. Overall, I am pleased with my lot and grateful to be here.

Updates

We will be posting the teaser for the web series next week. A week after that, I will be posting a sample of the interview with Sean Ferrer Hepburn. I am finally working on fiction though I have no ETA on when the current novels will be in the publishing pipeline.

Stay tuned.

Promotional Message

the following is a promotional message about an anthology eMagazine that I really enjoy reading and writing for. Please, give this a read. It needs and deserves support.

Full-Metal Orgasm is a sexy and intelligent adult fiction eMagazine for the digital age. Inspired by a multitude of media and figures such as Heavy Metal magazine, Shirow Masamune, ReiQ, Penthouse Comix, Jun Tsukasa, Demitys, Toshio Maeda, Jin-roh, Pop Chaser and Robot Sex Life, it encapsulates the best of otherworldly sex. From stories featuring gynoids to tentacles, transhumans and aliens alike, FMO calls upon new and veteran writers, artists and other creatives to spawn new worlds and new sexual fantasies, without boundaries all downloadable to your favorite device in DRM-free PDF and mobi formats. Available on the Kindle, and for direct sale from the publisher. More information at http://sexpunk.tumblr.com or search online for Full-Metal Orgasm. Full-Metal Orgasm eMagazine www.facebook.com. Kickstarter here: http://kck.st/TJZTDW GMAIL: sexpunksexfi .

Humidity, Day Tripping and Updates

Sybpress in the Park

It's Wednesday, and I'm already exhausted. I had lengthy errands on Monday and Tuesday that kept me out in the heat and rare humidity for much of both days. Okay, Los Angeles, we had a deal when I moved out here. You can be hot enough to melt pennies, but you are NOT supposed to be humid! On Monday, I had sweat through my clothes enough that I had to shower and change when I cam home. That just doesn't happen here. Despite the all clear from my Docs, I am still tethered to General Hospital for prescriptions that must be issued monthly and the B-12 shots. Yesterdays sojourn involved getting the prescription filled – I had no energy to wait for it Monday. Then, I had to make my way all the way to West Hollywood  to pick up promo materials for the Bookfair. From there, I had to go to Culver City for the Farmers Market and to meet Marie to discuss the Bookfair. There was also the possibility of martinis and snacks during our meeting. Speaking of the fair, be sure to visit our new web page: Sybpress in the Park.

Both days involved extensive commutes. I'm used to that and well prepared for them. I've taken to traveling with a collapsible cart rather than a tote bag. I carry a parasol, a hat, a sweater, a liter or more of water, a snack, a book and whatever I'm picking up along the way. A Tote bag would be too heavy before I leave the house. This cart is stylish, and it holds up to 110 pounds. I can also fit it in a single bus seat with me and not be in the way of other commuters. I gave such advice in a recent advice blog I wrote for the upcoming Yaoi-con. It was a funny blog that people have found helpful. You can read it HERE. Incidentally, the paperback version of Altered Lanes: An Anthology of Travel Using Alternate Transportation in the City of Angels is now available! Click the title to purchase from Amazon.com..

Normal Bric a Brac

I don't mind the commutes. For the most part, I'm traveling between rush hours, so the buses and trains aren't mobbed. I'm always happy to visit West Hollywood. It's a beautiful neighborhood of tree lined streets and tony shops frequented by even tonier people. I believe it has more gyms per capital than any other part of the city, so most of the men are delightful to look at. There were some jogging about in tiny shorts that made me long for my net gun. Jon really needs to invent a net gun that can take down a young man! Is that really so unreasonable?! Where was I? Oh, right. I expect shops with fancy bric a brac that most people would find eccentric. However, I was not expecting to see huge stone giant robots guarding the parking lot of a really expensive clothing store. These statues are an incredible depiction of some high level geekiness. Jon tells me that these are not one specific robot, but an amalgam of at least three different robots. I must confess that I couldn't follow the elaborate details and histories behind each character that made up the robots. Jon was talking kind of fast at that point and I was full of martinis and some apple and cinnamon elixir that the Culver Hotel bartender was experimenting with. It was a cross between an apple pie and a whole lot of liquor! Jon plans to further investigate the statues when we are at the Bookfair. I plan to let him.

I enjoyed getting out with people and seeing some different scenery than my living room, but I still need to find a balance between activity and rest. As it is, I go through a flurry of activity and then can't do much of anything for a couple of days. Finding that balance is a matter of trail and error. I am learning what my limitations are albeit slowly. A few months ago, I would have either tried to wait at Costco for my meds despite the exhaustion, or I would have tried to do some shopping at Costco yesterday even if that meant dragging those purchases to West Hollywood and Culver City. I do need to do some shopping at Costco, but it can wait until later this week. See, I am learning. So, no nagging!

Fear and Loathing and Food Both Fast and Slow

One of the upsides of commuting is the time it gives for reading. Over the last couple of days, I devoured The American Way of Eating by Tracie McMillan. The book is an exploration of the produce food chain from farm to table. Ms. McMillan gathered her information by working as a field hand picking grapes, sorting peaches and cutting garlic on vast farms in central California; working as a produce stock clerk at two Walmart Super centers near Detroit, Michigan; and working as an expediter at an Applebees in Brooklyn. Each job had its challenges and satisfaction. She met fascinating people in each location and learned a great deal about how people at different strata survive on the wages they make. I was shocked to find dubious payment and employment practices reported at the Walmart and the Applebees. The book was as engrossing as it was educational. I think the best thing I got out of McMillan's book was a reprieve from the guilt I'd been shouldering for not having done a lot more healthy cooking before now. I have no excuse for not shopping and cooking healthy right now. I have a lot more time to plan, shop and cook. I have more knowledge about cooking than I ever have before. And I have an insane number of options for healthy produce and fresh baked goods. But when we were both working – especially when we were working odd hours – it wasn't so easy. McMillan's own struggles made me understand that even when you know what to do about a healthy diet and have some where with all to do it, time to plan and properly shop can be a huge issue. And neither she nor I have children. I have an even deeper admiration for my mother and her efforts that kept our family from the drive through except on very rare occasions. Aside from easing my guilt, the book also answered a growing question I've had about some restaurants I've visited in recent years. When I thought that I could do better making the same dishes at home, it seems that I was right. Applebees, it was reported, mostly microwaves pre-portioned side dishes and the sauces were mixed from powders. The cooks there said that they didn't cook so much as they assembled. I don't think I've made a powered sauce of any type since I was 19 and living on my own for the first time. McMillan's book was extraordinary in it's scope. It didn't lay out any easy answers, but I think it will make those involved in this quandary look at the questions differently. Aside from localizing the food supply, many consumers need to be given strategies to plan meals so that they can shop and prep effectively enough to follow through. We're a land of plenty with two food networks. This is something we should be able to figure out.

Updates

The in box remains stubbornly full of things to edit and promo materials to create and other things to write and production things to cross off.

Craig, Strange Visions and Scary In Boxes

These tomatoes are astonishingly good!

The photos have nothing to do with the text of the blog. Readers have expressed an interest in our Tuesday afternoon outings. 

 

Craig called on the Sunday after the shoot. Jon and I were making like vegetables in front of the TV. There were piles of equipment and costumes and props shoved into corners. It would take me a week to deal with those. His tone was that mix of amusement and excitement that often gives me a reason to worry. He wanted to know if Jon or I had been past Ballona Creek on Saturday. For the disaster film buffs among you, Bollona Creek is the handy conduit used to channel molten lava from Beverly Hills to the Pacific ocean in Volcano. We actually live near the creek and occasionally walked the bike path. However, we didn't typically cross the creek as we did when we lived in Playa del Rey. I knew better, but I asked why anyway.

The view of the bar from our favorite spot.

“I saw a 300 pound hairy, naked man frolicking in the creek,” he said. I could tell that he shuddered. “He was really hairy. If I'd been up north, I'd thought he was a bear. But he was happy.” Craig was most perplexed about why no one in the apartment buildings surrounding that part of the creek called the cops. He was even more perplexed when a library patron rushed into the building to have him call the cops on the hairy naked man who had traveled a mile since Craig last saw him. I was happy to report that neither Jon nor I had scene that vision. I was particularly relieved after having seen some really bad nakedness the week before at the Culver City Farmers Market. Let's just saw it involved a leathery bag lady, a loosely fitting sundress and a sudden, strong breeze. I guess she liked that free feeling in the summer time.

This is our spot in the hotel lobby bar.

It was good to hear from Craig, disturbing images notwithstanding. He's been a bit scarce this summer doing his Oliver Wendell Douglas thing growing corn and 'maters and peppers and such when he isn't being a librarian. I miss him, of course, but I am a bit vexed at him. I think he put something strange in my library file. Or maybe he just said he would and let my imagination take over. I swear the librarians at my branch have been looking at me strangely. Hmmm. I think he's being my nemesis again.

Inbox of the Damned

A view of our favorite libations.

I can't really complain about all that has been heaped upon my to do list. I volunteered for 80% or more of the pile. And I can't really say that the extra work has kept me from finishing my latest titles. I was having much more trouble with them last year when I was doing relatively little. I am making progress, but not as quickly as I would have liked. Meanwhile, the work I've been doing has a lot of benefits aside from monetary ones. I'm building a reputation as well as my brand with the manga and short stories. That will have a big impact on the books sometime next year, if all goes well. And the books are on track and fun again. I'm just a bit slower than I was a few years back. There is a work around to all that won't be ready for the West Hollywood Bookfair. I just have to slog my way though it before Monday. There will be no volunteering for something new until everything is uploaded or put to bed. I must be strict about this! I'll try not to be grumpy though.

Next week, look for a new page on Sybpress.com for the Hollywood Bookfair. There will be some great links to the authors of our titles, some info on our new titles, and lots of links to all sorts of indie fiction, poetry readings, etc. It will change frequently in the run up to the Bookfair, so check often!

Stay tuned!

Julia, Nervous Tummies and Film Shoots

Long before there was a Food Network and Cooking Channel, there was Julia Child on PBS. I watched her as a child for pure entertainment. Her shows were often as funny as they were informative. She just tickled me. I really wanted to try to cook her recipes when I was a kid, but they were beyond my skills then. And Frankly, the ingredients were very difficult to find. I can remember trying to find shallots in my local grocery store as a teenager. The produce clerk looked at me like I was speaking Martian. In December of 2009, when I was recovering from my first surgery and prepping for the second, the film Julie and Julia  came out on DVD. The film was based in part on My Life in France http://amzn.com/0307277690 , a biography of Julia Child's life as she wrote her first cookbook. Jon bought me that book along with Julia's Kitchen Wisdom  along with the film. While the film was funny and sweet, the book was a revelation for me at a time when I really needed it. Julia showed me that anyone can change the course of her (or his) life at any time, so long as they have the determination to do so. Being new to a field is not an impediment. Being older is not an impediment. Not speaking the language is not an impediment. It was a joyful lesson that I really needed at that point in my life. I was in the 'what's next' stage of life. I still am, actually. But it's nice to have such a great example of the world being one's oyster. The cookbook as awesome as well. There were so many recipes that were updated from her first book as equipment changed. I've worked my way through a number of recipes that I'd never tried before or tried with less than stellar results. So far, every one that I tried has been a tasty success. And I'm still considering that cow's hoof!

Lists and Piles of Stuff

No, I'm not planning a trip at the moment though it looks like I am. As I've been detailing in my web series blog, Tales from Demon Under Glass http://demonspawntales.blogspot.com/ , we are gearing up to shoot a trailer for the web series. I had almost managed to completely bury our ironing board in the closet under all the stuff accumulating for the shoot on Saturday. Of course I needed the ironing board to complete some costumes. Yep, I have the ironing board and the fabric glue out. This is scary stuff! I confess that all the running around is making me have flash backs of everything that I hated about doing shoots. But then, that may be the fumes from the fabric glue. At any rate, everything seems to be running on schedule. We plan on shooting a photo shoot with the two leads, Garett Maggart and Owen Szabo tomorrow (Thursday). The trailer shoot is scheduled for Saturday. I have to build onto my piles from my ever growing lists between now and then. I'm hoping that if I can pull this off without ending up in bed all next week, I can pull off a mush longer shoot. I'm not sure how it will work out. Truth be told, the idea of canceling the entire shebang has run through my mind on several occasions just this afternoon. Hopefully, that passes.

I must be off to make costume pieces, edit the current manga and write a piece of fiction for the yaoi blog. I should have a number of crazy stories to tell text week.

Stay tuned.

Boules, Stripper Shoes and Mad Men

This past week has been a mixed bag of highs and lows. I find that I'm struggling with a bunch of things that are all messing with my motivation. Currently, my mobility has been severely curtailed by a twisted knee. On any given day my joints are a source of almost constant pain or stiffness. This is far worse. I can't even sit in a computer chair (I'm losing another week of editing videos I'm sure). I haven't been restricted to the sofa in nearly two years. Since one of the fears I wrestle with is the one that I won't be as active as I once was, this is a setback I really don't need. I'm supposed to be at Anime Expo this weekend, and I have a shoot next week. Arrgh! So, I called Craig. He is a licensed paramedic as well as my nemesis. Somehow, the discussion drifted to growing corn. That can be very funny apparently. At least, I found it hilarious. And the chat made me feel better for a while. Beyond that, there are ice packs and analgesics and the freakin' sofa for the next day or two.

I had some ups and downs with baking as well. I had quite the tussle with the old piping bag in making macarons. They tasted good, but there were not exactly ready for a patisserie. I called them rustic. Afterward, I was looking at some other recipes and concluded that the easy one I was using was a bit too easy. The steps would have made for a much prettier products. The next time I attempt them, I will use the more complex recipe. I even had problems with Madeleines, and I've made many a successful batch of those. I was just off last week, baking wise. But then I decided to try the bread experiment once again. I thought the dough looked much better than my first batch. And lookee there, I made a boule! It had a hollow thump and a crust that was crunchy when gently pressed. And it tasted as good as it looked! We ate half of the loaf with dinner. Well, Jon ate dinner. I mostly ate the bread and a couple of meatballs. It was good that the baking ended on an up note. It's never good for the main outlet for stress to become a source of frustration. I had other plans for cooking lots of seasonal veggies this week, but the knee has but the kibash on that. I'll only be standing in front of the stove long enough to heat things.

I'm not really complaining. All things considered, things aren't terrible. I'm not the same as I was before I fell ill, but at least I'm not ill. Of course, everything that goes wrong makes me paranoid about being ill again. No worries though. I've become well skilled at managing paranoia. I'll just send some panicked emails to my support system. They'll calm me down, because they have had similar experiences. Easy peasy. Yes, I have to go through this process each time. It's a thing with me. UPDATE! I have sent various panicked emails and phone calls since writing this paragraph. My knee is feeling only marginally better, but I feel much more relaxed about it all now.

In These Shoes...

...I don't think so. (My favorite song about high heels).  When I was hobbling around the mall on Monday, I must confess that I was really pleased to see some very lovely clothes for this season. There are some lines of clothes that have very attractive sundresses and skirts. Even the shorts remind me strongly of the fashion sense from the 1950s when women had figures and sexy didn't mean slutty. I think Mad Men http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Men is responsible for that (I've never seen the show myself. It reminds me too much of the Tate Advertising Agency on Bewitched, but with no magic or Samantha Stephens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Stephens ). This is a good thing. I usually find myself ranting angrily at fashion trends that either make no sense or don't look right on any female that isn't a toddler (I'm looking at you, empire waist dresses). And I still don't like pork pie hats. 

But amidst these lovely fashions is a big and perplexing irritant to me. Somehow, stripper's shoes have become high fashion. I'm even seeing serious female journalists wearing these five or six inch numbers. What's the harm, you might ask. They're just shoes after all. I give you my Hubs as Exhibit A. He is a thoroughly modern man who believes that women can do whatever jobs they set their minds to. His Momma raised him right. However, when he sees those shoes on a woman, his reaction every time is Hhheeeyyy now, what is she into? Or Why is she interviewing that general in FM shoes? Before you think I am speaking in hyperbole, consider the shoes to the right. I found those on a site called Upscale Stripper http://upscalestripper.com. I found a shoe with the same silhouette and heel height at the very respectable zappos.com. Check out this link:

http://www.zappos.com/mia-limited-edition-vixen-white-patent. I find it distressing that otherwise serious women are undermining their authority for the sake of fashion. In some ways, this trend is more distressing than the fad of having 'juicy' written on the seat of girl's and women's short shorts. Wake up ladies! If you won't consider your dignity, consider your health. Podiatrists are offering operations to to make walking in those shoes bearable. They are called 'toe jobs' http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/26/plastic-surgery-foot-feet-high-heels_n_1454964.html .After all, they were only meant to be worn for the length of a song or while on one's back shooting scenes for porn. They weren't built for an 8 hour day in an office.

Updates

I'll post film and book updates in my other blogs this week. I'll make an announcement here when they are uploaded. One crazy thing though. My books have been really selling this month. I'm really happy, but have no idea why. I'm not even advertising. Maybe all of this blogging is paying off.

Stay tuned

Spring, Cougars, Onion Jam and Updates

This blog can now be translated into every language that Google Translate covers. Just scroll down to the right hand menu to find the drop down box. Mind, these translations may be less than accurate. I'm just saying there is a reason why translator jobs still exist.

The month of fun ended at my favorite time of year in Los Angeles. The Jacaranda trees are in full bloom. Vibrant colors have exploded everywhere. The honeysuckle and night blooming jasmine are releasing their lovely scents. The last thing I expected from Los Angeles was that it would smell so lovely at any time of the year. Just down the street there is a beautiful blanket of yellow posies on a little tract of land next to an electric company power station. The gray weather that is typical of June in LA – June gloom to the locals – makes the colors pop all the more. The end of the Month of Fun is worth it for the beauty in the month that follows. I have added to the spring greenery. I have a lone tomato plant that seems to be thriving in the bedroom window. I've learned from the disaster with the herb garden that the only place in this apartment that gets strong, consistent sunlight is the bedroom. It just seems weird having vegetables growing there. I may not get actual tomatoes until December, but I'm going to keep at it this year.

One of my favorite birthday greetings – among some fabulous greetings (I thank you all for the kind words and good wishes) – was the one from my most sage and often most profane friend, Nick. He informed me that I am now officially a Cougar.

Before I continue, I'd like to mention that Craig had nothing to do with the four legged cougar that somehow made its way from the wilds about Pacific Palisades to just shy of the wilds of the 3^rd Street Promenade in downtown Santa Monica http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/05/santa-monica-mountain-lion-killed-amid-safety-concerns.html. He did, however, have an explanation as to how it came to be there. There is a canyon above the Palisades that is difficult enough to get into that it has escaped development. The area has abundant game. Mountain lions thrive there. His theory is that this big cat was likely chasing game along a creek bed and went far enough that the bed turned into a concrete lined canal. Lining rivers and creeks is a bizarro habit in this part of the world. I believe its done in an effort to control the water ways. I thought the practice was limited to this region. However, I was dismayed to read that it is even more prevalent in Japan. At any rate, the cougar probably couldn't get out of the canal. It followed the route until it emptied near the beach and downtown Santa Moncia. Panicked 911 called ensued. Many animal rights activists have been screaming about killing the unfortunate animal. However, I agree with Craig. It panicked when they used the tranquilizer darts and bolted. This happened a short distance from the pier and the main drag in town. There are a lot of children out and about there. I'm sorry, but I agree that human safety takes priority. I also agreed with Craig that had this been in the era of our tenure at Borders, the mountain lion would have made it into the store and Phil would have been the most likely one to find it – followed by Craig. That was how store 93's luck worked.

Where was I? Ah yes, two legged cougars. I was placed to hear of this new designation as it coincided with my renewed interest in my appearance. I had made a few trips to the make-up aisles in various establishments where I did a lot of puzzled staring at the confounding array of products. Despite this deep confusion, I had replenished my long depleted collection.

I was wearing war paint and had my hair in a new do the day I set out to meet Marie and her mother for lunch. I stopped en route to shop for something else I hadn't had in years – a summer purse. My mother would be appalled at that sad state of affairs. As I left Ross Dress 4 Less (I'm not going to break the bank for my new look), I opted for the elevator to the street. Stairs are no longer my friends – if they ever were. As the elevator door opened, there stood a very tall, incredibly handsome blond young man. He carried headshots, naturally. I looked at him levelly and exclaimed 'Wow!' Obviously, my war paint, new purse and official designation left me feeling empowered. I especially enjoyed him blushing profusely and stumbling away. I may have thought such a thing in my twenties or thirties, but I would never have said it. At that ages, such a declaration would have been a gauntlet thrown. Now, unless I stepped in the cutie's path, it's clearly an appreciative observation. And it was a lot of fun! Sorry, but I have no photos of me in my new guise. I've gotten accustomed to not having photos taken. I will try to get some the next time I get dolled up.

On the cooking front, I've had some middling results from an experiment to make Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day – a book I discovered in a food blog. I've managed to finally get my crusts to work, but the loaves were too dense. The author kindly answered my plea for advice. She told me the dough was too wet. I plan to try again. Meanwhile, I have made a very successful apricot jam on my first attempt! The season goes on as does berry season. More jams will follow. I hope the bread will stand up to it. I think among the jams I'll make next will be onion jam. I made some caramelized onions for a flat bread I was baking with the experimental dough. I also used it on hot dogs and a number of other things. I think I'd like to keep that handy! And it's Vidalia onion season! I even have a book on that to help me. It took all these onions to make just a smudge of the caramelized stuff.

Updates

I have yet another blog. This one is dedicated to the web series version of Demon Under Glass that we are developing. This will be a detailed, no holds barred account of how an ultral low budget production is put together. You can find it at http://demonspawntales.blogspot.com. Like this blog, it can be translated into however many languages Google translate covers.

Shoots, Truths and Finding Footing

Everyone has recovered from their colds -- including Magic the office cat. Onward to the blog!

 

There are two truths to any film shoot – no matter how small. The first is that the more hats one wears, the less time one sits. I was on my feet for five full hours to shoot two segments that will be under five minutes in length. The other truth is that filmmaking prohibits going to the bathroom. I wasn't sure if this truth would hold up on such a small shoot. After all, I had no Assistant Directors, P.A.s or caterers around to stop me from reaching the restroom with dozens of questions. There were no questions to answer, but there were dozens of things to do at any given moment. Thus, I could no longer blame not being allowed in the bathroom on a pervasive conspiracy amongst my crew. The third truth is  not a part of the filmmaking process but my own issue --  I would pay for all those physical shenanigans. I spent Friday curled up on one end of sofa in a state that I hadn't seen in over a year. No worries. I was almost back to what I consider normal by Saturday. On a side note, Robert Rodriguez may enjoy being a one man crew, but I believe that if you can pay for a full crew, get the danged crew!

Why did I go through this hair-brained scheme and endure such physical stress? There are a number of reasons that don't sound too crazy. The primary reason is that I'm learning to shoot films on my own, so that I don't have to depend on hiring anyone other that production assistants to help me shoot The Secret Cancer. I realized that if I had a cinematographer shoot footage in Los Angeles, I'd have to have the same person travel with me wherever I went. Otherwise, the footage wouldn't have the same look from city to city. I was also getting hung up on even getting started waiting for crew to be available on a consistent basis. Jon was certain that I could easily pick up what I needed to learn. All I would need to do is practice. He suggested I shoot simple things that I could control easily and that I could shoot fairly often.

At that point, I was looking for a clever way to promote my yaoi titles that didn't involve paying for ads. I was also interested in doing video responses to recipes by my favorite Youtube chefs. I could shoot cooking videos easily. I've been doing those since the fall of last year. It's been neat to have a video dialogue with some talented chefs that I admire. I've also found an innovative way of promoting some of my titles. The foods that appear in manga and anime are real Japanese dishes. Cooking and eating are often central to character relationships. Everyone who has read my work knows that food plays a big part of character interaction. It was a natural to have a food based video promotion. The first videos for Cook Like a Uke (oo-kay) featured my hands and a voice over announcer. And they aren't doing badly as far as number of views goes. I've even made some book sales from what is a very modest effort is a thrill. But yaoi readers like pretty men. There were calls for actual ukes cooking food.

I'm a filmmaker in Los Angeles which is not lacking in pretty men looking to act. I realized I could move my film school training to the next level with actors in front of the camera to light and frame properly. I could not only promote my own titles, but I could also promote manga I edited for the Digital Manga Guild. It happens that a meal cooked in gratitude moved the main relationship in the book toward romance.

As I said a blog or two ago, I did a casting breakdown and signed a four actor pool. I knew that I could probably only handle shooting one or two segments at a clip. I'm hoping to do a few shoots and get as many segments in the can that I can before I'm forced to move on to the upcoming projects. I also expect these very talented young men to move onto bigger things fairly quickly. I must make hay while the sun shines. For the first shoot, I picked a beef curry dish to promote the manga, Again Tomorrow*. The actor I chose to play Yuusei (upper left), the handsome leading man with amnesia was Donal Thoms-Cappello (below right) who is great looking and resembled the manga character. The other was the next dish I'd been planning to film anyway, Tonjiru or Pork Miso soup. The actor playing Misaki who made the dish for a tutor that would later become his lover in Junjour Romantica was Ryohie Watanabe. This actor is actually Japanese and has more than a passing familiarity making that dish. A third actor, Kevin Chambers (He's left in the apron being geeky. He's also about to eat that whole bowl of stew.), agreed to come by for a photo shoot. While here, he read the lines from the voice over announcer who is the antagonist in the videos. That was helpful for the guys on camera, and really kind to me. And I was most lucky to have make-up maven, Cat Elrod, in the house. Aside from being highly skilled at her job, she is always a delight to have on set. She even helped me do the dishes!

All in all, things went rather well. Jon did what set decorating there was before he went to work. I had weeks to clean and organize the apartment. Incidentally, this shoot finally pushed me to change the apartment from being a place where a sick person was recovering back to an apartment. I find I really like not being surrounded by pill bottles. But I digress. There was food prep for each dish, photographing ingredients and the actors, running the sound and shooting the video and selecting wardrobe. The whole five hours went by in a blur. I hope I seemed competent during the whole ordeal. I did manage to get everything on my shot lists. The sound for each segment was recorded properly. It's not all done perfectly. There will be challenges in post, but they are minor enough that I'm certain I can make the required adjustments on my own. The performances were very good. I think the yaoi readers will get what they were hoping for. The Yuusei character was flirty and really funny. The Misaki character was shy and sweet. Above all, the food was really good. Each dish was consumed immediately after I took the last shot of it plated up. What was really wonderful to hear for this amateur chef was that, for Ryohei, the food turned out like real Japanese cooking he would get at home. In this case, I had the sense to listen to him when he adjusted the recipes I was using while cooking on camera. A great chef knows when to get out of the way! I admit that I'm really jazzed that this went off well.

That said, this shoot also drove home that I can't handle running all over a really big sound stage or location for days on end during a feature. I'm going to have to be rigid about what I will be doing on these projects. But I am pleased to know that I will be able to have some role. That wasn't really clear until this past Friday. Yeah, I'm jazzed.

Now, it's back to juggling the scripts and manga and video editing and cooking. A lot of wonderful things are on the horizon.

Stay tuned.

*Again Tomorrow - Ashita Kara Mouichido © Nabako Kamo. All rights reserved. Original Japanese edition published in 2010 by Taiyoh Tosho Publishing Co., Ltd.

Waiting Game and Simple Pleasures

It was approximately two years ago that I spent nearly 21 hours tangling with the ER at LA County USC Hospital or, as it is really known, General Hospital. I still recall that grueling day and night and day again. I still really hate anything airing on the CW network. I still lament not having THS TV. It's a free premium channel that shows some epically bad action films from the 70s. The film that Craig is ranting about over the phone on any given day typically is airing on that channel. Alas, it is on every cable and satellite provider but mine. Most of all, I remain amazed at how many people that facility treats on any given day and how good that care can be. In my case, it was excellent. The only problem is one that is unavoidable. There is a lot of waiting involved in being seen at General Hospital. To quote the always profanely elegant Nadia G of the Cooking channel's Bitchin' Kitchen, 'when you're a broke-ass, you wait in a lot of lines.' Now, I must amend that a little. The wait times at the ER are considerably shorter than that 21 hours. After my visit, there was a big news expose about that. The county cracked down and the time got way shorter on average. My last trip to that ER ha me in and out in four hours! Thankfully, I haven't had to visit an ER in well over a year.

Waiting Game

This week, I had a two part wait. The first part was at the oncology clinic. Then, I had to wait around an hour and a half before going to wait at the primary care clinic. In between the clinics, I had to climb up then down then up these stairs to the left. There is another set of stairs beyond those to reach the building where my clinics are. It was a grueling experience to put it mildly. The Popeye's Fried Chicken  helped a little – but not very much. The time that I have waiting in the clinic or inching along the 10 west freeway to and from the hospital has been an opportunity to read. I don't think I've read this many books since Grad School. I've read most of Anthony Bourdain's bibliography, including his delightful fiction and an amazing book on Typhoid Mary. I've read all sorts of food fiction and non-fiction. I've also read enough literature, literary history and lit criticism to teach a course (though I really don't want to). I've tried to study Japanese, but that requires a book, a notebook and far too much room than I have on the express bus or the clinic waiting room. Reading is also less stressful while I'm waiting.

Simple Pleasures

The current book I'm obsessed with is The Table Comes First by Adam Gopnik. It is a history of the restaurant and the cookbook as well as the history of the kitchen table primarily in French culture. This all sounds like the height of food nerdom, but Gopnik's gift as a writer is to make any topic very personal and accessible. His writing is always amusing and engaging. He wrote one of my favorite books ever, Paris to the Moon. It was a touching memoir about how he came to be a columnist in France and what his life was like there. But it was about so much more than that as this book is about so much more than food. Though Gopnik proclaims that this book is not a cookbook, his incredibly sensual descriptions of preparing and eating food have caused me to make a couple of the meals he detailed. One description involves a revolution in the way I make scrambled eggs. Yes, scrambled eggs. Gopnik is correct when he says that simple cooking is never really simple. He has made me look at myself as a cook in a new way that's rather exciting. Beyond that, I'm enthralled with his wonderfully elegant way of connecting with the reader. It made the waiting almost joyful! Of course, I recommend it and Paris to the Moon as highly as possible.

Fits and Starts

This week was a throwback to earlier days in my illness. I'm not ill, mid you. But my physical challenges were more pronounced last week. I can say that the acupuncture is having a positive impact on the pain. And I am getting more and more miles in with each walk. The throwback was the fatigue. I went from being able to write or edit until right before going to sleep near midnight to being unable to focus on anything but rudimentary TV shows after dinner around six pm. There were a couple of days when I didn't do anything at all. I think I'd having a period of adjustment to new meds. Strangely, I did manage to accomplish many things on my list. The editing proceeded in a timely fashion. I uploaded corrected versions of two titles. And I uploaded a new video in my Yaoi cooking webseries, Cook Like a Uke. Any one interested in learning about an almost basic Japanese breakfast (almost because I substituted sausage patties cut into cute shapes for natto beans and grilled horse mackerel. The reasons for this and for the technical glitches make for a comedic blog. You can find that and a link to the video HERE.

Updates

I cover all that I'm allowed to publicly talk about in the paragraph above. More news is hopefully coming soon as I am bursting with surprises.

Stay tuned.

The Intern, Jingle Craig and Updates Galore

I woke up Friday to an early morning serenade by Craig of the jingle for the perfume, Wind Song. That's made by Prince Matchabelli  (a real Prince), don't you know. It seems someone thought it was a good idea to give Craig a DVD compilation of 1000 classic commercials. That was such a bad plan. Craig will be my escort to the longest (and last) diagnostic test I have to do for the six month check-up. I sense there will be much in the way of jingle singing in the car and perhaps the waiting area. I don't know the results of the other tests per se; however, if something were truly amiss, I would have been called in to see my doctor weeks ago. These facts have not stopped me from having anxiety about the whole business. I'll have to wait until almost the end of February for my next appointment. Ah well, it is better than having to go in every other week.

New Title – The Intern!

Long time production partner, Marguerite Lliteras has completely taken leave of her senses and started writing. Her first title is The Intern, an erotic romance set in the tony trenches of Beverly Hills Real Estate. Marguerite hales from that high class yet cutthroat background. Like a wise writer should, she wrote what she what she knew in telling this sexy but sweet tale. To summarize:

In the cutthroat world of Beverly Hills real estate, Lisa is the undisputed queen. She has a network of operatives that would be the envy of the CIA. Though she can see the vaguest signs and portents that will point to a fat commission, Lisa did not see William in her arena until it was too late. Her boss – and former lover – Phil saddled her with an Intern who was all wrong. He was too well put together. He knew too much way too soon. He was way too good looking. And worst of all for Lisa, he seemed to see beyond her mask and into her soul. Who was William? What did he really want? These questions plague Lisa, but the one that troubles her most is the one she asks of herself - Why can't she stop thinking about him?

The Intern is available on all formats at Smashwords . You can also download up to 20 percent of the book as a sample to check it out. It's also available on Kindle HERE It's some really tasty fun, and the first of many, we hope. You should also check out Marguerite's very amusing blog on Romantica @Sybaritic Press. Check it out! Share it with friends!

Updates

We are still hanging off the same cliff as last week. The only real drag about that is I still can't talk about what's going on. Everything seems to be on track. The people actually overseeing the process are mellow and fairly confident, so I will just chill until I can blab. It's going to be awesome though.

Ensnared Volume Two will be out this week. If Jon's PC hasn't croaked on me, it should be out tomorrow as an ebook. The paperback will be a week later most likely. I'm dealing with a lot of mental fatigue this week. I didn't manage to make anywhere close to the headway on many of the projects on my plate as I had hoped. I made some, but not very much. It's likely that I'm churning up the stress over the last test and some other things over which I have no control. It'll work out. I'll probably sleep a week after my next appointment with the Docs. Meanwhile, as long as I'm not hallucinating much, it's all good.

My Japanese was put to a field test last week. It was the first time I'd been to Mitsuwa since before Christmas. The young clerk who usually scurries away from me walked up as I was examining produce and wished me a Happy New Year in English. He was very pleased. I responded in English and then asked him where they'd moved the Miso in Japanese. He was surprised and tickled. We didn't go any further as I also learned the phrase 'I don't speak much Japanese.' I also said no thank you in Japanese to another clerk who was offering me a sample of something. That was so cool! My reading is getting better, too.

Thanks to a wonderful gift from an Internet Archive bud (thanks, Carrie!), I found a great recipe for buttermilk fried chicken. We had it last night, and it was awesome. I'm going to try an intriguing recipe from the same magazine for onion bisque. And I continue to struggle with basic southern biscuits. But those stories are for the next blog.

Stay tuned.

Readers Ask About Actors, Food and Craig

It is officially autumn once again. Once again, I sit and ponder the eternal question of why in the hairy heck I think watching football is relaxing??!!! The new neighbors who live to the right of me and above me are likely wondering things like 'Who is cursing like that? It can't be that nice, quiet lady in the apartment just beyond the pool's gate. Maybe she's having some female friends over to watch the game like an angry lady longshoreman or a ticked off girl trucker. I've never heard epithets used like that.' I've had to turn off the game and watch some cooking show recordings. I don't think punching holes in the wall is good for my knuckles.

Reader Questions

I have a number of new readers lately. Hello, new readers! I imagine that jumping into the blog from any random week is like jumping into the deep end of a pool full of piranha wearing clown make-up – scary and confusing. Thus, I have received some questions. Answering them will also provide updates. About Craig. Though we have agreed that I am not his nemesis, he still manages to upend my focus when he calls. This week I've had to talk him out of buying a megaphone, and I've refused to tell him which days I tend to visit my local library. However, I'm not sure if I talked him out of putting a special note in my account file. I suppose I'll find out when I pick up the next book. About the fingerprints, because of the number of pages we turned while working for Internet Archive (archive.org), our fingerprints have rubbed off on certain fingers. Craig found out when he was being printed for the library gig. The print operator said she sees that sort of thing with people who handle pineapples for work (I learned that on the original Hawaii Five-O) and people who handle a whole lot of paper. We averaged three thousand pages a day for three years. Our prints should eventually return. I disagreed that his gave us carte blanche to commit high crimes. I mean, it's only a few fingers that are affected. Besides, I don't care how cool it looks, using a grappling gun will end in disaster at our ages.

Other Answers. I do not cover everything that happens in a week. I tend to focus on the long arcs in my life and career rather than the highs and lows. On any given day, things will look incredibly good or incredibly bad at the beginning or the day and be radically different by the end. That's why I don't post dramatic changes on the social networks unless I'm very certain that the circumstances will remain the same for the foreseeable future. I would make my friends and loved ones crazy on almost a daily basis. I thus stick to the highlights for the week. Yes, my friends and family do get a heads up when I'm going to mention them in the blog. Craig even knows what conversations will land him in the blog. When I mention my actor friends by name, they know it's coming. I don not share most of my interactions with them. Next, I am still learning Japanese – slowly. In fact, I used some during my visit to Mitsuwa market last week. I was mainly apologizing for my unruly shopping cart. And I told my long suffering clerk that I was okay for help. Both he and the elderly lady I spoke to were pleasantly surprised – I think. I do know that I'm understanding more of what I'm hearing on the anime and cooking videos I watch. I have some time before we can consider a trip there, so the learning is going at a good pace. I'm lucky to live in a neighborhood with a significant Japanese population and a major Japanese super market. I haven't even begun to check out Little Tokyo. But I digress. Be warned, I do that a lot, gentle new readers. Last answer for this week: yes, the proofreaders have been sent most of Ensnared. I'm still fiddling with the last 60 or so pages.. It will be published on time.

I have one quick note about the upcoming books. In order to more strongly brand them for the search engines and the social networks, I will have special blogs for the upcoming erotica titles and the yaoi titles. I will still talk about writing in general and my own writing here, but the excerpts and other updates will be on those blogs. It's all about marketing. Hopefully, these moves will result in higher sales.

Kitchen Melange

One of the readers' questions asked if I combined all the styles of cooking that I'm learning or am I cooking French one week and Italian the next, etc. I do both. I make traditional Beef Bourguignon when I crave beef stew, but I also employ the method for other slow cooked beef dishes. My Dad now uses that method to make his beef short ribs. I made them that way when I was last home. I believe he has spread the practice to the southern relatives. I now know how to make Karage fried chicken, but I also use the Japanese seasonings like soy sauce, sake, mirin and ginger in the buttermilk fried chicken I learned to make from my Grandmom. It makes such a flavorful marinade without a lot of extra salt. I use kelp in my stock making because it gives it even better mouth feel and extra nutrition. On the reverse, I made this lovely Japanese chicken dish with grated potatoes as a sauce thickener; however, I browned the chicken along with onion, garlic and carrots like I would with a French dish along with the traditional Japanese seasoning. If I actually make a dish, it is usually because I know I'll use the techniques in more than just that dish.

I must dash. Those last 60 some odd pages won't fix themselves no matter how much I yell at them. I've tried!

Stay tuned.

Birthdays, Baguettes, and Some Updates

I had thought that the strangest bit of conversation to pass between Jon and me this past week was 'yes, Michael was wearing the super hero cape and the duct tape when he went to the ER. I don't think he had on the tool belt though.' But then there was: Jon: Sweetie, are you into a new kink that I don't know about? Me: What ARE you talking about? Jon: There's a tray of raw chicken on the bed. Me: Ah, that's where that got to. How my Brother-in-Law ended up at the ER is a long and admittedly entertaining story, but that would be for him or his wife, Judy to share publicly. I'll have more on them later. I can, however, explain the chicken. I was clearing out the fridge to make room for the birthday cake. I had the big, heavy tray of chicken in hand when I realized that I needed to get something from the bedroom while I remembered (a big issue with me anymore). I put the tray down to retrieve the item and left the bedroom. I left the chicken there while I sorted out the fridge and counter situation. That's when Jon came back from the laundry room and got very confused. See? It all makes sense.

Birthday Boy

Speaking of my in-laws, they called yesterday to wish Jon a happy birthday. Actually, it was my brother-in-law that called to say that Judy was sending her every 30 years birthday wishes to Jon. The idea was for the siblings to talk to each other, but that didn't really work out. Judy got distracted searching for a photo similar to Jon's Jenga pile of dishes. She couldn't find it and that mad her sad, so she decided not to get on the phone. Jon had on headphones, so he wasn't even aware of the call until I jabbed him with my elbow. The upshot was that the siblings yelled into the phone from across the room at each other while Michael and I had a very entertaining conversation about our anti-social spouses. The Cunninghams are delightful people Judy is among the loveliest women I know. Their parents are wonderfully social people. They make you feel like you've known them for decades during the first meeting. Their kids are another matter. They are very odd in social situations until they know you well, yet they attract extremely social spouses. And we are always entertained by this phenomenon. I really enjoyed that call and am reminded that we should get home to see all those zany folks soon.

I can't do much in the way of shopping for Jon's birthday. And it's hard to get Jon something fun, because he acquires the things that really interest him on his own. He has become a search engine wizard in his efforts to secure the often obscure things that are parts of his hobby. And I don't want to always give him things like new socks or shirts. Though essential, they aren't fun gifts. So, I decided to cook something special. As my muse, Kim, often says about him 'all he ever wants are noodles and bread.' This is very true. In fact, I usually make him a tuna noodle casserole for his birthday. But I wanted to do something special from the days when we were dating. So, it was a simple linguine with a garlic and olive oil sauce along with French bread and birthday cake. Simple, huh? Well, the ingredients for any given dish and the process was very simple. It was just that everything was hugely labor intensive. Oy, what a long day of cooking. I've linked to The pages at the top of the Blog -- see the Tabs marked BAKING-- to show you some of the process or the results. I've wanted to tackle baguettes forever, so that was a fun form of kitchen therapy. The results were tasty though still a bit off from a bakery baguettes. They were denser than the professionally made ones, but they weren't something that I could knock someone over the head with. Still, Jon finished everything and seemed to enjoy it, so a good time was had by all.

Updates of Sorts

I'm still in the last throes of writing Ensnared, so I don't have much to talk about there this week. I will have a lot to say about the mechanics of writing this bugger, but I can't just now. Mulling on this ordeal may keep me from finishing. I can't wait to share the astonishing artwork for the cover and ads. All of the film stuff is still in flux. I have an update that will go on the blog for The Secret Cancer sometime this week. The rest of the film stuff is still in flux and I can't talk about most of it still anyway.